A Study on the U.S. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Protection Concerning Mortgage Delinquency and Foreclosure

Owning a residence is a starting point for most Americans in achieving their“American dreams.” However, this cornerstone concept of achieving Americandream has recently met a stark and harsh reality as a lot of Americans havelost their homes, probably their most valuable asset and investment in lifetime,through foreclosures preceded by mortgage defaults which were caused by various reasons such as unemployment, illness or domestic issues. Especially, theforeclosure epidemic that followed the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. havecontinuously been the major source of financial problems not only for theindividual homeowners but also for the entire nation. Currently, Chapter 13Bankruptcy reorganization is used as one of the methods to deal with themortgage default problems in the U.S. Once a debtor is qualified for Chapter 13Bankruptcy protection,1) he can rely on two kinds of major protections providedunder Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Code. The first protection is that a bankruptcyfiling itself forces a stoppage of a foreclosure procedure in which a mortgageebank (mortgagee) initiates and forces the residence of a homeowner (mortgagor)to be sold at an auction, and the second one is that a debtor under Chapter 13is given a power to cure the mortgage defaults (called “mortgage arrearages”)through Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. This article is to study the feasibility of Chapter13 Bankruptcy as a way to deal with the foreclosure problems as well as homemortgage delinquencies and to propose some revisions on the Bankruptcy Codefor its improvement. Part II will review the background of the U.S. foreclosureepidemic. Part III of this article will look and discuss the various efforts of theU.S. government and state governments to deal with the foreclosure issues. InPart IV, various aspects of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will be examined as a wayto deal with the mortgage delinquencies. In Part V, the issue of the possibleamendment of the Korean individual rehabilitation procedure will be discussed.