Stopping Foreclosure with Chapter 13
When a foreclosure sale is scheduled, Chapter 13 is the strongest legal brake available: the automatic stay stops the sale the moment the case is filed, and the repayment plan gives you three to five years to catch up on missed payments while keeping the house.
The stay stops the sale — timing is everything
Arizona uses non-judicial trustee's sales that can complete about 90 days after the notice records; Washington's non-judicial process runs on a similar clock. A case filed even the day before the sale stops it; a case filed the day after usually cannot undo it.
How the arrears get cured
The Chapter 13 plan pays the missed mortgage payments (the arrears) in installments over the plan term while you resume regular monthly payments. Complete the plan and the mortgage is current — the lender must accept this treatment under the Bankruptcy Code.
What Chapter 13 can and can't do to the mortgage
A first mortgage on your primary residence can't be crammed down to the home's value, but wholly unsecured junior liens — a second mortgage underwater by the first — can often be stripped off entirely. Judgment liens that impair your homestead exemption can also be avoided.
Exemption amounts and rule thresholds change on statutory schedules. See our monthly rule reports for the current figures with citations to the official sources.
Need help protecting what you've worked for?
Majors Law Group, P.C. — an independent bankruptcy firm running its practice on Bankruptcy.AI — handles Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases in Arizona and Washington.
Bankruptcy.AI is a technology platform, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Majors Law Group, P.C. is a separate, independent law firm. This page is general information and is not legal advice; outcomes depend on your specific facts.