Category Archives: Foreclosure

Foreclosure No Excuse for No Credit Counseling Before Bankruptcy

FAILURE TO OBTAIN CREDIT COUNSELING—EXIGENT
CIRCUMSTANCES
In re Thomas, Case No. 06-10242
March 2006, Judge Nugent
Pro se case dismissed for failure to obtain credit counseling. Certificate of exigent circumstances which recites pending foreclosure insufficient, case dismissed. 109(h)(1).

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Kansas Home Foreclosures Up 40%

The home mortgage foreclosure crisis got dramatically worse in Kansas in July, August and September 2009. RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks foreclosures, reports 3,402 foreclosure filings in Kansas during the third quarter, an increase of almost 40%.
The Kansas foreclosure rate is below the national average of one in every 136 households. The [...]

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Foreclosure Truth: Few Getting Help

As of 9/1/2009, only 1,711 permanent loan modifications

1.26% trial modifications made permanent
1 in 8 mortgages in default or foreclosure

foreclosure delayed, not avoided
10-12 million foreclosures predicted
50% mortgages will be underwater if problem not solved

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Foreclosure Prevention Toolkit

FDIC has published this online took kit to help homeowners prevent unnecessary foreclosures and stop foreclosure “rescue” scams that promise false hope to consumers at risk of losing their homes.
* Is Foreclosure Knocking at Your Door? This brochure explains how mortgage modification programs can help those at risk of foreclosure save [...]

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Watch Out for Mortgage Modification Scams

Watch out for all the mortgage modification scams out there preying on good people who desperately want to keep their home mortgage out of foreclosure. Many of the mortgage brokers who formerly got people into subprime loans are now calling themselves mortgage modification agents.
“You should not have to pay someone to help you with [...]

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Can They Take My Home Away from Me if I File Bankruptcy in Kansas?

Kansans in financial distress often ask, “Will I will lose my home if I file bankruptcy?“  The simple answer is that most Kansans do not lose their home if they file for bankruptcy.  We are lucky in Kansas to have a homestead law that protects one acre of land in the city and 160 acres [...]

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What Interest Rate Does the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee Pay on Secured Claims?

EXPLANATION OF THE TOPEKA DISCOUNT RATE
by Jan Hamilton, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee

The Discount Rate (Interest Rate) for chapter 13 bankruptcy cases filed in Topeka, Kansas, on or after March 1, 2009, is 4.75%.

This rate will typically be changed no more than once a month, on the beginning of the
month.
Beginning on July 1, 2004, we began [...]

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Call Kansas Senators to Support Judicial Mortgage Modification in Bankruptcy

Judicial modification of residential mortgages in chapter 13 bankruptcy is part of H.R. 1106, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last week.  The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate and may come up for a vote this week.  We need your help to get the bill passed into law.  Call your Kansas [...]

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Do Mortgage Arrears Get Paid Interest in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

DOES THE MORTGAGE CREDITOR GET INTEREST ON THE ARREARAGE PAID IN THE PLAN?
By Jan Hamilton, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee
Frequently, arrearages on real estate mortgages are paid through the plan. Do they bear interest or not? If they do, at what rate?
While Judge Somers has (essentially on behalf of all of the judges in Kansas), ruled [...]

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Judicial Modification of Mortgages in Bankruptcy to House Floor Wednesday

Judicial mortgage modification in chapter 13 bankruptcy is expected to be considered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as early as Wednesday of this week.   The proposed law eliminates the ban on restructuring primary residential mortgages to help people save their homes from foreclosure.  The law change will help people in foreclosure who [...]

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Lenders Halt Foreclosures Three Weeks

JP Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and Fannie Mae have announced they are halting home foreclosures until March 6, 2009, while the Obama administration develops its policy for helping the U.S. housing market.

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NPR Airs Story on Judicial Mortgage Modification in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Here is a report that aired on National Public Radio this morning about the judicial mortgage modification bill pending in Congress.
“On Capitol Hill, Democrats are supporting a bill that would let judges block home foreclosures. The measure would allow bankruptcy judges to alter home loans. Industry insiders say that would cause more harm than good, [...]

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Congress Considers Judicial Mortgage Modification in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

The Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009 is pending in Congress.  If passed, chapter 13 debtors will be able to  rewrite their delinquent mortgage loans by lowering the loan balance to the value of the home, reducing interest rates, eliminating the variable rate and fixing the interest rate, and stretching out [...]

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Mortgage Loan Modification Programs

Here is a collection of voluntary mortgage loan modification programs from various lenders in the United States collected by the National Consumer Law Center, America’s consumer law experts.
Some lenders will modify and some won’t.  Mortgage modification agreements are being offered by some lenders. But all mortgage modification agreements are not equal.  Here’s what’s happening in [...]

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Foreclosure Fixes Failing

DATA: MORTGAGE “FORECLOSURE PREVENTION” FIXES FAILING TO WORK, U.S. HOME FORECLOSURE TOLL NOW EXPECTED TO RISE EVEN HIGHER TO EIGHT MILLION
Near Half of Homeowners in “Loan Modification” Programs Face Higher Monthly Payments; Failure of Voluntary Industry Efforts Hikes Pressure on Incoming Obama Administration, New Congress to Clear Way for Court-Supervised Modifications.
WASHINGTON, D.C.//December 19, 2008//Much hyped [...]

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New Year's Resolutions for Resolving Debt

Here are five New Year’s resolutions my blogging colleague, Peter Orville of Upstate New York, made for people with debt problems, each highlighting an article found on the pages of Debt Law Network, Credit Law Network or Bankruptcy Law Network.

Create an emergency fund.
Don’t gamble.
Don’t sign up with a “Debt Settlement” company.
Seek advice from a good [...]

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Pets Abandoned in Hard Times

People struggling financially are making tough choices and are being forced to give up their pets.  Almost daily people are bringing dogs and cats they can no longer care for to the Topeka animal shelter.
Recently a man brought in two skinny dogs, saying he couldn’t afford to feed them. “He had to feed his kids [...]

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