An Erroneous legal description in a Credit Union mortgage was fatal to enforcement of mortgage. Here, Electric Boat Community Federal Credit Union (EBC), granted a loan to Louis Salerno (Salerno) that was supposed to be secured by a mortgage on the debtor’s real estate. In the mortgage document, however, the credit union inadvertently identified the real estate […]

Debtor pays repossession costs and Court orders collateral returned to debtor.    In this case, a creditor seized the debtor’s vehicle pursuant to an execution on an outstanding judgment. Soon thereafter, debtor filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy before the seized vehicle could be sold under the execution. Debtor claimed most of the value of the […]

In this case, the Bankruptcy Court held that a Chapter 7 debtor, who was not in default under the obligations of a consumer loan agreement, was not limited to redemption, reaffirmation, or surrender of the collateral. Here, in the Matter of Windham (Bkrtcy.M.D.Fla., Judge Thomas E. Baynes, Jr.), the court held that a Chapter 7 […]

In this case, Capital City First National Bank held a properly perfected secured interest in the debtor’s Mazda vehicle. The debtor filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and, although he owed more than $10,000.00 on his loan to the bank, he did not reaffirm that obligation or redeem the collateral. The debtor did, however, continue to […]

A Chapter 7 debtor, who was not in default under the obligations of a consumer loan agreement, was not limited to redemption, reaffirmation, or surrender of the collateral. Here, the the court held that a Chapter 7 debtor could keep his vehicle pledged as collateral to the creditor, even though the debt was not reaffirmed, redeemed […]

In this case, the lender’s Truth-in-Lending (TILA) disclosure provided that the borrowers were granting a security interest in the borrowers’ real estate and in all after acquired property as additional security for future advances. The mortgage document did not, however, contain the same language and did not grant a security interest to the lender in […]

In this case, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court ruled that Calumet National Bank’s recorded mortgage was invalid simply because the notary’s acknowledgement did not recite who appeared before the notary and acknowledged execution of the mortgage. Here, debtors borrowed more than $148,000 from Calumet National Bank and signed a mortgage on their real estate securing the debt. […]

The Real Estate Settlement Act (RESPA) parameters have been significantly expanded by recent amendments to both the Act itself, as well as amendments to Regulation X and Regulation Z with the Truth in Lending Act.   Consequently, nearly all mortgages on a member’s one-to-four family residence require additional disclosures be distributed to the applicants.   The regulations expands […]

A Texas Bankruptcy Court previously held that a debtor in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case does not need to pay interest on the arrearage owing unless the contractual language in the mortgage provided for interest in the event of unpaid arrearages and the filing of bankruptcy. See In re Sanchez (Bkrtcy. E.D. Texas, Judge Sharp, WL […]

This U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibits the debtors ability to “strip- down” a secured mortgage in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.    A “strip-down” would allow the debtor to only be obligated to repay the fair market value of the property, even though the outstanding debt may be significantly greater than the value of the mortgaged property.   Here, in […]