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3/9/09

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 senators and tell them you support judicial modification of home mortgages in bankruptcy.

The bill is designed to stop the home foreclosure crisis and prevent people from losing their homes to mortgage foreclosure.  Using judicial modification in chapter 13 bankruptcy, the loan could be restructured by writing the principal down to the value of the home, fixing the interest rate at a reduced rate and extending the loan to 40 years.  Judicial modification will not save all homes, but will help Kansans who have been victimized by predatory lending.  It will give individual homeowners the same benefits corporations have in chapter 11 bankruptcy. The law change is necessary because lenders are not making voluntary loan modifications.  People who don’t file bankruptcy will be helped by the bill also.

You can help pass this legislation by calling or faxing your Kansas Senators today.  Tell the person who answers you support judicial modification of home mortgages in bankruptcy.  Sen. Sam Brownback,  (202) 224-6521, fax (202) 228-1265, and Sen. Pat Roberts, (202) 224-4774, fax (202) 224-3514.

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Filed Under: Foreclosure, Kansas Bankruptcy News, Mortgages
3/8/09

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 on certain language in plans relating to mortgages, (In re Seal, Case No 05-17262, order entered March 6, 2007), the decision leaves open the question of whether interest is to be paid and at what rate.

Section 1322(e) was enacted as part of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994 to overrule the Supreme Court decision in Rake v. Wade, 508 U.S. 464, (1993).Continue Reading

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Filed Under: Chapter 13, Financial Help, Foreclosure, Mortgages
2/23/09

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 don’t want to file bankruptcy also,  Chip Parker, Jacksonville bankruptcy lawyer, writes in the Bankruptcy Law Network blog.

The bill will be part of a large package of financial services legislation.  You can support judicial modification of mortgages in chapter 13 bankruptcy by calling or faxing your Kansas Congressional delegation today.  Here is how to contact your member of Congress:

  • Sen. Sam Brownback,  (202) 224-6521, fax (202) 228-1265
  • Rep. Jerry Moran,  (202) 225-2715, fax (202) 225-5124 
  • Rep. Lynn Jenkins, (202) 225-6601, fax (202) 225-7986
  • Rep. Dennis Moore, (202) 225-2865, fax (202) 225-2807
  • Rep. Todd Tiahrt, (202) 225-6216, fax (202) 225-3489
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Filed Under: Chapter 13, Foreclosure, Mortgages
2/13/09

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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Filed Under: Foreclosure, Mortgages
2/12/09

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, but economists disagree.”

Listen to today’s National Public Radio story

on judicial mortgage modification in chapter 13 bankruptcy.

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Filed Under: Bankruptcy Legislation, Chapter 13, Foreclosure, Mortgages
2/11/09

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 the mortgage over 40 years.  The goal is to lower the payments enough to make them affordable for the borrower to keep the home and avoid foreclosure of the mortgage.

Mortgage bankers want your home not your money. They oppose the law change and are lobbying against the proposed legislation.

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Filed Under: Bankruptcy Legislation, Chapter 13, Foreclosure, Mortgages
2/11/09

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 the real world, today.

Relying on lenders to do voluntary mortgage modifications has not been successful thusfar.  Less than 10% of the voluntary modifications result in reduced principal, more than half capitalize the unpaid interest onto the loan balance, and a third of the modifications reduce the monthly payment while almost half have monthly payments increases.

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Filed Under: Financial Help, Foreclosure, Mortgages
1/25/09

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 “foreclosure prevention programs” relying on voluntary loan modifications are failing to reach a significant number of troubled homeowners and are often backfiring when they do so, according to newly updated research released today by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA). The across-the-board failure of these much ballyhooed “fixes” for the foreclosure crisis are expected to result in the new President and Congress facing considerable new pressure to clear the way for court-supervised loan modifications that will prove more beneficial for homeowners.Continue Reading

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Filed Under: Bankruptcy Legislation, Foreclosure, Mortgages
1/3/09

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.

  1. Create an emergency fund.
  2. Don’t gamble.
  3. Don’t sign up with a “Debt Settlement” company.
  4. Seek advice from a good bankruptcy attorney.
  5. Don’t prepare and file a bankruptcy petition without a lawyer.
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Filed Under: Bankruptcy Legislation, Foreclosure
12/27/08

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 first,” an intake worker at the Helping Hands Human Society told the Topeka Capital-Journal.

The shelter is filling up with dogs and catsContinue Reading

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Filed Under: Foreclosure, Kansas Bankruptcy News
12/21/08

Conversion Moots Negative Equity Case

Court watchers will have to wait for another case to find out how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit will rule on the so-called negative equity issue.   The Court dismissed the appeal in In re: Hunt, No. 07-3297, as moot after the debtor converted his case from chapter 13 to chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The ruling disappointed the creditor, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A, which urged the Court to proceed with the appeal despite the conversion.  The Court ruled against the creditor saying the existence of other cases on the same legal issue and the desire for binding appellate authority was not sufficient reason to make an exception to the mootness doctrine. Courts are required dismiss a case when a controversy no longer exists.Continue Reading

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Filed Under: Chapter 13, Conversion, Foreclosure, Kansas Bankruptcy News, Means Test, Vehicles
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