job loss and chapter 13

[CH13Ntexas]

Hello, we are about a year in our chapter 13 repayment plan. just found out that due to a company buyout, hubby's job is very fragile. we are trying to look to the future in case of a layoff. our concern is our home. hubby can find another job easily but will likely be $12-13 less an hour than what he's getting now. we could relocate for a better paying job but the problem is our mortage. we have no equity in our home and even if we could sell it, realistically we would still owe 40-50K on the loan. how will this affect our chapter 13, we already pay over 1k a month in payments. I don't know how we could pay more each month.
would they extend the lenghth of the chapter 13? what happens is we just give the house back? what is we sell the house but still owe money?

[SinkingFast]

You are Old Law so Old Law rules will govern what you can and cannot do.

You may be eligible to go back to the Court and petition for a Ch 7. I'm not familiar enough with Old Law to know the timing between filings. If you can go 7, that will take care of the Mortgage Lender and the Mortgage deficit for you, plus all the other debt you claimed for discharge in the Ch 13 plan. Then you'd be free to move on to greener pastures and better paying jobs.

Also, in Ch 13, if Hubby does loose his current job, finds a lower paying job, and you decide to stay put, you can have your attny ammend your Plan payment schedule with the Trustee and the Court.

[13inOR]

I think you could go to a chapter 7 as long as you arent behind on your mortgage, and still keep your home. That might be the best option, or a modifed plan might work too. But keeping current on your mortgage leaves you with more options, thats for sure.

But, maybe you dont want to keep it, and the chapter 7 could help take care of that too.

[SinkingFast]

13inOR is right. With little to no equity, you could go 7, stay right where you are, and probably keep the house. But the question will be, can you make it work on less money in the paycheck?

To answer your "What will happen if we give the house back or sell for less than we owe",............

We are hoping to go Ch 7. The attny hasn't gotten thru everything yet to tell us his best advice for what Ch we actually will be.

We're giving up our house either way. It's outa state where we used to live. We've been trying for months to sell and haven't. Best we've done is get a contingent offer on it. Which probably scares other buyers from making an offer. Why make an offer on a property you're hoping for only to have the other guy jump in, activate his kick-out, and buy the place out from under you.

We thought if the house went in the BK, that would just be one black mark on our Credit History. Attny said not true. It's 2 anyway we go about it. If we're nice and give the Lender a DIL so they can move on selling the place, the DIL will show. If we drag the house thru the BK, the Lender will have to Foreclose after the stay is lifted to get the Deed in their name. Then the Foreclosure will show. Either way, it's a double whammy if we can't sell before the BK ball gets rolling. And chances are looking like NOT there.

So if you offer the Lender a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, or Short Sale and discharge the debt in Ch 7 BK, it's gonna show on your Credit Report either way.

[aa06a47]

13inOR is right. With little to no equity, you could go 7, stay right where you are, and probably keep the house. But the question will be, can you make it work on less money in the paycheck?

To answer your "What will happen if we give the house back or sell for less than we owe",............

We are hoping to go Ch 7. The attny hasn't gotten thru everything yet to tell us his best advice for what Ch we actually will be.

We're giving up our house either way. It's outa state where we used to live. We've been trying for months to sell and haven't. Best we've done is get a contingent offer on it. Which probably scares other buyers from making an offer. Why make an offer on a property you're hoping for only to have the other guy jump in, activate his kick-out, and buy the place out from under you.

We thought if the house went in the BK, that would just be one black mark on our Credit History. Attny said not true. It's 2 anyway we go about it. If we're nice and give the Lender a DIL so they can move on selling the place, the DIL will show. If we drag the house thru the BK, the Lender will have to Foreclose after the stay is lifted to get the Deed in their name. Then the Foreclosure will show. Either way, it's a double whammy if we can't sell before the BK ball gets rolling. And chances are looking like NOT there.

So if you offer the Lender a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, or Short Sale and discharge the debt in Ch 7 BK, it's gonna show on your Credit Report either way.

Sinkingfast, I think most contingent offers has a clause to protect you........for example, if a better offer happens, the other buyer has a certain amount of time to decide if they want it or not. Might check with you agent.

[SinkingFast]

Sinkingfast, I think most contingent offers has a clause to protect you........for example, if a better offer happens, the other buyer has a certain amount of time to decide if they want it or not. Might check with you agent.

It's a "Kick Out" clause to protect the initial buyer. In our case, if we get another offer, the first guy has 72 hours to initiate purchase or he's out. Then we could sell to the next person who made an offer.

Our buyer has 1 week to get his inspections done and has to close within 2 weeks. He's got funds on deposit to cover the down payment, and he's got loan approval to carry a swing or bridge loan. He's very well qualified. If we could just get another offer, it would force his hand to buy, and we'd have a sale.

Our realtors have been trying to get someone to make an offer hoping to force the contingent buyer's hand, but to date, no takers yet.

People don't want to get their hopes up that they may get to buy the home only to have the first offer buyer come in and purchase out from under them.

Doesn't matter if the 2nd buyer offers more money or not. The first guy in line still gets first dibs. And our contingent buyer won't buy our house until he sells his. Even tho he can.