Being granted permission for a mortgage while in bankruptcy involves communicating your intentions with your bankruptcy trustee, and sometimes even requiring their approval. Our team at Janus Mortgage, along with your bankruptcy attorney can help guide you towards getting a home loan during your bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trustee will grant permission to incur any new debt (in this case in the form of a mortgage). This typically happens after the trustee reviews your new monthly payment, and Pre-Qualification Letter.

The trustee will then investigate the request to ensure it is not fraudulent. If all aspects of the request are truthful and compliant, the bankruptcy trustee will evaluate the benefits of the request. Then your bankruptcy attorney will file a motion with the bankruptcy court. When the decision is finalized by the trustee, your attorney will inform you of whether or not, if your mortgage request was approved. In addition to this process, there are also further stipulations when working with a Chapter 13 trustee.

When you choose to work with a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy trustee, you must pay back all of your debts within three to five years. The Chapter 13 trustee will oversee all aspects of the agreement to repay your debt. You must send the specific payment amount every month until your debt is paid in full. The reason for this timeline of payments is to ensure the creditors receive their funds in a timely manner. The creditors are assuming the risk of the debtor’s bankruptcy payment plan. Your trustee will determine if getting a mortgage during Chapter 13 bankruptcy will increase the likelihood that you will continue to make your regular payments. At the very least your new mortgage must not hinder your ability to repay your obligations.

Here is the huge bonus:  If you have enough equity you may qualify to payoff the trustee entirely and discharge your case. 

1) Consultation: At Janus Mortgage, we initially start off with a consultation to better understand your situation, and apply our experience in the best way possible.

2) Analyze Your Situation: Furthermore, we analyze how we can help you achieve your goals from your request, and take the next step to obtaining a mortgage during your Chapter 13.

3) Review of Your Application: Most commonly, the next step will be to review your application to ensure that your new mortgage will put you in a better situation than before. In doing so this maximizes the chances that your trustee will approve your request to get a mortgage during bankruptcy.

4) Gathering of Information: Then we will get you the needed information on your possible mortgage to give to your trustee. Our experience with different trustees has proven invaluable as different trustees have asked for different information from us.

5) Application Process: Once you have your approval from the trustee, our application process can be completed. We provide several options for you to complete your application process including via our online portal, over the phone, or in-person.

6) 3-In-1 Credit Review: We will then perform a credit review in the form of a “3-in-1 credit report”. This report allows us at Janus Mortgage to gauge your credit worthiness and verify your account standings. Performing this 3-In-1 credit review allows you to update any, and all credit inaccuracies which are commonly associated with Chapter 13 Bankruptcy clients.

7) Submitting Your Loan: Our loan submission process will begin after verification of your credit. We will submit your home loan request to underwriting. In rare instances, we’ll receive a request for specified conditions from the underwriter to better clarify the issue(s) associated with your Chapter 13 case.

8) Final Review of Documents: After all of the above is completed, there will be final documentation procedures. The final insurance and escrows will be provided, and an agreed upon closing date is determined with either your closing attorney or escrow agent. After closing, you can congratulate yourself due to completing a difficult , yet rewarding task. From this point, all documents will be reviewed, signed, witnessed, and notarized.

9) Staying In Touch: We enjoy staying in touch with our customers in the form of an annual mortgage review, quarterly newsletters, and personalized updates regarding mortgage trends and other happenings in the industry.