My wife passed away and I have fallen behind in my mortgage payments (4) I put my home up for sale, but the bank is threatening forecloser.

Many real estate agents attempt to give legal advice, I feel because they spend so much time around attorneys. The simple fact is your real estate agent is completely wrong. Local bank cannot make up their own rules, they are governed by the same rules that the large banks are governed by. Mortgages are governed by federal law and small banks cannot make up their own rules. With that being said I'm sorry to inform you that the passing of your wife will have no bearing on stopping your foreclosure. There are two things you can do to stop the foreclosure and give you enough time to sell your house. The best method would be to use a chapter 13 bankruptcy, the problem with this is if you can't make your normal monthly payments you most likely will not be able to make your normal monthly payments and the additional payments due in the repayment plan. If this occurs simply have your attorney file to convert your chapter 13 to a chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy will discharge your debt and also give you the breathing room to sell your home. If your home does not sell, you can simply walk away from it and you will not suffer any of the tax ramifications of your home being sold at a foreclosure sale and owing the bank the delinquency between the mortgage and sale price. If you mathematically cannot make your mortgage payments and your certain you will be foreclosed upon, either chapter 13 bankruptcy or chapter 7 bankruptcy will be the best chance you have in staying on a foreclosure and not facing the IRS tax ramifications of the delinquency between your mortgage and the sale price of your home. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://fallriverbankruptcyattorney.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147 #bankruptcy  #lawyer  #FallRiver  #Chapter7  #chapter13  #debt  #debtsettlement  #foreclosure  #attorney   #cantpaybills  #lawsuit  #court  #bankruptcycourt  #eviction  #lostmyjob