You may be one of the many American consumers who are struggling with keeping up with their financial responsibilities. Whether it’s higher prices due to inflation, unexpected medical emergencies, job loss and more, you may be having a difficult time paying your bills. You may even be behind on your mortgage payments, which means that you could be facing the threat of losing your home. This is overwhelming, but there are options available to you.
One of the options that you have is to seek a solution through bankruptcy. This is a legal process that allows you to seek protection from collection efforts by creditors, including foreclosure. While bankruptcy may not be your first choice, you will benefit from seeking an understanding of whether this process could be useful for you.
Staying in your home
The thought of having to leave your home can be daunting. Thankfully, bankruptcy can offer you a way to stay in your home and deal with certain types of debts once and for all. For those with a significant amount of secured debt, such as mortgages, Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be a beneficial and practical choice. Consider the following:
- Chapter 13 bankruptcy will reorganize your debts so that your payments will be more manageable.
- You will make payments on your debts over a period of three to five years.
- During bankruptcy, you will enjoy the benefits of the automatic stay, which will halt all collections efforts against you.
- At the end of the bankruptcy process, the court will discharge certain remaining balances.
- Chapter 13 can also assist with debt from second or third mortgages.
Only individuals with a certain amount of income will be eligible for bankruptcy. For many applicants, Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows you to remain in your home even after receiving notice of the foreclosure process.
A better financial future
There are many misconceptions about bankruptcy. Some people believe that making this decision will leave them destitute and that they will lose all of their personal property, but this is not the case. There are many benefits to seeking bankruptcy protection, including the ability to deal with your debt problem once and for all while remaining in your home. It may be helpful to learn about the benefits of this process and other steps you need to take to emerge to a better financial future.
