Why did I file bankruptcy?
People will generally file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy because they have fallen behind on house payments or car payments. It is explained to them in order to be successful in their bankruptcy they will need to be able to make their regular expenses plus the trustee payment.
Yes, bankruptcy can help a person save their house, but it can only protect you for so long. When the stay gets lifted on a Debtor’s house and he comes to talk to me the same question is always asked. “I thought bankruptcy was supposed to protect my house. Why did I file bankruptcy in the first place?”
To clear up any misconceptions by Debtors, bankruptcy will help you, but it won’t give you a free ride. The last Debtors I met with in the situation where the stay got lifted on their house, I had to go through step-by-step to explain what happened in their case and why bankruptcy can’t protect them forever.
I explained the reason they had to file bankruptcy was because they had fallen behind on their house and they wanted to stop the foreclosure. After filing bankruptcy, they fell behind on their house and we got the mortgage company to agree to allow them to include their post-petition arrears in their Chapter 13 plan with some provision. The main provision is that the Debtors must stay current on their mortgage payment. They are allowed to receive 2 notices of default and must cure those notices. The third notice the stay can automatically be lifted.
After falling behind on their mortgage payments twice and using the bankruptcy system to continue living in the house, they fell behind again and were unable to cure the notice of default and the stay was lifted. I explained that yes bankruptcy will help you, but it isn’t a free ride. You have to make your payments or you will not be successful in a bankruptcy.
If you would like to find more information about attorneys in your area, such as a bankruptcy lawyer in Denver or a bankruptcy attorney in Delaware, please fill out a free evaluation.
Please fill out our free evaluation form to determine if bankruptcy is right for you.
