Stop Foreclosure and Keep your Home.
Let Massachusetts Bankruptcy Attorney save your house
Remember this is the No BS zone. This is written by me, Attorney Richard D. Smeloff. I have no fancy copywriters or advertising agencies. I am writing this the same way I counsel my clients every day…. for the last 18 years.
First and foremost, I can stop your bank from auctioning off your home. Period. It doesn’t matter if it’s last minute. It doesn’t matter how much you owe or how much you are behind. It doesn’t matter if your modification was denied. It doesn’t matter if there are liens on your house, or that you owe more than the property is worth. It doesn’t matter if you have separated or divorced from your spouse. It doesn’t matter if you are unsure you can afford it. I’ve stopped the auctioneers and vultures minutes prior to the hammer coming down.
What If I Don’t Want to Keep My Home? That’s ok too. First we will stop your auction and give you the time you need to make an intelligent decision. If you decide for whatever reason that it doesn’t make sense for you to stay, we will put you in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and wipe out any and all liability you have with the mortgage lender and you can move on and start fresh.
How do we Stop Your Auction?
When your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is electronically filed by Smeloff and Benner, the Bankruptcy Court issues a Stay of Execution. It’s called the Automatic Stay under title 11 of The United States Code. It is essentially an injunction, and Order from the Federal Bankruptcy Court prohibiting your creditors from taking further action against you, including foreclosures. And it’s powerful. The creditors know it and obey it. It even works against the IRS. I just love it.
Ok. The Auction is Stopped, Now What?
We prepare your plan of financial reorganization. Under the law you get up to 60 months, five years to bring your mortgage arrears current. No interest. No late fees. No penalties. No fight from the bank.
So for example if you are $10,000 behind on the mortgage, the plan payment would be only $166 per month. Not too shabby. Remember 0 % interest is the key.
The Plan Discharges Credit Card Debt
Further, depending on your individual circumstances the plan would eliminate most if not all of your credit card debt at the same time. So you keep your home and wipe out credit card debt. Principal balances, interest, late fees. Gone. Many of my clients got behind on their mortgage in the first place by trying to keep up their credit card payments. One less aggravation keeping you awake at night or distracting you from spending quality time with your family.
The Plan May Erase or “Strip Off” Your Second Mortgage
The law here is amazingly simple. If your house is not worth more than your first mortgage, we can wipe out your second mortgage the same way as the credit card debt. For example, if you have a $275,000 first mortgage and a $90,000 second mortgage; and the house is worth no more than $275,000, you are entitled to eliminate or strip offthat second mortgage. Many homes nationally have fallen into this category due to the recession.
Put Late Vehicle Payments in the Plan.
The best way to share this area of the law with you is to do so by example. Whatever amount you may be behind on your vehicle loan, say 3 payments at $325 each or $975, this may be put in the plan and paid over 60 months without interest. The monthly amount is only $16.25! A much better option than trying to scramble to come up with the $975 all at once and worrying about the repo man.
The next option is to put the entire loan in the 5 year plan. The net effect is to extend your loan, so if you have for example 2.5 years left on your loan and your payment is $325; by selecting this option your payment would be reduced to less than $150 per month. This really helps free up monthly cash flow, and when you combine it with the savings on credit card payments now you are seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
Cram down underwater vehicle loans.
Let’s say for example the dealer took advantage of you and you got a bad deal on your vehicle. Now the vehicle is worth $12,000 and you still owe $19,000. No one deserves to be stuck in this position. Here is the answer: we will cram down your loan. You will pay only the $12,000 back through the plan over the next 60 months and the difference, $6,500 is discharged like the credit card debt. So your payment will drop significantly and you will only be paying what the car or truck is worth! Now that is even more money freed up for your family and not to mention to keep you in your home.