(picture from University of Pennsylvania blog on regulations) The most common question I get for a long time is what happens if I do not, or cannot, pay my mortgage? If you can afford to continue paying, and are current, there is really no bankruptcy alternative. The so-called “strategic default” option is to simply stop [...]
loss mitigation
Proprietary mortgage modifications, not HAMP mortgage modifications, lead the way according to HOPE NOW Loan Mod statistics. 120,000 modifications have been done by the mortgage companies themselves, compared to only 27,840 HAMP mortgage modifications, compared to HAMP has been, and remains, a gigantic government failure. It was supposed to lower the foreclosure rate. There are [...]
Judicial mortgage modification, also known as mortgage cramdown, would NOT disrupt the residential mortgage lending market, but would prevent home foreclosures Says who? Says a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland study just released.. See the L. A. Times article by Lew Sichelman for a more readable explanation of mortgage cramdown. Judicial mortgage modification, NACBA‘s euphemism [...]
I’ve been thinking of some of the bizarre things I’ve seen creditors do lately. You’ll find a lot written about abusive creditors, mean creditors, heartless creditors, and law-breaking creditors here at Bankruptcy Law Network. But what about stupid, self-destructive creditors? It’s obviously bad to violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or the Bankruptcy Code’s [...]
Foreclosure or not? I’ve been using the f-word a lot here in my Summerville, South Carolina law office. (That’s “foreclosure,” not the other f-word, by the way.) And I’ve noticed a transition in attitudes among clients. It’s gone from, “I don’t want foreclosure no matter what” to “let’s discuss what happens if my lender forecloses.” [...]
Just because you have not been foreclosed on yet, does not mean you will be getting a mortgage modification. image by: dreamstime Foreclosures will be increasing again, as the freeze on foreclosures by Fannie Mae and others has ended. Having further depressed the housing market with all the foreclosures already completed, mortgage companies appear to [...]
