The housing market gets worse, more foreclosures happening, and more foreclosures coming. Household wealth declines, another predictor of increased bankruptcy filings to come. Even the rich and famous are joining in, word is Mel Gibson facing foreclosure on his Malibu, California properties. People are waiting for loan modifications to save their home are forced into…
Monthly Archives: September 2010
But The Divorce Judgment Says He Has To Pay
We have too much debt in this country, and lots of divorces. I have been practicing law for awhile; I remember the old days when a divorce judgment split the assets between the husband and wife, including the equity in their home. Well, as the song says, those days are gone. Financial troubles are one…
Judicial Mortgage Modification Will Work!
Mortgage cramdown, or judicial mortgage modification, will help prevent home foreclosures and will NOT disrupt the residential mortgage lending market. So says a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. For a less scholarly explanation of Chapter 13 judicial mortgage modification, see the L. A. Times article by Lew Sichelman. Perhaps my favorite…
Debt Collectors Are NOT Your Friends
This is one of the truths in the Money Myths chapter of Dave Ramsey‘s Total Money Makeover. And born out in the experience of my clients, though they often think that debt collectors are our friends. Recently, a client, sat across from me and said she liked the guy at the debt scam company. That…
Home: Rent Or Buy?
The New York Times recently published an elaborate chart of the cost of renting versus buying a home. Well, I could not get past the first line before I had a problem with their analysis. It assumes home values will increase 1% per year. This is the thinking that provided the foundation for the current…
Avoid Foreclosure With Non-Bankruptcy Cramdown?
Is your home worth less than what you owe on the mortgage, or mortgages? That is called: underwater. This encourages people to stop paying and let mortgage foreclosure happen, even if they can afford the payments. In Michigan now, for homes that have a mortgage more than half are underwater. Tune I have been singing…
What Goes Into A Family Budget?
The short answer: everything! Everything that costs you money. Which includes Electronic Funds Transfers from your bank account. And debit cards. And credit cards, until you stop using them. OK, I have not, my American Express is tied into the bankruptcy court for filing fees on the cases I file. I tried to change over…
Pay Credit Card Or Mortgage?
People behind on credit cards declined, but people behind on mortgage payments increased. Huh? Don’t people value their home more than a credit card? That was the conventional wisdom, which a friend of mine points out is usually neither conventional or wise. The CNBC story linked to above wrongly states that mortgages are non-recourse loans….
