Filing bankruptcy to eliminate an underwater lien is perfectly acceptable, says the 9th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Whew! Sometimes the wave of hostility to debtors that resulted in bankruptcy “reform” in 2005 seems to continue to poison judicial attitudes toward my clients. The Lepe decision is refreshingly different and supportive. And provides a window of […]
Foreclosure And The Tax That Follows: What You Must Know
The homeowner did the right thing: faced with the threat of foreclosure, he called his tax professional in advance. He did the right thing that nearly produced the exceedingly wrong result. Because the tax pro asked the wrong question and got the wrong result. The illusion of professional advice about taxation upon foreclosure almost cost my client […]
Miracles Possible in Mortgage Mess
INVOKE THE SECOND DIVINE MIRACLE OF THE VANISHING EQUITY Why Many Homeowners Need to Run, Not Walk, to Bankruptcy Court and File for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. The world has many sacred sites. Places that inspire great faith. Places where people go to express, renew, and sometimes discover their faith. Rome, Mecca, and the Holy Land […]
Bay Area Loan Modification Scam Busted
People are desperate to save their homes; scammers are pleased to part them from their money. Two Bay Area men were convicted this week of foreclosure consultant fraud. The men took money from homeowners seeking loan modifications. Sounds innocent enough, until you recall that California law prohibits anyone, even an attorney, from taking money in […]
Your Choices For The Underwater House
Gerri Detweiler kicks off a six part series on dealing with a home worth less than you owe at Credit.com. Check her out this week for another point of view on this oh-too-common problem. I’m fond of her piece especially since she includes my lament that I spend my days talking people out of houses. […]
How Long Til Foreclosure?
Everyone who has made the painful decision to let an unaffordable house go to foreclosure wants to know: how long before they have to get out. While the statutory foreclosure process in California , on paper, takes a little more than 4 months, if the the creditor is perfectly efficient, creditors aren’t perfectly efficient. In […]
Tax Fallout from Foreclosure & Loan Modification
It’s bad enough when the client loses their home to foreclosure, but it’s a double whammy when the tax bill arrives for money they never saw. Scope out the tax traps in the world of indebted clients at a 2 hour workshop for lawyers and tax professionals April 9 at Lincoln Law School. Be prepared […]
New California law protects sellers in short sales
Effective January 1, 2011, a lender who approves a short sale of California residential property may not look to the seller for the shortfall. The addition to the California Code of Civil Procedure at Section 580(e) applies only to properties of one to four units and has an exception if the seller commits waste or […]
Rant on realtors claiming to be a profession
Or maybe this is just a continuing, disappointed sigh that this group, who tries to build a profession around selling houses, is itself oversold. Latest example arose where a homeowner was referred to me by his accountant, concerned about a pending short sale of the client’s home. By our rough calculations, the short sale of […]
Guilt & fear used to keep homeowners paying
Susanne Robicsek’s post on the futility of keeping a home through bankruptcy brought to mind Professor Brent White’s paper on the use by government and financial counselors of fear and shame to keep people paying on mortgages on underwater homes. White cites a litany of messages from apparently credible sources who chant that a foreclosure […]
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