bankruptcy? foreclosure?

Question

2 homes are to be foreclosed... i did everything i could to save those homes but now i'm confused even more. how do you file for bankruptcy and what is chapter 7 and 13 etc.? how much does it cost to file and do i must buy a lawyer? how much is the laywer fee? im just afraid.

will congress pass bush's bill on temporarily exempting tax for difference owed?

what is foreclosure, i mean, do i must go to the court so judge can decide the types of foreclosure to charge me later, etc.?

this is ruining my life.

Answer 1

I don't mean to sound mean or judgmental ... but ... you owned 2 houses and you can't answer any of these questions? seriously? You don't know what foreclosure is? Are you for real, because if you are, I find this shocking!

Answer 2

Your question cannot be answered without more facts. Whether you are eligible for chapter 7 or 13 depends on the means test - a test for which you must consider your "current monthly income" as well as your permitted expenditures.

The filing fees for a bankruptcy case, including mandatory credit counseling could be as much as $367.

Attorneys fees vary widely from place to place and depend upon the sort of case you have to file.

Don't count on any legislative fixes for you anytime soon.

If you receive a foreclosure summons, there are a wide variety of defenses which might be available. However, you must find a competent attorney in order to effectively assert them.

In some states, there are laws which prevent or limit the amount of deficiency judgments you may have to pay in the event of foreclosure. California is one such state.

You really need competent counsel in your jurisdiction who can assist you. You need to consider both bankruptcy as well as non-bankruptcy rights and remedies.

Your life need not be ruined although this is a difficult situation

Answer 3

I hope this helps you out. The Websites should have all the info that you are looking for but here is a broad outline of what your options are.
Before choosing to go with the foreclosure, you should look into a few other options first. Refinancing is the option that most homeowners attempt first, but credit/income and tighter lending have precluded most homeowners from qualifying for a loan right now.

Either way, you should list the house on the market just on the off-chance someone wants to purchase it before the foreclosure goes through. You can also try to work with the lender for a short sale, where you'd sell the property for less than what you owe on it. At least it will pay off the loan and save your credit a bit.

If that doesn't work, ask the lender about giving a deed in lieu of foreclosure. That works as just giving the property back to the bank, and they can't go after anything else. They accept the deed instead of foreclosing or paying the loan, so there's nothing else for them to go after. This is only slightly better than a foreclosure, but anything you can do to preserve your credit will help at this point.

It will depend on how the bank pursues the foreclosure if they can sue you for another judgment and go after any other assets. With just the foreclosure, though, they are not entitled to anything else. You pledged the house as collateral for the loan -- not your car, 401(k), or prize racehorse. So all that they can take as payment for the loan is the house.

Look up California's state foreclosure laws and consult your loan documents to determine what kind of foreclosure the bank can proceed with (Judicial or Non-Judicial). That will tell you if they can sue you afterwards and try to go after any other assets.

Banks rarely sue for deficiency judgments, though, since they know that foreclosure victims don't have a lot of extra cash or even the ability to borrow any money. It costs the lender extra time to sue you and there's no guarantee they'd be able to collect on the judgment, so most don't bother with the judgment at all.

Hope that helps.

ForeclosureFish
http://www.foreclosurefish.com/...
Source(s):
Short sales: http://www.foreclosurefish.com/blog/inde...
Deed in lieu of foreclosure: http://www.foreclosurefish.com/deedinlie...
California foreclosure law: http://www.foreclosurefish.com/ca.htm...
Deficiency judgments: http://www.foreclosurefish.com/blog/inde

Answer 4

Sweetie it's not the end of your life. It's just a set back. Foreclosure is when the lender takes the house back. They could file a 1099 form to the IRS, it doesn't mean they will. Yest Bush is trying to get Congress to pass a bill to forgive the balance due. Which in my book will only make the whole mess worse. People will take advantage of it.

You won't have to do to court. But your credit is mud for a few years. As for filing for bankruptcy, that one I don't know about --- yet. You could google it for your state and see what the laws are. Yes you will have to hire an attorney to file it.

Best to you!

Answer 5

The answers to your questions depend on your situation. Whether you can file Chapter 7 or 13 depends on your income for the past 6 months. The following link has the info and a flow chart to determine whether you can file for Chapter 7: http://thismatter.com/money/credit/bankruptcy/means_test_in_bankruptcy.htm.
Chapter 7 costs $299 filing, about $50 for counseling, $50 for debtor's education, and an attorney will cost from $700 - $1,300, not including the above fees, depending on your area. You can, however, file it yourself, but you should get a book on how to do it, such as at http://nolo.com. You can also use a bankruptcy petition preparer, which will be much cheaper, but they can't give you legal advice.
The procedure for foreclosure depends on your state. This link has more info: http://thismatter.com/money/credit/bankruptcy/foreclosure-and-bankruptcy.htm.
You can get the tax consequences at this link: http://thismatter.com/money/real-estate/foreclosure.htm
The only way you can prevent foreclosure is by filing Chapter 13. Although the filing fee is slightly less than Chapter 7, an attorney will cost more, probably $2,500 or more, because there is more work involved. However, you can't file 13 unless your income is great enough to pay all priority and secured debts, and 25% of your unsecured debt over a 5 year period. The 1st link above will give more info.