mortgage during chapter 13 does house payment have to equal rent?

[valentcm]

HI ,

I was toying with the idea of purchasing a home, but from what I have been reading, the court will probably only give consideration for permission to incur the debt if my payment would be equal or less than my current rent. Is that right?

Any circumstances where this is not the case? Just curious.

What if your rent goes up?

thanks
Cathy

[LadyInTheRed]

If your rent went up enough to decrease your DMI so much that you can't make your plan payment, you would petition to modify your plan.

If buying a home would require your plan payment to decrease, then you are unlikely to get approval to incur debt. The court is not going to let you buy a home at the expense of your creditors. If you can absorb the extra expense without decreasing your plan payment, consult with your attorney. Keep in mind that if the reason you can absorb the increase is that your income has increased, you risk the trustee insisting that instead of buying a home, your plan payment should be increased. Your attorney is the best person to tell you if that is likely. It may be better to put that extra money towards a down payment and buy a house after your discharge. You will probably get better loan terms at that point any way.