CBS Boston reported 7,136 new coronavirus cases in Massachusetts within a single day on January 7, 2021, with 71 deaths within the 24-hour period. If you live in a city or town where you are at high risk of catching COVID-19, refinancing your home loan to stay at home and work from your newly decorated home office may keep you safe and save you considerable money while it cuts out your commute. If you’ve changed jobs or now work from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, you can purchase a new home in a less dense neighborhood in Massachusetts.
Long-term Secured Loan Interest Rates
Massachusetts new long-term secured loan and refinance interest rates are below 3% for those with good credit. No interest rates are above 4.5% if your credit score is average, and almost all loans close within 30 days. Types of loans range from those backed by FHA or the Veteran’s Administration to shorter duration home equity loans that can be added to your existing mortgage loan. Your interest rate on a new home loan or after refinancing is based on the lender you choose and the following variables:
• Length of the loan
• Location of the property
• Amount of the loan
• Mortgage points
• Your FICO score
• Amount of your equity or down payment
2021 Property Values
Property values steadily increased as residents fled covid-laden cities for suburban and rural homes in safer lower population density areas. Foreclosures may be in the near future during 2021. If you fear foreclosure or decide that you can’t refinance or get a new secured loan because you lost your job or your credit score plummeted with the advent of the pandemic, you are giving up.
Boston Secure Commercial Transaction Lawyer
Our Boston secure commercial transaction Super Lawyers with 60 years of combined experience developed relationships with all the major banks, savings and loans, and finance companies through their debt collection practice. Lenders respect our judgement and expertise. Our lawyers can review your financial difficulties due to the pandemic and your previous payment history, assets, and equity to represent and advocate for you with your finance company. Our attorney will perform a title search and give you mortgage insurance at your real estate closing. Your social services office or your community foundation can direct you to agencies and nonprofits that work with private donors to help homeowners and tenants pay for housing.
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Benefits Homeowners
If you’ve found new employment and your credit history was good prior to the pandemic, you can file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy to extend the length of your secured loans or liquidate nonessential assets and debts or consolidate them into a single monthly payment significantly lower than your previous monthly payment. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act changed the income to debt ratio required to file for bankruptcy. You can file bankruptcy based on financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States Bankruptcy Court.
Temporary CARES Act Modifications to Bankruptcy Procedures
CARES Act modifications to bankruptcy rules and procedures are scheduled to end by March 28, 2021. Chapter 7 bankruptcy totally liquidates unsecured debt. Taxes, child support, and school loans are like secured debts, and they must be paid. If you file Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’ll enter into a repayment plan and extend your passed due balances over seven years to consolidate your monthly loan payment with a portion of the past due amount until you complete your repayment plan. In April 2021, the CARES Act modifications to bankruptcy law expire and Chapter 13 bankruptcy plans will return to five years in duration.
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Benefits Small Business Owners and Landlords
Small business owners, landlords, and property managers can file Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize and restructure their business debt. You can extend the length of your loans to reduce your monthly loan payments and stop civil litigation for nonpayment. Landlords and small business owners may be able to remove home equity or small business loans from the deeds to their properties entirely. You need to draft a reorganization and repayment plan to successfully reorganize within seven years under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act modifications to Chapter 11 bankruptcy law. After March 27, 2021, the United States Bankruptcy Court returns to five-year reorganization plans.
Removing Liens
The Chapter 11 trustee can remove a home equity loan from the deed to your principal residence or business address, motor vehicles, or necessary office equipment. If you obtained a business loan by using your home or motor vehicle as collateral, the bankruptcy court can strip the secondary loan off your deed or title to discharge the deficit as an unsecured loan. Partners “jointly and severally” liable for business debt must pay the debts if one partner cannot. The bankruptcy trustee can sever your interest in a business property and order the asset sold to meet or reduce your financial obligations.
Call our secure commercial transaction lawyer in our conveniently located Boston area law office to discuss purchasing a new home, refinancing home improvements, or taking a home equity loan before you lose your house due to the coronavirus pandemic. Our attorneys transact both residential and commercial real estate closings. Our real estate attorney may come to you and record your deed at your local Registry of Deeds and your property assessment with your Department of Taxation.