Concerns About Mortgage Foreclosure
Your Concerns Are Important To Us! Your Concerns Are Important To Us!
Are you upset that your mortgage company treats you like a number, not a name? Are you tired of pressing buttons on your telephone trying desperately to work things out only to be ignored or even disconnected?
Does your lender treat you like a deadbeat, and fail to realize that good people get hurt, get laid off, have their hours cut, lose pay because they need to care for their spouse, children or parents, or other reasons? Anyone can have a financial setback. The truth is that sometimes good folks get into financial problems due to circumstances beyond their control. Foreclosures happen to people from all walks of life. It’s certainly not a sign of failure. It’s a sign of the economic times in which we are living.
Even though your lender doesn’t produce the mortgage note you signed promising to pay for your home, are they still attempting to foreclose on you?
Did your lender increase your payment and not explain why? Did they then keep on telling you to make your payments to some new company until you were confused as to whom you owed or how much you owed?
Are you in need of just a little bit more time to stop the foreclosure of your home?
Do you need a lawyer dedicated to helping get the pressure off your back by working to get you the time you deserve under the law, to straighten your finances out?
Are you aware that you may be evicted in as little as 60 days unless you properly and timely answer the foreclosure complaint against you?
A Word of Caution!
Over the past 15 years, I have seen many homes lost because homeowners placed their faith in “loan work out consultants’, “so-called paralegals”, “real estate investor groups”, and other scam artists.
Should these characters actually attempt any efforts whatsoever at helping a distressed homeowner, many charge substantial fees which they routinely conceal from their “clients”. Most often their efforts don’t even work. To put it bluntly, most of these types of outfits are simply in the business of selling hope, not results. Thus, the distressed homeowner wishing to fight to prevent the foreclosure sale, must still usually ultimately retain a foreclosure defense or bankruptcy attorney if he or she wishes to fight to prevent or delay a foreclosure sale. Oftentimes, by this point, many of the homeowner’s valuable rights and opportunities have been already been squandered.
The attorneys at our Law Firm will take the time to give you a Free Consultation on the Phone or in our office. For goodness sake call me! It is a Free Consultation. Don’t fall prey to one of these unregulated scammers.
ALSO, do not fall for this old standard line from the lender…….
While negotiating a forbearance or “loss mitigation plan” many lenders will continue with the foreclosure action. At the same time, because the homeowner anticipated a workout plan, or had false hope that the lenders actually cared about them and will work with them in good faith, the homeowners do nothing except losing valuable rights and workable legal opportunities to save their property.
The end result of this mortgage company/lender’s game is that many homeowners lose their homes when they fail to defend against the foreclosure action.
Do You Want a Law Firm Committed to Helping You Take the Pressure off of Your Shoulders? We help by modifying the terms and/or conditions of your existing mortgage, assisting you with reinstating your mortgage, giving you the last chance to sell or refinance your home, or even allowing you to stay in your home as long as possible while exhausting all your legal defenses and bringing to the courts’ attention any defects in the foreclosure papers.
Do You Want to Talk to an Attorney Who Will Take the Time to Give You a Free Consultation on the Phone or in Their Office? Contact us today or get started immediately with our Online Bankruptcy Intake Form.
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How Can I Fight A Foreclosure?
Your lender’s attorney will file a default against you if you do nothing. Then they will proceed to sell YOUR home at a public auction via a court order. Even should you have equity, once this happens, generally no money from this type of sale will be paid to you. Furthermore, your credit will be damaged for years.
Most often, a foreclosure can and should be defended. Many lawyers and the public don’t realize this. Defending a Foreclosure does not usually mean that the homeowner will not have to ultimately pay payments that are actually delinquent. However, when the homeowner’s equity in their home is protected by such defense and they are not subjected to a shortcut foreclosure, a far better chance for the homeowner to economically survive exists.
When a borrower could not pay their lender their monthly payments on time something happens. The borrower defaults on the mortgage and note. (Please do not confuse this with a 20-day default issued if you fail to respond to a foreclosure lawsuit). However, that does not mean the borrower must leave the property immediately as is the case when they cannot pay your landlord their rent.
Instead, a mortgage’s continuing default only gives the lender a right to move toward seeking the judicial sale of the borrower’s residence. This is done by the lender bringing, under Statutes, a foreclosure action.
In the vast majority of instances, and in my experience, the borrower is in the wrong. However, this is not because they arbitrarily wanted to stop paying on the mortgage. Instead, it is simply because life’s events have caused their financial inability to pay on their mortgage.
Although the borrower has technically defaulted and may be in the “wrong” that does not mean the homeowner should just roll over and abandon their home. Nor does this mean that they should just stay there and wait for the inevitable!
As explained, though a mortgage foreclosure defense will not typically avoid a borrower’s responsibility to repay their past-due mortgage payments, in most instances by a borrower asserting his or her rights and forcing their lender to prove their case, the result is that property owner stays in their home for an extended period of time.
It is important to remember that, as a result of an attorney representing you, if the attorney representing the mortgage holder ultimately obtains a judgment in favor of the mortgage holder, or if the homeowner subsequently reinstates or payoffs the mortgage or files a chapter 13 bankruptcy, that their attorney will then be able to bill the mortgage holder additional fees and costs which you as a homeowner will possibly be responsible for paying. Thus, you must determine if you are better off paying these fees if it allows you to keep your home or walk away with most of the equity you have in your home. I can help with this determination.
If you have been served with a foreclosure, contact the firm today for a free consultation with no obligation. You may also complete our Online Bankruptcy Intake Form.
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Options If You Have Equity In Your Home
Refinance the house. The rationale for this is to then use the money from the refinancing to pay off the balance to the lender to whom you are in default. However, this option as one can logically conclude may result in a higher future monthly mortgage payment.
Sell the house. It is better to sell it yourself than to have the bank sell it.
You can transfer your home to some nice person saying he is out to help you by placing your home in a family trust and he is the trustee. THIS IS GENERALLY DANGEROUS. YOU WILL IN ALL LIKELIHOOD GET LITTLE OR NO MONEY FOR YOUR EQUITY. Should someone approach you to do this, or someone offers to buy your house and pay you more money at a later date, or purchase your house with $500-$5000 to you, please do not sign papers until talking to an attorney.
If you need time to sell your home with a broker or need time to find a new job to qualify for a chapter 13 bankruptcy, you can fight the foreclosure procedurally with a foreclosure defense attorney and by pointing out all potential technical errors to the court. Remember, though it is wrong to file false pleading raising issues that cannot be proven just to delay the proceeding, there is nothing wrong with insisting on due process of law. This will force the lender’s attorney to correct the errors, giving you much-needed breathing room.
If you qualify for a chapter 13 bankruptcy you can force a repayment plan to your lender with payments over 5 years to bring your home mortgage current.
If you have been served with a foreclosure, IMMEDIATELY contact our Law Firm for a free consultation with no obligation. Or if you prefer please complete the following Bankruptcy Intake Form and an attorney will contact you.
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Options When Facing Mortgage Foreclosure
Below, I will discuss 3 possible options you may take if you have been served a foreclosure lawsuit. I would love the opportunity to discuss these in further detail with you. We are available until 8 PM every day but Sunday. We provide a toll-free number for clients calling from outside the local calling area. Finally, you can CONTACT US via email and we will then promptly contact you.
Option One: Foreclosure Defense
This strategy includes attacking any and all potential legal and procedural defects in the foreclosure suit against you. You have the right to force the mortgage company’s lawyers to correct their paperwork. In most cases, this paperwork often fails to technically meet the statutory, contractual, or procedural requirements of the law. This typically allows you extra time to:
Accumulate money to reinstate your mortgage
Improve your finances so that you qualify to reorganize your debts via Chapter 13 bankruptcy
Hire a realtor who can market your home to allow you to sell and recover much of the equity to allow you to get your life back together or complete a short-sale
Save up more money required to relocate
Option Two: Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
This may be an appropriate choice if you presently have adequate income to resume making the normal monthly payments to your lender PLUS pay the back payments and other associated late fees over a 5 year period. Another advantage with Chapter 13 is that if you also have unsecured debts (credit cards, medical bills, etc.), often a substantial portion of these debts may be discharged (avoided) in a bankruptcy plan. This is the case unless your disposable income is sufficient to allow you to repay the unsecured debts in full.
Option Three: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
This may be an appropriate choice if you have a high amount of unsecured debt (credit cards, medical bills, etc.) or you have potential liability exposure for deficiency judgments related to owning multiple investment properties which are going into foreclosure.
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When I Get Served With a Foreclosure, What Do I Need to Do?
Be Prepared
Now you are in foreclosure; it is part of the public records. Thus, every scam artist in the world is going to be sending you information on how they can immediately, with little or no cost, work with your lender to fix everything. Do not fall for this. At this point, you are on the clock!
Read The Summons
The summons will generally say you only have 20 days to respond to the complaint. If you fail to do anything the foreclosure attorney representing your mortgage holder will file a motion for default after 20 days.
What Does “Default” Mean?
A default prevents you from hiring a Foreclosure Defense attorney who may be able to raise defenses that are available to you. This is very dangerous. Once a default is entered, your rights are terminated unless you can prove “excusable neglect” coupled with a “meritorious defense”. In simple terms what this means is that it is extremely difficult to set aside a default.
20 Day Period
If the 20 day period is almost up and you have not seen a foreclosure defense attorney, you should promptly present a correspondence to the court clerk. It should reference the case information on the summons, and ask for more time to hire an attorney. Additionally, you must mail a copy to the mortgage holder’s lawyer. By filing (mailing it to the court) this letter they cannot get a default against you without a court hearing. You must receive additional notice of such hearing.
In the majority of cases, a foreclosure defense will not avoid your liability to repay the note. However by asserting your rights and forcing your lender to prove their case, generally results in property owners staying in their homes for an extended period of time.
If you have been served with a foreclosure, IMMEDIATELY Contact our Law Firm for a free consultation with no obligation. Or if you prefer please complete the following Bankruptcy Intake Form and an attorney will contact you.
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Why Fight Foreclosure When You Have Little Or No Equity?
Why Fight Foreclosure When I Have Little Or No Equity In The Property?
You need to determine if the costs involved in defending a foreclosure is cheaper than the cost of renting a place to live. Many clients retain our Law Group to defend against foreclosure. What this does is it forces the lender to prove their case. Though, defenses without merit can not be asserted, never forget, your lender must first prove conclusively that you defaulted on your mortgage. Why concede this? Make them prove their case. By doing this you may be able to stay in your home for 5-6 months. Other options might open up during this time frame.
A well presented mortgage foreclosure defense will not typically avoid a borrower’s responsibility to repay their past due mortgage payments. However, in most instances, by a borrower asserting his or her rights and forcing their lender to prove their case, the result is that property owner stays in their home for an extended period of time.
Are You Sure You Have No Equity?
Sometimes this determination is easy. But, do not assume you can always figure this out yourself. Unless it is obvious, seek the opinion of a real estate property professional. Find such a person who not only works at real estate full-time, but also someone who knows your neighborhood. Consult with them to discuss what your house is actually worth. As a general rule of thumb, if this figure is more than 10% greater than what you owe on all outstanding mortgage balances, there is a good chance you might have some equity.
If this is the case, you need to develop a plan on how to protect the equity, or your right to keep your home. If you simply fell a few months behind due to a job layoff, and are you are now again working you might be able to convince your lender to work with you.
However, please be careful! Once you are served with foreclosure papers, just because the lender is talking to you does not mean the foreclosure case is not moving forward. Working with the lender’s loss mitigation department does not change things as far as the court is concerned. Often lender’s loan mitigation representatives are just passing time. They’re real goal is not trying to make a deal in your best interest. Often, they are just leading you on. They do this so that you do not get an attorney to defend the foreclosure. It makes their job easier. The next thing you know; you get summary judgment hearing notice on the foreclosure. At this point, typically, you are procedurally in deep trouble in the foreclosure. Typically, at this point the lender’s attorney has obtained from the court a default judgment against you for not properly answering the foreclosure complaint.
Should a default be entered against you, provided you file bankruptcy before the hearing you can likely stop the Circuit Court Judge from entering a judgment. Our Law Group also provides bankruptcy information and services. During bankruptcy you often have the option of selling your home, paying off the mortgage and walking away with Your equity.
If you have been served with a foreclosure, contact our Law Firm for a free consultation with no obligation. Or to get started immediately, complete our Bankruptcy Intake Form.
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Mortgage Foreclosure FAQ
Bankruptcy Attorney − Frequently Asked Questions
(Q) What do I do? I have just been served with a Summons and Foreclosure Complaint.
Respond in Writing and/or Serve and file an Answer and Affirmative Defenses within 20 days of service.
(Q) What will happen if I do not do anything, but ignore it?
A Default and Default Judgment will be entered, and the Clerk of the Court will auction your property, usually within 25 to 30 days from entry of a Default Judgment.
(Q) Do I have to get out of the property 20 days after the summons is received?
No. However, once the property is auctioned by the Court Clerk you will be facing being removed from the property unless you vacate the property.
(Q) How much time do I have to get out once a foreclosure sale takes place?
As little as 12 days.
(Q) What will happen if I do not get out?
The Sheriff’s office will physically evict you and remove you and your personal property from the foreclosed property.
(Q) What can I do?
Hire an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer. Do not delay valuable rights and options may be lost.
(Q) What will the lawyer do?
File an answer containing Affirmative Defenses, if any.
(Q) In the Answer, is a denial of the Lender’s Complaint all that I need to do?
Most often not. Your attorney must state all Affirmative Defenses. Failure to properly assert these defenses may result in there being waived..
(Q) What are these Affirmative Defenses?
They are special defenses which must be specifically alleged. These typically include things such as truth-in-lending violations, usury, fraud and other specific types of improper conduct by the lender, which may defeat or partially defeat the lender’s claims presented.
(Q) Why are Affirmative Defenses different than just an Answer with Denials?
The Plaintiff has a much more difficult burden to obtain a “quick” or Summary Judgment of Foreclosure. When moving (asking) for Summary Judgment in cases where there are Affirmative Defenses, a Plaintiff (Lender) must do more than merely establish the case made by its complaint, it must also show the insufficiency, inapplicability or falsity of all the Affirmative Defenses so interposed.
(Q) How can an attorney just delay the case without any real justification?
An attorney can’t delay solely for that purpose. However, in the full exercise of your legal rights, delays may result as a by-product of a proper defense. Usually these delays are caused by the Plaintiff not properly and promptly responding to your attorney’s lawful demands.
(Q) Does a lawyer he automatically get more time to file an Answer and Affirmative Defenses?
No, the 20 days continues to run. If a Default is issues against you, it will result, at a minimum, substantial difficulties in getting the Default set aside. Also it will limit your attorney’s defensive arsenal otherwise available for him to use on your behalf.
(Q) What price will the property bring if it is sold at auction by the Court Clerk?
Typically it will sell for far less than its Fair Market Value. In most cases foreclosure sales are for the total amount of the mortgage, or even less.
(Q) Will I get any of the sales proceeds from the foreclosure auction?
Only if the property is sold for more that what is owed in total to the Plaintiff and all other mortgages and liens on the property.
(Q) Would this mean I would lose any equity I have in the property?
Yes.
(Q) If the property is sold for less than the total owed, can the lender collect the difference?
Yes, but only if the Lender also obtains a Deficiency Judgment.
Q. Can I sell the property and get my money out?
Yes, you can sell or refinance so long as the Plaintiff is paid in full, prior to the foreclosure sale date.
Q. Do I have the right to bring the mortgage current?
Not unless your mortgage or mortgage note specifically gives you this right. However, many mortgage lenders often voluntarily consent to reinstatement.
Q. What about Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?
A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy may allow you to make up the arrearages and reinstate your mortgage, over a period of time, usually 60 months. It means you make a regular payment and part payment each month until you are back current.
Q. What about a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy may allow you to keep all of your exempt assets have the Bankruptcy Trustee sell the rest and apply proceeds to pay and satisfy all of your dischargeable debts. Also, Bankruptcy may be a legal and legitimate way to delay foreclosure, to protect your equity in the property.
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