Chapter 7 and 13 Bankruptcy Blog

– a perspective for the Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy professional

On February 25, 2010, President Obama proposed a bill that would prohibit foreclosures on home loans unless they have been screened and rejected by the governments Home Affordable Modification Program, also known as HAMP.

At the present time, companies have the ability to proceed with foreclosure actions against homeowners, even though they have registered with HAMP.  However, the proposed changes would prohibit lenders from initiating new foreclosure actions before loan screening by HAMP and would require lenders to halt existing proceedings for borrowers once they are in a trial repayment plan.

DOES THIS INCLUDE ALL HOME LOANS?

No.  Only home loans that are owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are eligible for this preferential treatment.  However, President Obama has asked the major banks to grant more loans to American citizens since it was all of us who donated the billions of dollars to save the banks less than 2 years ago; but that is a separate story.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF A HOME LOAN IS OWNED BY FANNIE MAE OR FREDDIE MAC?

At the present time, if a mortgage loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the borrower may be eligible for a Home Affordable Refinance to take advantage of lower interest rates.  To find out if a loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, visit: http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/loan_lookup.html

Additional eligibility requirements are provided at: http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com/files/HAMPEligibilityRequirements.pdf

SUGGESTIONS FOR USE OF THIS INFORMATION WHEN PREPARING BANKRUPTCY PETITIONS

Bookmark the http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/loan_lookup.html website.  Make sure you add this to the links you use for online searches.  That way, when you start a new petition where the debtors are homeowners, you should automatically run the property address through both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to see if the home loan is owned by these two entities.  If so, alert your attorney to this at once by providing him or her with the Eligibility Requirements document referred to above.

The debtor may be eligible for a loan modification which may prove more advantageous than using the cram down or strip down method.  Because every bankruptcy petition is unique and different, you need to have a wide variety of options and resources available to you so that the attorney can utilize the best and appropriate action that is in the best interest of the debtor.

REFERENCE:

Direct link to Bloomberg news article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ahuuwBS8KYq8

– by Victoria Ring

Clay Holland is really busy this week putting together the TWO DAY Atlanta Bankruptcy Seminars so I thought I would catch you up on my week.

ATLANTA SEMINAR?

Yes, Clay is finalizing the date and then he will make the announcement.  Stay tuned for more details from Clay a little later.

CHARLOMA BANKS

February 15 and 16 I spent training Charloma Banks.  Charloma lives in Plymouth Virginia and it was her first trip to Colorado.  Charloma had taken the time to do a great deal of studying on her own prior to coming for her training.  The first day was spent addressing the questions she had regarding the materials and reviewing a variety of techniques for developing a website.

After returning to her hotel room, Charloma spent most of the evening redesigning her website to reflect the new marketing information she learned.  When I picked up Charloma the second day for her training, I was impressed with the extra effort she put forth.  We then spent several hours rewriting and revising the wording so that it was more informative.  As Charloma learned, your website should be YOUR BEST.  It can be compared with putting on a tuxedo or a 3-piece business suit and attending a governmental social gathering.  That is how good your website should look in order to attract good business.

SUZIE MCKENZIE

Suzie McKenzie is really a cool chick.  She and a couple of friends jumped in their car, in Dallas Texas, and drove to Colorado Springs.  Although the normal drive time is 15 hours, Suzie and her friends left 4 days ago and stopped and vacationed along the way.  I trained Suzie and her friend on February 18 and 19.

Suzie has owned and operated her own advertising and publishing business for many years; but like the real estate industry, the publishing world is experiencing financial difficulty too.  It appears that right now, bankruptcy is about the ONLY growing field in America.

However, since Suzie has owned her own business for many years, there is no doubt that she will be ready to start working for attorneys within a short period of time.  Plus, Suzie has an outgoing and caring personality which is a perfect fit for working with clients in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

NEW PRODUCT FOR ATTORNEYS

I am presently in the final development stages of a new product for attorneys called:  PRE-QUALIFY INTAKE FORM.  This is a four-page questionnaire, consisting of mostly YES and NO questions.  This makes it easy for the client to fill out in less than 5 minutes while at the attorneys office.

Using the accompanying INTERPRETATION TOOL, the attorney will quickly learn how to glance down the PRE-QUALIFY INTAKE FORM and get a good, general idea as to the complexity of this case.  This information will allow the attorney to make the determination whether to accept the case or how much of a fee to charge.  The more complex the case, the higher the fee.

As soon as the product is available for sale I will announce it to my PERSONAL LinkedIn Group.  If you are not subscribed to my LinkedIn Group, visit: http://www.linkedin.com/in/coloradovictoria and click on ADD VICTORIA RING TO YOUR NETWORK (upper right)

WATCH FOR CLAY HOLLANDS EMAIL ABOUT THE SEMINAR TO ARRIVE SOON

Due to the rapid growth of the debtor bankruptcy industry, it has become necessary to separate 713Training and 713Attorney.

From 2004 to 2010 these companies served two separate markets. 713Training provides training and support for virtual bankruptcy assistants and 713Attorney provides training and support for the debtor bankruptcy attorneys.  For the past several years, Victoria Ring has been able to manage both of them with occasional support from virtual assistants she hired to answer phones and fill orders.  But at the alarming rate the bankruptcy industry is growing, a point occurred where the companies had to be separated or both of them would suffer.

Therefore, on February 1, 2010; Clay Holland of MyBankruptcyAssistant.Com will take over the management of 713Training.  Victoria Ring will then have the ability to direct her attention solely to the training and support of debtor bankruptcy attorneys and their law firms through 713Attorney.

HOW TO STAY CONNECTED TO VICTORIA RING

1.  Visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/coloradovictoria 2.  Click:  ADD VICTORIA TO YOUR NETWORK 3.  If you are not already logged into LinkedIn you will be asked to login 4.  When prompted to type in an email address, use:  victoriaring@lawyer.com 5.  Send the email invitation

If you are already subscribed to the 713Training LinkedIn list, by all means, DO NOT UNSUBSCRIBE.  Clay Holland works as a virtual bankruptcy assistant, who is also assisting an attorney in building his law practice; therefore, Clay has a great deal of knowledge to share with the group that will be beneficial to you.

I apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause but this is the procedure that LinkedIn has in place to prevent you from being subscribed to a network for an individual you are not interested in following.

Additional changes are being made to compensate for the rapid growth of 713Training and 713Attorney.  Make sure you stay connected for updated details.

Victoria Ring, CEO http://www.713Training.Com http://www.713Attorney.Com

The problem: There is not enough left over for the debtors to make a Chapter 13 Plan payment.

I talked with an attorney today who said:  For a Chapter 13 Plan, I thought all I needed to do was take the amount left over between Schedules I and J and this was the Plan payment.

Unfortunately, in 90% of the cases, it is not that simple.  For example: Today I had a married couple who owed three mortgages on their home.  Here are the particulars:

$420,000 – Current market value of home

$320,000 – First mortgage $  20,000 – Second mortgage $200,000 – Third mortgage $  20,725 – Exemption allowance

Adding up $320 + $20 + $200 we have a total of $540.  The home is valued at $420, leaving the debtors with $120 in equity.  Minus out the exemption allowance and the debtors are UNDERWATER by  approximately $100.  This means that the attorney could propose a cram down on the THIRD mortgage and save the debtors $100,000.

This is a good thing, right?  Wrong.  Even with the cram down, the debtors only have $2,300 left over every month to make a Chapter 13 Plan payment.  After plugging in the figures into the Chapter 13 Plan, it would take a MINIMUM of $3,000 in a monthly payment just to cover the mortgage obligation, and still then, the unsecure creditors would only be paid 9 percent  (which could be a problem.)

BAD SOLUTION:

Some attorneys, when faced with a problem like this will reduce the expenses on Schedule J just to get the case filed.  But these are the types of things that will drive a Trustee insane.  Also, these are the types of things that can embarrass an attorney in court in front of their clients because they have not done their job properly.  They took the easy way out and left the Trustee to figure it out.

GOOD SOLUTION:

The best approach to solving this dilemma is for the attorney to meet with the debtors and explain the situation.  The attorney should start by giving the debtors a copy of Schedule J and ask them to look over the figures and let them know if everything looks okay.   After the debtors approve the figures (or change them) the attorney can explain the problem to the debtors in terms they will be better able to understand.

The attorney may say something like:  Since the figures are correct on Schedule J, you can see that you have $2,300 left over per month.  However, since your house payment is almost $2,000 that leaves you with only $300 to pay on your cars and the $250,000 in credit card debt.  As you can see, there is not enough money to do that.  Can you look over Schedule I and J and let me know if you can find an extra $700 so that I can make the Chapter 13 Plan work?

This puts control in the debtors hands and allows them to feel they are taking an active role.  If debtors understand issues, they will be more cooperative in staying in the Chapter 13 Plan.  However, if the debtors are unable to come up with a solution, at least they will be able to understand the problem and the attorney can explain different options.

WHAT IS THE BEST SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM?

If the debtors are unable to afford their home or do not anticipate increasing their income, the best solution would be to surrender the home.  This would give the debtors a fresh start and since there are only two of them, they could downsize and still leave a comfortable lifestyle.

However, people are attached to their THINGS, like homes and cars.  In fact, they are so emotionally attached that they cannot stand for a day to pass unless they have that particular home or particular car in their possession.  I personally do not understand it.  Everything in life comes and goes.  Everyone has a time when they have money and a time when they do not.  During the times when I have less money, I spend less and adjust my spending habits.  When I have money again, I celebrate and spend more.

Unfortunately, many people today are not willing to make sacrifices, but I hope this article at least puts the problem into a more understandable perspective.

Dear Victoria Ring:

Thanks for all you do.  And I appreciate the information you provide to us.  I just wanted to add that I currently work for a major bank.  I work with borrowers with defaulted business loans.  And let me tell you that on a lot of the deals we have, I have seen quite a few attorneys propose cram downs.  And a lot of our mortgages have been stripped off because there is no equity in the home.

One of the things we talk about all of the time is why many other attorneys are not doing this.  It is a great tool for the consumer.  No additional litigation is involved.  Once an attorney files the motion during the proceeding, it is up to the trustee.  We do not file responses to these requests.  Especially if there is no equity in the home.  And banks and mortgage lenders know that the bankruptcy court favors the debtor.  We have never been successful in blocking these.  You have to remember the cost that the banks incur in pursuing foreclosure or trying to liquidate the collateral.  We weigh the costs.  Banks make no money on homes they have to take back.  You may find that you will get more with negotiating with the lender too.  The attorney for the debtor is in a greater position than attorneys for the banks.

We knew that most of the mortgages we took at loan inception were abundance of caution.  And unfortunately, many people are filing for bankruptcy and having their debts discharged.  But if they do not do anything to release the liens on their home, then they still end up paying when there is equity in the future or if they want to sell their home.  As long as the lien stays on the home, you are basically giving the banks a long term investment.

I can tell you that many of our borrowers who filed for bankruptcy and were discharged are stunned when they see our lien is still on their home.  And the only way we will release it is if they give us all of the available equity in their house.  I just had a deal where the borrowers had filed for bankruptcy several years ago.  Unfortunately, the attorney did not contest our lien or ask that it be removed.  If the attorney had done this or at least proposed a settlement, we would not be in the great position we are now.  As opposed to getting $25,000 several years ago, we are now looking at almost $80,000.  The owners are senior citizens.  If they ever decide to sell their home, they will have to deal with the fact that we will be getting the bulk of the proceeds.  I believe they assumed when they reaffirmed the first mortgage, that ours was released.  And that was not the case.

From what we have seen, many trustees and bankruptcy judges side with the debtor in these cases.  We do everything we can by filing a proof of claim.  But at the end of the day, if there is no equity available at the time of filing (or equity of sizable value), we anticipate having our mortgage stripped and being put in the category of unsecured creditor.  That is why I am happy to see you offering this training to VBAs and attorneys.  Proposing this makes you a much added value to your clients.    So, for all of the attorneys who fear the drawn out litigation with mortgage lenders and banks, there is no need to worry.  You have to remember that banks have to pay outside attorneys.  And I can tell you that we just as soon not have to pay attorney fees fighting for properties that have little value.  I would tell them to do what is best for the consumer.  They are hiring you for your help.  So I implore them to pursue every avenue possible.

Crystal Brooks Email:  clbrooks67@comcast.net

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