In a January 9, 2008 press release, the American Bankers Association’s chief lobbyist came out strongly against proposed changes to the Bankruptcy Code that would let judges lower principal and interest rates on residential mortgages–what is called a “strip-off” or “cramdown”. Floyd E. Stoner said that, “Such proposals would bring additional risk and uncertainty to [...]
January 2009
Student loan debt will not be discharged in most cases, and the loan will continue to incur interest during bankruptcy. If you are in a chapter 13, your plan will generally provide that student loan debt receives the same per cent dividend as other unsecured debt. While some districts may permit you to separately classify [...]
The MBS Market (the financial market that tracks and trades mortgage backed securities) was roiled on Monday as the chances for passage of a new bankruptcy bill continue to improve. According to the Financial Times (UK), the ABX index fell 6.5 points. In my opinion, a bankruptcy amendment authorizing Judges to modify mortgages is the [...]
Mortgage servicers these days seem unable to account for payments they have received or to explain charges they’ve imposed on home loans. Asked any question about their numbers, the lender freezes. Does no one understand what they purport to be doing? I’m defending several motions for relief from the automatic stay in which the lender [...]
What is a mortgage? The term mortgage is derived from two French words mort which means dead and gadge which means pledge. A pledge is a promise and we know that death signifies the end. So a mortgage is a pledge of real property (land) as a security interest (the money you receive in exchange [...]
An all-to-common picture of American domestic dysfunction: a married couple whose marriage cannot be retrieved from the abyss of discord, who trudge into the office of a bankruptcy lawyer to discuss their mountainous load of unsecured credit card debt. As expected, the husband has the lion’s share of the debts in his name, but the wife [...]
