While we wait, watch, and write Congress about amendments to bankruptcy law to enable judicial modification of home mortgages, I take comfort that those with Chapter 13 cases pending when the change becomes effective will be covered by the new provisions.
Often, a change in the law applies only to cases filed after the law becomes [...]
Posts from ‘January, 2009’
Who’s eligible to modify mortgage in 13 under new law
Is The “Clawback” Amendment To HR 200 Fair?
HR 200, the house version of the “Helping Families Save Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009” was amended in committee to include a “clawback” amendment. This allows the mortgage companies, whose loans are modified by a bankruptcy judge, to share in the appreciation of a house that is later sold by the home owner. The [...]
House Bill 200, With Amendments, Approved By Committee And Sent To House Floor
The , “Helping Families Save Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009” was approved by the House Judiciary Committee, voting strictly on party lines, and sent to the House Floor late on January 28, 2009.
The committee added several amendments to the bill. Several of these are discussed in the post, “Changes to HR 200 [...]
Holder, holder, who’s the holder?
The current version of H.R. 200 requires that a borrower attempt to negotiate a modification with “the holder of the claim” before they are eligible to propose a modification through Chapter 13. Chip Parker points out that who holds the claim is a big unknown.
Presently in bankruptcy court, servicers who bring motions for relief [...]
Crack in the bank wall
JP Morgan Securities analysts have admitted that mortgage modification in bankruptcy may be a ” necessary evil” to stabilize home values.
It ought to become harder for the banking industry to maintain that passage of a bankruptcy cram down bill will increase mortgage rates going forward, as the bill voted out of committee yesterday will apply [...]
Changes to HR 200 as reported from committee
The House Judiciary Committee today reported the bill to enable mortgage modification in bankruptcy to the full House after addition of a “claw back” provision. The added provision provides for a declining percentage of net sales proceeds to be paid to the crammed down lender if the house is sold during the pendency of the [...]
The Banking and Lending Industry is Fighting Hard against the Mortgage Modification Bill
Opposition to the “Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy act of 2009” is coming from the banking and lending industry. They are literally pouring millions of dollars into lobbying against this legislation, as reported by KUTV, news 2.
They argue that allowing judges to reduce mortgage payments will end up costing home owners more in [...]
House Judiciary to Meet and Vote Today
The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys reports that:
The House Judiciary Committee will meet at 1 p.m. ET today to mark up (consider) HR 200, the “Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act.” At the time of the mark up there will be a manager’s amendment offered by Chairman Conyers that will embody the [...]
Bankruptcy Judges Support Mortgage Modification
The National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges has come out in favor of the “Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy act of 2009.” This isn’t really very surprising – the bill will give the judges the discretion to modify a house payment and save countless homes from foreclosure. At the same time, it will allow [...]
Bankruptcy changes out of stimulus package
Word from Capitol Hill is that bills enabling mortgage modification will not be included in the stimulus package on the fast track for passage by mid February.
Supporters are looking to either bring the bill to the floor as a free standing bill or to attach it to other legislation.
Personally, this is a huge disappointment as [...]