Thrift Store Shopping Foreclosure
In a thrift store, you do not just buy the first thing off the rack. You have to sniff it, check for stains, look for holes or rips, not to mention size and if the color compliments your skin tone. Foreclosure is not that much different. In foreclosure you need to be a savvy shopper to find a solution that is the best fit for you. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. You might not want to start at the bankruptcy boutique. Bankruptcy is a very limited solution both now and for your future. Instead, you may want to try the refinance retail, the loan modification mall, or the short sale store before you try on a bankruptcy ball gown that you will have to wear for many seasons. Seek an outcome that will de-emphasize credit loss. A defense attorney can help you bargain hunt for the foreclosure solution that brings the best benefit to you the fastest. Read More
Co-Signer a.k.a. ‘The Borrower’
What do you call someone who co-signs a loan: borrower. If you are a co-signer, then you are a borrower, you have a debt and it is your responsibility to make sure that the payments are made in full and on time. Whether you sign or co-sign, that debt affects your credit score. If you sign your name on a loan, that loan is yours. If the signer defaults, then your credit can be dinged, the debt sold, and your accounts or wages garnished before you are notified. A signer and a co-signer are jointly and individually liable. Be careful who you co-sign for, you may get more than you bargained for. Read More
Home Is Where Your Credit Lives
Home is where your credit lives. Credit is not something you can see, feel, hear, smell, or tastes, but it can have a big effect on the tangible items of your life, like a car or a house. Your credit helps determine what (and if) you can buy, and how much a loan is going to cost you. In a foreclosure lawsuit, your credit is on the line. You will probably lose your foreclosure lawsuit, however, how much credit you lose depends on how you handle your case. If you let it go unopposed, then you give the fate of your credit score to the plaintiff, but if you launch a Foreclosure Defense, then you may wind up with a better outcome. The more credit you can retain, the better off your financial future will be. Remember, you are still going to need a place to live, and you might also need a car and / or a student loan in the near future. A Foreclosure Defense gives you time to pursue an alternative. Your credit will take a hit for a short sale or a loan modification, but generally it will be less detrimental than for a foreclosure or [...] Read More
The Ladybug & the Home Loan
Ladybug! Ladybug! Fly away home—your house is in foreclosure! Once upon a time, Ms. Ladybug was out shopping and her house caught fire. It was not a very big house, but it was all that she had. Fortunately firemen were able to save most of it, and she got a loan to repair the rest. She moved out for the rebuilding, but that compromised her homestead status. While Ms. Ladybug was living elsewhere, she defaulted on her home loan. It was not a very big loan nor did it have a very high interest rate, but it was more than she could afford on a fixed income and with the added expense of living elsewhere. She very dearly wanted to return to her newly repaired little home, but the Big Bad Bank tried to foreclose instead. Ladybug Ladybug had to file bankruptcy just so she could fly away home. Financial trouble does not always come in threes; sometimes it comes in legions. Whether you have a single reason or multiple causes driving your debt, seek financial and/or legal counseling (depending on where you are in the default process) to help you review your options and make decisions toward your best [...] Read More
Financial Flu
When better living through chemistry does not work, there is always the legal system. An attorney may not help you feel better, but legal counsel could help you retain as much credit as possible in a personal financial crisis. Have you had headaches and nausea recently, and maybe incessant ringing in your telephone plus a stuffy mailbox clogged with notices from the bank or creditors? These could be symptoms of something other than flu. Take precautions available so you do not have to suffer the worst of the symptoms of your money malady. Seek competent legal counsel to learn what choices you have that may lead to better financial footing for your future. Read More
‘What?’ Another Good Question in Small Claims Court
‘What?’ is a good question for a debt you have already paid off, or is too old to collect, or has been discharged in a bankruptcy. (It is a great question if you do not owe anybody anything!) Even if you owe money, you know you owe money, and you receive a small claims lawsuit, ‘What?’ may still be a good question to bring to the pretrial hearing so you can ask about the amount. Asking questions about the debt you owe is not a denial of that debt, and the place to ask is in the pretrial hearing. If you have a question or disagreement about the amount demanded in a small claims lawsuit, the pretrial hearing is where you let the court know of your uncertainty. Make sure the amount demanded in the lawsuit adds up to your expectations…and does not exceed them! Reasons to question the amount might include: What if the company suing me included charges I do not owe? …Charged the wrong interest rate? …Included charges for products I did not request? If you feel that the debt is too old to be collected on or that the debt has already been discharged in a [...] Read More
Short Sale Scene
A Short Sale transaction is one where the proceeds of the sale of the property will not completely pay off the loan on the property and the lender agrees to accept a ‘short’ payoff. A Short Sale is not the ideal situation, but if the homeowner is facing foreclosure on an upside down property, a Short Sale can bring the best benefit for the homeowner by reducing loss of credit and getting them out from beneath a mortgage they cannot pay for. Below is a general list of documents many lenders require with the Short Sale offer: Hardship Letter (detailed letter of your financial struggle) Pay Stubs from the last two months Tax Returns of the most recent two years Monthly Budget Statement (monthly expenses) Bank Statements from the last two months (checking and savings accounts) If Self-Employed, Profit and Loss Financial Statement Property Owners’ Association Contact Information Finding a buyer, negotiating with the lender, and getting the deal done is not an easy process and it is not a quick or ‘short’ process. The Short Sale scene can be a very long act. Read More
Budget for 2013
New Year’s Resolution: Make a Budget. Everybody wants to be thinner and wealthier. What you cannot bring about in diet and exercise could be affected by your Bankruptcy Trustee. You can take the first step: make your own budget (before a Bankruptcy Trustee makes it for you). If you have not already filed bankruptcy and hope not to, a budget can help you stay on track for your spending and saving goals (it does the same thing after you file for bankruptcy as well). If you can talk, text, and chew gum, you can make a budget. For online budget calculators and financial considerations, go to http://www.myfloridacfo.com/YMM/Calculators/default.aspx. Read More
Landlord-Tenant Law Beyond ‘Happily’
Once upon a time, everyone lived happily: Mr. and Mrs. Landlord had leased their house to Mr. and Mrs. Tennant—but that was before ‘Ever After’ happened. A Big Bad Foreclosure Suit knocked on the door of the rented house, and it huffed and it puffed and it threatened to blow down the home equity and all the Landlords’ credit. Try as they might, the only homeowner assistance the Landlords could get was for a homestead property—the Landlords would have to live in the house in order to save it from foreclosure. So despite the lease, Mrs. Landlord evicted Mr. and Mrs. Tennant, claiming they had not paid rent. Misery loves company, and Divorce and Foreclosure go together like a horse and carriage (they just do not rhyme). Mr. Landlord was going to lose everything anyway—regardless of the mortgage deal, he was going to lose the house in the divorce—so he told the Tenants they could take with them whatever they wanted. He gave them carte blanche, as well as a stove, refrigerator, air conditioner, and pool pump. When Ms. Landlady went to make an inspection of the property and saw what was missing, she called the cops. Then she went [...] Read More
Studying for Small Claims Court
Small Claims Court is NOT the Spanish Inquisition. You should NOT expect the unexpected. Study your debt so you know what to expect. On a spelling test, you know every word that will be on the test, and you are given all the answers ahead of time so you can study. In Small Claims Court, you should be asked to pay the amount owed—NOT a higher amount. And you should be asked to pay the party you owe—NOT a debt buyer who lacks proper documentation to show that he has the authority to collect the debt. Do your homework to know how much you owe and who you owe it to. Overpayment to an unauthorized collector is not going to reduce your debt or repair your credit…and you could be in double trouble if the legitimate creditor comes along asking for the correct amount you owe. Furthermore, you could be eligible for an exemption from debt judgment. If you are head of household at a certain low level, living off Social Security benefits, or a pension or disability, you may have an exemption to collection judgments. The key to an exemption is that you have to claim it. Just because [...] Read More