Bankruptcy Indiana

You might imagine that, as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I split my time between bankruptcy court and meetings with clients preparing to file bankruptcy in Indiana, and you'd be right.  But actually, a pretty good chunk of time involves matters of foreclosure.  Often I, along with the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices and my colleagues in Anderson, Bloomington and Indianapolis are helping clients use bankruptcy to save a home from foreclosure. 

Recently, though, we're all finding that it's often not our clients' property that's threatened with foreclosure - it's their landlords' property! And, if you're already stressed financially because of medical costs, job loss, or divorce, it's very difficult to deal with a situation where there seems to be no one there to deal with! Even if the bank that now owns the property has not demanded that you vacate the property, often no one is paying attention to needed repairs and service of the dwelling. Sometimes even the utility bills have not been paid by the owner.

As an example, I read a feature story about a New York City tenant whose apartment was developing mold because of water damage and rotting drywall.  The bank had foreclosed on the landlord, and now the tenant, Charlene Burton, has not been able to reach anyone who can address the needed repairs to the apartment.

As part of offering bankruptcy information in Indiana, I often find myself explaining that the law is supposed to protect renters, because, as long as the tenants paid their rent, the landlord had an obligation to live up to the terms of the lease. Enforcing those rights is often not easy, nor is getting reimbursement for moving costs.    Sometimes tenants are mistakenly informed by real estate agents or others acting on behalf of a lender, that they must move, even though that request is illegal.  Compounding the problems is the fact that once an eviction notice has been served to a tenant, it may be difficult for them to find another landlord to rent to them.

Even though the brunt of the housing crisis appears to be behind us, as an Indiana lawyer for bankruptcy I continue to see many, many difficult financial situations being created for tenants because of landlord foreclosures. The new bankruptcy laws of Indiana can often work to help stop foreclosure for homeowners. But, unfortunately, when people wait too long to seek financial help, it becomes more difficult to deal with tenant problems.

As a tenant, you have rights under the law to protect you against losing your apartment or rental home through no fault of your own. Enforcement of those rights can often takes more time than tenants have if other financial problems are going on at the same time.  As a consumer bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I help people deal with financial problems.  In recent years, though, I've spent more and more time helping renters avoid getting stuck in the middle of other people's financial problems!