Chapter 13 - We want to foreclose

[greg0610]

In December, I went to see an attorney for the first time. He told me my payment would be $900 (which includes my vehicle of which I pay $670 alone right now). I have a house mortgage of $230,000. It is probably valued at about $100,000 or possibly lower. At first, we decided to wait to see if the cramdown bill was going to go through before we filed. It is April, we still have not filed and for some reason, I have not been able to get ahold of my attorney on the phone for 17 days now. I would like to file soon because my husband is starting to make more money now and it is based on the 6 months prior to filing. I am in Nevada. My question is this, since I cant get my attorney to call back: Can I dump my house and file Chapter 13. At this point, I dont feel its worth saving. It is a fixer upper and I'll never be able to get it back up to what it should be. I know that my payment will be higher in my repayment plan based on the fact that I'm dumping my $1800 a month house vs. a rent payment (which the means only allows $1253 unless its your mortgage). Should I wait to file until the house forecloses, can I file even though it has not, .... so confused. I dont know what to do and my attorney will not call me back. Should I send a complaint to the bar? Hire a new attorney?

[lrprn]

Given that your house is so upside down, filing a 13 to save it doesn't make a lot of sense (although there could be extenuating factors that still make a 13 necessary in your situation).

Most lawyers will advise you to surrender the house as a part of your filed bankruptcy. That makes a bit lesser 'hit' on your post-filing credit scores and can make getting a home after bankruptcy a bit easier with only one big ding (the bk) rather than two (the bk AND the foreclosure) showing up on your credit reports.

I would say that a lawyer who doesn't contact you for 17 days after you leave messages isn't interested in your business and likely won't change this habit after hiring him. Move on and find another lawyer who can meet your needs better. Have lawyer #2 help you get any money you paid lawyer #1 back.

[greg0610]

He actually called me back last night and gave me the same advice. He apologized and said he was out of town taking care of a sick family member. We should be filing soon. He told me to file after I get the foreclosure notice, but before the foreclosure goes through. He said its about 110 days from the foreclosure notice until the foreclosure goes through.

I think I'm going to file soon, because my husband is making more on workers comp then he has for the last 4 months. Another question - if workers comp doesnt take taxes out, but you know you have to pay them at the end of the year - does the trustee take that into account when you work out your payment program?