Facing the possibility of losing your home is overwhelming, whether it’s after years of steady payments or soon after securing your mortgage. Sudden financial setbacks like job loss or unexpected medical bills can quickly disrupt your ability to stay on track. This guide is here to help you take action with clarity and confidence. Keep reading to learn more about: The best first step you can take, that too few people know about. (Hint: it is not asking the Maryland government for help.) How long you have to take action, and the documents you will need to gather. How an attorney with foreclosure and bankruptcy experience can help you. What Are The First Steps To Take If I Realize I Cannot Afford My Mortgage Payments? First, take a breath. Stress and panic can cloud your judgment. Double-check your finances to confirm if the situation is as dire as it feels. If it is, don’t hesitate—call an attorney experienced in foreclosure and bankruptcy law. There are solutions available, and a knowledgeable attorney will help you identify the best option tailored to your situation. Are There Any…Read More
In this article, you will discover: The Means Test’s role in qualifying for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The documentation required for the Means Test. Your legal options should you fail the Means Test, and how an attorney can help. What Is The Means Test, And How Is It Connected To Bankruptcy? The Means Test is a form you must complete to determine if you qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It looks at your income over the six months before filing for bankruptcy. It compares that income against some expenses established by the Internal Revenue Service and some of your actual expenses. The Means Test also determines whether there is a presumption that filing a Chapter 7 is abusive. Is The Means Test Mandatory In Maryland? Yes. In Maryland and nationally, you must fill out that Means Test form to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy; it's a requirement. What Documents Are Required For The Means Test? You will need to supply income documentation for the past six months. If you are self-employed, you will typically need your operating reports for that period. If you have any other…Read More
Bankruptcy, especially Chapter 7 liquidation, is often misunderstood and carries a heavy stigma. Misconceptions can lead to confusion and missed opportunities for relief. This article will shed light on five widespread Chapter 7 bankruptcy myths, particularly those affecting Maryland residents. Keep reading to learn more about: Why almost anyone can benefit from bankruptcy depending on their circumstances. Why you may get to keep some of your belongings, and will still be able to buy a home despite bankruptcy. How bankruptcy in Maryland will affect you and your wife’s credit. Myth #1: Is Filing For Bankruptcy Only For People With High Debt? False. You don’t need to be drowning in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt to consider bankruptcy. The key is whether the benefits of filing outweigh the costs. For example, if filing will cost $2,000, it wouldn’t make sense for $1,000 of debt. But if you have $8,000 to $10,000 in debt and can get most of it wiped out? That’s a different story. Clients of ours have ranged from having $6,000 to millions in debt—proving that bankruptcy isn’t just for extreme cases.…Read More
If you’re one of the millions of Americans burdened by student loans, you know how stressful managing those payments can be. When life throws more financial challenges your way—like unexpected debts or job loss—it can feel overwhelming, leading you to consider bankruptcy as a potential solution. However, when it comes to student loans, the situation is more complex. This guide walks you through what you need to know about bankruptcy and student loan debt, including: Why most student loans are not usually wiped out by bankruptcy. How different types of bankruptcy affect student loan repayment. What happens to co-signers if you declare bankruptcy. Can I Include Student Loan Debts In A Bankruptcy Filing? Yes, you can list your student loans when you file for bankruptcy. All debts, including student loans, must be disclosed in your filing, even if those loans might not be dischargeable (meaning they might not be eliminated through the bankruptcy process). Are My Student Debts Dischargeable Through Bankruptcy? The dischargeability of student loans in bankruptcy depends on the type of loan—federal or private—and the type of bankruptcy you file. Unfortunately, most student…Read More
Experiencing a short sale can be daunting and may feel like the end of your homeownership journey. However, with strategic planning and proactive measures, recovery is within reach. This guide covers essential advice to help you move forward, including: Strategies for qualifying for a mortgage after a short sale impacts your credit score. Steps to prepare for future homeownership and rebuild credit. Common pitfalls to avoid during and after a short sale. What Is A Short Sale? A short sale occurs when a property is sold for less than the outstanding mortgage/ lien balance, typically as an alternative to foreclosure and with the approval of all lien holders. How Will A Short Sale Impact My Credit Score? A short sale can hurt your credit score because it’s seen as settling a debt for less than the full amount. Here’s why: Missed Payments: If you’ve fallen behind on your mortgage or related payments, it negatively impacts your credit score. Debt Settlement: The difference between your mortgage/ lien balance and the sale price—known as forgiven debt—further impacts your score and it could result in tax implications as…Read More
My understanding is that the lender is basically just going to pick up where they left off. It’s like time froze for a year and a half, and now, we are resuming normal procedures. I don’t think that courts have dismissed these cases due to failure to prosecute because they’ve been tied up. The judges know that the lenders are not free to move along with these cases unless they are in a limited situation involving a private lender or vacant property. Otherwise, a lot of these that were at various stages are just going to pick up from the point where they left off. If they hadn’t been filed, there is a process that has to happen before a foreclosure case can be filed in Maryland if it’s an owner-occupied property, so the lenders will most likely begin that process. There is probably going to be a backlog, so it’s hard to say how long it will take for the floodgates to fully open, as they say. I’ve heard that certain lenders aren’t going to be doing foreclosures until next year. Even though the…Read More
The process varies by state. If you apply for a forbearance by the deadline, which is currently the end of September of this year, the lender won’t be able to foreclose on you while you are in a forbearance plan. However, if people don’t act, that could start the clock running on the foreclosure. In Maryland, the foreclosure process takes about four to six months, depending on whether the homeowner still lives in the property and whether they’ve requested a mediation. Foreclosure is not a process where you miss your payment and then are out of your house the next day. There are some things that have to happen, and there are ways to stop that process by filing bankruptcy or, in some cases, applying for assistance. Homeowners who’ve applied for assistance in a timely manner have some protection in place, and their foreclosure process can be put on hold. Do Banks Want To Put Delinquent Homeowners In Foreclosure At The Moment? I’ve stopped trying to figure out what banks want to do because they never seem to apply the same logic. In many instances,…Read More
The eviction moratorium has not expired. The CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed an order dated August 3, 2021, determining that eviction of tenants for failure to pay rent or housing payments could be detrimental to public health control measures to slow the spread of SARS COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. That order expires on October 3, 2021, and applies to United States counties experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of SARS COV-2. What that means is that the moratorium is not everywhere. In some counties around this country, those that have lower amounts of transmission of this virus, landlords may be able to evict tenants at this time. But in areas like Florida and Texas (at least in parts of those states), they will probably have this moratorium in place till October 3, at the very least (the order could be extended). I know there have been some legal challenges to this that are currently in the courts. Some are arguing that this moratorium is unconstitutional. It will be interesting to see how those cases play out. Was The Moratorium…Read More
The first form of relief is to do a refinance. If it’s a private student loan, it can sometimes be refinanced to get a lower interest rate. There is also deferment and forbearance, two programs that allow you to pause your payments for a certain period of time. In deferment, no interest accrues during the time that you are not paying, whereas with forbearance, the interest continues to build on the loan. You’ll end up owing more in a forbearance situation than you would have had you deferred the loan, and there are different requirements for being able to do either of those. There are also different kinds of income-driven repayment plans. Essentially, the program you would qualify for depends on what kind of loan you have, but typically, you pay a percentage of your discretionary income into a plan for a period lasting between 20 to 25 years. After that period of time, if you’ve made all of your payments, the debt is forgiven. Some borrowers in certain professions might be eligible for public service loan forgiveness. If they make ten years of payments…Read More
The U.S. student loan debt is characterized as a debt crisis in this country. Currently, about 45 million Americans hold more than $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. Of that, about 92% is backed by the American taxpayers. Cumulative student loan debt is the second largest category of consumer debt after mortgages, which struck me as being pretty crazy. While tuition is what we normally think of with student loan debt, there’s also the cost of other things that students need, such as housing, food, books, and supplies, and all of those things go up in price every year, which contributes to the problem. It’s not a simple issue, but there is some movement to try to fix some of the problem. Because it’s impossible for people to escape student loan debt in most cases, the lenders that offer the student loans have little motivation to assess the creditworthiness of the people that they lend to. In other words, the lenders don’t need to underwrite these loans as they would if they were assessing someone for a mortgage, for example, where they would look at…Read More