Hoping to modify your mortgage this year? The last thing this blog is about is killing hope, but good luck with that. Why are mortgage modifications so hard to get, in Massachusetts and elsewhere? Because your mortgage servicer really doesn’t want you to succeed! Amazing, but true. And that proposition now has some academic backing, [...]

The purpose of filing a consumer bankruptcy case is pretty obvious; to eliminate debts that can’t be paid, so that the debtor can receive a financial “fresh start.” That ideal is compromised, however, when debts don’t go away despite filing the case. Sometimes this is a matter of public policy (e.g. the current law on [...]

Here is a good simple explanation from well – known bankruptcy attorney Cathy Moran on the status of underwater liens after a Chapter 7 case is filed: http://www.bankruptcymastery.com/how-long-can-underwater-lien-hold-its-breathe/ As she explains, the lien itself is still on the books after you file a bankruptcy case. Debtors may need to take additional action to deal with [...]

Here’s a little primer on Lien Stripping and Cramdown by a Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyer who has done many of these cases. If you are a homeowner and wish to restructure your debt repayment under Chapter 13 bankruptcy it may be possible to have the court discharge the second mortgage on your home through a process [...]

You are probably aware just how difficult it can be for a homeowner to get a mortgage modification when he or she needs one. Perhaps you have had a personal experince trying to get your mortgage modified, only to be told “no” after submitting reams of paperwork. Is it possible that a bankruptcy court mediation [...]

Home values in the Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill areas have been hit hard. Even Andover and North Andover homeowners have seen big drops in value and lots of negative equity. Many have turned to short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure to get out of their “problem house” when they need to move. Soon many more [...]

Some folks just love to wait until the last minute to get improtant things done. And then there are those folks who wait until after the last minute . . . In the world of bankruptcy law, it has long been thought that there is nothing that can be done to recover a house that [...]

The Boston Globe recently reported that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is not backing off her invetigation into the practices of the Mortgage Electronic Registration System known as MERS. Recently, a Massachusetts bankruptcy judge found no fault in the use of MERS to record mortages in dummy names at the registry of deeds statewide and [...]

A few years ago, the bankruptcy code was amended to “encourage” debtors to reaffirm thier auto and truck loans; if no reaffirmation agreement was signed within a specified time after filing the bankruptcy case, lenders got back their repossession rights without having to go to court and ask permission. But what happens if you lease [...]

Under the present bankruptcy law, it is very difficult to use a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan to impose your own mortgage modification on the primary lender for a residential home. There have been near constant efforts to get the Congress to change this, but so far the pleas have fallen mostly on deaf ears. The [...]