The foreclosure of your home is automatically stayed when you file for bankruptcy, but that stay will not apply if you filed for bankruptcy within the last two years and the judge lifted the previous stay, thereby allowing the lender to continue with the foreclosure. That is to say, the law does not allow you to prevent a foreclosure by simply filing successive bankruptcies.
Even if you are filing for bankruptcy for the first time, doing so will not stop certain time periods related to foreclosure procedures from running. For instance, the law gives you a certain amount of time before your home is sold. Once you are notified of the foreclosure, your home cannot be sold until that time period has lapsed. While filing for bankruptcy will not stop the notice period from running, the sale itself cannot occur while you are in bankruptcy unless the lender gets permission from the bankruptcy judge to sell your home by first filing a motion to lift the automatic stay.
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Thanks for the terrific new blog, Ron!
Though it’s true that successive bankruptcy cases may lead to a limitation of the automatic stay, it’s not a forgone conclusion that the stay will not exist.
If you’ve filed a single case in the past year that was dismissed then the stay lasts for only 30 days. It may, however, be extended by order of the court. The lawyer needs to make a motion to extend the stay and prove that the successive filing is in good faith.
If you’ve filed a 2 or more cases in the past year that was dismissed then the stay is not automatic, and must be imposed by order of the court. The lawyer needs to make a motion to invoke the stay and prove that the successive filing is in good faith.
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