You can get rid of a wholly unsecured mortgage in a Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.  In the Eastern District of New York, you can also do this in a Chapter 7 filing.  In re Lavelle, Bankr LEXIS 3795 (Bankr SD NY 2009).
A wholly unsecured mortgage is one where there is no home value [...]

If you are lucky enough to get your mortgage company to offer a meaningful modification of your mortgage while you are in a Chapter 13, you probably can get the Trustee and the Court to agree to allow it. There are a number of issues, however, that need to be addressed.
Before modifying your mortgage you [...]

In parts 1, 2 and 3 we discussed how mortgage companies often engage in “double dipping”, how they often fail to send you monthly statements, and they ways in which they misapply monthly mortgage payments during your Chapter 13 case.  Part 4 discusses how a mortgage company can force a homeowner to add escrow to [...]

In Part 1, we discussed how mortgage companies often engage in “double dipping” when you are in a Chapter 13. Part 2 dealt with how mortgage companies commonly fail to send you a monthly statement while you are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Part 3 addresses the ways in which mortgage companies often misapply monthly [...]

Given the difficulty that the lenders and servicers have in keeping track of the endless documents they request of homeowners seeking loan modifications, I’ve wondered about what would happen if a loan modification was really granted. How would institutions who can’t keep track of the payments you make or the papers you submit keep [...]

Mortgage companies are well known for having numerous and continuous problems keeping a proper accounting of the mortgages they hold.  This is particularly true in the context of a Chapter 13 case where the mortgage company is paid by the Chapter 13 Trustee for the pre-petition arrears, and by the homeowner for the ongoing post-petition monthly mortgage payments. [...]

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing can get rid of a second mortgage if the balance of the first mortgage is greater than your home’s value.  So can a Chapter 7 filing, in some places.
You’re having trouble paying the mortgage, especially for a home that has fallen in value, but you can’t think about moving because [...]

A recent ABI article promotes the use of anti-consumer attorney litigation to prevent homeowners from being able to obtain representation in foreclosure cases by threatening consumer attorneys with possible litigation for “deepening insolvency”.

Lately I have had a number of clients who have asked me whether they should continue to seek mortgage modification, or go ahead and file a Chapter 13 to stop a foreclosure.  With the slow pace of lenders’ response to modification applications, and the pressure of possible foreclosure, it can be a difficult decision.  Here [...]

In an article this week featured in Default Servicing, Carrie Bay reports that one in every four homes is upside down. Upside down means you have absolutely no equity in your home.  For example the principal amount due and owing on the mortgage is $100,000 but the property value is only worth $90,000.  In this [...]