Questions...please help.

[truckerswife]

1) Foreclosure process.... We have a Status Report Hearing scheduled for next month. What is that? 2) We want to file bk 7 (?) so we can keep our house how long do we have in the foreclosure process to do this? We are in the process of paying the attorney. 3) Our attorney said that based on what we owe our repayments would take place over 24 months. We have missed several (4) mortgage payments since then...would it be possible to extend the payments to maybe 36 months? Otherwise I don't know how we can make it, that would leave no wiggle room in the budget. Last question...we were told that all elective withdrawls from my husbands check (he is the only one filing and the only one on the mortgage loan) had to stop. I am going to be able to start Flexible Spending and Insurance at my job soon. I have medical issues and know that I am going to have to have surgery. Will I not be able to contribute? Sorry if this is to many questions. Thanks for the help. Oh, we are in Ohio. OOPS! Sorry, he is filing chapter 13.

[BassBoy]

First, the only way to keep property in a Ch.7 is to be current with the payments, which I gather from your post, you are not. Anyways, you can cure the default at anytime during the foreclosure process.

Second, I don't understand what you mean by repayments. Do you mean if you were to file Ch.13? If so, I don't believe you can "negotiate" the term (# of months) of a Ch.13 plan.

[lrprn]

Here's a link to how foreclosures typically operate in Ohio - http://www.foreclosures.com/www/page...2.asp?state=OH . Looks like the whole process typically takes about five months, but since your lender has already gone to court, you will probably have less time than that.

I don't believe you can "negotiate" the term (# of months) of a Ch.13 plan.

BB is right - the 2005 revised bankruptcy law states the Ch 13 payments must be made for 36 months or 60 months (although some bankruptcy courts will allow a little leeway - for example, our plan is for 57 months).

The four months of missed payments can be made up during your husband's Ch 13 and you can keep your house - that's the big advantage of filing Ch 13 over Ch 7. However, there must to be enough disposable income (at least $180/month on the Means Test) and your creditors have to get as much as they would in a Ch 7 in order to qualify to file Ch 13. Until you pay the attorney's requested retainer, he/she probably hasn't completed the Means Test to know for certain whether your husband qualifies for Ch 13 or not.

What is your husband's gross income for the last six full calendar months? How about you? How many dependents are living with you? (Just trying to get a sense of where you stand against Ohio's median income for your family size. If your income is at least several thousand dollars above the median, chances are your husband will qualify for Ch 13.)

[truckerswife]

He makes around $700 a week and I make $420, that is before taxes of course. We don't have kids. I wasn't working when we got our mortgage and it took along time to find a job. That is how we got behind on the mortgage. The only reason we are filing is because we want to keep our home. He only has maybe $5000 in unsecured credit. Our car payment is only $107 a month and it is current and wont be included (there was a co-signer). Besides that the only credit payment we have is a line of credit (also co-signed) and its current. But our mortgage payments total $870 a month and we are 8 months behind now. Thanks for the help. We should have waited to buy a home but it was our first and we got to excited. that was a year ago(0 down of course) and so we don't even have any equity. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[lrprn]

He makes around $700 a week and I make $420, that is before taxes of course. We don't have kids.

Ok, that means that your combined gross income/year is $58,240. The median annual income in Ohio for a family of two is $47,874 (http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/2...come_table.htm), so your combined income may be above the median enough to support a Ch 13 plan to save your house (both of your incomes are taken into account on the Means Test even when only one person in a marriage is filing).

This is a hard question to ask and please, I'm not being critical, but are you certain you will be able to keep up with the mortgage payments after your husband files? You aren't wiping out very much unsecured debt at all to free up more money for payments. If you are late paying your mortgage even one month, your mortgage company is going to file to lift the automatic stay and start foreclosure proceedings in court again.

If you save the house but the house is really more than you can afford and it keeps you in serious on-the-edge debt for decades to come, is it really worth it? (And only you and your husband can answer that question.)