What are the options if you can no longer afford your mortgage?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What are the options if you can no longer afford your mortgage?
My dad has been unemployed for 3 years due to diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. I have been making the payments on his mortgage and he has been paying mine because they are considerably less. He is on a fixed income of social security with my mom. Their total and only income is $3062 per month. I cannot keep up with it anymore. If we stop making mortgage payments what is likely to occur? Since this is CO, will it go through courts or happen immediately? I have tried the making home affordable but was denied. Would bankruptcy help?
Asked on September 10, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Colorado
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
If there is equity in your father's home and paying the mortgage is becoming too difficult, placing the home on the market and downsizing is the best course of action to take in his and your situation.
Another option depnding upon your father's age and the equity in his home is looking into a reverse mortgage where he can stay in the home and the equity in it services the home's debt load.
Depending upon your parents' other debts versus their assets, a bankruptcy filing may be an option. In order to see if this is an option, they should consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney.
If your parents stopped making payments on the home, it would go into foreclosure and it would be sold to pay the amount owing on the loan. Depending if the loan is purchase money or not, and if Colorado has anti-deficiency laws, the lender could or could not go after your parents for any deficiency on the sale of the home.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.