New Video on Fighting Lien Stripping by Association Members in Bankruptcy

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article for this blog that focused on the tactics that we are using to enable community associations to contend with unit owners who file for personal bankruptcy protection. For my first video as part of our new video series, I focused on one of the strategies that we have now been using with considerable success.

Many of these associations are quite surprised when they learn that under Chapter 13 bankruptcy, homeowners can strip away any second mortgages or association liens if they are able to prove that they have absolutely no equity in the home. By submitting to the bankruptcy court a professional appraisal that says that the current market value of their home or condo is actually less than the amount that they owe under the first mortgage, they are able to use the “lien stripping” provisions under Chapter 13 bankruptcy to wipe out everything that they owe to the association or under a second mortgage from prior to the bankruptcy filing.

As you can well imagine, the use of lien stripping has grown quite a bit during the last several years with the meltdown in the housing market, and as a result we are working with a number of our association clients to help them to fight it. To learn more about exactly how we are helping our association clients to successfully contend with lien stripping by their members in bankruptcy, click below to watch my brief video on the matter and scroll down to read my article posted on Sept. 20.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64FfBpqC_AI