It Stops the Process

The short sale process almost always puts the foreclosure process on hold. Once you notify your lender of your intention to try to sell your home they will halt the foreclosure proceedings to give you the time you need to market your home. You can rest easier knowing you’ve got some more time.

It Gets Resolved Quicker

Short selling your home gets you back on your financial feet much sooner. From the time you decide to short sell your home to the time it sells could be as little as 3-6 months. This is much faster than the foreclosure process which could take longer. The sooner you get the short sale past you the quicker you can start rebuilding your credit and get on with your life.

It’s Less Damaging To Your Credit Rating

Short selling your home is less harmful to your credit than foreclosure. According to professional estimates a short sale item on your credit report will reduce your credit rating by as little as 60 points. Of course, the better your credit before the short sale more your credit will be affected. But no matter what, your credit will be much more adversely affected by a foreclosure mark on your credit than a short sale.

It’s More Financially Responsible

If you go into foreclosure you will be issued a deficiency judgment by your lender which will attach to your credit records and will prevent you from buying another property until it’s paid off. If you short sell your home it is much less likely that you will receive a deficiency judgment. If they do issue one, it will be much less than it would have been if you went into foreclosure.

The Federal Government will give you $1,500 at closing.

The Federal Government has enacted a new program called HAFA. If you qualify you will receive $1,500 to go towards your moving expenses at closing when you short sale your home. The government has really stream-lined the short sale process and now most homeowners will receive $1,500 at closing. If you let the bank take your home you get nothing.

The short sale process requires a little bit of time and effort but the benefits are definitely worth it. Contact KEL Attorneys today to find out your rights.

People all too often leave money on the table when dealing with the IRS because they are scared and want it over with. The IRS banks on that kind of scenario and will take advantage of it every chance they get. No one should leave their hard earned dough on the table for the IRS to snatch up. You have several options available to you and should make yourself aware of them.

Your IRS settlement can be on your terms if you play the cards right. The smartest way of dealing with your IRS problems is to consult a professional tax attorney who knows the inner workings of the IRS and the ever changing tax  codes & laws. Professional Tax attorneys know how to use the regulations and codes in your favor and can do a great job of cutting your IRS debt down to a manageable level. They’re there to advocate for your best interest and see to it that you are not taken advantage of.

Just remember to deal with the problem as quickly as you can. Do not let the IRS get the upper hand. Get the deal you deserve. Let our professional tax attorney do their magic and get your debt clear right now. If you need help with or would like to find more options regarding IRS Debt Settlement please contact KEL Attorneys today for a free consultation.

The length of a business contract depends on the number of clauses being mutually agreed upon. It may be of a single page or it may run into several pages. Every business contract is legally binding and attracts relevant stamp duties. The general practice is to compose such business agreements in the presence of lawyers of all the parties involved.

The first page of a business contract usually contains the names and addresses of the signatories. A brief description of their jobs can be mentioned along with their names. The date of signing is put on the first page.

The next part of the contract is called the recitals. This is a very short description of the type of transaction the parties are going to enter into. It’s usually not much longer than a paragraph. After recitals follow the specifications, in which there is a detailed description of the job the parties are to undertake. This part may run into several pages and it contains a very succinct description of the exact job portfolio. It will sometimes contains formulas, diagrams, sketches and graphs in order to better explain the nature of the job.

Payment comes in the next section. A very clear mention is made of the remuneration that one of the parties is to give to the other. Either the exact figure is mentioned, or at least the determining factors are outlined. If time is extremely relevant in the completion of the job, then the sentence “Time is of the essence” will be included. Whatever the conditions regarding the payment may be, they are put in the contract.

There are several legal points covered in a business contract. It is written in the contract which state jurisdiction will apply in case of a legal suit. Also, the tenure of validity of the contract is mentioned. A business contract is a very delicate matter. It takes several deliberations between the associated parties along with the involvement of their lawyers to reach a final draft. There are sometimes several negotiations and amendments in the agreement, until it becomes satisfactory to all concerned. Only after mutual agreement are the signatures put down on the document. All concerned parties have a copy of the contract as long as it is valid.

If your business needs assistance in the preparation of a business contract or other business law assistance, please contact KEL Attorneys today.

Another element of recovery is lost wages or lost time from work. This includes salaried employees and those that work for an hourly wage. When you have sustained a personal injury, and you have to miss work or work part-time, you may be able to recover these damages against the person that has caused the accident.

Your right to recover against the person accountable may also include pain and suffering. Pain and suffering is more than medical bills or lost wages. Medical bills and lost wages are the portion of your personal injury claim that are easy to calculate because each involves numbers that can be summed up. Pain and suffering may be a multiple of the medicals bills or other number assigned by a computer program used by an insurance adjuster. Whatever the case may be, pain and suffering is an attempt to compensate you for the time that you are in pain after an accident. Despite the difference in terminology, “pain and suffering” is a term used to describe how your life was affected by the accident and your ability to carry out your activities of daily living. Examples of activities of daily living include taking care of children, driving, getting dressed and caring for yourself.

There is another element called “loss of normal life”. This element is sometimes called disability. Loss of normal life is the temporary or permanent diminished ability to enjoy life. In more severe cases there may be the element of permanency to the case. Do you have a permanent injury diagnosed by a doctor? Will you continue to suffer pain years after the accident caused your injury? Maybe you have a permanent scar or deformity. These injuries may be compensated as permanent. If you have been in a personal injury accident, please call KEL Attorneys today for more information.

Early action is vital. Very seldom does someone wake up to find that their home is in foreclosure. There are always warning signs that will precede the event. Being aware of these signs and taking corrective action early on can mean the difference between keeping your home or losing it.

As soon as you know you’re going to miss a mortgage payment, contact your lender. Contacting your lender early on allows them to assist you in getting help to work out alternatives. The truth is most banks don’t want to take your home. They don’t want the hassle of foreclosing, maintaining, and then trying to sell the home. They would rather some arrangement be worked out, but this often requires your early action and contacting them.

You should always follow up your phone call with a letter. You need to draft a hardship letter and send it to your lender. Don’t be too creative. Be specific about what caused your payment delinquency, make it detailed and be honest, but also be concise.

Don’t accept a short sale unless you have no other options. A short sale is when the bank or lender agrees to sell your home for less than what you owe. The difference between the selling price and the amount you owe will still need to be made up by you, and, of course, you will lose your home in the process.

You will find that being polite and patient with lenders will go a long way. There are many solutions a lender can offer you. These might include extending your repayment period, suspending payments for a few months, or tacking the missed payments onto the back end of the loan.

You may also want to talk about extending the contract with your lender. Lets say you have a 30-year fixed rate loan, perhaps you can change it to a 40-year loan. Not all lenders may be willing to do this, but it is certainly worth asking about. The difference in the payment amounts can be the difference between keeping the home and losing it.

Refinancing, in general, is also a common option but homeowners should understand that refinancing is much easier to get when the housing market is moving up and less easy to get when the market is moving downwards.

Another option for some homeowners is bankruptcy. This is an option that must be decided based on the advice of an attorney. Not all homeowners can find relief from the bankruptcy court. For this reason, you must speak with an experienced attorney who can fill you in on the details and whether or not your home can be protected.

Avoiding foreclosure is not always easy and it can be very stressful, but keep in mind that a foreclosure will remain on your credit record for seven years. It may be up to four years after a foreclosure that you will be approved for regular interest rates again. These are just a few of the reasons that you should work as hard as possible to avoid foreclosure.

When dealing with bankruptcy, it’s important to make sure you’re well-informed of the current laws and the type of bankruptcy you would be filing. You’ll need to know if your home or vehicle will be protected and what other assets of yours may be vulnerable in your case. You will also need to ensure that you will not be harassed by creditors during your case. Therefore it is best to find an experienced bankruptcy attorney that will help you to defend yourself against additional claims.

An experienced attorney will be aware of the process, any recent changes in bankruptcy procedures and will save you time and money in the long run that might otherwise be wasted on expensive errors. Make sure that your bankruptcy lawyer has the right qualifications for bankruptcy.  At KEL Attorneys we handle hundreds of bankruptcy cases, so contact us today for a Free Consultation.

What Is A Non-Judicial Foreclosure?

A Non-Judicial Foreclosure is a type of foreclosure without any court intervention. This kind of foreclosure is simply between the lender and the borrower.

When the mortgage has reached its maturity date and the borrower has not fulfilled the debt, then the lender will send a Notice of Default informing the borrower that the deadline for their mortgage has elapsed.

If the borrower has not complied with the Notice of Default then the lender may issue a Notice of Sale to the borrower and a public notice that the property is now foreclosed and will be sold to the highest bidder, usually in cash equivalent.

Notice Of Default

Once the borrower has failed to pay the debt within the said deadline,  the lender will issue a Notice of Default to the debtor. The notice states that the recipient of the letter has not paid their dues in the stated deadline. The letter will contain a small extension of the deadline for the debtor to pay the obligation.

If payment is not made within the deadline stated in the notice, then the lender will issue a Notice of Sale to the borrower, the public, or to those connected to the transaction that the property is now foreclosed and is open to public auction.

A Trustee Sale Guarantee will be requested by the trustee from a title company; they will give assurance to the various liens and encumbrance against the property. They will also contain the parties to receive the Notice of Default.

The 3-Months Reinstatement Period

Before the Notice of Sale is issued to the borrower and to the concerned public, a reinstatement period of 3 months is stated by law for the borrower to reinstate the loan. During this period, the borrower may communicate directly with the lender to try to either extend the loan or to pay it in full to avoid a foreclosure.

Notice of Trustees Sale

During this 21-day period, a Notice of Trustees Sale will be issued indicating the place and time of the actual auction of the foreclosed property. The notice is normally published in the local paper or in public notice areas. The Trustees Sale will contain information about the foreclosed property, anything in it that the trustees wishes to auction off will go towards paying the debt.

After the 21-day period, the property is now eligible to be sold at a public auction. The property will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. However 5 days prior to the date of sale, the borrower may reinstate the loan or postpone the sale if they so decide.

This is when the swindlers find their way into your mailbox or give you a call. Foreclosure scams are very common as much as the problem itself. Since homeowners believe they have no choice they fall for these traps and make their situation much worse than it was.

Scam operators also advertise online, publish advertisements in the local newspaper and call homes which are included on the foreclosure list. They call themselves mortgage consultants who offer foreclosure services or advertise with “We buy houses” slogans.

Most Common Scams:

- Bankruptcy Foreclosure Scam

They operate by promising the homeowner that their house will be saved. In return they will either ask for the homeowner to pay their mortgage directly to them, hand over their deed and pay rent, or obtain refinancing. However instead of fulfilling the other end of the bargain they don’t contact your lender or obtain refinancing for you. They keep all the money and file bankruptcy without your knowledge.

Since the homeowner is not aware that bankruptcy has been filed, they fail to participate in the case. The case is dismissed and the house continues onto foreclosure. Apart from loosing money and your home, you will also have a bankruptcy on your record.

- Equity Skimming

The operator poses as a buyer. The operator promises the homeowner to pay the mortgage or given them a sum of money once the property has been sold. The operator then convinces the homeowner to sign over the deed and move out. The homeowner can stay but they have to pay rent. If they opt to move out the operator lets a third party rent the property. The operator does not pay the mortgage and lets the mortgage lender foreclose.

If the house has equity, the operator sells the property and pays off the debt. Then the operator keeps the equity that the homeowner could have had if they sold it. So you must be aware when your looking for help with a foreclosure. KEL Attorneys is a licensed law firm that concentrates in foreclosure and bankruptcy cases. So if you need foreclosure assistance contact KEL Attorneys for a free consultation.

Stopping A Foreclosure

Before you look into selling your property to stop its imminent foreclosure, there are other options available before you loose it entirely. One way to pay your debt is to meet with your lender and request a Forbearance. This method is simply defined when a lender will waive some fees on your debt so that you will be able to pay on time.

A debtor can also use refinancing as a method in paying your debt to avoid a foreclosure. You can search around for a lender which provides the best deals in refinancing loans so you will be able to pay your first loan and breathe a little easier with the extended deadline of the second.

Loan modification can also be an option to stop a foreclosure. A loan modification is somewhat akin to refinancing wherein the only difference is that your original lender will grant you a new loan to pay off the first one without re-applying.

Should You Sell?

If all these options fail, then the only solution left is to sell your property to make ends meet with your debts. If you can find a seller before the foreclosing date comes then you’ll be able to finish paying off your debt without going through the foreclosure process.

A short sale occurs when the creditor, or the mortgage holder, will approve of the sale of the property for the total market value. Lenders actually prefer a short sale rather than foreclosure since the cost of the latter is alarmingly high.

This method is quite popular because if done right, you will be able to pay off your debt in full while keeping some of the profit to make a fresh start. But be warned that this method is also quite popular to those who seek to use your financial crisis for their own advantage to make a quick profit.

Where To Start?

Before you plan to sell off your property, you first need to consult a real estate agent to know the actual value of your property. It’s safe to say that if you consult a professional first hand about the market value of your home then you won’t fall prey to scammers who prowl around for an easy profit.

Before you set a price for your property, you first need to take a closer look to how much you need to pay your creditor, this might include the principal amount, interest rates, and others costs incurred by the transaction. With a specific number in hand, you’ll be able to find a market value for your home which will not only pay your debt in full; it can also give you enough to start over.

The Process

If a short sale is chosen rather than a foreclosure there are processes that the borrowers agent need to take in order for the sale to push through. First, an Authorization to Release Information must be made by the agent on behalf of the seller (debtor) regarding the approval of the sale. If a buyer is already at hand then a Purchase Contract must be made with signatures from all parties.

A Financial Statement and a Sellers Net Sheet must be prepared by the agent to reflect the total proceeds of the sale. Finally, a Hardship Letter and Documentation must be made by the seller (debtor) to explain the reason for the sale.

Useful Article:
Lenders Finally Embracing Short Sales

There is usually little or no nonexempt property in most chapter 7 cases, there may not be any actual liquidation of the debtor’s assets. These cases are called “no-asset cases.” Usually a debtor with assets that they wish to keep and that are not covered by exemptions will need to file chapter 13 bankruptcy.

A creditor holding an unsecured claim will get a distribution from the bankruptcy estate only if the case is an asset case and the creditor files a proof of claim with the bankruptcy court. In most chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, the debtor receives a discharge that releases the debtor from personal liability for certain dis-chargeable debts. The debtor normally receives a discharge three to four months after the petition is filed.

If you have a question about your specific situation you can schedule a free consultation with a counselor at 888-238-2686 or fill out our form on our website to have someone contact you about your bankruptcy case.