In this article, we will discuss and cover reaffirming home loans after bankruptcy. Reaffirming Home Loan After Bankruptcy is a very common question. Chicago Attorney Chad M. Hayward gets asked very often. Many homeowners think that if consumers file bankruptcy they need to vacate their property right away. They are under the impression that sheriff’s deputies will come and go through their personal belongings and throw them out on the street. There are federal laws and the answer to Reaffirming Home Loan After Bankruptcy.
Excluding your Home in Bankruptcy
Homeowners can keep their homes and decide to exclude their homes from bankruptcy. Or homeowners can include the debts or mortgage as part of bankruptcy. This material should be useful in reducing stress and anxiety so consumers understand what is going on when they receive a motion to modify the stay on mortgage or car. Or, consumers receive a “Notice of Mortgage Payment Change” through the mail from their lender. I understand that much of this can be confusing or overwhelming. Bankruptcy is not the end of the world. People can purchase a home after bankruptcy. There are certain waiting periods they need to meet to qualify for a mortgage after bankruptcy to qualify for a home loan.
Reaffirming Home Loan After Bankruptcy And Making Mortgage Payments
That depends on your intentions on what you want to plan on doing with your home:
- If you plan to keep your real estate, then yes
- If you were current with your mortgage payments at the time of filing, then you simply keep making your payments regardless of which chapter you filed
- However, if delinquent mortgage payments were the reason for filing bankruptcy, then you likely filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy
- After filing chapter 13, your mortgage payments will resume
- It becomes due during the following month as though you were current and never missed a payment
- All of your previously missed mortgage payments are then put into your plan payment, possible along with some percentage of other debt and vehicles loans
- You will then begin making payments to a chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee
The trustee will take monthly payments and disburse them to your creditors, such as your mortgage company, automobile lender, credit card companies, etc.
Reaffirming Home Loan After Bankruptcy With Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
It is perfectly acceptable to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy and keep your house so the answer is yes to the question Can I Keep My Home If I File Bankruptcy:
- Assuming your income does not disqualify you from filing a chapter 7, you need to ensure that you do not have any equity in your home that exceeds your homestead exemption and the cost of potentially selling your house.
- What does “the cost of selling your house” have to do with anything?
- The bankruptcy trustee assigned to your case is looking for a property that can be sold to pay your creditors.
Therefore, here is a case scenario:
- if you hypothetically have real estate worth $200,000
- the trustee is going to factor in about ten percent of that value towards closing costs such as realtor commissions, tax prorations, title fees, transfer stamps, etc.
So, if you have an existing mortgage with a $180,000 balance:
- then it would not be worth it for the trustee to sell your property
- this is because there would not be any funds left to distribute to your creditors after paying off the mortgage and the closing costs
Furthermore, if you reside in the property, then you can claim a homestead exemption of $15,000 for a single person or $30,000 for a married couple. This means that a bankruptcy trustee would likely not attempt to sell your home worth $200,000 unless you owed under $150,000 on your mortgage. So you could file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, continue to make mortgage payments, and keep your property while discharging other debt. Likewise, the same analysis is used to determine how much money you will have to pay to your unsecured creditors in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Whatever amount of non-exempt equity exists after closing costs is what you will have to pay to your general unsecured creditors. Under this situation, the bank will generally want you to reaffirm debt which means that you get to keep your house and make the mortgage payments. Although, if you default on mortgage payments after reaffirming such debt, you could be personally liable for any future deficiency judgments.
Keeping Home While Reaffirming Other Debts
You can reaffirm your debts when you file bankruptcy:
- There are pros and cons to reaffirming a debt
- Whether it is for a mortgage or car loan
- So you should make sure to discuss your decision with an attorney before signing a reaffirmation agreement
- If you plan to surrender your property, whether through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, then you would simply stop making mortgage payments
- Let your creditor go through the foreclosure process to obtain possession of the property
- If this is your intention, do not be alarmed when you receive a motion to modify the automatic stay or a motion to lift the automatic stay
These are formalities that your lender must go through so that they can obtain possession of the real estate you intend to surrender.
Qualifying For Mortgage After Bankruptcy
Gustan Cho Associates specializes in helping borrowers get qualified for mortgages after bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed in lieu, and short sale.
- Gustan Cho and our licensed and support personnel at Gustan Cho Associates work side by side with Chad Hayward
- The Team at Gustan Cho Associates Mortgage work together with attorneys and paralegals of The Law Offices of Chad Hayward in helping families rebuild their lives after a bankruptcy
- We try to get them qualified for a mortgage and help them realize the dream of homeownership becoming a reality.
How Can I Qualify For a Mortgage after Bankruptcy
Here are the basic qualification requirements in securing a mortgage after bankruptcy:
- There is a two-year waiting period to qualify for an FHA Loan after a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy discharge date.
- There is a four-year waiting period to qualify for a Conventional Loan after a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy discharge date
- Both FHA and VA allows borrowers to qualify for an FHA and VA Loan one year into a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Repayment Plan with the approval of the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee
- There is no waiting period to qualify for an FHA, VA, USDA Loan after a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy discharged date but needs to be manually underwritten if the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy discharge has not been seasoned for at least 2 years after the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy discharged date which is no big issue
- Manual underwrites does require verification of rent, also referred to as VOR
Gustan Cho Associates is licensed in multiple states.
Qualifying For Mortgage With A Lender Licensed in 48 States With No Overlays
We have a national reputation of being able to close loans in 21 days or less:
- Over 75% of borrowers of Gustan Cho Associates are folks who are going through a major stressful loan process with a different lender
- Many are having a hard time meeting their home closing date
- Or have gotten a last-minute loan denial due to incompetence and/or because the loan officer did not properly qualify the borrower
- Gustan Cho Associates will close your home loan and closes 100% of all of its pre-approvals
- We have no overlays on government and Conventional Loans
- Gustan Cho Associates offers NON-QM Loans
- There is no waiting period to qualify for a mortgage after a bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, and short sale
Borrowers with any questions on qualifying for a mortgage after a bankruptcy or during a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Repayment Plan, please contact us at Gustan Cho Associates at 800-900-8569 or text us for a faster response. Or email us at gcho@gustancho.com. The team at Gustan Cho Associates is available 7 days a week, evenings, weekends, and holidays.
January 27, 2022 - 5 min read