Posted on September 28, 2015 in Secured Debts

Some of the assets you may want to protect in a bankruptcy case are those that are security for debts.

Collateral and Other Security on Secured Debts

Everything you own is either legally encumbered by a debt or is yours free and clear of any debt.

Possessions which are encumbered by a debt can be encumbered voluntarily, such as when you buy on credit. You buy a vehicle and give the vehicle loan creditor a lien on the title. You buy a home and the mortgage lender gets a mortgage on the home. You buy an appliance and give back a security interest in what you bought to the store or finance company.

Or you can already own something and you borrow money on it, like a second mortgage, or when you take out a personal loan and provide collateral for it.

Possessions can also be encumbered involuntarily. An income tax lien on everything you own and a judgment lien on the title of your home are examples.

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 Posted on September 09, 2015 in Foreclosure

Selling Your Home without First Stripping the Second Mortgage

One way that bankruptcy—Chapter 13 in particular—could save you a tremendous amount of money is with a second (or third) mortgage strip.

If you have serious financial pressures inducing you to sell your home, is it partly because of your second (or third) mortgage? Would you it help if you did not have to make that payment anymore? Would you be able to keep your home, maybe even permanently, if you could stop paying that second or third mortgage (or both) and also get relief on your other debts?

If your home is worth no more than what you owe on your first mortgage, that is what the Chapter 13 "adjustment of debts" version of bankruptcy could accomplish for you. That and get you much closer to building equity in your home again.

Secured vs. Unsecured Debts

Debts are either secured by something you own or they are unsecured. Secured debt includes your vehicle loan, contract purchases of furniture and appliances, sometimes secured credit cards, as well as various kinds of debts secured by your home. Debts secured by your home can include not only first, second and third mortgages, but also any property taxes you owe (almost always the first debt against your home’s title, even ahead of your mortgage), sometimes debts to a homeowner’s association, income tax and child/spousal support liens, sometimes judgment and utility liens, and possibly construction liens for any home renovation or repairs.

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 Posted on August 31, 2015 in Bankruptcy

Doing what you believe is the right thing can backfire, if you pay a special creditor before you file bankruptcy.

"Preference" Payments

Bankruptcy law focuses for most purposes on what you own and who you owe at the moment your bankruptcy case is filed. But there are some limited yet potentially dangerous ways that the law can look into the past. "Preference" payments are one example.

Here’s what the law says. If during the one year before you file a bankruptcy case, you pay one creditor more than you are paying at that time to your other creditors, then after you file bankruptcy that favored creditor could be required to pay back the money you’d paid, not back to you but rather to your bankruptcy trustee, for distribution to all of your creditors.

For example, if you received an income tax refund and used $1,500 of it to pay off a debt to your brother, and then six months later you filed a bankruptcy case, your brother could be required to pay that $1,500 to the trustee. The trustee would then divvy up the $1,500 among your creditors as prescribed by law. Your brother would likely get just a tiny portion of that money, based on his pro rata share of all your debts.

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 Posted on October 06, 2014 in Chapter 13

For most people who file bankruptcy, the process is very unfamiliar. Many filers focus on the negative aspects of bankruptcy: its effects on credit, potential loss of assets, and others. What is important to understand, however, is that bankruptcy is not financial suicide; it is an opportunity to save your home, reduce monthly payments, and end harassment from creditors.

Unlike Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which involves the liquidation of assets to pay off debts, Chapter 13 involves the restructuring of debt. The debtor pays “priority debts” first. These include taxes, alimony, child support and any owed wages. After these, car loans and mortgages are usually next. These debts are scheduled into an approved payment plan that takes income and overall debt into account.

Unsecured debts, such as credit cards or medical bills, are often handled last. Depending on whether these can be paid in full, there may be restructuring options available.

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