The Three Criteria
Good afternoon everybody, Edward Kelly here, OKC bankruptcy lawyer. Three minutes to financial freedom and we’re wrapping up a five-part video series on can I save my home in chapter 13 and the answer is a resounding yes.
In this final fifth video, I’m just going to summarize everything. Who should do this? Number one, you’re behind on your mortgage, otherwise why would you? Number two, you’ve tried to work with your bank, you should exhaust all those opportunities before you enter into a 13. That’s pretty self-explanatory. And third, most important, can you make the regular payment going forward in at least 1 60th of what you are behind on or what they call the arrearage.
I used a round number of 60,000. Most people aren’t that far behind, but some are. So if you’re 60,000 behind, take 60 months. You can only go five years for a maximum in your Chapter 13 plan, so you got to get it caught up in that time. That’s a thousand dollars a month at a minimum. Let’s say your regular mortgage payment is thousand, two thousand a month. If you’re only 30,000 behind, at 60 months you’re going to be paying 500 on the back arrearage, so 1,500 a month. 15,000 behind, 250. So with your regular mortgage payment of 1,000, 1250, and so on. So long as you can make that, this will give you the power to do it.
How Late in the Process Can You Save Your Home?
We talked about how late in the process can you do it, and the absolute 11th hour, not only after a lawsuit has been filed, but after judgment has been rendered, and even after the house has been sold at sheriff’s sale. As long as we catch it one minute before the judge confirms the sheriff’s sale, meaning all the details of who bought it and the price and so forth if you catch it right then, we can back it up and you can save the home.
I talked about what happens if you get in trouble in your 13. Well, if it goes far enough, if things just fall apart, you stop making payments, you disappear from the face of the earth, these things do happen, then everything will go back right to the point it was before the case was filed. So if that was early in the process, you may still have some time to do something else, although if you can’t do it in a 13, you’re definitely running out of options. If it’s late in the process, you know, it’s going to be a much tougher road to haul.
Summarizing the Criteria
So to summarize, if you have enough money to pay your regular mortgage payment and at least 1/60th of the arrearage, then you absolutely can save your home, and this is a fantastic, powerful way to do it. A lot of people don’t realize, no matter what’s going on with your bank, so many people tell me my bank won’t work with me, I can’t get through to their loan modification department, they tell me this, but they keep sending notices and then they file a foreclosure, and it can be so stressful and difficult, but if you meet those three criteria, behind on your mortgage, tried to work with your mortgage company, and you have the money to catch it up, absolutely can do it.
Get a Free Consultation Today
So it’s really good news for everybody, and as always, you can reach me, an Oklahoma chapter 13 attorney, at oklahomacitybankruptcyattorney.pro or give me a call at (405) 563-7888. This has been our five-part series on how to save my home in Chapter 13 on our three minutes to financial freedom.