Maryland Bankruptcy Blog » Chapter 11

The Human Cost of Foreclosure

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:42:41 +0000

An article in the July 26, 2008 Washington Post, “What Gets Left Behind,” talks about one side of the human cost when a house goes to foreclosure. As the owner of a company that cleans out foreclosed homes, Troy Hughes notes:

I remember that kid’s balloon was still inflated, like someone had just had a birthday party. That what kills, me, the things the children had to leave behind. Sometimes, their crayon pictures are on the wall. A lot of toys are in the closet…It’s traumatic.

It was too traumatic for one woman in Massachusetts. She faxed a note to her mortgage company saying, “By the time you foreclose on my house, I’ll be dead.” As this ABC News story sadly relates, 53-year-old Carlene Balderrama of Taunton, Massachusetts, fatally shot herself with her husband’s rifle shortly before the foreclosure.

Nadine Kaslow, chief psychologist at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and a professor at Emory University’s School of Medicine, said such financial stresses come attached with significant psychological consequences.

There is no question that the economic downturn in our country is causing havoc with people’s mental health,” she noted. “It is very depressing to lose one’s home. It represents loss of stability, a feeling of failure. … It is scary and overwhelming.

But it’s not the end:

Once you find out that foreclosure is not a sign of personal failure, that it is not anything that is happening to nobody else … there’s hope.

And given the numbers, it’s happening to a lot of people. According to RealtyTrac, the number of U.S. homes receiving a foreclosure notice between April and June of this year shot up 121 percent compared with the same period last year. That means that 739,000 households received a foreclosure notice during this three-month period — which translates into one out of every 171 households in the country.

There is a way out–Chapter 13 gives you the chance to catch up on missed mortgage payments over 5 years. And even if you can’t, a Chapter 7 will delay the foreclosure to give you some time, let you wipe out any arrearages and deficiency and start over with a clean slate.

Bankruptcy Law, Obama and McCain

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:41:07 +0000

Over on the Bankruptcy Law Network, I have been writing a series of blogs on Senators Obama and McCain’s positions on bankruptcy. The results may surprise you.

The articles may be found by clicking on the links:

Obama vs. McCain on Bankruptcy
Obama and McCain’s Votes on Bankruptcy Amendments
Barack Obama on BAPCPA
Barack Obama on Bankruptcy/Credit Reform

Maryland Foreclosure “Moratorium” to Expire Soon

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:13:25 +0000

When Governor O’Malley signed into law changes to Maryland’s foreclosure laws effective on April 4, 2008, new foreclosure filings stopped. Although the new law’s changes were, in most instances, more cosmetic than substance (see my article on the Mortgage Law Network, “Changes to Maryland Foreclosure Law: Steak or Sizzle?“) they contained provisions that resulted in an effective moratorium, or halt, in foreclosures.

This is primarily because of required new forms that have to be adopted by the State, and without which, the foreclosure cannot comply with the technical requirements of the new law. The forms should be issued in early July, and the floodgates will open. Three months worth of foreclosures will be filed at once, with auctions likely scheduled in early September.

Thousands of new cases are likely to be filed, so if you’ve fallen behind on your mortgage, now is the time to examine your options, before the rush hits.

US Trustee Audits to Resume May 12, 2008

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:56:02 +0000

According to an article on the US Trustee website, random debtor audits, which were halted in January 2008 due to budgetary problems, will resume on May 12, 2008. The only change appears to be that instead of randomly auditing one out of each 250 cases filed, the UST will audit one out of each 1,000 cases filed.

Brett Weiss Quoted in “Washington Business Journal” on Chapter 11 Business Bankruptcy

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:34:17 +0000

Brett Weiss was quoted in the January 25, 2008 issue of the Washington Business Journal in connection with the recent bankruptcy filing of one of his Chapter 11 developer clients. Weiss was quoted as saying, “We all know that the current housing market is lousy. And this is making things hard for a lot of good folks.”

The full article may be found on the Washington Business Journal website.

Does the “Absolute Priority Rule” Still Apply in Individual Chapter 11 Cases?

Brett Weiss, Esq. — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:51:19 +0000

The Absolute Priority Rule (APR) is a long-established principle that in Chapter 11 cases creditors’ claims take priority over shareholders’ claims. Pre-BAPCPA, cases such as In re Gosman, 282 B.R. 45 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2002) held that the retention of even exempt property by an individual debtor in a Chapter 11 Plan violates the absolute priority rule unless unsecured creditors are paid in full. Given the many changes made to Chapter 11 by BAPCPA, does the APR still apply? Two recent cases hold that it does not.

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