Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

If you are thinking about filing for consumer bankruptcy in Chicago , or if you filed for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy relatively recently, you may be wondering about your options for a mortgage. For instance, will you be able to qualify for a mortgage again after filing for bankruptcy? Can homeownership be in your future? The answer to both of those questions is yes, but it can be more difficult to get some types of loans after you have filed for bankruptcy. According to a recent article from U.S. News & World Report , loans from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) may be the best bet for consumers who have recently filed for bankruptcy or are planning to file for bankruptcy in the near future. How FHA Loans are Beneficial for Consumers After Bankruptcy There are many benefits to FHA loans, especially for consumers who are just starting to get back on track with their finances. For conventional mortgages (that are not FHA loans), borrowers typically need ...

Recent news stories have highlighted the serious problem in our country of student loan debt. Student loans are linked to a new consumer debt crisis across America. By and large, those reports tend to focus on private student loans, for which borrowers are not eligible for income-based repayment plans and often run out of deferment or other hardship options when attempting to make payments. And as many of us know, it is difficult although not entirely impossible to have your student loan debt discharged when you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, private students loans are not the only problem. According to a recent article in the Huffington Post , the federal student loan debt burden in our country is beginning to eerily mirror the subprime mortgage crisis. High Interest Rates, Overwhelming Debt How could student loans resemble subprime mortgages? On the surface, the two types of loans should not look alike at all. However, when we look at data on lower income borro...