Foreclosures Can be Avoided by Timely Intervention
It is necessary that those facing risk of losing their homes should know that foreclosures can be avoided by timely intervention. Evelyn Branch has been dealing with a young man in her office who is so tensed that he keeps twiddling with his hair.
The young man, John and his wife Mary were about to lose their house in New Britain. Following the instructions of the attorney they had filed for bankruptcy (chapter 13) but just after that John found himself without a job. Suddenly they are apprehensive that a similar fate awaits Mary. Now they are being asked by the attorney to file again for bankruptcy but this time chapter 7. It means complete liquidation of all the debts.
Branch works as a counselor for Neighborhood Housing Services of New Britain. She said she couldn’t understand this line of reasoning. Although John and Mary were lagging two months in their mortgage commitments they were not weighed down with other debts. John explained that the attorney had said that Chapter 7 would allow them to make a clean beginning.
Branch thinks that filing of Chapter 7 denotes “the easy way out.” It actually meant that their attorney was not doing much to assist the couple in keeping the house – especially when in their case other options were there. One of these was getting advice from the HUD counseling agency of the city. Another option was to find out information from the related website.
Branch said, “More people in this situation should be familiar with the Web site www.jud.ct.gov. It’s the official Web site of the state of Connecticut Judicial Branch. You can put your name in and see the status of your foreclosure — how far along you are in the process.”
John was tensed because he knew that that had only 30 days within which to shift out of their home. But after consulting Branch and checking the web the couple felt relieved to know that actually they had more breathing time.
After counseling them Branch opened talks with their lender – GMAC. She also explained to John and Mary about the new plans the Obama government had introduced to help many like them. John was not ware that as per one clause in the programme, unemployment income is also counted as eligible income. Perhaps their lawyer was ignorant of this new programme.Branch concluded, “It was a happy ending for the couple. We’re working out a plan so they can stay in their home and not lose it.”
Related Posts
