Notice of Decision - what does this mean?

[eddiep]

I called the court on Monday and requested a copy of the Motion filed and granted. It was a motion to amend writ specifications.

The amendment is due to a clerical error in calculating the amount due and it was not in my favor, big surprise.

[catleg]

I believe in some states these judgment liens may lead to foreclosure. Be careful.

[Hollow]

I believe in some states these judgment liens may lead to foreclosure. Be careful.

Do you have a link?

If there is a first or second mortgage on the property the lien will have no effect until the property is sold.

[eddiep]

I got my court date today june 23 so filing the appearance did not even buy me 30 days. I spoke with the bank today, they told me last week that the documents would be delivered in 7 days, today they said they will be sent out on the 24th.

I talked to my bk lawyer today. He says not to worry. He wants my hubby (the card is in his name only) to appear in court on the 23rd and ask the to judge delay the lien for 60 days and explain that we are preparing to file for bankruptcy protection and that we are waiting for the loan modification documents to arrive. He wants me to bring my bk certification, loan mod agreement docs, a copy of his invoice to present as proof of my intentions. He said that this is not an uncommon request and the court may prefer to delay judgement than waste the courts time by placing and removing a lien. And if worse comes to worse he will remove the lien after the bk. He also tried to calm me down about the terms and conditions in the offer to modify. He said that this is generic, cover their butts in an extreme situation, wording and that in no way would this lien jepordize their stake in my property. I am still scared about the mod though, my loan processor was definate that my docs would be delivered this week and without warning or excuse they will now need two more weeks to complete them. the can and will do whatever the heck they want to do and I have no say whatsoever! Wish me luck!!!

[eddiep]

OK, want to explain to me how you arrive at this conclusion?

So, if I owed less on my house than it was worth (meaning I had equity in the house) can you please explain to me how having a mortgage of any type prevents someone with a lien from forcing the sale of the property?

I know for a fact that in most states the court can order the sale of any personal property to satisfy a lien if sufficient equity is available in that asset. Its only a simple matter of paying off the first and second mortgages from the proceeds of the sale. So yes, you can lose your house to a judgment.

If there is any equity it is not enough to cover the amount owed to the cc. In NH the bk homestead exemption is $100k each (I believe). Is this the same in a judgment situation or do they have their own exemption amount?

[eddiep]

Oh no! does that mean that I might have to hand over my other cow! How do I decide which one to keep? and isn't a hog a pig? Do some states let you keep the sheep but not the fleece? The exemptions are generous and I do have the option of federal exemptions in bk which are also very generous, but how embarrasing, like we are a bunch of farming hicks!

So if we only have 0 to 10k in equity and are good law abidin folk that they wouldn't be able to force a foreclosure right? They only mentioned a lien on our real property so that means we can keep all our cars and chickens right?

Does the court use the same list of exemptions for bk as a lawsuit?

[DownNotOut]

I didn't find anyplace it said "each" but yes the NH exemption is a whopping $100K. But there are some provisos of the law that remove it;

An absolute $125,000 homestead cap applies if either:
◦the court determines that the debtor has been convicted of a felony demonstrating that the filing of the case was a abuse of the provision of the Bankruptcy Code; or
◦the debtor owes a debt arising from a violation of federal or state securities laws, fiduciary fraud, racketeering, or crimes or intentional torts that caused serious bodily injury or death in the preceding 5 years

For a judgment that did not arise from the above they would have to follow the exemptions listed for all property not just houses. it includes cars and your 1 hog and 1 pig, or pork if already slaughtered; 6 sheep and their fleeces; 1 cow, and hay up to 4 tons; domestic fowls up to $300.

BigBoy, can you clarify this for me? Does this mean that one would be considered "judgment proof" based on their state's bk property exemptions?

In FL, we basically have an unlimited exemption on homestead. I am waiting to file bk as well, but if someone were to try to sue in the mean time would that mean that they can't get a lien on my home?

I don't think I'm in any danger of being sued anytime soon as it's only been since Feb. that I stopped paying the cc's, but what a load off my mind if that were true.

Oh, also I don't have any wages or other property that's worth anything.

Just trying to get a clearer picture - sorry I'm so dense!

[DownNotOut]

Thanks BB!

I understand it now. I will look into what FL law says about exemptions in judgments.

ETA:

I found this:

Debtor's rights in Florida

http://library.findlaw.com/1998/Dec/1/126478.html

It contains very valuable information including that a lien cannot be placed on a home to satisfy a debt that is not related to the home.

Thanks again, BB