Atlanta Bankruptcy Protects from Foreclosure, Which Make up Majority of Home Sales
Foreclosures make up nearly 60 percent of all home sales in one suburban Atlanta county, just another sign that the local economy is frustratingly slow to recover from the Great Recession.
You can find signs of a foreclosure in just about every neighborhood -- high-grown grass or a sign in the front yard -- as job loss or mounting debt has made keeping up with monthly mortgage payments nearly impossible for many families.
But one option that may help is bankruptcy in Atlanta. There are certain standards that must be met, but after qualifying, a person can have debts discharged and still keep important assets, such as a house or car. And filing for bankruptcy will immediately stop a foreclosure. Whether a homeowner has fallen one payment behind or is waiting for their house to be sold by the bank, bankruptcy stops the process. Chapter 13 is available to those who don't qualify for Chapter 7.
An experienced Atlanta Bankruptcy Lawyer can help consumers win a fresh start.
The foreclosure problem is even more evident in Douglas County than elsewhere. Times-georgian.com reports that 58 percent of all home sales in that county were foreclosures during the second quarter.
Of the 280 sales between April and June, the average price was $89,504, while non-foreclosure homes were sold at about $100,155, the web site reports. It is clearly a buyer's market, which also hurts the homeowners whose houses aren't in foreclosure.
The numbers in Douglas County outstrip statewide numbers. In the same time period, 38 percent of all sales were houses that were in foreclosure. And Georgia had the fifth highest percentage of foreclosure sales nationwide. Nationwide, the number is 31 percent.
There are two forms of bankruptcy that may be able to help a homeowner. For many, they are making payments on a house, but have lost a job and now have bills piling up. They may have a student loan they must make payments on, on top of monthly bills, credit card bills and other debts and all of a sudden they have no source of income.
For those people, Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Atlanta is probably the most beneficial. Under this law, consumers can have most or all of their debt discharged and can even keep assets in which they have little equity.
Another option is Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Georgia. This is the less frequently used option, but it allows consumers to make monthly payments for a time period -- usually 3 to 5 years -- and pay back some of the debt. After making those payments, the consumer can seek to have remaining debt discharged. That chapter is typically reserved for someone who has a lot of equity in their possessions or who has high income.
Both options are better than creditors hounding you for payments and attempting to garnish your wages, if you're working. Lenders can be brutal in collecting their money and can make life difficult. An experienced bankruptcy lawyer can stop them in their tracks and help you earn a fresh start.
If you need to speak to an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney call the DebtStoppers Bankruptcy Law Firm at 800-440-7235 today for a free debt analysis.
More Blog Entries:
Foreclosure Numbers Top 200 in Newnan First Time Since March: August 12, 2011
Atlanta Housing Market Fourth Worst In Nation, Leading to Foreclosures, Bankruptcy: August 12, 2011