Here's another question

[howdidithappen]

If you have more equity in your house than you owe, but can't meet monthly expenses to pay all you owe - what happens? What if you have as much equity
as you owe but can't make the new payments under the bankruptcy?

[lrprn]

(HDIH, I moved your question here into its own thread so it will get more attention and better answers.)

If you have more equity in your house than you owe, but can't meet monthly expenses to pay all you owe - what happens?

If you don't pay your monthly mortgage payment, once you are 2-3 months in arrears, most lenders will start foreclosure proceedings. How long you have before you have to vacate the house depends on your state's foreclosure laws and practices.

If you are asking what happens if you file bankruptcy in this situation, again it all depends on which state you live in and how much equity is allowed in that state. What state are you in?

What if you have as much equity as you owe but can't make the new payments under the bankruptcy?

If you have that much equity and you haven't filed yet, then it makes more sense to try to sell the house first rather than to file bankruptcy.

If you already filed bankruptcy and you have that much equity in your home, you can count on your mortgage company asking for relief from the stay to start foreclosure actions in court.

Does that help?

[SinkingFast]

How much equity are we talking, How??

And how much total debt, besides any mortgages on your house, do you have??

Just an FYI from previous posts/threads,.........

How lives in New Jersey. There's no State Homestead Exemption, but NJ allows Filers to choose Federal. Which gives How $20,200 in Homestead Exemption. Evidently there's more equity than the Exemption will cover. An attny has advised How would have to pay back at 100%.

[howdidithappen]

What also scares me

is the amount my home may sell for - lawyer said equity won't matter - just as long as it sells to pay everybody is all they'll care about... Any comments on that? Thanks!

[keepmine]

I don't know how much plainer anyone can explain it.
If you can't pay secured debt, you lose the asset.If you have enough equity to pay everyone off, sell the house and don't file bk. If that's not the case, the house becomes part of the bk estate and the trustee will liquidate it. They'll price it to sell quickly. The note holder will get paid first and then, you will get whatever equity your state exempts and unsecured creditors get whats left.

[Runnin on empty]

Seems to me like this is a no-brainer situation HDIH. If the house can be sold and the proceeds can pay off the creditors, then do it.

I wish that were the case for us.

[howdidithappen]

Liens/Judgments

I know my mind is racing so I'm probably confusing myself - if Chase were to get a judgment for the $20K - what then happens? If they put a lien on my property (how does that happen - the Court orders it?) - can they then sell my house to get the $20K? (I owe much more but am trying to keep current with those.)

[keepmine]

Let's start from the beginning. How much unsecured debt do you have and, how much equity in your home?
Are you married and if so, is the majority of the debt joint?

[BKTango]

I think it's possible you have gotten yourself so worked up you are now in full blown panic mode and having mass amounts of confusion, thoughts and worries combine and it's just making it worse. Sit down and figure out what you need to do NOW. Sell the home and pay off every creditor you owe and then start over. File bankruptcy have a pretty good chance the trustee will sieze the home due to the equity and he will then payoff the creditors.

As far as any judgments/liens from unsecured creditors. The cannot make you sell your home and take their share. It will never happen. What can happen is they sue you, take you to court, receive a judgment and place a lien on your home. That means that at anytime you sell your home iin the future after paying off the mortgage you have to pay the liens, so in a sense they will get their money then and you will be receiving less of the excess money from the sale.

[SinkingFast]

As I explained to you before,........... When you file Ch 13, the Plan payments have to equal what your Creditors would get if you filed Ch 7.

Evidently, from what you said the one attny advised, you have significant equity in your home. At least as much or more than you owe in outstanding debts.

If you could file Ch 7, the Trustee would most certainly seize and sell your house. Based on what you've said, you have enough equity to pay your Creditors. That's why the attny said you'd have to pay back at 100% in a Ch 13.

Probably your best option is to "Quick Sale" the house. Price it attractively so it will sell fast. Take your proceeds and pay off your other bills.

Then you'll be free to start over fresh with a clean slate and no BK on your Credit.

[HHM]

I'd suggest too, instead of asking these one-off questions and not supplying any helpful background info, sit back, think about your situation...then post a consolidated thread where you tell us what is going on and some background.

i.e. How much equity do you have in your home?
What is your yearly gross income?
What state do you live in?
How much secured and unsecured do you have?
Are you married, single, divorced?
Do you have kids?, if so, how many?
Are you behind on any payments to any creditors?, if so, which ones, and how much?
And anything else about your financial predicament.

Right now, we can't really offer any meaningful advice because you have not supplied us with any meaningful information, all we know is that you have some amount of equity in your home and that an attorney has advised you file chapter 13 (that info doesn't help us).