In recent years, there have been numerous home foreclosures around the US. According to a 2013 report from Policy Matters Ohio, there were 70,469 foreclosures filed in Ohio in 2012 – a slight decrease from 2011, but still a high number.
After people file a foreclosure, they do their best to rebuild their lives (and their credit scores). They might move to a new place, find a new job, build up their savings, repay various debts, and start planning perhaps for future property investments.
What they often don’t anticipate is their foreclosure continuing to haunt them and undermine their finances years later.
Are debt collectors after you?
A recent article discusses the plight of people who filed for a foreclosure during the housing bust. If they’ve since made significant improvements to their finances, they’re now in danger of debt collectors seeking to obtain from them the debt they owe that wasn’t repaid in full by the sale of their foreclosed home.
Aggressive debt collectors can push to garnish their wages, freeze their bank accounts, and seize vehicles and other assets – even years after the foreclosure.
These debt collector tactics threaten to put people back in financial straits, just as they assumed they were getting their finances into better shape. What are some of your options if this is happening to you?
You could try to pay back the amount you owe in full, perhaps after negotiating some kind of repayment plan; maybe you’ll be able to pay back less than what you owe after the negotiations. But it’s also possible that you’ll need to file for bankruptcy, depending on the amount of debt and your overall financial situation.
If you’re contemplating bankruptcy, be sure to contact a Springfield, Ohio bankruptcy attorney. Your attorney will carefully weigh the different options available to you and advise you on what to do. If you decide to file for bankruptcy, a strong attorney can increase your chances of a favorable outcome in the bankruptcy courts.