What Do I Do If I Receive a Notice of Default?
A San Diego bankruptcy lawyer talks about noice of default
Text: Q: What do I do if I receive a notice of default?
A: First, confirm that the notice of default is real. Many predators are still out there. While they cannot actually foreclose on your home (only your lender can), they will still send formal looking things to you via mail as a means of drumming up refinance and loan modification business.
Q: I have confirmed the validity of the notice of default, now what?
A: Relax and breathe. A notice of default is not the end of the world and it is not even the end of your homeownership. It might be, of course, if you take not steps, but there are options out there to help you.
Q: What options are available to address of a notice of default?
A: Well, the first option is the payment of the arrears. This is generally impossible since if you had the money to pay the creditor in full, you would have, and would have avoided the notice of default; and very few people keep thousands of extra dollars (or more) around in cash that it will take to pay the arrears in full. Therefore, your two remaining options are to wait and to file for bankruptcy (Chapter 13, generally).
Q: How might waiting help?
A: The notice of default is often just a formality. It indicates that you are behind on your mortgage. You will enter a reinstatement period between the receipt of the notice of default and the receipt of the notice of foreclosure. If you can make some arrangements to catch up, great. If not, then you may be heading toward the notice of foreclosure. Sometimes, though, because foreclosures are so prevalent these days, it might take as many as 6 to 18 months before the lender decides to actually foreclose on the home. During this entire period, reinstatement (or paying the arrears) is possible.
Q: What about bankruptcy?
A: Bankruptcy will absolutely prevent a foreclosure (which generally comes around sixty days after the receipt of the notice of default). Bankruptcy through Chapter 13 will allow you to pay your arrearages spread out over sixty months. So if you are $5,000 behind on your mortgage payments (at, say, two months of $2500 each), when you file a Chapter 13, your future mortgage payments will only go up $83.33 per month. That’s $5000 divided by 60. So, again, do not panic. You have options.
If you have questions regarding Bankruptcy in San Diego County, including Carlsbad, San Diego and surround cities in San Diego County please contact us at (760) 579-7322 for a free consultation or visit www.bkanswers.com and we can connect you with one of our experienced San Diego Bankruptcy Attorneys. After you have spoken with one of our San Diego bankruptcy attorneys, we can schedule you for a free face to face appointment in our Carlsbad bankruptcy office. Our team of Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bankruptcy Customer Care Specialists and Bankuptcy staff supporting San Deigo consumers in debt can assist you with all aspects of your bankruptcy or bankruptcy litigation case. If you have questions about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or would like to learn more about bankruptcy litigation, legal debt settlement, mortgage modification, lien stripping, cram down, stopping a foreclosure, wage garnishment, asset protection, discharging a debt, etc. we can help! We have bankruptcy attorneys located throughout California and Oregon who can assist you with all of your debt resolution questions. Please feel free to complete our free online bankruptcy evaluation and we can quickly determine if you are a qualified candidate for bankruptcy. We look forward to hearing from you, Southern California!
