Tag Archives: mortgage relief

Walking Away From An ‘Upside Down’ Mortgage

While many people file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to save their home from a foreclosure sale, other people file either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy so they can walk away from a piece of property and not pay any more money on it. Outside of bankruptcy, when a mortgage company forecloses on your home, if there is a balance owed after the mortgage company applies the proceeds of the sale to the loan balance, you are still responsible for that debt. The debt becomes what is known as a deficiency balance. This is commonly referred to as being “upside down” on your mortgage or having an “underwater mortgage.” By filing a bankruptcy, that deficiency balance is included as an unsecured debt. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, that debt will be discharged. In a Chapter 13, that debt will be treated as any other unsecured creditor is treated….
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Mortgage Modification Program: Problematic

Lost paperwork, lack of communication and wrongful rejections are just a few of the problems Missouri homeowners have reported. Launched in March 2009, the Home Affordable Modification Program was the Treasury Department’s keystone attempt to curb the nation’s rising number of foreclosures. The program gives homeowners the chance to reduce their mortgage payments if they meet certain eligibility requirements. If accepted, they pay a lower rate during a three-month trial period. And if they make their payments, the modification is supposed to become permanent, and they no longer have to pay the old, higher rate. That end result – a permanently reduced monthly payment – has proven elusive for most homeowners who’ve signed up. The program was created to make loan modifications easier by tackling a central barrier in the modification process. The banks and mortgage companies that receive mortgage payments – known as mortgage servicers – have little incentive…
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Dems: Obama Broke Pledge to Help Homeowners

Are you a homeowner who’s struggling to pay your mortgage? Are you seeking loan modification through the government program? Before he took office, President Obama repeatedly promised voters and Democrats in Congress that he’d fight for changes to bankruptcy laws to help homeowners – a tough approach that would force banks to modify mortgages. “I will change our bankruptcy laws to make it easier for families to stay in their homes,” Obama told supporters at a Colorado rally on September 16, 2008, the same day as the bailout of AIG. Bankruptcy judges have long been barred from lowering mortgage payments on primary residences, though they could do it with nearly all other types of debt, even mortgages on vacation homes. Obama promised to change that, describing it as exactly “the kind of out-of-touch Washington loophole that makes no sense.” But when it came time to fight for the measure, he…
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