Upside Down or Under Water on Your Home? Bankruptcy May Help!
With the decline in the housing market many people find they are “upside down” or “under water” on their home. In other words, do you owe more for the house than what it is worth? If that is your situation and you have two or more mortgages, you may find that Chapter 13 bankruptcy is an option you have never considered.
Let’s look at an example where Chapter 13 bankruptcy may help you:
You have a home with a fair market value of $150,000. Three years ago the house was worth $200,000.
You have a first mortgage on the home for $160,000 and a second mortgage or HELOC for $40,000. In other words, you owe more on the first mortgage than the house is worth.
You can easily make the first mortgage but the second mortgage is more than you can afford.
You know it will be several years before the house is valued at $200,000 again.
As a result, you are stuck making two or more mortgage payments on the home and it isn’t worth it.
You are contemplating a short-sale which leaves you without a home and a “ding” on your credit or you are considering walking away from the home and letting the mortgage company foreclose.
If this is your situation, you should consider a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. With the Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you may be able to “strip” or eliminate the second lien/mortgage. Within the bankruptcy, you are able to eliminate the lien on the house as long as you complete the Chapter 13 bankruptcy within the three to five years required by the bankruptcy laws. The number of years you must be in the bankruptcy will depend on your specific situation. Let’s use the example above to see how it might work for you.
Your first mortgage is $1,100 per month.
You have $10,000 in credit card debt, a $2,000 personal loan and $750 in medical bills.
You owe $40,000 on the second mortgage that may be eliminated in your Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
You meet with the bankruptcy attorney and determine that you qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and it appears you are eligible to strip the second lien in the bankruptcy.
Your Chapter 13 plan payments are estimated at $1,300 – $1,500 including your first mortgage and other debts including the second mortgage.
Once the bankruptcy is filed, your attorney will file a lawsuit or adversary proceeding against the mortgage company or they may be able to simply file a motion to strip the lien. Each bankruptcy court has their own requirements, so you should speak with your bankruptcy attorney to determine what must be completed in your case.
Once this process (either adversary proceeding or motion) is completed, the bankruptcy court will issue a judgment or order that voids the second lien on the house as long as you complete and receive a discharge in your Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Once the bankruptcy is discharged and completed, three to five years after you file, you will resume payments on your first mortgage but the second mortgage and the other debts listed in your bankruptcy are eliminated and you will not be responsible for making payments on these debts in the future.
As a result, if you decide to sell your house in the future, you will only be required to pay off the first mortgage. The second mortgage is no longer a factor.
This is obviously a simplified approach, so you should seek the advice of a bankruptcy attorney to see if stripping your second or third mortgage or HELOC is an option for you. You are thinking this must be too good to be true otherwise someone would have mentioned this to you before! It really is fairly simple. This is just one way a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may assist you in keeping your home when you are upside down or under water.
How Do I Know If There Is A Lawsuit Or Judgment Against Me?
We get this question often! The answer for the most part is quite simple. If you have been sued, unless you have changed your address and have not updated it through the post office, you likely have received notices that were being sued. To understand the process of a lawsuit better, check out the blog post we wrote about whether bankruptcy can help you if you have a judgment.
Should you be a person who has moved and slipped through the cracks, finding out if judgments are against you is still a quite simple matter. You will need to go to the Clerk of Court for the county that you are (or in the case of moving, were in) and have them do a judgment search on you. They can pull up the person/creditor who sued you, date it was entered into the court system, amount you owed at the time of the lawsuit, what the daily interest is and the amount you currently owe. For example, if you lived in Union County, North Carolina for the past 9 years and you just now moved to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, your judgments are likely still registered in Union County. Therefore you will need to check there first. (But checking in your current county of residence isn’t going to hurt anything either!)
From that point, you will need to determine if the suit has attached to any real property you may own. For example, let’s say for our purposes, you have lived in Mecklenburg County for the past 10 years and never moved, you own your home by yourself and there is a judgment against you. Once that judgment is placed against you, it will automatically attach itself to your home. If you have previously been sued , you will need to discuss that with your attorney to make sure the proper steps are taken to remove that judgment from your credit, especially if there is a lien involved.
If you have a lawsuit or judgment against you then you may want to contact a Charlotte bankruptcy lawyer, Greensboro bankruptcy attorney or Winston-Salem bankruptcy lawyer to learn more about your rights.
Must I Get the Court’s Permission To Settle A Workers’ Comp or Personal Injury Claim While In Bankruptcy?
If you have filed or will be filing a workers’ compensation or personal injury claim, be sure to tell your bankruptcy attorney so your potential settlement can be listed and protected in the bankruptcy. If it is not listed and protected in your bankruptcy, you could lose the money received in the settlement.
If you have lived in North Carolina for at least two consecutive years, North Carolina General Statutes allow the settlement, regardless of the dollar amount received, to be protected in bankruptcy. If you are required to use exemptions from another state or federal exemptions because you have not met the residency requirement as outlined in the bankruptcy code, you may not be able to fully protect the settlement in bankruptcy. The exemptions vary by state, therefore, it is very important to discuss the potential settlement with your bankruptcy attorney before filing bankruptcy.
If you are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is necessary for you to work with your bankruptcy attorney to obtain the bankruptcy court’s permission to settle your workers’ compensation or personal injury case. This is necessary even when you listed the potential settlement on your original bankruptcy filing. By filing the motion and obtaining an order from the bankruptcy court to settle the claim, the total settlement is protected from the bankruptcy Trustee and your creditors assuming you are able to use North Carolina exemptions. Therefore, the settlement is yours to assist you and your family with living expenses or to cover future medical expenses you may incur due to your injury.
If you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may or may not be required to file a motion to settle the injury claim. If the settlement is offered while you are in an active Chapter 7, you should contact your bankruptcy attorney to determine if it will be necessary to file a motion with the court. If the settlement occurs after your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is discharged and final decree is issued, it is not necessary to obtain the bankruptcy court’s permission to settle the claim.
As previously mentioned, it is extremely important to speak with your bankruptcy attorney about your potential workers’ compensation or personal injury settlement prior to filing your bankruptcy. If the settlement is not protected correctly in the bankruptcy, you could lose your settlement.
How Did Bankruptcy Change With the New Laws in 2005?
Before 2005 it used to be fairly easy and cheap to file bankruptcy. When the bankruptcy laws changed in 2005 the process for filing for bankruptcy became more complicated. Due to the complications of cases fees across the country for filing bankruptcy also went up.
One of the main things that changed is the requirement to pass the “means test” in order to be able to qualify to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Generally speaking, if your average monthly income is less than the states median income, then you will pass the means test. If your average monthly income is more than the states median income, then there are a few other things that are taken into account to determine if you will pass or not. In this case, the means test looks into your income, expenses and the total amount of debt you owe. If that determines you have enough income to pay a certain amount to those creditors each month, then you will fail the means test. This means that you will not qualify to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy but, instead, you can seek bankruptcy protection under a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Another thing that the new laws now require is the debtors have to provide proof of income. This means that they must provide their tax returns for the previous year to the trustee. If the previous years’ taxes have not been filed, they must get filed before the bankruptcy filing can proceed. This goes for both Chapter 7 bankruptcies and Chapter 13 bankruptcies.
The new laws also now require people who file bankruptcy take a credit counseling course and a financial management course. These must be through government-approved agencies, so make sure to check with your attorney to find out which ones are government-approved. If these companies suggest a repayment plan or other options, you do not have to follow them. For bankruptcy purposes you only have to be able to show that you have taken the course. A lot of debtors feel that these courses help and give them good information.
These are a few of the main changes that accompanied the bankruptcy law changes in 2005.
What Is A Short-Sale?
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If you are behind on your house payments and have decided you no longer wish to keep the house, you may be looking at your options including a short-sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure and bankruptcy. For this blog, we will specifically look at the short-sale. A short-sale occurs when real property (house, land, etc.) is sold to a third-party for an amount less than what is owed on the property. The short-sale is a way of transferring the property out of the homeowner’s name, but it does not necessarily eliminate the homeowner’s responsibility to pay the balance on the loan, known as the deficiency balance, after the sale. As a result, the homeowner may be making payments on a house he no longer owns. The short-sale will have a negative impact on the homeowners’ credit, since it will show the house was sold for an amount less than what was owed on the property, however, it will not be considered as negatively as the foreclosure.
It is best to illustrate what can occur in a short-sale with examples. The examples have been simplified and do not reflect any real estate broker fees or other real estate closing costs and fees. These examples also assume the house is the homeowners’ primary residence.
Example One
There is a $150,000 mortgage loan owed on the house, but in today’s market the house will only sell for $130,000. You may approach the mortgage company to determine if they would accept $130,000 short-sale for the property. In some cases, this may be acceptable to the mortgage company, since they would not be required to go through expensive foreclosure process. If there is only one mortgage loan, the short-sale can be a viable option. However, keep in mind that although the mortgage company agrees to the reduced amount so the house may be sold, it does not eliminate their right to pursue the homeowner for the deficiency balance on the loan, in this example $20,000.
$130,000 Offer on the Property
$150,000 Mortgage Lien
($ 20,000)Deficiency Balance
Example Two
There is a first mortgage for $125,000, Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) for $30,000 and a Homeowners’ Association Lien of $1,000 or a total of $156,000 owed on the property. Consistent with Example One, the offer on the house is for $130,000. In order to proceed with the short-sale, the homeowners must get all three lienholders – first mortgage, HELOC and Homeowners’ Association – to agree to accept the $130,000 offer. Since the first mortgage will most likely insist on being paid in full, it is unlikely they will object to the $130,000 offer. On the other hand, the HELOC and Homeowners’ Association must both agree to share the remaining $5,000 and agree to release the liens on the property before the short-sale can occur. Also, just because the HELOC might agree to accept the short-sale, it does not preclude them from pursuing collection activities against the homeowners for the balance owed on the lien.
$130,000 Offer on the Property
$125,000 First Mortgage Lien
$ 30,000 HELOC Lien
$ 1,000 Homeowners’ Association Lien
($26,000)Deficiency Balance
As mentioned, it was assumed the house being sold in the two examples was the homeowners’ primary residence. As a result, there is no tax implication against the homeowners, since The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 allows the homeowners to exclude the deficiency balance, also known as “forgiven debt”, on their primary residence. On the other hand, if the property being sold is an investment property or any other property that was not the homeowners’ primary residence, the homeowners can be taxed on the deficiency balance or forgiven debt, since it is treated as income for tax purposes.
The short-sale is a viable option for many homeowners, however, it is important to be fully informed of the impact it may have on the homeowners’ financial position in advance of completing the sale. Request the mortgage company or mortgage companies sign a waiver stating they will not pursue a deficiency balance on the property. In many cases, the mortgage company will not agree to sign a waiver relinquishing their right to pursue collection activities, but it does not hurt to make a request. In addition, be prepared to make payments on the deficiency balance after the short-sale or consider filing bankruptcy to eliminate the deficiency balance and other debts.
How Do I Write An Answer To A Complaint?
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After a complaint is filed against you, you have 30 days to file an answer to that complaint. There are many generic forms that can be found that will help you to do this. If you use the internet to help you, make sure it is a reputable website that you are getting the information from. As a reminder, if you are planning on filing bankruptcy, your bankruptcy attorney does not represent you in this lawsuit so they cannot help you write your answer unless the agree to do so in a separate contract.
The top part of your answer should look a lot like the top part of the complaint. It should have the state and county that the complaint was filed in, which court, District or Superior, and the case number. Make sure that all of this is exactly how it appears on the complaint. The other thing that needs to be included there is the case number that is listed on the complaint. This is very important that you put the correct case number, because this is what will link the complaint and answer together.
The body of the answer will have numbered bullets just like the body of the complaint. You will either admit, deny or explain you neither admit nor deny because more information is needed. You will do this by lining your answers up numerically the same way they appear in the complaint.
Make sure that you sign and date the answer with the date that you are intending to get it filed with the Clerk of Court. You will also need to prepare what is called a Certificate of Service. This basically states you certify you filed your answer with the court and have also mailed a copy to the Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s attorney. This also must be filed with the court when the answer is filed. You will take both of these documents to the clerk of court in whatever county the complaint was filed and tell them you need to file an answer to a complaint. They will get it filed and give you a copy that has their stamp on it. You will need to mail a copy of this to the plaintiff’s attorney that is listed on the complaint. Doing all of this will buy you about 30 days to figure out what you want to do to remedy this situation.
What Is A Complaint? | Parts of A Civil Lawsuit
When the sheriff shows up at your door and hands you a stack of papers with a bright yellow sheet on top, what are they actually giving you? Most likely they are giving you what is called a complaint. A complaint is the first step in initiating a lawsuit. This means that someone has filed papers with the court to begin the legal process to write some sort of wrong. Most of the complaints clients who come into our office see are ones saying they owe someone money.
So what does a complaint typically say? It will state which county the complaint has been filed in and whether it is in the District or Superior court for that county. The title of the complaint will also say who is filing the complaint, the plaintiff, and who they are filing it against, the defendant. The case number will also be stated in this section. Below that it will also state why they are filing the complaint. For example, say John Smith owes ABC Bank $10,000 that is past due on a credit card. The body of the compliant will list this, along with the specifics of when the card was applied for and the actual card number.
There will also be several statements that are numbered and they will list the terms of the complaint. These typically state who the plaintiff is, where the defendant lives, that the defendant opened an account and agreed to the term and conditions of the account and that they then have failed to pay on that account. The last paragraph will state what the plaintiff wants as a remedy or result of filing the complaint. What the plaintiff will typically say they want is a judgment for the full amount the plaintiff owes plus a certain amount of interest and attorney’s fees.
It is important that you respond to the complaint by filing an answer. If you do not respond to the complaint then you will automatically be found liable for the lawsuit. The courts will view it as you failed to respond and, therefore, you admit that you owe the money and are liable to the plaintiff. The court will then issue a default judgment saying you are fully liable for the amount owed. Be sure to read our other blog post on how to respond to a complaint with an answer. Also know that if you do have a lawsuit against you bankruptcy may be an option worth exploring more.
