Posts by Craig Andresen
FHA Says You Can Qualify for a Mortgage Two Years After Filing Bankruptcy
It seems everyone knows that you can’t get a mortgage after filing for bankruptcy, or that bankruptcy will forever ruin your credit, or that you will never again be able to finance the purchase of a new car if you file bankruptcy. On the other hand, everyone seems to know you have to wait ten years…
Read MoreWorried About the Bankruptcy Means Test? Supreme Court Says It Doesn’t Apply in Chapter 13
If your income is above the median income for your state, then it’s likely you already know that you’ll have to pass the “means test” if you want to file chapter 7. Congress put the means test into the bankruptcy law in 2005, presumably to induce more bankruptcy debtors to file debt-repayment chapter 13 cases rather…
Read MoreRemember, There are Two Kinds of Short Sales
If your home mortgage is underwater (meaning your home is worth less than the amount you owe on the mortgage), or if you can no longer afford the monthly mortgage payments, you might be considering a short sale. This is a sale for less than the balance owed on the mortgage, which can only be…
Read MoreYou Don’t Need Bankruptcy To “Discharge” Your Home Mortgage After a Foreclosure
Good news for Minnesota homeowners whose monthly mortgage payments are so high that paying the mortgage is next to impossible: the myth that you have to pay the mortgage lender whatever its losses are after a foreclosure is just that, a myth. This is because Minnesota Statutes section 582.30, and section 580.23, prevent a mortgage lender…
Read MoreA Legal Myth Busted — Spouses Are Not Responsible For Each Others’ Debts
There are plenty of legal myths that have made their way into the popular consciousness, but few have had the staying power of the myth that spouses are legally responsible for each other’s debts. As a matter of logic or chivalry, this myth does have a certain appeal, but the fact remains that in every one of the United States, spouses…
Read MoreThree Years After a Mortgage Foreclosure, You’re Eligible for a New Mortgage, FHA Says
The federal mortgage guaranty agency’s regulations say that three years after a mortgage foreclosure, you’re once again eligible for a home mortgage without regard to the prior foreclosure. Although you may think this is too good to be true, it’s true anyways, as FHA and HUD regulations show. You might think you heard that you…
Read MoreFiling Bankruptcy Can Help Improve Your Credit Score
Okay, right now you’re probably wondering if the headline of this article is a joke, and why your valuable time should be spent reading an article on bankruptcy that isn’t serious. Except the headline is not a joke, and I am being serious. Banks don’t think like you and I do, and eliminating debts through bankruptcy can…
Read MoreThe Reasons You Have To List All The Things You Own In Your Bankruptcy Papers
The first time you meet with a bankruptcy lawyer, he or she is bound to mention that you are required to list all the things you own in your bankruptcy papers — even things you want to keep out of the bankruptcy. You might wonder why this is so important. After all, some property is…
Read MoreSecond Mortgage Lien Stripping in Chapter 13 Approved by Appeals Court
Minnesota residents no longer need to wonder if a second mortgage (or any junior mortgage) can be “stripped” in a chapter 13 case, thanks to a recent ruling by the Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. In this Minnesota case, In re Fisette, No. 11-6012 (8th Cir. BAP August 29, 2011), the appeals court sided with…
Read MoreHow Do I Prepare a List of Debts for My Bankruptcy Petition?
Your bankruptcy lawyer will ask you for a list of debts, probably during the very first meeting you have with him or her. While this initial list of debts need not be very detailed, when it comes time to file your case in bankruptcy court, you will need a list which includes the name and…
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