Got a mortgage forbearance? Seems like a relief. But watch out for the normally escrowed taxes after the forbearance is up. The CARES Act made forbearance on federally backed mortgages available for the asking. But no one talked about the escrow portion of the skipped mortgage payments. Federal guidance urged servicers to offer easy ways […]
Before You List Your Home For Sale: The Essential First Task
Selling your home? Before you list your home, before you interview a realtor, before you lift a paint brush, or clean a closet, you need to write a letter. A letter to the servicer of your mortgage. You want full disclosure of what charges, fees, expenses and other “stuff” they want to collect from […]
How To Make Mortgage Lender ‘Fess Up
What have they been doing with my mortgage payments? The client has been making a mortgage payment according to the HAMP formula for almost 18 months of her Chapter 13. Yet without a 1098 form, her very capable tax preparer told her she couldn’t deduct mortgage interest on her tax return. Never fear. We have a new […]
No House, No Discharge When Chapter 13 Goes Off Script
Sound the alarm. What began as a trickle of Chapter 13 cases ending badly has become a torrent. More and more, bankruptcy judges are strictly enforcing the direct pay term of Chapter 13 plans. UPDATE: December, 2020 COVID relief bill provides an out for debtors who aren’t current on their mortgages, effective for a year. […]
How To Save Your House With Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Saving your house ranks high on the list of reasons people file Chapter 13. The automatic stay stops foreclosures; Chapter 13 gives you time to fix the problem. Powerful stuff. But the stay and more time, alone, aren’t enough to save the day if you run afoul of other rules, written and unwritten, about homeownership […]
DIK Remedies For Foreclosure Breed Bankruptcy Tragedies
Warning: virulent outbreak of do-it-yourself bankruptcies all around. Symptoms: panic over prospect of foreclosure Supposed remedy: file your own skeleton Chapter 13 bankruptcy Prognosis: enjoy the stay for about 2 weeks, followed by foreclosure relapse Homeowners facing foreclosure Three different would-be clients called in a 10 day period this month, facing foreclosure. And all three […]
Feds Offer Deferral Option For Home Mortgage Payments
Homeowners with federally backed mortgage loans got a lifeline for payments skipped under COVID 19 home loan forbearance agreements. The feds have mandated that servicers offer deferral as one way to repay those payments that came due while the loan was in forbearance. Deferral results in the missed payments being added to the back end […]
5 Essential Tips To Understand Your Mortgage Loan
Figuring out what your home loan balance is can be harder than a calculus exam. For most people, their mortgage is their biggest debt. And their home is their most important asset. Yet, the people accounting for your payments are increasingly incapable of the very basics of their job. And that makes your job, as […]
Your Right To Credit Reporting After Bankruptcy
You’ve finished your Chapter 13 and emerged from bankruptcy with your home loan current. But your credit report is a blank page as to your mortgage. The mortgage servicer isn’t reporting your payments to the credit reporting agencies [CRA’s]. Nothing. Nada. Crickets. So, even though you’re making regular payments, you’re not visibly rebuilding your credit. […]
Mortgage Forbearance For Non-government Backed Loans
Are you one of the homeowners whose mortgage isn’t eligible for the government’s COVID forbearance protections? Home loans not backed by the federal government are excluded from the protections for borrowers implemented by FHFA . But as much as one third of US home loans are not backed by the federal government. If that includes […]
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