Chapter 13 Mortgage Lien Strips.

[justbroke]

Any chance of getting a lien strip at this point if our home appraised this low?

For purposes of valuation, the value of property is set at the start of your case (when your petition was filed). You "might" be able to squeak in a Motion to Determine Secured Status and Strip Lien. Please consult your attorney immediately. It gets more difficult to "back date" an appraisal as time passes, and I'm sure that will be the major issue with waiting this long to lien strip.

I'm surprised your attorney didn't attempt a lien strip to start with as this has become part of a "boiler plate" of things that Chapter 13 attorneys do in all cases.

[jade73]

For purposes of valuation, the value of property is set at the start of your case (when your petition was filed). You "might" be able to squeak in a Motion to Determine Secured Status and Strip Lien. Please consult your attorney immediately. It gets more difficult to "back date" an appraisal as time passes, and I'm sure that will be the major issue with waiting this long to lien strip.

I'm surprised your attorney didn't attempt a lien strip to start with as this has become part of a "boiler plate" of things that Chapter 13 attorneys do in all cases.

You know it was kind of odd that they NEVER mentioned this to us as an option. They claim to be the largest BK filer in GA. Now I must call them!

[justbroke]

You know it was kind of odd that they NEVER mentioned this to us as an option. They claim to be the largest BK filer in GA. Now I must call them!

Oh Georgia. That's in the 11th Circuit, where I am (only I live in Florida). The 11th Circuit has the landmark In Re Tanner case which permits lien strips by precedence in our Circuit (Georgia, Alabama and Florida).

[jade73]

Oh Georgia. That's in the 11th Circuit, where I am (only I live in Florida). The 11th Circuit has the landmark In Re Tanner case which permits lien strips by precedence in our Circuit (Georgia, Alabama and Florida).

Can you explain what you mean by that? I'm not understanding

[justbroke]

Can you explain what you mean by that? I'm not understanding

What I'm saying is that if you live in Georgia, Alabama or Florida, stripping a 2nd, 3rd mortgage is common practice and is quite simple... due to some landmark cases resolved at the appellate level.

[jade73]

What I'm saying is that if you live in Georgia, Alabama or Florida, stripping a 2nd, 3rd mortgage is common practice and is quite simple... due to some landmark cases resolved at the appellate level.

Oh Ok, Thanks so much! I was on the phone for 15 minutes trying to explain a lien strip to the lady that answered and finally she came back and said I needed to make an appt to talk to the attorney.

[justbroke]

Oh Ok, Thanks so much! I was on the phone for 15 minutes trying to explain a lien strip to the lady that answered and finally she came back and said I needed to make an appt to talk to the attorney.

Wow, 15 minutes. That's not saying much for your attorney's staff.

[jade73]

Wow, 15 minutes. That's not saying much for your attorney's staff.

Yeah, Like I said..they claim to be GA's largest BK filer. It almost scares me. Can I transfer to another attorney, ha!?

[jade73]

Well I found out first hand about Lien Strips today. Went in to talk to my attorney and we owe $68k on 1st mortgage & 23k on 2nd mortgage. They said we wouldnt be able to file a motion on this because we told them when we filed that we THOUGHT our home was worth $95k. Well that was just a THOUGHT. Wonder what would have been said if we THOUGHT the house was worth $50k?
Anyway that and the fact that the tax office says our property is worth $72k.
Won't be doing a lien strip.

[walkthaplank]

Well I found out first hand about Lien Strips today. Went in to talk to my attorney and we owe $68k on 1st mortgage & 23k on 2nd mortgage. They said we wouldnt be able to file a motion on this because we told them when we filed that we THOUGHT our home was worth $95k. Well that was just a THOUGHT. Wonder what would have been said if we THOUGHT the house was worth $50k?
Anyway that and the fact that the tax office says our property is worth $72k.
Won't be doing a lien strip.

You could always have the home appraised. When it comes down to it, that is really the only amount that matters.

[jade73]

Thats what I was thinking.

[justbroke]

Well I found out first hand about Lien Strips today.

Valuation is the day that you filed. I "thought" my house was worth $650K when I filed. However, it was "actually" worth less. Although I did put $650K on the tax form, and the tax assessor had it in the $500K range... I did a real appraisal to get the true value, which was MUCH MUCH less than what I wrote.

Again, when you want to do a lien strip, or even don't want to do one, I believe that it is VERY important to just get an appraisal anyhow... just in case. It's so hard to do "after the fact" appraisals, so trying to do a lien strip late in the game, without a reliable and defensible appraisal of market value, is not easy.

As you learned, and as I was suggesting earlier, getting the actual value after the fact, would be difficult. I'm sorry that this is what you discovered.

[frankies_mom]

This is great information. We did a 7 and are now filing a 13 for a lien strip on our 2nd. I do have a question if anyone can answer. We did have to fall a bit behind on our first to do this so now of course we have incurred late fees, attorney fees (by the mortgage) etc. Are these fees included in our plan or can these fees be tacked onto to our first? I will of course ask our attorney too but wondering if anyone knows/has any experience with this? THANKS!!

[justbroke]

This is great information. We did a 7 and are now filing a 13 for a lien strip on our 2nd. I do have a question if anyone can answer. We did have to fall a bit behind on our first to do this so now of course we have incurred late fees, attorney fees (by the mortgage) etc. Are these fees included in our plan or can these fees be tacked onto to our first? I will of course ask our attorney too but wondering if anyone knows/has any experience with this? THANKS!!

These fees must be paid as "arrears" through your plan. Also, you need to be REALLY sure that your Chapter 20 lien strip is going to work. I know that it won't work in Florida, because we require a "discharge" (in the Chapter 13) in order for the lien strip to stick.

[HHM]

I hope this works, more and more courts are holding that you cannot do a lien strip in a chapter 13 that is non-dischargeable; meaning filed within 4 years of filing your chapter 7 bankruptcy.