Legal Solutions for You,
Your Family & Your Business

Chapter Introduction

• Using Chapter 13 to Keep Your House
• Repay Your Mortgage Arrears Over Time
• Make Your Mortgage More Affordable by Eliminating Other Debts
• Ask the Court to Reduce (“Cram Down”) Certain Secured Debts
• Contest the Foreclosure
• Turn a Second or Third Mortgage Into an Unsecured Debt
• Using Chapter 13 to Delay Foreclosure
• Coming Up With a Repayment Plan
• An Overview of the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Process
• The Creditors’ Meeting
• The Confirmation Hearing
• Completing the Plan
• Will You Need a Lawyer?

Chapter 13 bankruptcy can help you save your house. How? It gives you time to make up your missed payments and can make your mortgage debt more affordable in the long term by reducing your overall debt load.

You get these crucial benefits by proposing a debt repayment plan to the court when you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In the plan, you show that you have enough income to keep making mortgage payments, gradually make up the payments you’ve missed, and pay back a percentage of your other debts.

It’s not easy to stick to this kind of a repayment plan for three to five years, but if you do, you’ll be well rewarded. All your remaining unsecured debt will be wiped out—and you will have kept your house.

The benefits of Chapter 13 bankruptcy start the minute you file. That’s because filing for bankruptcy immediately stops a foreclosure in its tracks. As soon as you file, the federal bankruptcy court issues what’s known as a stay. This is a court order that bars all of your creditors, including mortgage lenders, from making any attempt to collect a debt you owe unless they get court permission. And once the bankruptcy judge approves your repayment plan, you will be safe from foreclosure over the entire plan period, as long as you keep making the required plan payments and your loan payments.

More information on Chapter 13 bankruptcy. This chapter gives only an overview, to help you determine whether or not Chapter 13 bankruptcy might help you save your house–or at least keep you living in it longer. To learn more about this powerful remedy, see:

• the bankruptcy and foreclosure areas of www.nolo.com
• The New Bankruptcy: Will It Work for You? (Nolo), which explains your bankruptcy options, and
• Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: Keep Your Property & Repay Debts Over Time, (Nolo), a step-by-step guide to filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.