What You Need to Know About Your Kennesaw Home Mortgage and Bankruptcy

Let’s talk today a little bit about what you should know about your mortgage if you file bankruptcy. A lot of times, people have to file an emergency bankruptcy petition to stop a foreclosure on their home. Now, once you file that emergency petition to stop the foreclosure on your home, you may be wondering what the mortgage company can do in response. They can actually file a motion called a motion for relief from the bankruptcy estate that is the protection to take back the house and to continue foreclosure process.
In Georgia, just to let you know, you can protect up to $21,500 in equity in your house. If you’re married and you file a joint bankruptcy petition, you and your spouse can protect up to $43,000 in equity in your home. Another important point to note is that if you have a second mortgage, in some instances, it still can be wiped out.
In other words, if your house is underwater, let’s say, for example, the house is worth $100,000 but you owe a $150,000 and the second mortgage is $50,000, well, in Georgia, right now under the current law, you can wipe out, in the Chapter 7 case, the second mortgage. That’s not typical that you can do that. The US Supreme Court is reviewing that decision but it is peculiar to Georgia.
Now, if you file a Chapter 13 case and you have a house which is underwater, you should have no problem whatsoever in stripping that is, wiping out that second mortgage. If you’re filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure on your home and you wish to keep your home, then any missed payments that you had prior to filing the bankruptcy have to be paid in the bankruptcy case.
If your house is foreclosed upon and you have not filed a bankruptcy, you should just be aware that the mortgage company oftentimes will sue you to collect any difference they receive on the home or for the home at the foreclosure and the amount that you agreed to pay for.