Bankruptcy Lawyer MA Matthew T. Desrochers » Bankruptcy

Is One Choice Better Than Another Regarding Foreclosure, Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, or Short Sale?

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:37:51 +0000

Deed in lieu of foreclosure: one voluntarily gives their home to the lender in exchange for cancellation of their loan

Short Sale: where the lender allows the homeowner to sell their home for less than what is owned

Foreclosure: where the lender takes the home through a court proceeding

Is one choice better for your credit score than another?

No: All of the options come out to be about the same on your credit score because all of these events represent a loan default. Check out this chart showing how each of these items will affect credit scores at different credit levels.

However, lenders may look more favorably at a short sale than a foreclosure.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance a bankruptcy, short sale, or a loan modification, please contact us.

8 Tips on Avoiding Bankruptcy

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:28:26 +0000

1. Pay off existing debt: If you cut out non-essentials such as cable, landline phone service and other subscriptions, you can free up some money. Another way is to sell assets such as furniture, electronics and other items on free websites such as Craigslist and eBay to earn some extra cash.

2. Get another job.

3. Carefully consider going into debt.

4. Don’t cut medical insurance: A major medical expense is cited in more than half of bankruptcy cases as the leading reason for the filer’s financial trouble.

5. Be upfront with your creditors: Many credit card companies and banks have specific programs to help people experiencing financial hardships to pay off their debts.

6. Consider debt settlement or consolidation.

7. Filing for bankruptcy: Don’t turn to bankruptcy until you’ve exhausted all of your possible options. The new laws were passed to prevent people from taking advantage of the bankruptcy system and as such are more complicated. It is very useful to have an attorney help you in your bankruptcy to guide you through the complicated laws.

8. Understand the consequences: Your credit will be affected for 7 to 10 years and your Student loans and Child Support will not disappear.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with foreclosure, Mortgage Audit, loan modification, bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Tips To Avoid Bankruptcy

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:08:45 +0000

Try not to go further into debt by re-evaluating your budget.
Pay off existing debt. With your new budget, try to live below your means. Think to yourself, do I NEED this?
Get another job if you find that you cannot live below your means.
Keep your medical insurance, if you get sick this will help you manage your finances.
Consider Debt Consolidation or Debt Management. These can create lower payments or pay off existing debt at lower amounts.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with foreclosure, loan modification, bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Private Loan Modifications Better Than HAMP Program?

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:07:54 +0000

In some cases, yes. HAMP has been underperforming compared the overestimated numbers that the government hoped it would complete. HAMP launched in March 2009 with the promise of 3 million modifications. Through May, servicers started roughly 731,000 permanent loan modifications and have been averaging between 25,000 and 30,000 per month this year.

Wellsfargo claims they have completed or started trials on roughly 585,000 mortgage modifications through its programs since the beginning of 2009 which is more than five times the 101,000 initiated through the Home Affordable Modification Program.

However, the Treasury has had to clamp down on poorly performing servicers such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

Basically, there aren’t really any good options. But if either your own lender or HAMP will modify you loan then you are in a better place. There’s good news: Unemployment is starting to slowly drop, and in some parts of the country, so have the record number of home foreclosures. But, bad news remains: Americans are still hurting from one of the greatest economic downturns in the nation’s history

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with foreclosure, loan modification, bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Joint Accounts and Bankruptcy

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:03:40 +0000

What happens when someone files for bankruptcy and they have a joint account with you?

First, this can happen for several reasons:

You’ve put your child on the account
You share an account with your spouse or significant other
They are managing an account for an elderly mother or father

In the bankruptcy petition that ownership must be disclosed. As such, you and the petitioner will have to prove what interest in that joint account is the petitioner and what interest is yours.

Chapter 7

The trustee can seek to have the petitioners portion of the joint accounts turned over to the “bankruptcy estate” to be used for the creditors. However, depending on what the petitioner makes and what assets he/she has, the petitioner may be able to exempt a portion of his/her share to keep it from being seized.

Chapter 13

The petitioner will go on a payment plan thus allowing him/her to regain control over those accounts. However, the interest in the joint accounts will be used to calculate the amount he/she pays.

Transfers

In joint accounts, often there is the issue of transfers of ownership which may be considered a fraudulent transfer by the trustee. Fraudulent transfers happen when the petitioner transfers money to someone with “no consideration.” If this happens, the trustee can take that money back from you. In order to keep that money you will have to prove that you provided all the funds in the account or that there was adequate consideration for that transfer.

To avoid such complications, you should take a different action when setting up an account. Set up your child, spouse, significant other, friend, family as an authorized signer for withdrawals on the account instead of a joint owner.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with foreclosure, loan modification, bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Ocwen Loans Are Being Told to Get Their Act Straight

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:35:00 +0000

The Treasure has sent notices to Bank of America, Wells Faro, JP Morgan Chase, and Ocwen Loans Serving informing them they need substantial improvements in the way they process mortgages. Specifically they need to address how they identify, contract, evaluate, and assist mortgage borrowers. If they do not, then the government has said that they will withhold the financial incentives from the HAMP (Making Home Affordable Program). Generally, these banks are some of the most significant lenders across the county.

A Few Basic Ways One Can Eliminate Debt

admin — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:48:10 +0000

The current economic situation has led to many creditors defaulting on their credit cards and loans out of necessity. Below are a few ways one can work on eliminating debt during this time.

Bankruptcy will erase all debts and leave you free to start new. There have been new laws enacted in 2005, so be sure to check to make sure which type you will be allowed to file and to cover any requirements. Chapter 7 simply makes it so that you have no debt and under Chapter 13 paying on a plan for a few years the debt is forgiven.
Debt Consolidation is when you or a lawyer negotiates with the credit card companies for a one time payment of anywhere between 30% to 70% of the total balance and the rest of the balance is forgiven.
Debt Consolidation Reduction is when a debt consolidator will negotiate lower interest and payments over a longer period of time, thus reducing your monthly payments.
Budgeting: Creating a strict budget and living with it.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Rebuilding Your Credit After Bankruptcy

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:46:40 +0000

1. Stop feeling like you are a failure! The number of state residents filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Massachusetts rose by 8.5 percent in 2010, as more than 17,000 filed for protection during the year. In this economy, any little set back could easily cause a person to need to file bankruptcy. Some of the current situations have been: loss of job, loss of income, medical bills, credit cards changing how much you have to pay each month, etc. In addition, if you adjust your attitude and say it happened what I do now and how do I keep from repeating it, you will be much more positive and make a better change.

2. Analyze what happened and move forward. If you want to change and prepare better for the future than you can!

3. Create a budget, under your means, and include an emergency fund. If you set up and follow a budget under your means and put money away for an emergency fund, than you will have less of a chance to file bankruptcy again.

4. Pay your bills on time. By paying all your bills on time you will see your credit go up. In some, instances your landlord could be reporting your rental history to the credit companies and this could be of benefit to your credit history and rebuilding your score.

5. Get a secured credit card, make on time payments, and keep your balance below 30%. A secured card allows you to put a deposit down of the amount of your credit limit and then they report your payment schedule to the credit bureaus monthly. If you close out the card with a balance of zero then you receive that money back. Do make sure that the card reports to the credit bureaus as some do not.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Some Signs that You Should File for Bankruptcy

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:13:31 +0000

No one really wants to file bankruptcy. However, if you have any of the following signs, you should seriously consider filing.

• Being involved in a foreclosure or car repossession. After, the foreclosure is complete you will still be responsible for any of the loan not covered.
• You cannot pay your bills now or in the foreseeable future. Why keep dealing with the creditors and living in fear of being sued?
• You are having garnishments taken out of your pay check or have a tax levy.
• Your debt amount is too large and you are not being able to paying it. You are just moving debt around to keep the debt current.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Bankruptcy and Your Credit Score

admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 15:07:56 +0000

As a result of current difficult economic times, many people have been forced to consider bankruptcy. While bankruptcy has been a helpful and necessary process for many people, some are hesitant to take that step out of fear or a misunderstanding of how bankruptcy works. One common question for people is: How will bankruptcy affect my credit score?

How Your Credit Score Is Calculated

Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850, with the average score being 723 according to Bankrate.com. 22 pieces of data make up the Credit Score, but only five points make up the majority of the score. Note: Income is NOT a factor used to create your credit score. The five major pieces of information are:

- Payment history (35 percent of the rating): According to a recent CNN report, a mortgage payment that is 30 days past due can drop a score anywhere from 40 to 110 points. Being 90 days late can cause the score to fall 70 to 135 points.

- Length of credit history (15 percent): Creditors like to see consumers with established and lengthy credit histories

- New credit (10 percent)

- Types of credit used (10 percent)

- Debt (30 percent): scores calculate your score based partly on your available credit to your outstanding balances

Bankruptcy and Foreclosure

- Foreclosures may cause an 85-160 point drop

- Bankruptcy may drop a score 130-240 points

- Bankruptcies may remain on your credit report for 7 years for Chapter 13, and 10 years for Chapter 7, 11 or 12

Ways to Improve Your Score

- Pay bills on time — This is the most weighted factor in FICO scores.

- Keep credit balances low

- Don’t close credit accounts

Work with an Attorney

Bankruptcy is a complex process, but can give people the fresh start they need. If you are considering bankruptcy or concerned about how it will affect your credit and your future, discuss your situation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with bankruptcy, loan modification or foreclosure, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.