In the current economy, there are many people who are beginning to fall behind on payments. When you fall behind on payments on your house, your mortgage lender has the right to file an action of foreclosure against you. In a way, this is similar to what would happen if you defaulted on your automobile loan. Once you are a certain number of days late, the bank would come and physically repossess the vehicle. You would still owe the bank the money, and they could take additional action against you. If you do not make your mortgage payments for a certain period of time, which could be anywhere from 30 to 90 days, the bank will physically repossess your house.
Bankruptcy is a legal process where a person who can no longer pay his debts files in the court system for the status of bankruptcy. Once a bankruptcy proceeding has been filed, all other civil proceedings must stop until the bankruptcy has been completed. If your mortgage lender were in the process of a foreclosure, that process would have to stop while you were undergoing the bankruptcy.
This can provide some temporary relief, although the mortgage lender has the option to file a petition to be released from this automatic stay. If they are granted the release, then they can proceed with the foreclosure. However, if they are not released from the stay, you have time to find a way to pay on the mortgage. You need to realize that the bankruptcy does not release you from paying on the mortgage, but it can give you this time to find a way to make your payments.
Another way a bankruptcy can help you get out of your foreclosure is by discharging some of your unsecured debts so that more money is actually freed up to make the mortgage payments. The best way to know what it is you can do is to hire a bankruptcy attorney. He will help you to know what the benefits of a bankruptcy are and how they can work for you to help you keep your house.
There are different kinds of bankruptcy proceedings, and your San Antonio bankruptcy attorney may steer you toward a chapter 13 bankruptcy. This type of bankruptcy is basically a payment plan that is ordered by the court that your creditors must accept. It will outline a period of payment, which can help you catch up on your mortgage over time without having to lose the home through foreclosure.
As you may have determined, neither foreclosure nor bankruptcy are easy issues to deal with. There are many legal aspects of bankruptcy that can actually help you avoid foreclosure if you do the right things and work out a way to pay on the mortgage. Your bankruptcy attorney will know exactly what to do because he has studied the law and the rules surrounding bankruptcy. He knows all of the details and will be able to work with your individual case to help you determine which type of bankruptcy you qualify for and when is the best time to actually file in order to stay the foreclosure for a time.
Jeff Davis is the Owner of the Davis law firm, and a highly experienced San Antonio bankruptcy attorney. To find out more information about a San Antonio bankruptcy lawyer, please visit www.jeffdavislawfirm.com.