With at least nine mortgage lenders having filed Chapter 11 this year – and Wall Street raising the possibility of a reorganization for the country’s No. 1 mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial – homeowners are asking questions about what happens to their mortgage should their lender go bust.

So we asked Donald C. Lampe, a partner with Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge and Rice, in Charlotte, N.C., to bring his 20 years of experience in mortgage laws and regulation to the rescue.

Q: If a homeowner’s mortgage lender files Chapter 11, should they continue to make their mortgage payments?

A: By all means keep making the payments. That’s the most important thing. The worst thing is to stop making the payments. Just because a lender goes bust doesn’t mean you don’t owe them money.

Q: The failure of all these mortgage lenders has me uneasy. What should I be doing?

A: Take out your mortgage and perform a little financial check-up. If your interest rate will soon adjust to a higher rate, then you have work to do.

Q: Like what?

A: If you have a re-set coming up, don’t wait for the load to land on you. Call your lender or service provider now. See if they will work with you.