You may have fallen behind on your mortgage payments and be facing foreclosure. Obama’s Home Stimulus Package has funds allocated to provide fast help to struggling homeowners.

275 billion dollars has been earmarked to stimulate the housing market and stop the increasing number of foreclosures by helping homeowners obtain lower monthly payments and stay in their homes.

How will this be done? House payments (counting insurance, taxes, and homeowner’s dues) will be adjusted to no more than 31% of a homeowner’s gross monthly income through loan modifications.

This will be done using any or all of the following tools until the desired payment is achieved:

• A lower interest rate, possibly as low as 2%.
• Extension of the length of the loan to as long as 40 years.
• Waiver of late fees
• Reduction of principal

You must qualify in order to apply. The following guidelines will help you determine if you might be able to obtain fast help through Obama’s Home Stimulus Package:

• Your home must be your primary residence, where you live more than half of the time.
• The original loan has to be dated on or before January 1, 2009.
• The loan amount has to be no more than $729,250.
• Your payment, including taxes, insurance, and any homeowners association dues, must be more than 31% of your total gross monthly income.
• You must be in a state of financial hardship. This means that your mortgage payment is either in arrears or will soon be due to events beyond your control. This could include: job loss, death of a spouse, medical bills, or an adjustable rate mortgage that jumped way above what you expected. You must be able to document this situation and also present how your income could reliably sustain the new, modified house payment.

The stimulus package loan modifications are only available for a limited window of time, and if you are facing foreclosure, you definitely need to act quickly.

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The bankruptcy means test is when the courts examine the average income of the debtor for six months prior to the time they filed the claim. It is then compared to the average income for the state that the claim is being filed in. If the filer’s income is below the state average the option for filing chapter 7 bankruptcies still exists. If the income is above the average the rest of the bankruptcy means test has to be completed.

When the income is more than the state average the debtor’s income is taken and the living expenses that are not included in the bankruptcy are deducted. This amount is then multiplied by sixty in order to get the projected income for a five year time frame for the repayment of these debts.

When this is done if the available income for the five year time frame is over ten thousand dollars a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing will be required. This means that anyone earning more than the state average with over $166 dollars of income available each month will be automatically denied Chapter 7.

When you are above the state average for income, but have less than $166 dollars a month to pay to your debt another part of the means test must be applied. When the available income is less than $100 a month Chapter 7 bankruptcy is again considered an option. The debt is measured against the income at 25% when the income is between $100 and $166.

If the income is above the average and you have debt that is above 25% of your available income for a five year period you are required to file Chapter 13. When the debt is below 25% of your available income then you can still file Chapter 7.

The bankruptcy means test will tell the court which chapter of bankruptcy that you should file. Mean test enables the court to decide on the chapter to file on and will also prevent the debtors to misuse the chapters for their own benefits. Such test is a good measure and a fair treatment for both the debtors and the creditors.

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The inability to pay the bills can be scary. When someone has exhausted all of their options for solving financial problems they consider bankruptcy. Bankruptcy claims will require legal council to help you fully understand all the options available to you. Consultations with a lawyer can be found at no cost to find out about the requirements for filing bankruptcy.

When attempting to file a claim of bankruptcy, forms declaring the reason have to be filled out. Income proof will have to be given, and a list of your current expenses given. This is to determine exactly what qualifies for the bankruptcy claim, and which of your monthly bills can be consolidated under your bankruptcy claim.

Bankruptcy claims can either eliminate, or consolidate debts. Legal council will go over the option that is best for your current situation. The amount and frequency of payments on these claims will be made known to the filer before the filing is finalized. The specific type of bankruptcy chapter eleven, chapter seven, or chapter thirteen will be determined when the requirements have been examined against the information provided.

These claims affect credit scores. When bankruptcy claims are filed they go on the credit report automatically. A defaulted bankruptcy is one that was not paid off. When a bankruptcy is discharged it means that is was paid as agreed. Whether it is an individual, or a business is filing the claim will also have an affect on the type of bankruptcy that is filed.

A legal professional will verify all information given when bankruptcy claims are being filed. Once the information is verified the claims are filed with the court for a fee. A judge must then make a ruling on the claim that has been presented. Once bankruptcy claims are ruled on the repayment of the debt that was filed on begins.

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Is the housing market getting better? Are foreclosures going down? Well, it depends on how you want to look at the numbers.

In California, foreclosures were at 31.9% in May, which was down from the 35% rate in April, better but not quite over the hump. In Green Bay, WI, the June foreclosure rate was up 27% from the same period last year, but was slightly down from April. In Phoenix, AZ, the foreclosure rate in May was 30%, which was lower than its high of 51% in February, better than the 40% foreclosure rate in May of 2008, and slightly lower than April once again.

Many would, and have, looked at those numbers and said that the housing market has to be getting better because the numbers are coming down. However, if the rates were so high, don’t the numbers have to come down because, think about it, who’s left to have their houses taken away from them?

Not only that, but the government had a hand in halting the foreclosure rate temporarily while the United States was literally in a financial panic, but those days are gone. Many banks put off foreclosing on a lot of homes because they had signed onto the home-stability plan of the Obama Administration, which required them to consider the alternative of modifying loans to make it easier for borrowers to make payments. But that’s ending, and banks are likely to start another round of house grabbing to make up for lost time.

Home sales have started to creep up, but that’s because there are so many foreclosed houses on the market that people can get great deals right now. Even in Manhattan, which has very few actual houses but plenty of condominiums, the price of condos dropped from around $950,000 to around $725,000, which is unheard of for that area. In Florida, people are able to upgrade to homes that used to be worth over a million dollars for around $450,000. And in Detroit, in more depressed areas, some banks are actually encouraging new buyers by allowing them to purchase homes for $100, then giving them loans to fix up those homes, which helps improve their worth and the worth of other homes in those neighborhoods that banks are hoping someone takes.

In some areas, home starts have started looking up a bit, but they’re also being halted as both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have hired assessors unfamiliar with many areas to determine the worth of homes, and what they’re coming up with is far lower than the rates that cities and towns have assessed the same property. This has only been since May 1st, after a settlement with New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and of course they got it wrong. This has prompted two congressman from states where the housing market is distressed to try to put a moratorium on the plan; it needs to be totally scrapped.

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To stop foreclosure fast will depend on how quickly you take the initial action. It may seem like a ridiculous thing to even mention, but the most common cause of losing your home results from not being proactive, waiting too long to respond to a foreclosure notice, or not reacting at all. Many people believe that there are few options when dealing with a foreclosure; there are dozens of ways to stop foreclosure fast!

To stop foreclosure fast you have the best options before you actually start missing mortgage payments. As you start to miss payments and roll toward a foreclosure auction date, options continually become unavailable until only a bankruptcy remains. The following will help you get a grasp of what you will need to do to stop foreclosure fast.

Evaluation Your Situation:

-Figure out how much you saved or spent from savings to live last month. This number should be a hard fact. Either you added to an account or needed to borrow from savings, friends, or relatives to make ends meet. Write this number down put it aside.

-Make a list of all available income for the month.

-Make a list of extra income available.

-Make a list of all monthly expenses including: essential expenses, very important expenses, first mortgage (or rent), other mortgages, utilities, transportation, important expenses, credit card payments (if credit remains good), regular expenses, luxury expenses and any misc expenses.

-Obtain your credit report. If you can wait a week or two or if you have recently been turned down for credit or you suspect fraudulent items on your report you may be able to get a free report. New laws allow everyone to see their credit report free once a year.

-Complete a personal financial statement.

-Prioritize assets; Need to keep. Like to keep. Not keep any longer.

-Note which liabilities are reported to credit bureaus.

-Honestly evaluate your problem; Is it long term or short term? Has it been solved or is there a date certain when it will be? Will it reoccur? Is it permanent?

After evaluating your financial statement you should have a better idea of how to proceed. There is no simple formula to follow when it comes to solving your financial woes, unfortunately none exists. There are hundreds of combination’s that could help you stop foreclosure fast. So which is the best path from here?

You can take control of your financial situation and stop foreclosure fast by following a few simple steps. By making a small investment in a step-by-step guaranteed plan, you will be given the inside knowledge that will give you the help to stop foreclosure fast.

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You’d have to be living in a cave not to know this one. Liberal lending standards from the past several years led many consumers to borrow more than they could afford. Let’s just get to the point… stupid loans! At one point, there were over 150 different types of mortgages. Some lenders gave home loans to people, who under more conservative past standards would never qualify for a home loan. These home buyers enjoyed $0 down mortgages, no-document loans, adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) with unrealistically low “teaser” rates on the front end, 106% loan-to-value (LTV) loans to allow for NO CASH closings, and even 40-year mortgages! Then when interest rates rose (even slightly) above the “teaser” rates, home owners with zero equity in their homes could no longer afford to pay the new higher mortgage payment. And now that the mortgage industry has been devastated by the fall-out from their overly-aggressive programs, they have finally “gotten smarter.” The result is totally different lending policies and a tightening of their financial standards. As a result, most of these troubled homeowners are unable to qualify for a new loan! Of course, more and more homeowners are at risk of defaulting and are facing foreclosure. These homeowners are looking for solutions to be able to stay in their homes longer. One such solution is bankruptcy. The bankruptcy market is not just growing, but growing at an alarming rate! The American Bankruptcy Institute predicts up to 1.5 million new bankruptcy filings in 2009. These homeowners need our help!

Record Foreclosures. This is front page news. Right?

Declining home values. As we just pointed out, the mortgage meltdown led to record levels of foreclosures. All the foreclosure sales, short sales, and discounted “fire” sales have led to declining values… at an alarming rate.

Economic Recession and Massive Corporate Layoffs. We’ve seen layoff announcements for thousands of employees at 3M, American Express, Caterpillar, Chrysler, Emerson Electric, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, United Technologies – to name just a few. Add to those numbers bank employees, as the Federal Government closes financially troubled banks.

Record Unemployment. Of course, the economic problems leave 14.5 million Americans out of work. That’s nearly 10%… and a rate we’ve not seen in the past 25 years. Clearly, mortgages are going unpaid, foreclosures continue to rise, and homeowners know that filing bankruptcy can allow them to stay in their homes longer. Who can blame them for wanting to stay in their home?   Unfortunately for our economy (but fortunately for those smart enough to take action on good business opportunities), all the experts agree… it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Specifically, bankruptcies are going to continue to rise through 2013.   So how can YOU and your real estate investing business benefit by these circumstances? Be honest, would you like to contact these motivated sellers to rescue them on the front end of their troubles? And you can contact them and do it before anyone else knows about them! And this is the business model we recommend.

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For more information please visit: http://www.floridalawattorney.com