If you are currently on the hunt for your next home—and possibly your forever home—you are not alone. Since roughly the beginning of the COVID-19 health crisis, home prices have been on the rise, and the market has been historically hot. Experts expect the market to come back closer to normal over the next year or so, but there are no indicators that prices are coming down anytime soon.

With this in mind, you need to make sure that you fully understand what you are getting into when you submit a bid on a new home. As excited as you might be to start your life’s next chapter, it is critical to know that you can afford the price tag that comes along with it.

Working With Your Lender

The bank or financial institution that ultimately issues your mortgage will largely be responsible for establishing what your budget will need to be for your next home. Your lender will determine your loan amount, term, and interest rate based on a number of variables, including your credit score, tax obligations, and other details. It is not uncommon, however, for a lender to approve a mortgage that the borrower cannot reasonably afford. In fact, these types of approvals were among the primary reasons for the housing market crash in the late ‘00s.

When you file for protection under the United States Bankruptcy Code, you may be able to stop creditors and bill collectors from harassing you for payments that you cannot afford. Depending on the type of bankruptcy you are filing, you may also be able to get a substantial portion of your debt discharged.

Whether you file under Chapter 7, Chapter 11, or Chapter 13, bankruptcy proceedings can be complicated and time-consuming, and it may be tempting to take shortcuts. Doing so, however, is incredibly dangerous and could lead to even more serious problems than not being able to pay your bills. Bankruptcy fraud is not just a serious matter; it is also a federal crime punishable by imprisonment in a federal penitentiary.

Virginia Man Faces Prison Time for Bankruptcy Fraud

According to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), a 67-year-old man from Abingdon, Virginia, will be sentenced in May after pleading guilty to one count of bankruptcy fraud in federal court. Last week, the man acknowledged that he misrepresented information in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding that he initiated in September of 2015.

If you have been paying any attention whatsoever to the real estate market, you probably realize that the last two years have been an uphill battle for homebuyers—and first-time homebuyers, in particular. At the very beginning of the COVID-19 health crisis in early 2020, the residential real estate market started somewhat sluggish, but it very quickly took off and has only gotten hotter since then. In late 2020 and through 2021, the housing market continued to sizzle, and existing-home sales hit their highest annual mark in 15 years, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The red-hot housing market is a boon for sellers but a bane for buyers. Those who are looking to buy for the first time have been especially affected since they do not have any way to capitalize on the seller’s market before buying a home. Unfortunately, if you have been waiting for the market to cool off a little before jumping in, experts suggest that 2022 might not be your year either.

A Seller’s Market

Throughout the country, home prices have risen, and in many areas, we have seen double-digit appreciation. Anecdotal examples have been reported in which homes are selling for much higher than the asking prices—hundreds of thousands of dollars higher, in some cases—and often with no contingencies. On top of this, supply chain concerns have slowed home renovations and raised prices on building materials, flooring, and just about everything else.

According to information collected by local news outlets, the end of the eviction moratorium in Illinois did not trigger the “tsunami of evictions” in the city of Chicago and Cook County at large that many were expecting. The statewide ban on evictions was initiated in March 2020 following the stay-at-home orders issued by Governor J.B. Pritzker at the beginning of the COVID-19 health crisis. The moratorium was repeatedly extended by the governor until it ultimately came to an end on October 3, 2021.

A Look at the Numbers

The office of Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans provided preliminary information to WTTW, a Chicago-area PBS affiliate. According to that data, the total number of commercial and residential evictions in Chicago and Cook County was nearly one-third lower in October 2021 compared to October 2019. October represented the first full month in which there were no restrictions related to the enforcement of eviction judgments in the state.

Records indicate that 1,278 residential eviction judgments were approved in the city of Chicago in October of 2021, along with 42 commercial evictions. Suburban Cook County added another 566 households and 22 businesses for a countywide total of 1,866. These numbers represent a significant jump from October 2020, in which the courts only approved a total of 322 evictions.

There are a wide variety of legal issues that can affect people who are involved in real estate transactions or who are looking to determine their options for receiving debt relief through bankruptcy. Understanding these issues can often be difficult, but our firm strives to provide people with helpful information by regularly publishing blogs that cover these topics. The following blogs were most popular with our readers in 2021:

1. What Happens When a Bankruptcy Case Is Dismissed? - This blog looks at reasons why a bankruptcy case may have ended, affecting a person’s ability to discharge their debts. The blog was recently updated with additional information about how foreclosure proceedings may be affected by a dismissal.

2. How Do I Get Information About an Illinois Bankruptcy Case? - This article provides helpful information about how public records related to a bankruptcy case may be accessed.

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