“Loss Mitigation” sounds like an intimidating term, but it’s really just a mechanism within New York bankruptcy to help parties resolve foreclosure issues to debtors’ and creditors’ benefits. That is, its objective is to keep debtors’ principal residences out of foreclosure or reduce needless costs to creditors. It involves negotiations between the parties, possibly including …
I recently wrote about what happens to condo or homeowners fees in New York bankruptcy, but I left out the prominent alternative, non-renting urban residence: co-ops. That wasn’t an accident; the reason is co-op maintenance fees are paid before mortgage payments, so a debtor would default on a mortgage before co-op fees. The result is …
Last year I wrote about reverse mortgages and New York bankruptcy, but a recent article in the American Bankruptcy Law Journal adds more depth to the “intersection” between reverse mortgages and bankruptcy. It has a handful of lessons that New York homeowners (and their heirs) might want to know. First, though, is a reminder as …
In addition to mortgage modifications, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure offers, New York bankruptcy, and other options, the federal government has finally created the effective solution that until now has been off the table for underwater homeowners: mortgage principal reductions. On April 14, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the Principal Reduction Modification program, which would …
At Last, a Principal Reduction Opportunity for Underwater Homeowners Read More »
Many New Yorkers live in condos or homeowner communities as opposed to independent, single-unit owner-occupied or rental housing. Keeping a home in New York bankruptcy is a common topic, as is protecting the interests of renters—including those in rent-stabilized units—but not so much is said about condos or homeowner communities. In New York City such …
What Happens to Condo or Homeowners Fees in Bankruptcy? Read More »
I have one more point of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) of 2005 to analyze: changes to the automatic stay to repeat filings. In the time leading up to its passage, many in Congress (and certainly creditors) believed debtors filed successive, strategic bankruptcies in a manner to avoid paying debts they …
More on Bankruptcy Reform’s Legacy: Repeat Filing Continues Read More »
It’s understandable that young Americans would not want to take out even more debt to purchase a home after the housing bust led to a wave of New York bankruptcy filings and foreclosures. Indeed, according to a 2014 Federal Reserve Bank of New York study, the number one reason a group of renters gave for …
Is Debt or Income Preventing Young Americans From Buying Homes? Read More »
A couple years ago I wrote about the rental housing crisis in New York City. The New York Times investigated apartment rents throughout the country and found that for NYC, the median rent as a share of median income was 39.5 percent. The recommended ratio for tenants is 30 percent. This didn’t mean the median …
Bankruptcy and the NYT’s Bleak Perspective on Renting Read More »
It’s one thing to consider filing New York bankruptcy when you run into financial problems, but it’s another thing entirely when a co-signer of a debt files bankruptcy. The co-signer who is doing fine might suddenly find himself or herself in serious trouble. Here are some things for co-signers to consider should a co-debtor file …
Options for Debtors Whose Co-Signers File Bankruptcy Read More »
A skeletal bankruptcy is also known as a bare-bones bankruptcy or less colorfully as an emergency bankruptcy. The idea is that the petitioner submits the minimal documentation necessary to initiate a bankruptcy case with the intent to complete the filing or amend the schedules and exhibits later. There are times when a skeletal bankruptcy is …
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