Category: Mortgages

Financial Law Group in Michgan Discusses Mortgages

Hi, I’m Mike Greiner. I’m a bankruptcy attorney here with The Financial Law Group, located here in Warren, Michigan. Our website is financiallawgroup.com and our phone number is (586) 693-2000. And I’m here to talk to you today about mortgage deficiency balances. What a mortgage deficiency balance is, is it’s the difference between what you owe on your mortgage payment, and what they sell the house for. So say, for example, you owed $100,000 on your house. Say that, and this is quite common in this economy, your house sells for $50,000 at the end of the day. The mortgage company can still come after you for that difference, that $50,000.

You may think, well I gave them my house, well I had spent all the money that I had, all the equity that I had in the house went away with it. That’s all true.  But it doesn’t matter. What matters is the difference between what you owed at the time that the house was foreclosed on and what they sold the house for at the sheriff’s sale. If there’s a difference there then that’s called the deficiency and you’re still liable for it. That’s particularly a big problem if you have a second mortgage because usually what happens when you have a second mortgage situation and that would be like a home equity loan of some type, or a home improvement loan or even just a second mortgage, what usually happens with the second mortgage situation is that the first mortgage might even get paid off in full as a result of the sheriff’s sale.

But if that happens then the second mortgage get wiped out entirely. And again even though, you get wiped out entirely as a result of foreclosure that doesn’t mean you’re not liable for that mortgage anymore. And they will come out at to you, I just had a client coming a little while ago is being sued for $70,000 for a mortgage. A first mortgage where there was a deficiency but he put everything in hand to his house and the house was foreclosed on and they’re still coming after him.

The good news is, is that this is a kind of debt that can be discharged in bankruptcy. So if you’re facing a situation like this where your house has been foreclosed and might be facing a deficiency, the difference between what you owe and what they sell the house for, um, and you’re concerned about them coming after you, I would strongly suggest you come in and see me.  I do offer free consultations.

My phone number’s 586-693-2000 and if you’re interested in meeting about this or any other issue.  I’ll be happy to meet with you personally.

Posted by Michigan Bankruptcy Attorney - Michael Greiner Feb 05, 2012
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Attorney Mike Greiner Discusses Deficiencies With Both Mortgages and with Car Loans


Hi, my name is Mike Greiner and I’m a bankruptcy attorney with the Financial Law Group located in Warren, Michigan. Our phone number is 586-693-2000, and our website is financiallawgroup.com. I’m here to talk to you today about deficiencies with both mortgages and with car loans. What a lot of people, what a lot of people don’t realize is say you decide you don’t want to keep your home anymore. You cannot sell it. You owe more on the house than the house is worth. People think well I’ll just walk away from the house and not be liable for that house anymore and unfortunately that’s not the way it works. You still get held liable for what’s called the deficiency. The deficiency is the difference between what you owe on that debt and what they sell the house for- and that could be very substantial. I just had a client come into my office last night  who is being pursued for more than $100,000 deficiency on a mortgage that was foreclosed on and he thought he gave back the house. He didn’t owe this money anymore. But that is not the way the law works. You actually still do owe  the money on the mortgage.

It’s the same thing on a car loan if the car gets repossessed.  Oftentimes, say you owe $10,000 on the vehicle. They sell it at auction for $3,000. You still owe $7,000 on that loan, and they will pursue you for that amount. People frequently think that I’m exaggerating when I say that the banks do come after people for this. But I can point you out to this gentleman who was here just night being pursued for more than $100,000 deficiency on a mortgage loan.  I’ve met a number of other people who are facing lawsuits and garnishments because of the fact that these mortgage companies or car loan companies are coming after them for deficiencies where the home had been foreclosed or the vehicle had been repossessed.

The good news about all this is that these debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy. And so if you’re being pursued by one of these creditors I would definitely suggest you come into my office and meet with me to discuss your options. We offer free consultations here. My website is financiallawgroup.com. My phone number is 586-693-2000. We can talk to you about ways that we can get rid of any further liability that you have for property that has been either repossessed or foreclosed.

Posted by Michigan Bankruptcy Attorney - Michael Greiner Aug 29, 2011
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Filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to Remove a Second Mortgage

Hi I’m Mike Greiner and I’m an Bankruptcy Attorney here with the Financial Law Group located at 12 and Hoover at Warren, Michigan in Macomb County. We specialize in Chapter 7, Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 Bankruptcy here, and I’m here to talk to you today about second loans on your home — mortgages.

Something that has really been an important development over the past few years is that fact that we’ve actually been able to knock second mortgages off homes. Now, typically, in a bankruptcy, you’re not able to get rid of a second mortgage on a home because of the fact that they basically have a lien on your own. The lien on your home, the mortgage, is what we call it. It’s the lien on your home that survives bankruptcy. It’s basically a property interest that you’ve granted to the mortgage company in case you are unable to pay on your mortgage.

Now that being said, in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy what we’ve been able to find is that where the 2nd mortgage is completely unsecured so for example if your home is worth a current market value of $100, 000. And your first mortgage, you owe $110,000 on. And say you’ve got a second mortgage, an equity loan or loans for windows, or a roof, or something like that. If you’ve got that second mortgage for $20,000 or $30,000. Well, you can see, because of the fact that the second mortgage is completely unsecured because the first mortgage is worth $110,000. The home is worth $100,000 so there’s no equity there in the house to support the second mortgage. What we’ve been able to do in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, we’ve been able to file that case and completely knock that second mortgage off your home. What that means is in 3 to 5 years, typically with a payment of somewhere between  $150 or less, we’ve been able to make it where you don’t owe your second mortgage anymore. And often times, that’s a very good deal for people.

If you want to find out more about your options with the second mortgages and Michigan bankruptcy, please feel free to call my office for your free consultation. My phone number is 586-693-2000 and my website is financiallawgroup.com.

Posted by Michigan Bankruptcy Attorney - Michael Greiner May 29, 2011
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