Wisconsin Bankruptcy Law

Last Sunday’s 60 Minutes broadcast created a lot of buzz with its segment about homeowners voluntarily allowing their overvalued mortgages to go into foreclosures. The CBS website explains:

Currently, about seven million homeowners are behind on their mortgages and that number is only getting worse. Banks, with the help of the government, are offering some relief to homeowners who’ve lost jobs and just can’t meet their payments. But there’s a growing number who can pay but are simply walking away from houses that are now worth as little as half of what they paid for them. It’s called "strategic default." People have done the math and decided making those monthly payments is just throwing money away, leaving the mortgage holders – the banks – as zookeepers of an ever-growing parade of white elephants.

But there is another option rather than a "strategic" or other forms of default: it is also possible to avoid Wisconsin bank foreclosures altogether by filing a personal bankruptcy in Milwaukee or in the surrounding area  under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. For one thing, a bankruptcy filing puts the bank’s foreclosure case on hold. Another factor to consider is the Wisconsin homestead exception, which is $150,000 for a married couple which could make your home safe from foreclosure. And even if you are thousands of dollars behind on your payments, a Chapter 13 petition may allow you to spread out the amount that you are behind over five years. This means that you only end up paying a very small percentage of that total every month and as far as your lender is concerned, the loan becomes current once again.

If you fallen behind on your loan payments through no fault of your own, contact a Wisconsin bankruptcy lawyer right away. Depending upon the circumstances, and what exceptions may or may not apply to your particular situation,  you may be able to save your house and thereby keep your family under one roof through an individual bankruptcy in Wisconsin.