john L asked:


For lack of a better term i was forced to take out a mortgage last year on my home that was paid for. The terms and percentages were awful but thats besides the point.

My income at the time was sufficent to pay my bills and the mortgage.

I ran a successful business for a little over two years until 4 months ago when things went downhill. My mortgage payment is more than most people make in my area in 2-3 paychecks and now im unemployed with a SMALL list of other monthly bills besides the mortgage. I do have about $40k in other unsecured debt from the business and other unsecured creditors from when i was young that i never took care of.

I have thought about bankruptcy, chapter 13 is a no-go mostly because i cant afford the mortgage payments now so why would i waste my time with a 13?Otherwise it could work,but otherwise i dont really need a bankruptcy if were not including the house mortgage because i could just set up monthly payments with my creditors at a small payment.
7 minutes ago – 3 days left to answer.
my monthly expenses are slim so im not worried about that.

My problem seems to stem from my home, i have about 40k worth of equity in a 117k home.

With that kind of equity, it really does not make sense to file a chapter 7 because in my state you lose all equity besides 5k no matter what.

It really doesnt make sense to do a 13 because as already stated i cant afford the payments now,much less the payments to all my creditors plus the mortgage.

And the only other options are selling, of which is not really an option because foreclosure has already been initiated.

Or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, but then im giving them all of my equity for “free” although the foreclosure would likely not show up on my credit report and i could begin to repair the other damage.It would be faster to do this than to wait 10 years for a BK to come off the credit or 7 years for a foreclosure to come off.

OR just let it be foreclosed on……thats not appealing at all ofcourse.
ADVICE?

kris asked:


Did they pass the law allowing bk judges to modify mortgages. And does that only apply for chapter 13 or is chapter 7 included? Thanks.