The sad truth is that lenders, their attorneys, and many foreclosure scammers out to exploit people facing foreclosure, benefit from the fact that most homeowners usually know nothing about the foreclosure process or what rights they have. Did you know that most Florida homeowners do not defend their foreclosure suit? Florida foreclosure attorneys know that not taking action is the quickest and most certain way to lose your home or investment property.
You Have Rights
The first and most important thing to know if you are facing foreclosure is that you have rights, both in and out of the courtroom. Foreclosure in Florida is a civil lawsuit, and just like any party to any other lawsuit, you have legal rights meant to protect you. In addition, lenders and their agents must be licensed, and have to comply with a complex scheme of local, state, and federal laws and regulations that are designed to protect you, the borrower. It is quite possible that your rights as a borrower and the protections afforded to you as a defendant in a civil lawsuit can help you to fight your foreclosure. But you must take action in order to assert those rights.
Lender Mistakes
Mistakes are made by both lenders and their [attorneyslawyers]. Common mistakes include:
- Missing signatures on important documents
- Lost paperwork, including the original note or gaps in assignments (watch out for “re-establishment” claims in your paperwork, as this is an important clue that may mean your lender has lost important documents necessary for foreclosure)
- Missed deadlines or failure to file required documents
- Incomplete/Inaccurate Truth In Lending Act disclosures (which may even give you the opportunity to rescind the loan)
- Hidden fees or illegal interest rates (usually rare, but it happens!)
- Failure to properly credit Borrower payments
Mistakes can prevent the lender from being able to foreclose on your home, give you a viable counterclaim to assert against the lender, or even allow you to rescind your loan. And mistakes are not as uncommon as you may think. In the height of lending, many loans were securitized, meaning they were auto-processed, packaged, then sold on the open market. This means loans were transferred anywhere from 1 up to 8 or 9 times! It’s easier to understand how there are so many missing assignment or lost notes, when you understand the context in which many of these loans were made.
In the current foreclosure crisis, lenders’ attorneys handle very large case loads, often for small flat fees, and are very overworked. These conditions are conducive to missteps, small errors, and larger mistakes that can that can delay your foreclosure suit or even bring it to a screeching halt. But when homeowners don’t take action it makes the lawyers’ jobs much easier. If more homeowners decided to defend their foreclosures, it would become even more difficult to keep up with the deadlines and paperwork in every case since a foreclosure defense attorney would be making the lender find all the proper documents and follow the law. The current model only works well when most homeowners are unaware of their rights and don’t defend their rights. It is the lender’s goal to foreclose on your home as quickly and easily as possible. This will not happen if you fight the foreclosure.
If You Defend The Foreclosure, It Takes A Long Time To Foreclosure On Your Home
Defending your foreclosure can ease the time pressure you may be feeling right now. Foreclosure can be a very quick process – from filing to auction in as little as 45 days – if the homeowner doesn’t bother to contest the case. But when there are legitimate legal defenses, the court needs time to sort out both sides of the story. The courts are extremely backed up due to all the foreclosure cases on the docket. It’s common for homeowners to remain in their homes for a year or more (even up to three years is possible) while defending the foreclosure. The time it takes to defend your foreclosure can be all the time you need to refinance, negotiate a work-out or modification, or sell your home on your own terms to avoid foreclosure altogether. And you should know, Florida foreclosure attorneys are also often able to negotiate with the lender to waive deficiency judgments. If nothing else, defending the foreclosure takes the immediate time pressure off you while you work toward a solution.
Your Lender’s Goal…
Is not to own your house, but to get cash. Banks aren’t property managers, or in the real estate ownership business. Banks are actively trying to get rid of their already large housing inventory that’s slow to move in the current real estate market – trust me, they don’t want more homes. If you can convince them that you will give them more money than they would get in a deeply discounted foreclosure auction, then you may be successful in negotiating with the bank to keep your home. Plus, Floridians have what is called a “right of redemption” – which means you can pay off your loan balance to keep your home at any time before the foreclosure sale. The time you get by defending your foreclosure may be enough to allow you to redeem your house, or negotiate a modification.
High Settlement Rates In Contested Cases
As I mentioned above, the bank’s primary goal throughout the entire foreclosure process is to get one thing: cash. Owning your home and having to sell it at a steep discount does not help them reach this goal. Many cases settle before sale through: negotiation of the terms of the loan (modification or refinance); finding a qualified buyer, getting lender approval and moving out on your own terms without deficiency liability (short sale); negotiation for more time to bring the loan current; or finding a loan from someone else to bring the loan current. Nothing helps you get a good settlement more than a willingness to defend your rights.
The Florida foreclosure attorneys at Kilpatrick & White will listen to your goals to plan a customized strategy for your particular situation. Visit http://Florida-Foreclosure-Attorney.com for a free consultation.