Sacramento Bankruptcy Attorneys Blog

As a Sacramento Bankruptcy Attorney I often take interest in matters that affect my clients in the Sacramento metropolitan area. According to an article published today in the New York Times, homeowners across the nation are beginning to take advantage of the increasing delay between eviction and the implementation of the foreclosure process by a mortgagor. In the article "Owners Stop Paying Mortgages, and Stop Fretting" by David Streitfeld, the New York Times notes that financial institutions have begun the foreclosure process against 1.7 million households across the country. Even though this number sounds staggering, many homeowners have stayed in their homes far beyond the time typically allotted to the foreclosure process.

The average eviction time has increased from 251 to 438 days from the borrower's original delinquency on the mortgage payments since 2008. While the foreclosure process has always remained a slow one, and in California takes approximately 3 months, the lag between a bank starting the entire process and the ultimate eviction of the homeowner has become an even longer. This increased time between foreclosure and eviction can be attributed to several barriers facing financial institutions in this current economic environment.

First, many borrowers have instituted legal challenges against the mortgagor in an attempt to void the lien entirely or avoid personal liability on the loan for violations that the lender may have committed when providing the loan. For example, The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) requires that lenders include specific language and disclosures in the documents they provide to borrowers upon origination of a loan. If a lender fails to provide these disclosures then the borrower cannot be held personally liable for any default on the property. This means a lender cannot sue a borrower for the difference between the loan amount and the foreclosure sale price. Second, some state and local governments have imposed moratoriums on foreclosure. Third, the federal government has begun to apply pressure to mortgage companies to offer loan modifications to distressed homeowners. Lastly, many of the lenders are severely backlogged with multiple foreclosures and delinquent borrowers that they just cannot get to the process until well after they would be permitted to proceed with eviction according to law.

While one can never determine the rate at which a lender will actually begin the foreclosure process and ultimately evict the homeowner, it appears that more and more homeowners have begun to stay in their homes for longer periods of time essentially "rent-free" until they are forced to move out by the lender. Since the California foreclosure process is not overseen by our state's court system, the increased delay between foreclosure and eviction may not be substantially affected by the aforementioned reasons. If you have been having trouble making your mortgage payments and have considered going into default on your mortgage you should seek advice from a Sacramento Bankruptcy Attorney.

Residentes de Sacramento en la zona que consultar con mi firma de abogados suelen plantearse preguntas acerca de sus derechos con respecto a los acreedores que esten en contacto con ellos una vez que se han convertido en morosos el pago de sus cuentas de tarjetas de crédito o hipotecas. Esta situación muchas veces llega a ser extremadamente frustrante o aterrador para una persona que ya está bajo mucho estrés debido a su situación financiera turbulenta.

Cuando el deudor se atrasa en las facturas de su crédito el acreedor puede ser particularmente molesto. De hecho, frecuentamente, el acreedor se hace francamente desagradable. Estas medidas suelen ser un intento por parte del acreedor a la vergüenza o persuadir a un deudor a pagar los saldos adeudados o hacer un último esfuerzo para recuperar una parte de la deuda. He oído historias de horror numerosos en relación con la extrema y, a veces escandaloso comportamiento acreedores han tomado con el fin de "persuadir" a un deudor para pagar. Este tipo de conducta por parte de los acreedores es vergonzoso. Afortunadamente, la ley de California establece que la conducta escandalosa de un acreedor se puede detener! Sin embargo, para que un deudor silenciar el cobrador de deudas agresivos, hay que tener una comprensión de la ley el acoso de acreedores que se aplica a él o ella en California.

Ambos leyes federales y estatales protegen los deudores individuales del acoso de un acreedor. Esto incluye tanto los métodos empleados y llevar a cabo por el acreedor contra el deudor. La Feria Nacional de la Deuda Colecciones Prácticas Hechos (NFDCPA) es el estándar federal que limita las medidas que un acreedor puede realizar para cobrar una deuda contraída con ellos. Homólogo de California se conoce como la Ley de Rosenthal y se presenta en Código Civil de California § 1788.

Ley de Californa establece el acoso específicamente que los acreedores no repetidas ocasiones puede llamar sólo para hacer que su teléfono suene para molestarle; no pueden ser obsceno o profane; que no pueden amenazar con el uso de violencia física; acreedores no pueden decir o dar a entender que el impago de una deuda penal (salvo para el caso extremo en que fuera cierto, como si el fraude cometido, por ejemplo, pero no pagar una deuda típica es de ninguna manera penal); o se niegan a decir quiénes son la recogida en representación de (es decir, que la compañía de crédito es su cliente); ni pueden pretender ser un abogado; hay montón de cosas que la ley impide que un acreedor de hacer para cobrar la deuda. Esta ley fue diseñada específicamente para ayudar a personas como usted y yo.

Hay medidas concretas que usted puede tomar como un deudor para aprovechar la ley de California el acoso de los acreedores y NFDCPA. Ambas leyes le permiten sustituir un abogado en su lugar, de modo que todos los intentos hechos por un acreedor que contacte con usted debe ser hecho a su abogado en su lugar. Si usted está recibiendo el acoso telefónico de un acreedor y usted esta interesado en la obtención de alivio al caos al acreedor los intentos de crear, debe llamar a un abogado de Bancarrota de Sacramento que está familiarizado con las tácticas empleadas por los acreedores y tiene experiencia en tratar con la prevención del acoso. Por supuesto, su abogado será capaz de recordar a los acreedores de los elementos de NFDCPA y la Ley de Rosenthal y exigir que el acreedor deje de contacto. Esto debería proporcionarle suficiente espacio para respirar de manera que ya no tengas miedo de responder a su propio teléfono nada mas.

Sacramento area residents who consult my law firm often have questions regarding their rights with regard to creditors who contact them once they have become delinquent paying their credit card bills or home mortgages. This situation often times becomes extremely frustrating or frightening for a person already under significant amount of stress due to his or her turbulent financial situation.

Once a debtor falls behind on his or her credit bills a creditor can become particularly bothersome. In fact, often times, the creditor becomes downright obnoxious. These measures are typically an attempt by the creditor to shame or persuade a debtor into paying the balances owed or make a last ditch effort to recover some portion of the debt. I have heard numerous horror stories regarding the extreme and sometimes outrageous behavior creditors have taken in order to "persuade" a debtor to pay. This sort of conduct by creditors is shameful. Fortunately, California law provides that a creditor's outrageous conduct can be stopped! However, in order for a debtor to silence the aggressive debt collector, one must have a grasp of the creditor harassment law that applies to him or her in California.

Both federal and state law protects individual debtors from a creditor's harassment. This includes both methods and conduct employed by the creditor against a debtor. The National Fair Debt Collections Practices Acts (NFDCPA) is the federal standard that limits the measures a creditor may engage in to collect a debt owed to them. California's counterpart is referred to as the Rosenthal Act and is laid out in California Civil Code § 1788.

California's creditor harassment law states specifically that creditors cannot repeatedly call you just to make your phone ring to annoy you; they cannot be obscene or profane; they cannot threaten the use of physical violence; creditors cannot say or imply that failure to pay a debt is criminal (except for the extreme case where it would be true, such as if you committed fraud, for instance; but not paying a typical debt is in no way criminal); or refuse to tell you who they are collecting on behalf of (i.e., which credit company is their client); nor can they pretend to be a lawyer; there are lots of things that the law prevents a creditor from doing to collect the debt. This law was specifically designed to help people just like you and me.

There are particular measures you can take as a debtor to take advantage of the California creditor harassment law and NFDCPA. Both laws permit you to substitute a lawyer in your place, so that all attempts made by a creditor to contact you must be made to your attorney instead. If you are receiving harassing phone calls from a creditor and interested in obtaining relief from the chaos the creditor attempts to create, you should call a Sacramento Bankruptcy Attorney who is familiar with the tactics employed by creditors and has experience dealing with preventing the harassment. Of course, your attorney will be able to remind the creditor of the elements of NFDCPA and the Rosenthal Act and demand that the creditor discontinue contact. This should provide you with enough breathing room so that you will no longer be afraid to answer your own phone.

According to the Wall Street Journal, California and Arizona are responsible for between 36%-46% of the year to date increases in consumer bankruptcy filings across the nation. While bankruptcy filings in April have been marginally lower than the filings from March, they still remain 15% above the statistics from April 2009. California, specifically, has seen a 40% jump in personal bankruptcy filings since this time last year.

144,490 people filed for personal bankruptcy in March throughout the entire United States. The Eastern District of California, the jurisdiction that oversees the bankruptcy process in the Sacramento area has seen approximately 32,000 Chapter 7 filings since January 1st alone. Economists predict that individual bankruptcy filings will top 1.5 million in 2010. This number exceeds the 1.4 million consumer bankruptcies filed in 2009, which has been the highest number of filings since Congress changed the bankruptcy laws in 2005. Congress reformed the system five years ago in order to reduce the number of bankruptcy filings by making it more difficult for individuals to qualify under Chapter 7.

If you or someone you know have been affected by the recent economic collapse and have considered filing for bankruptcy, you should take action now and discuss your financial situation with a Sacramento Bankruptcy Attorney.

Según el Wall Street Journal, California y Arizona son responsables de entre el 36% -46% de los años a los aumentos de la fecha en declaraciones de quiebra de consumidores en todo el país. Si bien declaraciones de quiebra en abril han sido ligeramente inferiores a las limaduras de marzo, todavía estaban por encima de 15% a abril de 2009. California, específicamente, ha sido testigo de un salto del 40% en declaraciones de quiebra personal desde hace un año.

144.490 personas se declaró en marzo quiebra personal a través de todo Estados Unidos. El Distrito Este de California, la jurisdicción que supervisa el proceso de quiebra en el área de Sacramento ha visto alrededor de 32.000 solicitudes presentadas del capitulo 7 desde el primero de enero solo. Los economistas predicen que las solicitudes individuales de quiebra superará 1,5 millones en 2010. Este número supera los 1,4 millones de consumidores que han presentado en quiebra en 2009. Esto ha sido el mayor número de solicitudes presentadas desde que el Congreso cambió las leyes de bancarrota en 2005. Congreso reformó el sistema hace cinco años con el fin de reducir el número de declaraciones de quiebra por lo que hace más difícil para los individuos para calificar para el Capítulo 7.

Si usted o alguien que usted conoce ha sido afectado por el Crisis económico y han considerado la declaración de quiebra, usted debe tomar acción ahora y hablar por su situación financiera con un abogado de Bancarrota de Sacramento.