The foreclosure crisis was supposed to end with help from the federal government. Consumer Bankruptcy News reports in the May 6, 2010 issue that the response of the federal government to the mortgage crisis is too slow.  The article reports that is has “been more than one year since President Obama announced the establishment of the Making Home Affordable initiative that included the Home Affordable Modification Plan.”  The plan was supposed to help between 7 and 9 million families restructure their mortgages and save their homes from foreclosure by the mortgage companies.  The article goes on to report that “the actual number of homeowners who have received final, five-year loan modifications through the program administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury stands at 168,708.

The Congressional Oversight Panel’s April 2010 report entitled, Evaluating Progress of Tarp Foreclosure Mitigation Programs, “finds that Treasury is still struggling to get its foreclosure programs off the ground even as the crisis continues unabated.”  The report also states that in 2009, 2.8 million homeowners received a foreclosure notice,and one in four homeowners with a mortgage currently has negative equity. While housing prices have begun to stabilize in many regions, home values in several metropolitan areas continue to fall sharply.”

I have personally witnessed in my Dallas, Rome, Cartersville and Dalton Georgia office locations that consumers are not getting the promised federal help they need to stop the foreclosure of their homes.  While I have seen a few loan modifications approved even after my clients have filed Chapter 13, most loan modification applications have been denied.  I have been shocked how many mortgage companies are aggressively pursuing foreclosure in this dreadful market.

The good news is that Chapter 13 stops foreclosure   In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, we can eliminate credit card debt and medical debt.  As a result, most consumers find it much easier to make their future mortgage payments when they no longer have worry about their past due credit card debts and medical debts.

We serve Calhoun and all of Gordon County with our offices located in Rome, Dalton and Cartersville. I look forward to meeting with you soon.

If you miss a few mortgage payments while you are in Chapter 13 in the Northern District of Georgia, the attorneys for the mortgage company will file a Motion for Relief against you.  They will charge you approximately $800 for filing this motion.  Generally, we can work out a deal with them to put their attorney fees into your Chapter 13 plan and spread out the missed payments over six months.  If this is not feasible, the motion will be granted and your house will be foreclosed. 

You must keep proof of all mortgage payments you make. If you don’t have proof of the payment, you may get stuck having to make it again.

Call me if you have any questions.

The answer to “when will the house be foreclosed on in Georgia” is that it depends on your mortgage company. Some companies move really fast. Other take up a year before they get around to finally conducting the foreclosure sale in Georgia.

Here is what the mortgage company must do in Georgia to foreclose on your house.  First, they must advertise your house for four weeks prior to the foreclosure date.  In all likelihood, you will receive a flood of advertisements once your house is being advertised. Pay attention to the mail you receive. A few months ago, I met with a man that lived in Hiram Georgia whose wife was hiding the mail from him. She was so stressed out that she did not open the mail. As a result, their house got foreclosed and they didn’t even know it! Read your mail!

Normally, foreclosures are conducted the first Tuesday of each month.  Holidays can mess up this general rule.  If you are in the middle of the month and your house is not being advertised in the legal organ of your county, you have at least forty days before the foreclosure can take place because the mortgage company will have to wait until next month to begin to advertise your house.

Second, the mortgage company is required to send you notification of the foreclosure   You should have at least four weeks notice of the foreclosure date.  Notice to you is generally accomplished by sending you a certified letter. When the mailman shows up to your house and leaves that green sticky thing on your door, don’t ignore it. Drive to your local Georgia Post Office and get that letter so that you know what is coming down the pipe.

Chapter 13 can stop the foreclosure and save your house. Take advantage of a free consultation and meet with a bankruptcy attorney.

Other Posts:

1. What is Chapter 13?

2. What is Chapter 7?

3. How much does it cost to file?

4.  Stop Garnishment

5.  Stop Foreclosure

The answer to this question is maybe.  If you have a foreclosure scheduled against you, you should file Chapter 13 to stop the foreclosure and save your home.  I have had so many clients where someone from the mortgage company called and told the homeowner that they would try to work something out to stop the foreclosure   Nothing got worked out, and they lost their home.  Ask yourself this question, “If the mortgage is willing to work with me, why did they file the foreclosure action against me in the first place?”  If your mortgage company says they are going to call off the foreclosure, GET IT IN WRITING before the foreclosure date.  If you are considering Chapter 13 to the stop the foreclosure, call me today at 888-832-8249 for your free consultation.  We need time to get your paperwork prepared.  Don’t wait until the last second.

If someone tells you to pay them money so that they can “renegotiate your loan,” don’t do it!  There are so many scams.  Take advantage of a free consultation with an attorney and let a bankruptcy attorney review any offers you are considering.

If you want a loan modification, you can speak to your mortgage company directly.  You don’t need to pay anyone to help you with any type of loan modification.  Go to the Federal Trade Commission website and read all about the foreclosure scams. Call the FTC at 888-HOPE-NOW.

I was speaking with a client from my Dallas GA office a few months ago who was victimized by one these scams.  She actually mailed some company in Florida $600 to get her loan renegotiated.  This company did absolutely nothing for my client accept take her money.  The FTC has really started cracking down hard on these types of scams.

Yes.  If you file Chapter 13 and are able to continue to make regular monthly mortgage payments, your house cannot be foreclosed on while you are in Chapter 13    The important question is, “Can you afford your future payments?”  If so, Chapter 13 is a great option for you.  Any past due payments on your mortgage can be put into your Chapter 13 plan.

My Dalton office is located at 201 A West Crawford Street, Dalton GA, 30720.  From Walnut Avenue, head north on 41/Thornton Avenue.  When you see the Post Office on your left, you need to take a right.  We are the second brick building on your right.  If you get the Wink Theatre, you just barely went too far.  Check out my website at   www.kellycanhelp.com.

Dalton Bankruptcy Attorney

If you have a car that was purchased more than 910 days before you file, Chapter 13 might be a better option for you as opposed to Chapter 7  In a Chapter 13, if your car was purchased more than 910 days before filing, section 506A valuation will apply to your plan.  This means that you may have to pay back only the value of the car and not the amount owed.  For people who are upside down on their car loans, this is a huge benefit.  If you would like to check out the value of your car, I recommend that you go to  www.nada.com.

In addition to wiping out some of the amount owed on your vehicle, the interest rate paid on car notes in most Chapter 13 plans is currently between six and seven percent.  Most buy here pay here lots in Northwest Georgia charge between 25 and 30 percent annual interest.   Chapter 13 can you a huge savings in interest payments.

For people who are behind on car payments, Chapter 13 allows to pay the entire car note through the plan and keep your car.   Chapter 13 is a great tool for stopping car repossessions.

Chapter 13 also allows a person to take any missed mortgage payments on a house and pay them out over the course of the plan.  Most Chapter 13 plans run from three to five years.   Chapter 13 is a great tool for stopping foreclosures.

Call me today for your free consultation at 706-295-0030 and lets see if Chapter 13 can help you.

In my experience, I have seen many clients who have been forced to file either Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 because of a recent divorce.  When the household income is cut in half but the household expenses remain the same, paying credit card debt is impossible.

A common post-divorce example is that each spouse is ordered by a divorce judge to pay half of all joint debts.  When one person gets into a situation where they can’t pay, the other person often hauls them back into divorce court for a contempt proceeding for not paying the joint debt.  Usually the cause of one spouse not paying is a loss of job or new expenses from a new marriage/new family.  Contempt proceedings in divorce court may get the nonpaying ex-spouse to come up with funds to avoid going to jail in the short term but the underlying situation does not change.  Whatever the cause, the nonpaying ex-spouse cannot pay.  This cycle continues until the person who has been paying their side of the debts can no longer afford to pay an attorney to keep hauling the other person into divorce court.  After thousands of dollars and heartache, both end up filing bankruptcy.

Couples who are under financial strain should consider bankruptcy before the divorce.  It does not cost anything to meet with me and let me analyze your situation.  Perhaps the removal of the financial strain might save the marriage?