Hiring a Dallas Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney may prove beneficial if you are facing a foreclosure in Texas. If you have been struggling to make mortgage payments for a few months, you may be facing foreclosure. Don’t lose hope just yet because you may be able to delay it.
Understand How the Bank Begins the Foreclosing Process
The first step in understanding how filing Chapter 7 can help you delay the bank from foreclosing is to understand what foreclosure is. When a homeowner doesn’t keep up with mortgage payments, the bank will begin the process of recovering the money needed to pay for the loan. This may include auctioning off the house.
The good news for homeowners in this situation is that the process is not a quick one. The first step in the process is contacting the homeowner to notify him or her of the decision. If the homeowner is able to pay on the home or show that he is in the process of paying, the bank may hold off.
How Chapter 7 Helps Delay the Process
If you tell a bank that you filed for Chapter 7, they will have to, by law, stop asking for collections, and they cannot foreclose the home. This is referred to as “automatic stay.” As you go through the Chapter 7 process, your lenders must wait until a decision has been made on the bankruptcy, which typically takes three or four months.
How Chapter 7 Doesn’t Help Delay the Process
There are two situations in which filing Chapter 7 doesn’t delay a bank in foreclosing on your house:
- If the bank has already provided advance notice of the foreclosure and you wait until the deadline is close to file Chapter 7, the bank may be allowed to go ahead with the sale.
- The lender requests a “motion to lift the stay.” A mortgage lender can petition the court to ask for permission to go ahead with foreclosing your home. If the court agrees, you may still have delayed the foreclosure, but the delay may not be as long as it otherwise would have been without the motion.
While these two situations may seem discouraging to those facingTexas foreclosure, don’t lose hope just yet. These situations often end up taking time, as the bank needs to petition the court, which may take at least a month or so to prepare.
Filing Chapter 7 at the Right Time
If you are not able to pay your mortgage for three or four months in a row, be prepared to receive a foreclosure notice. If you decide to file a Chapter 7, you may give yourself a few months to figure out what to do with your mortgage, and you can decide if you should find another place to live. It’s important that if you decide to file Chapter 7 that you do it as soon as possible to delay the process as much as you can.
Start the Bankruptcy Process with a Dallas Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney
To start the bankruptcy process, you’ll need to file a Chapter 7. A Dallas Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney can help you with the process. A lawyer can help determine the best time to file Chapter 7 to delay the bank in foreclosing on your home. The attorney can also guide you through the entire bankruptcy process to help you resolve the issue in the best way possible.
Contact Warren & Migliaccio at 888-584-9614 today to start learning more about how you can file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. An attorney familiar with these laws can be a good resource for information and guidance to help you through what can be a stressful process.