In Oregon, banks have traditionally chosen to non-judicially foreclose on homes after a period of default on the mortgage payments (non-judicial foreclosures can be quicker and less costly than judicial foreclosures). There is no law that requires the bank to foreclose within a certain period of time. Indeed sometimes many months or years pass before the bank gets around to beginning the foreclosure process.
When someone files a chapter 7 bankruptcy, all liabilities and assets (including the approximate quick liquidation value of the assets) are included in the bankruptcy petition. The liabilities listed include everything, including non-dischargeable debt (among other things, certain taxes are not dischargeable, student loans are generally non-dischargeable, child/spousal support is not dischargeable).
Student loans are a huge issue for many people. Unfortunately, under current law it is almost impossible to discharge student loans in a bankruptcy case. The general rule is that student loans are not dischargeable unless you can prove an “undue hardship.” Often courts will require that the debtor is essentially mentally and/or physically disabled and unable to earn an income before they will allow a discharge of student loans in a bankruptcy. But if a debtor is disabled, most student loan lenders have an internal procedure (non-bankruptcy) for obtaining a discharge of the student loans.
I often get the question of whether or not there is a certain amount of debt that somebody needs to have before they can file a bankruptcy. The answer is that there is no minimum amount of debt that is required to file a bankruptcy.
This morning I received a voice mail message from a former chapter 7 client. She received her discharge in August 2012. In her voicemail, she stated that a collection agency was calling her to collect on a credit card that was part of the bankruptcy. I immediately called the collection agency and explained to them that they are violating federal law by trying to collect on a debt that was discharged in a bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy statutes are designed to give honest debtors a fresh start. They are not designed to allow individuals to discharge debts that they never intended on paying in the first place. Most debtors are honest people that have come on some challenges (loss of job, medical condition, etc.).
When someone files a bankruptcy there are different exemption amounts for different assets. The exemption amount for a residence, also known as the homestead exemption, is $40,000 for single filers and $50,000 if the debtors are married, jointly own the property, and it is a joint filing.
Oregon Employers Can't Use Your Credit Report Anymore When Deciding Whether to Hire You Adam M. Weiner Bankruptcy Layer, Attorney, Credit Report On July 1, 2010, Oregon's Job Applicant Fairness Act went into effect making it unlawful for most employers to require a job applicant to provide a credit report when applying for a job. There are some exceptions to this law, which include job applicants for bank jobs, police, security, and/or if credit information "is substantially job related." Nonetheless, this is a powerful law that not many other states have.
IF all of the equity in the home is completely covered by the “senior” mortgage(s), leaving not a penny of equity to cover the next-in-line mortgage or line of credit, then in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy the junior mortgage and/or line of credit can be stripped away.
If a creditor files a lawsuit against you and gets a judgment, that judgment usually attaches to your home as an involuntary lien against your home’s title, a judgment lien.