You bought a house and now you can’t afford it.  The only thing you want to do is get away from this house because it is causing you more stress than you care to handle.  There are several options available to you.

The first is contacting your mortgage company regarding a possible loan modification.  If your circumstances fall into their guidelines, given some paperwork and time, they may be willing to modify your loan so that the payment is reduced.  Loan modifications take time, so don’t wait until you receive a foreclosure notice before taking this step.  If you can’t make the payment, don’t avoid them, be honest and tell them.  They may be willing to assist you by restructuring your loan which may allow you to stay in the home.

If a modification does not reduce your payment to a manageable level, the next step is to sell your house as a short sale.  A short sale means that the mortgage company will take less than what you owe from a buyer.  This gets you out of the house and avoids having a foreclosure on your credit report.  Short sales also take two to four months to complete, so again, don’t wait until a week before the mortgage company evicts you.  If you wait too long, there will be no way for you to avoid the foreclosure process.

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

Many Americans won’t sleep well tonight. They will toss and turn, and try to figure out how they can save their homes. The mortgage is past due, and the bank is threatening foreclosure. How well will you sleep tonight?

Fortunately for these Americans, there is a program in place that allots $75 billion dollars to help save homes from foreclosure. To date, this program has helped to save over four million of the homes that would have other wise been foreclosed.

The program does more than help to catch the mortgage up. It also serves to restructure these mortgages, so that they are more affordable for the home owners, and there is less chance that the home will go into foreclosure in the future. Furthermore, as a part of this restructuring program, $1000 will be taken off of the amount you owe on your home each year for five years. Your payments will be restructured in such a way that they do not exceed 38% of your income.

The banks are highly motivated to work with you in the restructure of your mortgage as well. They are paid $1000 for every mortgage that they restructure under this program.

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

If you have found yourself to be overwhelmed by the debt which keeps piling up, and have thought about the possibility of filing for credit card debt bankruptcy, then the question you are probably asking yourself now is whether or not it is the right solution for you. For starters, it is important to point out that there is no such thing as credit card debt bankruptcy, but rather a general chapter 7 which covers almost all forms of debt.

A few years ago, filing for bankruptcy and completely wiping out any debt that you have was a fairly simple process. Today though, this process has become a very time-consuming and challenging one. In most cases it will reap higher the assistance of a lawyer because you may not even be able to file for Chapter 7 and instead have to file for chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Basically, the difference between a chapter 7 and a Chapter 13, is that the Chapter 13 bankruptcy is quite literally a court ordered restructuring of your debt. As a result, you have no other choice but to continue paying off the debt, but is done in a manner which is next to impossible to miss a payment. Unfortunately though, your credit card score is also decreased when you file even though you still have to make payment.\

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

If you are contemplating the possibility of having to file for bankruptcy, is important to remember that there are many pros and cons associated with doing so. One issue that may come up is whether or not you should be worried about your bankruptcy becoming a public record. While you may feel embarrassed should this happen, you should not let this issue prevents you from doing what is necessary to ensure that you’re able to rectify your current financial situation.

It is important to remember that you’re not the only person out there who is having issues trying to pay off their credit card bills and other debts. All over the nation and even in your city people are having issues right now. Having debts piled up is not always something that can be prevented because in a lot of cases it is emergencies which end up causing situation to begin with.

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

In 2005 and following a lengthy process of lobbying by credit card companies, Congress passed a new bankruptcy law, which many have complained is not in the interest of consumers and is overly complicated. But however you feel about the new bankruptcy law, you have to abide by it and it looks, for now, like it is here to stay.

But what does the new bankruptcy law actually mean and aim to achieve? Well, essentially, this particular new bankruptcy law was designed to prevent those who do not need to file from doing so. It makes it tougher for people to declare bankruptcy and ensures that those who do should only have to do it once! It does this by enforcing financial counselling prior to bankruptcy and also financial management classes following. Perhaps the biggest change brought about by the new bankruptcy law was the introduction of a means test, which means a detailed inspection of your income and expenses before you can file.

Some people have argued that this makes bankruptcy all but entirely unavailable. This, however, is not the case. While there is no denying that there are now more obstacles in the way, for most of those who were eligible before 2005, eligibility is still present!

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

A Short Sale is when a lender accepts a discount on a mortgage to avoid a possible foreclosure, auction, or bankruptcy.

Yes, you read that correctly a lender may be willing to accept a lesser amount than owed. Most of the people who are facing foreclosure tend to be upside down on their property meaning that they owe more than the property is worth or cannot afford to sell their property and pay all costs associated with selling . This is where a short sale takes place. A homeowner is put in a situation where they cannot afford to sell their property and walk away without owing the lender money.

Why would a lender accept this?

*In Illinois the foreclosure process is a lengthy it could sometimes take up to 9 months, which can also be delayed if you have the proper representation

*The foreclosure process costs the lender money. While the actual foreclosure process itself may not be very costly(3-5K), the amount of time that the lender does not receive payments, takes the property over, then tries to resell it later all amount to very high costs.

*Lenders do not like excess inventory or foreclosures on their books, especially in this market. Don’t you think they have enough properties to sell?

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

Do you want to avoid foreclosure and still pay your loan balance? Maybe it is time to consider a short sale. This happens when the value of the property when sold is less than the value of the loan balance. The lender has to agree to this though. Short sale has become so prominent today because of the financial struggles most go through. To avoid foreclosure, homeowners opt to sell their homes at a much cheaper price.

However, you will not easily close a short sale especially if your lender will not agree to it. Not all homes qualify for this and not all lenders will accept such arrangement. This is especially true if they know that they will gain more if they foreclose the property.

So how do you close a short sale? What are the things you need to do? You can do the short sale yourself or hire a real estate professional. Asking someone to represent you would be better especially if you are unsure of the processes. This will lessen the burden of facing the lender. You will also be guided accordingly.
If you are representing a borrower, see to it that you have gathered all the information necessary before you talk to the lender. See to it that you have all the requirements such as the financial statements, divorce decrees, tax returns and the like.

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

How to stop mortgage foreclosure in the deep recession we are in right now? If you compare how many families are in foreclosure or about to get foreclosed, just a handful of homeowners have been able to be approved for the infamous President Obama’s Mortgage Modification Program. The intentions were good; however, the way that was planned and incorporated was very poor and incorrect.

The extremely and sometimes ridiculous requirements and qualifications to be considered a candidate for this refinancing plan have made impossible for the majority of homeowners who really needed the help, to qualify for this assistance. Now millions more homes are scheduled to go into foreclosure in the next 12 months and millions more are already being foreclosed as we speak.

Smart homeowners are beginning to work on their own to find ways to stop mortgage foreclosure and stay on their homes for years even without paying any monthly mortgage payments. There are literally hundreds of strategies that you can use to delay the foreclose progress for many years; unfortunately, most homeowners have no knowledge of this techniques.

Just to get you started in your fight against foreclosure here are a few strategies that you can begin to use immediately to stop and delay the mortgage foreclosure process.

Require a Court Hearing: You have the right to ask for a Court Hearing in your local Circuit Court. Hundreds of homeowners are using this strategy to stop mortgage foreclosure and extend the timeline for many months. You don’t need an attorney to do this. But you need to know how to proceed every step of the way.

Reach a Repayment Plan with your Lender: This may seem like an impossible task for people who don’t have a job or their income has been dramatically reduced. But the fact is that if you know how to approach your bank and how to speak with them, they will be willing to give you more time to start repayment your late payments, even if you have not income at all.

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

Getting to such financial dire straits that you even have to consider bankruptcy is bad enough. Undergoing to process of filing for bankruptcy can also be stressful, given the affect on your long term credit and the shame associated. But what about declaring bankruptcy twice? Is it just twice as bad or is it entirely impossible?

Bankruptcy is a fresh start in financial terms. Your slate is wiped clean and you get to start again. It will, however, affect your long term credit prospects.

What is often the case when people come to file for bankruptcy is that they have developed poor spending habits, have been living outside of their means and been particularly reckless with credit cards and so on. As a society, we have a tendency to abuse credit.

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com

Homeowners stuck with an unaffordable home loan may be eligible for a new mortgage featuring a low 2% interest rate.  Obama’s loan modification plan is available for borrowers facing financial hardship and at risk of losing their home.  Under this program, your home loan could be revised so that your monthly payment is reduced to an affordable amount.  The goal is to keep families in their homes, stop foreclosures and allow the economy to recover.

The plan is called Home Affordable Modification Program-or HAMP.  This home retention plan is paid for by the federal government-your tax dollars-so do not hesitate to take advantage of this helping hand.  Over 5 million homeowners are expected to benefit under this $75 billion government program.  Here’s the basics of the plan:

1. All homeowners who ask for consideration must be reviewed for eligibility-even if they have been turned down previously
2. Borrowers must show evidence of a financial hardship or the imminent risk of default
3. Lenders must follow a standard formula to determine if a borrower meets the federal qualification guidelines-reducing the interest rate to as low as 2%
4. Homeowners who meet the basic guidelines will be asked to submit a loan modification application, including a financial statement and proof of income

The banks are motivated to modify as many loans as possible for a couple of reasons.  The lenders will be paid by the Treasury Department for each loan they modify using the standard federal terms.  Also, President Obama has strongly encouraged all banks to reach out to homeowners to offer this plan-whether they are behind on their payments or not.  If a financial hardship exists, then a homeowner is encouraged to begin the application process.

Full Article

For More Information:http://www.floridalawattorney.com