Bankruptcy Means Test Inflation Adjustment for Family of Two Goes the Wrong Way Budgeting food and clothes in the bankruptcy court for a family of two just got harder. According to the Justice Department (who gets them from the IRS, who gets them from the Bureau of Labor Statistics), the average cost of food, clothing […] The post Inflation Adjustment for Family of Two Goes the Wrong Way by Robert Weed appeared first on Northern VA Bankruptcy Lawyer Robert Weed.

Bankruptcy Means Test Inflation Adjustment for Family of Two Goes the Wrong Way Budgeting food and clothes in the bankruptcy court for a family of two just got harder. According to the Justice Department (who gets them from the IRS, who gets them from the Bureau of Labor Statistics), the average cost of food, clothing […] The post Inflation Adjustment for Family of Two Goes the Wrong Way by Robert Weed appeared first on Northern VA Bankruptcy Lawyer Robert Weed.

June 24, 2020 CNBC Key Points Small businesses have received nearly $630 billion in combined funding through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Nearly a quarter of small businesses are considering closing permanently due to Covid-19, one survey found. All PPP loans and EIDL loans of less than $25,000 have terms that are relatively favorable to borrowers if they need to close. FOR MORE BLOG POSTS ABOUT SBA EIDL LOANS SEE:EIDL LOAN WORKOUTS AND BANKRUPTCY https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2022/07/eidl-loan-workouts-and-bankruptcy.html EIDL Loan Default Questions & Answers https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2022/10/eidl-loan-default-questions-answers.html EIDL LOAN DEFAULT DOCUMENT REVIEW, WORKOUT, BANKRUPTCY FILING & OFFER IN COMPROMISE https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2022/07/eidl-loan-default-document-review.html EIDL Defaulted Loans https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2022/07/eidl-defaulted-loans.html New Relief Program for SBA EIDL Borrowers Who are Having Difficulty Repaying EIDL Loans " Hardship Accommodation Plan" https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2023/05/new-relief-program-for-sba-eidl.html EIDL LOANS and SBA OFFER IN COMPROMISE PROGRAM https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2022/07/eidl-loans-and-sba-offer-in-compromise.html PPP & EIDL Fraud https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2022/08/ppp-eidl-fraud.html Better to connect-What small business owners need to know about repaying loans tied to pandemic relief from the SBA EIDL Loans https://shenwick.blogspot.com/2022/11/better-to-connect-what-small-business.html

If you get monthly Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) checks and recently received an injury settlement in Pennsylvania, your benefits should remain unaffected. Receiving an injury settlement at any point in your life will not impact you when applying for SSDI benefits in Pennsylvania. Eligibility is determined by a person’s work history and disability, not by their need for financial support. If you get an injury settlement after already receiving SSDI benefits, your monthly payments will remain unaffected as injury settlements are not considered income. While injury settlements do not affect SSDI benefit recipients, they can impact recipients of other disability benefits in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize the impact to ensure you remain eligible for financial support from the Social Security Administration (SSA). To get a free and confidential review of your case from our Pennsylvania disability lawyers, call Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates today at (215) 515-2954. Will Getting an Injury Settlement Make Me Ineligible to Receive SSDI Benefits in Pennsylvania? Whether or not you received a settlement from a negligent party will have no impact on your ability to apply for SSDI benefits in Pennsylvania. Eligibility is based on other factors, not a person’s finances or assets. Eligibility for SSDI benefits in Pennsylvania is determined by a person’s work credits, not their financial need. As you work over the years, taxes for Social Security will be deducted from your paychecks. This enables you to apply for SSDI benefits should you sustain an injury or become ill or otherwise disabled and be unable to continue earning an income in Pennsylvania. This means that any injury settlement you received in the past, whether for a workplace accident, slip and fall accident, medical malpractice incident, car accident, or another event, will have no impact on your eligibility to receive SSDI benefits. As long as you have a suitable work history and a qualifying disability, you can get disability benefits in Pennsylvania. People without sufficient work credits might be able to get SSDI benefits, regardless of a previous injury settlement, if their parent has a qualifying earning record and the applicant sustained their disability before the age of 22. Will Getting an Injury Settlement Impact My Current SSDI Benefits in Pennsylvania? Social Security Disability Insurance benefit recipients in Pennsylvania are not allowed to earn over a certain amount on a monthly basis while getting payments from the SSA. If you receive an injury settlement while on SSDI in Pennsylvania, will you no longer be eligible for benefits? In 2023, SSDI recipients cannot earn upwards of $1,470 per month, or $2,460 if they are blind, and remain eligible for monthly benefits. Furthermore, earning upwards of $1,050 a month as an SSDI recipient will trigger a trial work period, which, if left unchecked, could impact your ability to continue getting payments from the Social Security Administration. Fortunately for disability recipients, injury settlements are not considered earned income. This means that if a negligent party in Pennsylvania hurts you and you file a lawsuit that results in recovery, that compensation will not adversely impact your SSDI benefit status. What if I Stop Receiving SSDI Benefits After Getting an Injury Settlement in Pennsylvania? Clerical errors or other mistakes might cause SSDI recipients to stop getting monthly payments after getting an injury settlement in Pennsylvania. Should this happen, it is important to clarify with the SSA that you are not earning upwards of the substantial gainful activity level and are simply receiving compensation for your damages caused by a negligent party. You might have to inform the Social Security Administration about your injury settlement to ensure that it does not confuse possible monthly structured settlement payments with income earned from a part-time job. Receiving a lump sum settlement might have a similar effect, especially if it is considerably higher than the substantial gainful activity threshold for SSDI recipients. While monthly structured payments might not trigger questions from the SSA, a large amount of money being transferred to you following a settlement might. If you stop getting SSDI payments after receiving an injury settlement, inform our Philadelphia disability lawyers so that we can explain the situation to the SSA. Once the SSA is aware that you are not earning an income and are simply being compensated for medical expenses and pain and suffering, your SSDI benefits should resume if they were temporarily halted in Pennsylvania. Can Getting an Injury Settlement Impact Other Social Security Disability Benefits in Pennsylvania? Although injury settlements have little to no impact on SSDI benefits, they can affect a person’s eligibility for other disability benefits in Pennsylvania. If you are not eligible for SSDI benefits based on your earning record, you might qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in Pennsylvania. Eligibility for SSI benefits is based on disability and financial need. If you receive an injury settlement of a considerable sum, it might reduce or eliminate your SSI benefits. It may benefit SSI recipients to negotiate a structured settlement to avoid this. Unlike a lump sum settlement, structured settlements provide people with monthly payments. Your SSI benefits might remain unaffected depending on the amount of your monthly payments from a structured settlement. If you receive a lump sum settlement and are concerned that your SSI benefits will be in jeopardy, you can use the funds to pay for exempt resources, such as accommodations for your disability, home mortgages, credit cards, student loans, or other debts. SSI benefit recipients can also create a special needs trust that allows them to pay for funds not covered by SSI benefits, keeping them eligible for monthly payments from the Social Security Administration in Pennsylvania. Apply for SSDI Benefits in Pennsylvania Today Call the Bensalem, PA disability lawyers at Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates today at (215) 515-2954 to schedule a free case review.

 Above the Law blog had an article written by Jordan Rothman titled "People Love to Threaten Bankruptcy During Litigation", the article can be found at https://abovethelaw.com/2023/03/people-love-to-threaten-bankruptcy-during-litigation/.Jordan is correct in that many defendants in litigation threaten bankruptcy to obtain a favorable settlement. However, in my experience as a bankruptcy practitioner, many parties that threaten bankruptcy often file and those cases are generally filed as a chapter 7 liquidation, where after the payment of Bankruptcy Trustee fees and expenses, there is little money to distribute to unsecured creditors.In fact, when the threat to file is made by an experienced bankruptcy attorney, it has an even greater impact and we have settled many cases with that approach. In fact, we will often prepare a draft of a bankruptcy petition and send it to an adversary for settlement purposes only, showing what the creditor would receive in a bankruptcy filing (we call this a "pro forma bankruptcy petition"). Alternatively, we are often retained by litigators or their clients to determine what their client would receive if their adversary filed for bankruptcy-we call this a "back of the envelope calculation".Parties wishing to discuss these issues are encouraged to contact Jim Shenwick, Esq   917 363 3391   [email protected]  

When struggling to pay medical bills in New Jersey, debtors can declare bankruptcy and possibly get such debts discharged. Either Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy can help you get a handle on medical debt in New Jersey. There is no type of bankruptcy that is specifically designed to address medical debt in New Jersey. Instead, debtors will file a bankruptcy chapter, typically Chapter 7 or 13. To do this, you must file an initial bankruptcy petition with the court in New Jersey. Medical debt might then be eliminated, allowing you time to repay other creditors you might have. Debtors can lower the risk of losing certain assets during bankruptcy by using liquidation exemptions in New Jersey. Call Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (609) 755-3115 to set up a free and confidential case review with our New Jersey bankruptcy lawyers today. Is There a Specific Medical Bankruptcy in New Jersey? While you can enter into bankruptcy as a way to address medical debt, there isn’t a specific medical bankruptcy you can file for. Debtors will typically either file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, which can address all debt, not just debt associated with outstanding medical bills. Bankruptcy chapters are not necessarily designed to help debtors address specific types of debt. Instead, debtors can file a standard bankruptcy, typically either Chapter 13 or Chapter 7. The chapter you file will depend on your financial status. Medical debtors with little income may have to file for Chapter 7. Medical debtors that pass a means test and have sufficient income to support a repayment plan can file for Chapter 13 in New Jersey. Although the chapter you file won’t be catered to addressing medical debt, you can still repay medical creditors. If you file for Chapter 7, you might have to do this by liquidating certain assets. That said, medical debt is considered a nonpriority unsecured debt. This means that if you petition for bankruptcy in New Jersey, medical debt might be discharged, or eliminated, leaving you with no responsibility to repay it. Suppose you have other debt in addition to medical debt. In that case, you can repay other creditors during bankruptcy after medical debt has been discharged. If medical debt is your only debt, you can address it fairly quickly by declaring bankruptcy in New Jersey. What is the Process of Filing for Medical Bankruptcy in New Jersey? If you are dealing with overwhelming medical debt that needs to be addressed, you can do so by declaring bankruptcy in New Jersey. Initiating the process is relatively simple, though debtors must be able to provide detailed information. The first step in declaring bankruptcy is filing a petition with the court. Our Mount Holly, NJ bankruptcy lawyers will include information about your income, expenses, and savings in your initial petition. We will also include information about medical debt and your creditors. If there are other debts that need to be addressed, we will include information about those debts in your bankruptcy petition as well. If you are using liquidation exemptions, you must note such in your initial bankruptcy petition. Judges typically order all parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution methods. During this time, debtors might negotiate with creditors in an attempt to resolve the matter without further court proceedings. Creditors might be unwilling to fully partake in negotiations, requiring a judge to step in. If medical debt is dischargeable, it may be eliminated after you petition for bankruptcy in New Jersey. Assets will be chosen for liquidation if you have other outstanding debts or medical debt is not discharged. It is not uncommon for those trying to pay medical bills to have other debts. If you filed for Chapter 13, our attorneys will submit a repayment plan soon after you declare bankruptcy. Once the judge approves your repayment plan, you can begin making payments to creditors to address your debt in New Jersey. Are There Risks Associated with Filing for Medical Bankruptcy in New Jersey? There are few risks associated with filing for bankruptcy to handle medical debt in New Jersey because medical debt is typically dischargeable. If you are concerned about losing certain assets, you may be able to exempt them from liquidation in New Jersey. The top risk debtors are concerned about regarding the prospect of declaring bankruptcy in New Jersey is potentially losing important assets, like a debtor’s home or car. Fortunately, New Jersey allows debtors to use federal liquidation exemptions, allowing debtors to retain a wide array of personal property when going through Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy. Another concern of debtors is the impact bankruptcy can have on a person’s credit. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy may stay on your credit report for about ten years after filing. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy may stay on your creditor report for about seven years after filing. That said, declaring bankruptcy can help debtors avoid other things that can have an adverse effect on their credit, such as missing payments, allowing them the opportunity to intentionally build their credit back up over time. Medical debt can begin to feel insurmountable almost immediately, especially if it is tied to a person’s credit card debt, which can accrue interest quickly. Credit card debt is also typically dischargeable in bankruptcy, making going through bankruptcy even more necessary for debtors in certain situations. Typically, there are greater risks associated with not filing for bankruptcy if you have considerable medical debt than declaring bankruptcy and handling your debt in New Jersey. Debt in one area can lead to debt in another since it is common for debtors to miss mortgage or car payments in an attempt to meet others, like medical payments. Eliminate Medical Debt in New Jersey Today For a free case evaluation with Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates, call our New Brunswick, NJ bankruptcy lawyers today at (609) 755-3115.

Weight Loss Brand Jenny Craig Files for Bankruptcy, Shuts Down Bloomberg is reporting that Jenny Craig files for Bankruptcy last week and is shutting down. People and companies that are owed money should file a Proof of Claim & landlord's should expect that their leases with Jenny Craig will be rejected. Individuals or companies having questions about the Jenny Craig bankruptcy filing should contact Jim Shenwick, Esq 917 363 3391  [email protected] help companies & individuals with too much debt!

Falling behind on the mortgage is always frustrating, but you risk foreclosure if you miss too many payments. Thankfully, creditors cannot blindside you with foreclosure proceedings, and you should receive a mortgage foreclosure notice beforehand. Mortgage foreclosure notices are typically mailed to homeowners at least 30 days before the creditors want to initiate foreclosure. There might be various kinds of notices, and you might receive one or more, depending on your case. Once you have received notice that a creditor intends to foreclose, you can file for bankruptcy to halt the foreclosure. Once you have filed for bankruptcy, you and your attorney can take steps to either liquidate assets and pay debts or develop a payment plan approved by the court to help you catch up on debts. Keep in mind that while filing for bankruptcy can help you in many ways after receiving a mortgage foreclosure notice, there are certain drawbacks you should be aware of. Contact our New Jersey mortgage foreclosure defense lawyers about scheduling a free case review by calling Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (609) 755-3115. What Happens After Receiving a Mortgage Foreclosure Notice in New Jersey? Going through foreclosure proceedings can be intimidating, frightening, and humiliating. Luckily, New Jersey’s Fair Foreclosure Act protects homeowners so they are not taken advantage of by creditors with greater financial and legal resources. One such protection is the requirement to give notice. According to N.J.S.A. § 2A:50-56(a), a residential mortgage lender (e.g., the bank or other creditors on a mortgage) must send notice of their intent to initiate foreclosure to the homeowner at least 30 days but no more than 180 days before foreclosure proceedings begin. Notice should be sent by certified or registered mail with a return receipt requested. If you never receive the notice before foreclosure proceedings begin, you should talk to a lawyer immediately. In addition, your agreement or contract with the mortgage lender or creditor might provide additional forms of notice. Under your contract, the lender must send a mortgage foreclosure notice 6 months in advance. Failure to do so might be a breach of contract, even if the lender sends the legally required 30-day notice. How to Prevent a Mortgage Foreclosure Notice in New Jersey After receiving notice of the lender or creditor’s intent to foreclose, you can take legal action to halt the foreclosure and hopefully save your home. Our New Jersey mortgage foreclosure defense lawyers can help you file for bankruptcy, which should trigger an automatic stay on the foreclosure, allowing you more time to figure things out. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Chapter 7 bankruptcy is one of the most common filings for residential homeowners facing foreclosure. Under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your assets and property may be liquidated, and the money earned from the liquidation is used to pay debts, including overdue mortgage payments. The problem here is that you risk seeing your home liquidated, which is usually the opposite of what homeowners facing foreclosure want. Unfortunately, people filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy usually do not control when and how their assets are liquidated. Instead, a trustee is appointed and responsible for gathering assets and liquidating them. However, this does not mean you have no say in the matter. Our team can help you work with the trustee to liquidate some assets while holding onto your home. This might be a viable option if you have multiple other valuable assets you can part with to avoid liquidating your home. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Under Chapter 13, which is also geared toward residential homeowners, you can restructure your finances and develop a payment plan instead of liquidating your assets. This is often optimal for homeowners who want to retain valuable assets like their houses. When filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you and your attorney must devise a reasonable payment to help you catch up on missed payments and debts over several years. Often, people with a fairly decent, steady income but very high debts find Chapter 13 bankruptcy helpful. Your payment plan should allow you to make up missed mortgage payments and prevent foreclosure. Pros and Cons of Filing for Bankruptcy to Stop a Mortgage Foreclosure in New Jersey While filing for bankruptcy can help stop foreclosure in its tracks, it is not without some drawbacks. If all goes well, you might keep your home and avoid foreclosure. However, bankruptcy stays on your financial records for years and might negatively affect future financial opportunities. Pros Once your bankruptcy filing has gone through, an automatic stay is immediately placed on any foreclosure proceedings or other legal actions creditors take to repossess your assets. Even if your home is being auctioned off at a Sheriff’s sale, the automatic stay would prevent the sale and give you time to plan your next steps with your lawyer. If you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your bankruptcy proceedings might be over fairly quickly. Chapter 7 usually takes only a few months to complete. Once certain assets are liquidated, and various debts are paid, the court might discharge other debts. Ultimately, you might get a fresh start while retaining your home. If you file for Chapter 13, the process takes longer, but you might not lose any assets in the process. Chapter 13 is a somewhat safer choice for people who do not want to risk having their house liquidated. Cons Bankruptcy gets a bad reputation and is often seen as a punishment because it takes a significant toll on your credit. The bankruptcy filing will be reflected in your financial records for years, and future lenders, creditors, and others may see this information when they run a credit check. People usually do not want to see bankruptcy in a credit check, and they might choose to turn you away. For example, if you want to open a business, the bank might see your bankruptcy in your credit history and deny you the business loan you need. Bankruptcy might also affect your ability to make large purchases in the future, including cars and property. Your attorney can help you minimize the fallout from your bankruptcy case so you can move on with your life with a fresh start and a clean slate. Call Our New Jersey Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Lawyers For a free review of your case and mortgage foreclosure notice, call our Cherry Hill, NJ  mortgage foreclosure defense attorneys at Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (609) 755-3115.

Should the U.S. enter into a debt default, many government programs, including Social Security disability benefits, could be impacted. Unfortunately for Social Security benefit recipients, U.S. debt default could indefinitely pause monthly payments. The threat of a U.S. debt default depends on whether or not Congress pays the country’s debt and raises the current debt ceiling. Should Social Security benefits be paused, millions of Americans could be affected, as many rely on monthly payments as their primary income source. Though trust funds are in place to support Social Security payments to recipients in the event of a debt default, they could be depleted if the United States enters into a debt default. To get a free assessment of your case from Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates, call our Pennsylvania disability lawyers today at (215) 515-2954 or (609) 557-308. How Could a US Debt Default Affect Social Security Payments? When borrowers fail to meet payments, they could default on their debt. This can even happen to the United States government, which could, in turn, impact Social Security payments to recipients. Certain Social Security programs could be affected if the U.S. enters into a debt default. Without the necessary funds to provide benefits to recipients, monthly payments could halt for an undetermined period of time, depending on the situation. The U.S. has a debt ceiling that is set by Congress. The U.S. recently met its debt ceiling in January of 2023, meaning the possibility of it entering a debt default is impending unless Congress raises the debt ceiling. As of May 2023, the current issue preventing the debt ceiling from being raised and preventing the U.S. from paying certain outstanding debts revolves around Social Security. Some legislators in the United States wish for Social Security benefits to be reevaluated and possibly reduced, which could lower or eliminate certain Social Security benefits for some Americans. Social Security benefits, and the U.S. and global economies, could be greatly impacted should the United States enter into a debt default. This could mean that millions of people might lose their jobs as a result of a debt default, in addition to many losing Social Security benefits. While it might seem as though the United States deals with a debt crisis on an annual basis, the threat to Social Security benefits is relatively high at the current time. It is important that Social Security benefit recipients confer with our Philadelphia disability lawyers to understand whether or not their benefits will be in jeopardy and learn how to prepare for a possible pause to monthly payments. How Many Social Security Benefit Recipients Could Be Affected by a US Debt Default? If the U.S. enters into a debt default and Social Security payments stop temporarily, millions of benefit recipients, including you, could be affected if they rely on Social Security payments to support themselves and their families. According to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) most recent data, over 9.2 million people in the United States received SSDI benefits in 2021. In December of that same year, payments equated to over $11.9 billion in total, which shows the sheer economic support Social Security benefits provide to disabled workers in America. Social Security Disability Insurance benefits are not the only benefits available to Americans in need. Millions of people receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, which are available to those with qualifying disabilities and demonstrate financial need. According to the SSA, 57% of people receiving SSI benefits in the U.S. have no other income, meaning a debt default could leave millions of SSI recipients without any financial support whatsoever. Perhaps the largest portion of Social Security benefit recipients in the U.S. are retirees. When you reach retirement age, you can be eligible to receive retirement Social Security benefits to provide you with some income in the latter part of your life. Nearly 70 million people received Social Security benefits of some kind in 2019, so if the U.S. enters into debt default and halts Social Security payments, a large portion of the U.S. population could be seriously impacted. What Protections Are in Place to Prevent a US Debt Default from Affecting Social Security Payments? There are two Social Security trust funds in the U.S. that could enable benefit recipients to continue getting monthly payments for some time, despite a possible debt default in the United States. They are the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund. That said, these trust funds might only be a temporary solution to a debt default. Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund The OASI Trust Fund is a reserve that provides Social Security benefits to retirees and survivors of deceased workers in the United States. In 2022, the net reserves of the OASI Trust Fund decreased by millions of dollars, somewhat due to the ongoing crisis of COVID-19. At the end of 2022, the OASI Trust Fund’s asset reserves equated to about $2,711.899 billion. Considering the sheer number of retirement benefit recipients in the United States, the OASI Trust Fund might be depleted relatively quickly if a debt default occurs. Disability Insurance Trust Fund The Disability Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings are considerably lower than that of the OASI Trust Fund. While the DI Trust Fund’s asset reserves increased in 2022 by $18,594 million, the net asset reserves at the end of the year were about $118,000 million. While this can seem like a large amount of money dedicated to SSDI and SSI recipients, considering the fact that millions of people get these benefits every month, the DI Trust Fund might only be able to support disability benefit payments to Americans for a short time if the U.S. enters into a debt default. Get Social Security Benefits Today To have our Quakertown disability lawyers evaluate your case for free, call Young, Marr, Mallis & at (215) 515-2954 or (609) 557-308.

Receiving a mortgage foreclosure notice could be the beginning of one of the most challenging periods in a person’s life. While the loss of your home is at risk, there are methods to prevent the worst from occurring. The best way to fight mortgage foreclosure in Pennsylvania is to file your case in court. Through the court, you can likely begin mediation proceedings to negotiate a way out of the situation. However, filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is usually the best method to preserve your home while limiting your other losses. If you prefer to handle the matter directly with your lender, our team can help you determine which option works best for your financial situation. Contact Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates today at (215) 701-6519 for a free case review with our Pennsylvania mortgage foreclosure defense attorneys. What Should I Do If I Received a Mortgage Foreclosure Notice in Pennsylvania? It is understandable that you might be overcome with dread after receiving a mortgage foreclosure notice in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, there are a number of methods to help fight mortgage foreclosure that our Bensalem mortgage foreclosure defense attorneys can help you choose from. Mortgage foreclosure proceedings typically go into effect after a homeowner has missed their mortgage payments for a minimum of 60 days. However, you should have received at least two written notices of the lender’s intent to foreclose on your property. If you did receive notice of foreclosure, you typically have two to four months to resolve the late payments before proceedings move forward. If the matter is not properly dealt with, your lender can file suit against you. If their lawsuit succeeds, they will be permitted by the court to list your property for sale to recover the damages the court found your lender entitled to. If you recently received notice of foreclosure, it is important not to panic and contact our firm. Many homeowners are not aware of the various ways to defend against mortgage foreclosure. Depending on your financial situation, we can help you choose a method that helps keep your home without suffering from overcoming losses. How Can I Stop Mortgage Foreclosure in Pennsylvania? Receiving a notice of foreclosure does not automatically mean that you will lose your home. In Pennsylvania, numerous options are available to help you and your family stay in your home. In many cases, going through the court is the best method. This includes defending your case in a lawsuit or, more commonly, filing for bankruptcy. Additionally, other options outside of the legal system are available, but it might be more difficult to maintain financial stability through their use. Filing a Lawsuit If you were notified of mortgage foreclosure, one method to keep your home would be taking your case to court. When this route is chosen, the judge assigned to your case will typically order the parties involved to engage in mediation. Mediation is a legal process by which each side can come together and attempt to negotiate a fair outcome for all involved parties. This could mean altering the original mortgage agreement, or the lender might refuse anything less than full payment. The good part about mediation is that you will be granted an automatic stay on your foreclosure until mediation concludes. This means that you will not be required to make your mortgage payments while mediation is ongoing. You can also assert affirmative defenses to your foreclosure in a lawsuit. For instance, you could potentially stop foreclosure proceedings if you can show that your lender engaged in predatory practices when negotiating your loan. You can also prevent foreclosure if your lender violated state or federal laws. While these defenses will not remove your financial obligations completely, they will likely allow you to keep your home. Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy In most cases, filing for bankruptcy is usually the best option to protect your home from foreclosure. Pennsylvania has two types of bankruptcy that individuals can file for, which include Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is typically the best method for individuals who do not have continual employment or whose income is too low to cover their debts. In Chapter 7 proceedings, some of your assets are sold off to satisfy your debts. This can include cars and other personal items, but Chapter 7 proceedings will stop your mortgage foreclosure for the time being. This time can allow you to figure out a way to meet your mortgage obligations. Filing for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Chapter 13 bankruptcy is another method to preserve your property. This method is a better fit for those with a stable income and the apparent ability to pay their debts under the right conditions. When filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will need to create a repayment plan that shows how you will repay your debts and for how long. Your repayment plan will then need to be approved by the court. Like Chapter 7 bankruptcy, foreclosure proceedings will cease after your Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing is approved. However, you must show that you will earn enough income to meet the obligations laid out in your repayment plan. Mortgage Modification Another common method to prevent mortgage foreclosure is to negotiate a mortgage modification. With a mortgage modification, you might be able to lower your monthly payments, lower your interest rate, or be granted extensions in the timeframe in which you must pay. However, getting a suitable mortgage modification can be extremely challenging without the support of a knowledgeable Bucks County, PA foreclosure defense attorney. Mortgage Forbearance Agreement You might also consider entering into a mortgage forbearance agreement. A forbearance will not change the terms of your mortgage plan but will grant you more time to make your payments. This option typically works to give your more time to come up with a more long-term solution to your financial problems. In many cases, forbearances will usually only last for up to six months. Short Sale of Your Property A less attractive option but one that could save you from a serious financial downfall is to “short sale” your home. If your lender agrees to short-sale your home, they will sell your home to recover compensation that is usually less than the total amount owed on your mortgage. However, by short-selling your home, you will be free of your financial obligations to the lender even though the full amount of the mortgage was not recovered. Our Pennsylvania Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Attorneys Can Help For a free case consultation with our Allentown mortgage foreclosure defense lawyers, call Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (215) 701-6519.