You Can Get Relief From Your Second Mortgage

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Homes need maintenance and often homeowners don’t have the money to do expensive upgrades like adding a new cooling system or fixing a leaky roof.  Home maintenance can be costly and taxing.  You have to hire a contractor, check on permits and then live through the hassle of living in a home that is under repair.  Many will be forced to take out a second mortgage or get a home equity line of credit to meet their financial needs. 

Sadly, some homeowners not only face a home that needs repairs (and the headaches that go with it) but they also owe more on the home than it is worth.  Loan modifications may be out of the homeowner’s reach due to their credit problems.  Short sales can take months and leave the homeowner searching for a new place to live.  Many homeowners don’t want to leave and invest in the repairs in anticipation of living in their homes for the rest of their lives.  But circumstances such as a lost job, health crisis, divorce or other crisis may have impacted their ability to pay their bills. 

A faster option than a short sale or lengthy bank negotiation for a loan modification is available to homeowners that may seem like a miracle.  A homeowner can get out of the second mortgage or home equity line of credit and still keep their home.  It’s called “stripping the lien” and it’s one of the benefits of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy that may be possible for your situation. 

Here’s how it works: Once you file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, the trustee overseeing the plan can eliminate the second mortgage or home equity line of credit if your home is worth less than your first mortgage.  But that’s not the only benefit.  If you are behind on your first mortgage, the bankruptcy trustee can give you up to 60 months to catch up on your payments—without paying any interest!  Here’s another benefit—this can also apply to third mortgages.  However, it does not apply to first mortgages.

In addition, a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can eliminate other debts you may owe such as credit cards.  This will give you additional money to help catch up your mortgage payments.

You don’t have to lose your home because of a crisis or credit problems.  Our firm has helped hundreds of clients work through their financial challenges and keep their home with options that are right for them.

What Homeowners Should Know About Foreclosure Defense

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Many homeowners across the nation are finding themselves in a difficult predicament and facing foreclosure on the home that they have worked so hard to attain for their family and loved ones.  Receiving a notice of intent to foreclose can be a devastating event; however, not all hope is lost.  Foreclosure defense is a way of actively fighting back against the lender to either stall the process of foreclosure or stop it altogether. 

Since banks have significantly changed the way in which they conduct business, working with your lender during times of financial distress is not as easy as it used to be.  Through mortgage securities, lenders package and sell pools of mortgages to investors and only act as “servicers” who collect payments and issue default notices.  The system is set up in such a way to where these servicers (that you think of as your lender) are making money by foreclosing on your home and losing money in working with you to modify the terms of your mortgage.  Put simply, foreclosure defense has become a necessity if you want to keep your home. 

 

Mortgage defense consists of a process in which an attorney who understands the laws and regulations around the mortgage and lending industry requires your lender to prove they have the right to foreclose on your home.  This works as a stalling tactic, especially since many lenders have already sold the mortgage to an investor as part of a mortgage pool, and might have difficultly proving on paper that they own the mortgage. 

This process often reveals errors on the part of the lender, such as an inability to produce the original note or proof that they have participated in “robo-signing” of documents.  Such errors allow the homeowner additional time to get caught up financially, which often results in saving their home.  

Ignoring a Foreclosure: Why You Shouldn’t Make it Easy For Them To Take Your Home

Believe it or not, there are worse things the bank can do to you than foreclose on your home.  First, they can convince you to make it easy for them.  Then, they can charge you enormous court and attorney fees for the process they had to go through to take it. 

In fact, they get by with this tactic all the time. A recent study showed that 95% of the foreclosures in this country were foreclosures in which the homeowners didn’t do anything and simply handed over their home without a fight.  They fell for the bank’s bait of “don’t give us any hassle” and walked away from the home and stability they had worked so hard for—it’s such a sad waste.  

Banks are telling homeowners it is okay not to respond because they know that many people can’t afford an attorney, or feel overwhelmed with their financial situation and want to avoid any conflict.  Here’s the truth.  A foreclosure is a lawsuit.  A lawsuit is an adversarial process, it’s you versus them.  Of course they don’t want you to fight back.

A knowledgeable attorney will have an array of tools (including bankruptcy) to help you meet your goals.  There are several bankruptcy attorneys who will provide assistance with your foreclosure pro bono or who will offer payment plans to fit your budget.  You should never let worries of what’s affordable convince you to make it easy for Wall Street to take your home without a fight.  Take our word for it—you need someone to fight in your corner.