The numbers are only getting worse, according to The Center for Responsible Lending, every 13 seconds one house forecloses in the United States.
Buying a Home and Bankruptcy
February 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
If you have recently been through bankruptcy, or are currently considering filing bankruptcy, you may be wondering about how this will affect your credit. Specifically, you may be wondering if you'll be able to purchase a home when the lenders see the bankruptcy on your record.
You should know that bankruptcy typically stays on your record for about 10 years, but this doesn't mean that you won't be able to get any kind of credit for all those years. In fact, some types of creditors actually seek out people who have declared bankruptcy because they know that a clean financial slate will make it easier to deal with monthly payments.
The good news is that it is possible to buy a home after bankruptcy, but you may have to pay higher interest rates as a result. However, your situation can improve if you consistently make your payments month after month or if it has been a couple of years since your bankruptcy.
What are some of the benefits of purchasing a home after you declare bankruptcy? Well, most people who have been through bankruptcy wish to rebuild their credit in case they need it in the future. Obviously, you need to be careful not to begin spending recklessly, because that may be what put you in financial turmoil to begin with.
Buying a home is one of the ways to reestablish your credit, not to mention that you'll save money in the long term by avoiding monthly rent. You should realize, of course, that reestablishing your financial credit takes time, so you should be patient if you run into any obstacles along the way.
Remember to see bankruptcy as a fresh financial start that you can use to build a solid foundation for your financial future.
Don't let the fear of your debt take over your life. Get the facts about bankruptcy and learn how to get control of your debt. To learn more about buying a home after bankruptcy visit us at http://personalbankruptcyquestions.org
Home Loans Are Available After Bankruptcy
February 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Just because you have filed for bankruptcy, you should not give up on your dreams of owning your own home. There are mortgage companies that will give you a home loan after bankruptcy. These lenders specialize in bankruptcy home loans and work with people in most any financial situation. Most bankruptcy home loan companies require that you have a minimum of 500 on your credit score. If you fall in this category, these lenders will work hard to customize a home loan that will work for your individual needs.
* If you are seeking a home loan after bankruptcy, you should know you will only be eligible for 80% financing. This means that you must come up with the remaining 20% and it will be used as your down payment.
* You should know that your debt to income ration will need to fall within the 45-50% range when you are seeking a bankruptcy home loan.
* Lastly, you should know that the interest rate on your loan will be higher than a typical mortgage.
Bankruptcy Can Save Your Home From Foreclosure
February 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Fort Worth, TX - Imagine being a mother of two barely getting by on your paycheck when a slight setback puts you behind on your mortgage payments. That is what happened to Yvonne, who asked that we not use her last name.
After having already been through a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy when she was separated from her husband, Yvonne went looking for help to save her home for her children. She found Robert A Higgins, a bankruptcy attorney and founder of Robert A. Higgins & Associates.
Higgins helped Yvonne file Chapter 13 bankruptcy in order to reorganize her debt and keep her family in the house that they have called home for the past 13 years.
"I only fell behind by a couple of months. I was trying to work with them. Then in June I just couldn
Bankruptcy Home Loan Saved Only Through Chapter 13
February 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In cases of homeowners filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, most likely they are going to lose their home. The court typically will order the home sold with the proceeds going to the lender holding the mortgage and, if there is anything left over, the money would go to secondary lenders involved in any claims against the debtor.
Many times when people are behind in their mortgage payments as well as many other debts they may hope to reclaim their finances by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. They, with the help of an attorney, can file a payment plan with the federal bankruptcy court to pay off their creditors over a period of three to five years. Under this plan they may keep their home, car and other items held as collateral on the loans.
However, the only amounts placed into the court payment plan are past due payments. The petitioner will still have to make the regular payments on the home loan while paying off the past due payments to maintain possession. If they default on the payment agreement through the court, the home will go into foreclosure and the individual will usually end up filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief.
However, the payment plan submitted to the court in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing will not be approved unless the petitioner shows that they have sufficient income to make the payment to the court trustee every month while still paying for all other approved living expenses. Failing to show that, the individual may be advised by their attorney to consider Chapter 7.
Even after filing for bankruptcy, mortgage loan companies may still seek you out and court you with attractive sounding offers. Too many times an individual may fall for their advertised rates only to realize - in the aftermath - that they have just committed to a loan with highly dangerous terms which, if not gotten rid of in time, may quite possibly lead them into a financial situation direr than the one they just left behind.
What makes debtors so attractive after bankruptcy, mortgage loan companies openly confess, is that this is an underserved market of individuals who are eager to once again get on their feet and redeem themselves in their own eyes and in the eyes of society. A home purchase is of course the ultimate status symbol in this regard, and it is therefore not surprising to find that many a fresh baked "new starter" is home shopping.
Yet what these individuals fail to notice is the fact that in spite of their best intentions they are falling victim to loan schemes with sky high interest rates, steep prepayment penalties, frequently adjustable rates, and overall will also be saddled with the necessity of paying high lender fees. Too often they may find themselves in a great spot financially, only to see their new vantage point slipping away when adjustable rate mortgages adjust and balloon payments come due. Therefore it is wise to read through the offer in its entirety and - if the mortgage terminology sounds like a technical treatise on underwater basket weaving - in case of a doubt have a trusted third party take a look at the documents.