The fall of the hammer at the foreclosure sale threatened to leave my widowed client homeless and poorer by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead, we recovered her house from the foreclosure sale under new California law which delays the finality of the change of title. The prompt filing of a Chapter 13 brought the […]
How 13 Works To Save Your House From Foreclosure
Saving a house from foreclosure is the single reason most people file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy stops foreclosure- that’s a given. But then what? How can bankruptcy save the house from foreclosure, rather than just putting off the inevitable loss? After all, the mortgage lender has a lien on the house, and liens aren’t discharged in bankruptcy. […]
Long Silent Second Mortgages: The Worrisome Truth
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 […]
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 […]
Don’t Trust Anything Your Lender Says On The Phone
Don’t trust the loan servicer for a moment, was my advice to the client who was trying to track payments he’d made on his home mortgage . The mortgage industry has created an inhabited accounting swamp around your home; the lender’s representative lives in that swamp. Don’t turn your back on a carnivorous predator. I’m […]
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 […]