Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

I have a 2nd mortgage account that is 102 days past due and they are threatening to "charge off" if I don't come current by Dec 31. I told them that I have sold some family heirlooms on Dec 7 which will provide theback money owed, but the auction house doesn't pay until 30 days post sale (Jan 7) which is too late. My account (250,000 balance) will therefore go to charge off. I'm not sure what this all means and what I should do when the account is charged off. Do I need to pay back the 250,000


Asked on 12/23/09, 8:54 am

3 Answers from Attorneys

Carl Starrett Law Offices of Carl H. Starrett II

Contact a bankruptcy attorney see if you can use a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to get ride fo the second mortgage.

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Answered on 12/30/09, 4:49 am
OCEAN BEACH ASSOCIATES OCEAN BEACH ASSOCIATES

The charge off will likely result in it going into collections with a lawsuit. Contact me directly for a BK consultation.

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Answered on 12/30/09, 4:02 pm
Melvin C. Belli The Belli Law Firm

My suggestion is to try to negotiate a settlement at a deep discount with the 2nd but only if there is some value in your home vis a vis the first as they have already probably seriously damaged your credit rating. Since this involves your home, the first question is whether your home has sufficient value if sold to cover the full amount owed to the second. Like most homeowner these days your house is probably worth less than owed and there is insufficient value to pay the second off then a couple of things will happen. 1st your 2nd's remedy is to foreclose on your home that is their best threat. If you owe more than it worth this is a pointless exercise because when they foreclosure and your house is sold there is no money to pay the second and they have lost their security. By law if this is your home then you can walk away for any balance on the first. If the second is still owed money they can still file suit against you and pursue you but the likelihood of them collecting is unlikely because you probably just lost your main asset.

So that is how and why you want to negotiate a settlement with your second. The deeper underwater your house is the easier it is to do. You can file bankruptcy and that may wipe out the second but that also has a lot of other ramifications that you might not like.

Since this is an area we practice in you can call us for a free consultation before you decide to file bankruptcy. Our toll free number is (866) 981-1850 and you can check our website out at bellilawfirm.com.

Good luck, and best wishes for a happy new year.

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Answered on 12/30/09, 11:43 pm


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