Real estate

Foreclosure Scary: Can Bankruptcy Save My House?

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

Bankruptcy!  I don’t want to file bankruptcy! Hey, if you do want to file, there is something wrong with you. But you want to keep your house?  Avoid foreclosure? Which option hurts more:  losing your home, or, filing bankruptcy? We humans make decisions based on our emotions:  we shy away (or run, if you are [...]

Filing Bankruptcy: Do I Have To Keep My Condo?

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

Colleague Dana Wilkinson calls it “foreclosure limbo.” You made the difficult decision, accepted reality, you cannot pay your debts, and, even filing bankruptcy, cannot keep your condo.  Or, like one of my clients, the condo you bought for your son’s family, which they could no longer pay. Whether in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or Chapter [...]

All You Need To Know About Your Mortgage

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

(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 [...]

Mortgage Modifications Fail To Slow Foreclosure Rate

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

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 [...]

Mortgage Cramdown – Yes!

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

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 [...]

Why Are Some Creditors So Stupid? “The Grand Illusion”

by Russell A. DeMott, Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer

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 [...]