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Is Home Equity A Substitute For Retirement Savings

By Cathy Moran

Home as retirement savings

My home is my retirement plan. If I had a dollar for every time a client said that, I could retire today. But that approach to funding your old age only works if…. Sell your house to retire The value in your house makes your balance sheet strong, but doesn’t put food on the table […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2017, home equity, retirement

Inherited Homes Now Come With Full Measure Of Consumer Rights

By Cathy Moran

mortgage protections

with Half a loaf is what you too often got when you weren’t the original borrower on a home loan.  No mortgage servicing rights under Federal law came title to the property. Whether you inherited the property or it was awarded to you in a divorce, you get shortchanged by the mortgage lender. Even with  […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2018

Chapter 13 Discharges HOA Debt

By Cathy Moran

HOA debt discharged

Condo fees that come due after a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is filed are discharged at the conclusion of the case. In a victory for condo owners, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the more expansive Chapter 13 discharge trumped a bankruptcy statute sticking condo owners with the fees. Or really, this is a […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2018, HOA

Long Silent Second Mortgages: The Worrisome Truth

By Bill Purdy

silent mortgages

Like a sleeping bear, long-silent second mortgages hibernate in people’s houses these days.  They are quiet, a snoozing predator, just waiting for spring. And it can be bloody when those sleeping mortgages awaken hungry and look around for something to fill its pocket. Here in California the coming slaughter is particularly noticeable because the value […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2016, foreclosure, junior lien, second mortgage

How To Make Mortgage Lender ‘Fess Up

By Cathy Moran

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 […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages, Taxes

Feds Offer Deferral Option For Home Mortgage Payments

By Cathy Moran

save house

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 […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages

Mortgage Forbearance For Non-government Backed Loans

By Cathy Moran

Covid 19 home loan forbearance

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 […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2020, covid-19, mortgage

Mortgage Payments During California Shelter-in-Place

By Cathy Moran

mortgage in pandemic

Is my house at risk if I have no income due to coronavirus? With economic activity at a dead halt due to COVID-19, California homeowners worry about next month’s mortgage payment.  And the month after that, for as far as the pandemic can see. While it’s early days, and I fully expect broad governmental measures […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2020, pandemic

Home Mortgage Forbearance: Will It Save Your Home From Pandemic?

By Cathy Moran

mortgage forbearance

Mortgage forbearance for homeowners, shout the headlines.  No need to make a house payment. Borrowers who can’t make this month’s mortgage payment were thrown a lifeline of sorts in the coronavirus rescue package. Only it’s probably not the help you think it is. And the lifeline may be far more fragile than you will need […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2020, covid-19

Explaining The Increase In Monthly Mortgage Payments On Long Established Loans

By Cathy Moran

mortgage payments jump

Why has my mortgage payment increased so much? That’s the question I’m getting from lots of clients recently. Interest rates are creeping up on variable rate loans, but not dramatically. For most of those asking, it’s because the interest-only period of their home loan has run. Loans promised increased mortgage payments Borrowers forgot that lots […]

Filed Under: Real property & mortgages Tagged With: 2018

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Coronavirus & Your Finances

About The Soapbox

You've arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said "try").

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions on how I think law should work for the consumer and small businesses when it comes to debt.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

Speak Fluent Bankruptcy: Guide To Essential Bankruptcy Terms

Bankruptcy has its own language.  If you are considering filing bankruptcy, it helps to know the language spoken there. Master just a couple of words and phrases, and input from a bankruptcy lawyer starts to make sense. So, in our continuing campaign for better understanding of bankruptcy, here's a dozen … Read more

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