Posts from ‘January, 2009’

The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives will hold hearings this week on the bill to permit mortgage modification in bankruptcy.  Here’s a link to the committee’s webpage on hearings on H.R. 200.
The hearings will be streamed at http://judiciary.house.gov/ hearings/calendar.html.
The hearings start at 2 p.m. EST Thursday January 22.

Obama’s speach was a stirrng call for change.  Now, change bankruptcy law to permit mortgage modification for the family home.
Authorizing mortgage modification supervised by a bankruptcy judge costs the taxpayers nothing.  It has a direct, tangible, and lasting effect on each family who without change, will lose their home.  It eliminates a special legislative protection [...]

The new Mortgage Modification Bill will allow Bankruptcy judges to modify house payments in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Will that be enough to save a significant portion of the millions of Americans facing foreclosure?
A recent article from Chip Parker on the Bankruptcy Law Network suggests that it won’t be.  He points out that many people [...]

That’s the title of AARP’s story explaining why changes to bankruptcy law are necessary before bankruptcy can help a broader group of homeowners keep their homes.  Presently,  bankruptcy law expressly forbids Chapter 13 plans from changing the terms of a loan secured by a borrower’s principal residence.
That means that Chapter 13 can provide protection from [...]

Current legislation, both Federal and Californian, encourages mortgage companies to modify or refinance home loans and avoid foreclosures.  But these programs are voluntary on the part of the loan companies, and they aren’t working.  Hence the abundance of foreclosures.
One of the nation’s largest home loan lenders, Countrywide Home Loans, has been testifying for months in [...]

President elect Obama is soliciting  input on issues important to the public for a Citizens Briefing Book. Here’s a direct way to urge active support by the White House for a change to bankruptcy laws to save homes.
Obama campaigned on support for judicially supervised home loan modification.  He appears to be waivering about including it [...]

Mortgage modifications are desperately needed if we are to stop the cascade of home foreclosures.  Exotic loans, adjusting interest rates, and dropping home values put millions of  American  homes at risk.  Bankruptcy courts have their hands tied.
We’ve tried the voluntary programs, touted by the current administration;  they have helped too few people and the modifications [...]