A few years after the bursting of the so-called real estate bubble many Americans now find themselves owing more on their first mortgage than their house is now worth.
Quite a few homeowners also are saddled with a second and sometimes third mortgage in addition to their primary mortgage.
Many people don’t realize it, but it is possible to remove the lien of a second mortgage holder in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy under the following circumstances: the client owes at least one penny more on the first mortgage than the real estate is worth at the time the case is filed.
The client must obtain a certified appraisal for the real estate in order to file the proceeding within the bankruptcy case to strip the lien of the junior mortgage lender.
The process to avoid a junior mortgage lien also is available for a third mortgage. If a client has three mortgages on the client’s property and the client owes more on the first mortgage than what the property is worth, then both the second and third mortgages may be avoided.
Now, if the client has three mortgages and the client’s property is worth more than the balance on the first mortgage but less than the sums of the balances on the first and second mortgages, then the third mortgage still may be avoided but not the second mortgage.
Once the lien of the junior mortgage holder is avoided, the debt becomes classified as unsecured debt, which means for most clients the junior mortgage debt will not need to be repaid in the Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and this debt will finally be cancelled forever upon completion of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
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