Bankruptcy Indiana

As an Indiana bankruptcy attorney and debt consolidation lawyer, I've been focusing on mortgage modification for years, saying - and saying again - people need help to stop foreclosure.

Earlier this month, I was happy to report, Bank of America created a program for debtors having trouble staying current on their mortgages, offering to modify loans so that payments wouldn't exceed 34% of income.

As for me, there have been two kinds of help that I and the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices have been able to offer:

1. Getting second mortgages discharged under Chapter 13 bankruptcy laws in Indiana (thus freeing up money to pay on the first mortgage) 
    
2. Helping to negotiate mortgage modifications to:
   
             Lower the interest rate
   
             Lengthen the term of the loan
   
             Reduce or eliminate late fees and
              penalties
       
             Reduce the principal loan balance

Even with this kind of help, and despite legislation last year giving Hoosier homeowners the right to participate in settlement conferences with their lenders, the problems have persisted.

So, as the Indianapolis Star put it, "Indy upped the ante" to help stop foreclosures in our state. As an Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney, I'm especially glad that a new program is starting in Marion County (to be later expanded throughout the state). This program will offer financial incentives to facilitators to handle the settlement conferences and follow up with the paperwork. Then, if an agreement is reached between lender and debtor that delays foreclosure for at least six months, there will be further incentives paid to attorneys and coordinators who participate in the process.

"Managing the settlement conference logistics is one way to help see our state through the recession," said Chief Justice Randall Shepherd, whose office helped create the program in cooperation with the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network.

The message I've been repeating has apparently been heard:  People need help stopping foreclosure, and they need it now!.