Filing Bankruptcy Stops Foreclosure? If You Stick To The Payment Plan
January 28, 2010
A piece in today’s Star-Telegram talks about the number of homes that are foreclosed on after a bankruptcy filing. According to the article by Sandra Baker an analysis of post-bankruptcy cases for homeowners in 60 Texas counties shows that the number of cases involving properties protected from foreclosure rose 9 percent in 2009 to 12,170 properties.
In most cases when you file bankruptcy to protect your home from foreclosure, you will enter into a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Under Chapter 13, you must continue to make your house payment on time and make your payments to the bankruptcy trustee in order for the bankruptcy protections to remain in place.
The report also breaks down the figures for homeowners who did not keep up with the payments under their Chapter 13 repayment plan in the bankruptcy courts in Fort Worth and Dallas:
“The U.S. bankruptcy court in Fort Worth, which handles filings from Tarrant, Comanche, Erath, Hood, Jack, Wise, Palo Pinto and Parker counties, handled 3,154 properties affected by a post-bankruptcy filing. That was a 3 percent increase from 2008, when 3,064 properties were affected. The dollar volume, based on assessed value, was $464.5 million in 2009, a 10 percent increase from 2008’s figure of $420.4 million, the firm said.”
“In Dallas, 4,764 properties were affected by a filing in 2009, a 21 percent increase from 3,952 properties in 2008. The dollar volume jumped 38 percent, to $757.9 million in 2009, from $548.4 million in 2008, the report said.”
If you are facing financial difficulties and want to protect your home from foreclosure, talk to your bankruptcy attorney so that any issues you have with the repayment schedule can be addressed before you fall behind.
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Judges Battle Over Student Loan Foregiveness In Bankruptcy
January 14, 2010
In an unusual case, mostly because student loans are rarely ever discharged in bankruptcy, a bankruptcy judge in Massachusetts and and the chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts are having a bit of a spat about discharging the student loans of a 2005 law school graduate.
According to The Docket, which is the blog of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Joel B. Rosenthal ruled it would be an undue hardship to force Denise M. Bronsdon to repay $82,000 she owes in law school loans.
Ms. Bronsdon, now 65, graduated in the top half of her class at Southern New England School of Law in 2005. She has since failed the Massachusetts bar exam three times and is currently unemployed, drawing Social Security and living in a room at her father’s house.
The lender appealed the ruling and the U.S. District Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf reinstated the debt and said that Ms. Bronsdon was eligible for a debtor-repayment plan.
Rosenthal has issued a new opinion in response that again discharges the debt and said that putting the debtor into a repayment plan was “a pointless exercise.”
Famous Fort Worth Resident Files For Bankruptcy
January 6, 2010
- Image by Alan Light via Flickr
Reading the news today that Barry Corbin (famous for his roles on TV’s Northern Exposure, Dallas and on film as Uncle Bob in Urban Cowboy) has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, it occurred to me that many seemingly successful people end up in bankruptcy court.
What I think I am getting at is that no matter what your financial situation is one day, the next you could be in over your head. It takes good planning and advice to restructure your debts when you end up over your head in debt.
Many people find asking for help with debt problems to be embarrassing. What you need to know is that it is nothing to be embarrassed about. The first thing you should remember is that every debt you have is a business transaction. Business deals go bad everyday.
Facing your financial problems head on, and with proper advice and assistance, is the best way to handle your business dealings.
