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Secured Debt + Car Loan + Mortgage + Home Equity Loan

FAQ

No.  You do not need to attend this hearing if you have an attorney.  The court will not listen to you even if you go.  If you have a reason to resist the motion as please call your attorney to discuss what actions may be taken .

FAQ

That depends on the answer to the following questions:
a.    Are you giving up the property?
If so, then you don’t need to take any action.  You don’t even need to call us.  Just ignore the motion altogether.

b.     Are you filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy?

FAQ

As soon as you filed for bankruptcy, the court protected you from just about all types of collection efforts. This protection is called the “automatic stay.” While the automatic stay is protecting you, secured creditors cannot repossess property that they have sold you. You already know that to keep secured property in bankruptcy you need to stay current on the secured loans. If you fall behind, the creditor can ask the court to allow it to repossess the collateral. This request is called a Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay.

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Paul Garay's picture
Submitted by pwg on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 7:14pm

A lot of clients come in worrying about their house being in danger of immediate foreclosure. Filing for bankruptcy at any time during the foreclosure process, you automatically pause this procedure and protect your home for a limited time. Here is a basic breakdown of the timeline of a typical foreclosure:

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Carl Gustafson's picture
Submitted by crg on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 2:33pm

For many borrowers, the choice of whether to file bankruptcy depends on a determination of whether a home-owner will be liable for debt on his home following foreclosure.

California has enacted a very strong law protecting home-owners from deficiency judgments following a foreclosure.  This is called the anti-deficiency statute or non-recourse statute.  It says, in sum, that borrowers who take:

   1. purchase money loans
   2. on an owner-occupied residence

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Carl Gustafson's picture
Submitted by crg on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 1:34pm

In my office I increasingly see clients come in for consultations after having completed a mortgage modification.  I wish that I saw it much more frequently.

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Carl Gustafson's picture
Submitted by crg on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 1:24pm

One of the most exciting areas of bankruptcy law is the ability to discharge or remove a second mortgage.  For years the ability to remove a second mortgage was largely irrelevant as property values rose year after year.  Now the power of the bankruptcy court has become one of the most powerful consumer protection laws on the books.  It is important for every home-owner to know his right to adjust his home mortgage through the bankruptcy law.

How can bankruptcy help discharge my debts?

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Carl Gustafson's picture
Submitted by crg on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 3:27pm

Frequently the best way to get out of an upside-down mortgage without bankruptcy is to short sale a house.

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Article

In the midst of these difficult times, it can be hard to keep up with all the expenses. Thousands are losing their jobs every month, but the bills still keep coming. Falling behind on payments for any type of vehicle happens to the best of us. Sometimes life deals you adversity that you didn't expect. You don’t have the money for it, but if you put off paying the car payment, you can get some other bills paid, and hope that you can catch up next month. Many justify the decision because it could only cost a late charge.