QUESTION
Could I file bankruptcy if I cannot afford my mortgage or bills?
Asked on Sep 01st, 2015 on Bankruptcy - New York
More details to this question:
I lost my job in Aug. 2014, and have been living on unemployment ever since. I have a foreclosure date of June 14. The mortgage company has used predatory tactics to cause me to be behind and more in debt because of their late fees and the unwillingness to help me at all. I got the mortgage in 2010, and divorced in 2008. I wanted to keep the house, so I took it over and the kids and I stayed in it. I also own approx. 5 acres around the land included in the mortgage that I paid for. I want to put a trailer on that property as I have filed for SS disability, and my income will not be enough to pay the mortgage. My kids are gone and on their own. I don’t want to have enormous debt and a mortgage to have to deal with. What should I do?
3 ANSWERS
Commercial & Bankruptcy Law Attorney serving Powell, OH
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Ronald K. Nims
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Bankruptcy sounds like a good option for you, I would recommend that you put the trailer on the 5 acres you own and move into it before you file the bankruptcy. That way, the trailer and five acres are covered by your homestead exemption?
Answered on Sep 02nd, 2015 at 1:45 PM
You are asking a lot of complicated questions in a forum designed to give basic information and I will try to address some of these issues in the limited space available. But you ought to consult with a bankruptcy attorney in your community. You can file bankruptcy if you are eligible to do so. But bankruptcy will not give you clean title to your property and to keep your property, you will have to be able to keep the mortgage company from foreclosing on you. June 14 was a couple of months ago, so if your property was foreclosed on, it is gone and you cannot get it back. Your mortgage company has no obligation to help you. They lent you money to buy your house and they have every legal right to demand that you pay them back according to the terms of the written contract you signed with them. It is not clear whether the land you have is separate from the mortgage or not, but if it is fully paid for, you may live on it if you wish. To be able to claim it as a homestead you must, in fact, live on it.
Answered on Sep 02nd, 2015 at 10:42 AM
Yes that is what bankruptcy is for to do that.
Answered on Sep 01st, 2015 at 8:06 PM