How A Bankruptcy Lawyer Can Help With Foreclosure

The choice between hiring a bankruptcy lawyer to file or allowing the bank to take your home through foreclosure isn't always an easy one

. If you're resigned to doing one or the other, the impact on your credit report isn't going to play much of a factor. Either choice is going to take a toll on your score and may prevent you from getting credit or a loan in the next seven years. Of course, if your primary concern is getting to keep the house, than hiring that attorney may be the best thing you can do. Here are some of the things you should be thinking about.

The Foreclosure Process

For most homeowners, foreclosure begins when they fail to keep up with their monthly mortgage payments. The bank, understandably, takes a dim view of this. If enough payments are missed, chances are good that the lender will take possession of the house and sell it at auction. While there are more steps involved and the homeowner should be well aware of what's happening, there is often little that can be done to stop it. Losing a home can be painful for reasons entirely separate from the credit hit. If filing with a bankruptcy lawyer can help to keep you in your home, it may be worth looking into.

The Stay

Whether you and your bankruptcy lawyer file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, you'll be granted a stay. What this means is that any creditors have to stop any and all collection activities. Whether or not your filing is accepted is irrelevant to this point. You get some time. It may be all you need to find a way out of your jam. At worst, it will give you additional time to think about how you want to proceed. Be aware, however, of the exceptions. These can occur when the lender a motion to lift the stay or if the advance auction notice has already been filed on your house.

Chapter 13

If you're primary objective is to stay in the house, Chapter 13 is probably the route you want to take. This form of filing, if accepted, will allow you to come up with a repayment plan. This will, however, require that you pay not only your current mortgage payment but whatever back payments you need to catch up with through the life of the plan. If you have additional debts going into this plan, those will be a part of your payments as well. This can be difficult to keep up with if you don't have enough income, so talk it over with your bankruptcy lawyer to make sure it's the right choice.

by: Alfred Ardis

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