When a consumer files bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court warns creditors they may face a lawsuit awarding damages and attorney’s fees unless all debt collection stops. The technical term for failing to do so is violating the “automatic stay.’ As it sounds, this protection takes effect automatically. It is intended to provide some ‘breathing space’ from...
Chapter 13 can provide a glimmer of hope to homeowners struggling to make 2nd mortgage payments. Getting rid of a second mortgage mortgage in a chapter 13 bankruptcy has become routine in many jurisdictions like New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As a bankruptcy lawyer who has filed a couple of dozen of chapter 13s to strip...
[caption id="attachment_273" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Natural disasters often leave homeowners holding the bag on mortgages, property taxes and more."][/caption] We’ve all seen the devastating television footage of Mother Nature’s fury. From out of control wildfires in the Southwest to historic flooding and the ravages of hurricanes in the Northeast, it seems that no one is immune...
[caption id="attachment_235" align="alignleft" width="300"] Shopping for a foreclosure is more challenging than you think.[/caption] Buyers of property at foreclosure are looking for a bargain, but that risk now must include the possibility that the title will be defective. One unsuspecting family purchased a home at foreclosure, intending to sell it to their daughter, only to...