Attention, bankruptcy attorneys in Orange County — the number of rising bankruptcies in the near future may not be due to the economy alone. Consumer bankruptcies, especially Chapter 13 bankruptcies, may increase do to the new Bankruptcy Bill that has just passed in the House. How the Senate may change the bill remains to be seen, but now we know how the House wants it to look.
From the AP:
“A plan to give debt-strapped American homeowners a chance to lower their mortgage payments through bankruptcy courts won House of Representatives approval Thursday as a report revealed that foreclosures and past-due home loans hit a record 5.4 million last year.
A survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association released Thursday found that nearly 12 percent of U.S. homeowners were in foreclosure or behind on their payments at the end of 2008.
The legislation, part of President Barack Obama’s housing rescue plan, is facing a much tougher road in the Senate amid the same industry opposition and reservations from moderate Democrats that nearly derailed it in the House.
The House passed the bill 234-191 mostly along party lines, and the Senate could consider it within weeks.
The legislation would give bankruptcy judges — who now can modify loans for such items as cars and student loans but not for primary residences — new power to reduce the interest rate and principle on a home mortgage.
Supporters regard the threat of a mortgage modification in bankruptcy as a crucial tool to prod banks to negotiate with homeowners for more affordable terms. Critics argue the measure will create a flood of bankruptcy filings that ultimately will drive up mortgage rates and further destabilize the battered housing market.
The House bill is the product of a compromise between dueling Democratic factions. A group of moderates broke with liberal backers last week and refused to support the measure unless it included several changes the banking lobby had sought.
It took days of intense bargaining with an assist from Obama’s team to get the measure back on track. The president dispatched his housing secretary, Shaun Donovan, to a closed-door meeting in the Capitol to explain to restive Democrats how the measure fits in with the $75 billion housing initiative Obama unveiled this week.
The resulting compromise would bar homeowners from getting loan modifications in bankruptcy court unless they have first tried to work out a deal with their lenders and have no other way of affording their mortgages.
It also would let judges consider whether the home loan company had made a reasonable offer to change the terms to those embodied in Obama’s housing plan — allowing the homeowner to reduce his monthly payments to about one-third of his income.”
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