Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Can Prevent Illinois Foreclosures
With U.S. foreclosures up 32 percent in the last month, there's good news and bad news for Illinois homeowners. First, the good - foreclosures here decreased 11 percent from March to April, making the state more stable than the rest of the country. Now the bad - that's still 54 percent higher than a year ago, according to data just released by RealtyTrac.
Now, people seem to handle news like this in two very distinct ways - by either underreacting and overreacting. Underreactors brush off the data and think, "It's not like it will happen to me," even as they pile up debt and miss payments. Overreactors tend to panic and imagine the worst, sometimes to the point that they enter a state of denial and thus don't actually do anything to protect themselves. What do they have in common? Neither behavior does anything to stop foreclosure.
Whatever the headlines and whatever the state of the economy, there is a chance you will lose your house if you don't keep up your payments. Fortunately, that possibility can be eliminated by something the news doesn't often mention: bankruptcy. Chapter 13 can halt foreclosure proceedings, stop repossessions, get creditors off your back and give you a fresh financial start.
Sure, there are alternatives. For instance, the Obama administration is at work on the Making Home Affordable initiative, which will help some homeowners through loan modification and refinancing. But in the past, lenders have been reluctant to give out modifications - and neither modification or refinancing works well if you don't have much income or are drowning in credit card debt (or, in some cases, both). For millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, face sky-high medical expenses or have other debt problems, bankruptcy can be a lifesaver. It's the only debt solution that's also a constitutional right - and the only solution that always works.
To find out if a bankruptcy plan is right for you, why not talk to our professional bankruptcy attorneys in Chicago and Atlanta for free? Consider signing up for our no-cost personal debt analysis, an hour-long session with an expert. You can sit at home hoping that your house doesn't become a statistic or you can actually do something about it. When you do decide to take action, we're here to help.