Real Estate and Foreclosure Defense

Foreclosure Basics

As Covid-19 and other hardships continue to disrupt our daily lives and our ability to earn a living, some folks will continue to struggle to meet their financial obligations, which may include missed mortgage payments. Although some lenders may appear outwardly helpful or even friendly in offering assistance to borrowers, lenders will always quietly work to foreclose on those who fall behind in their mortgage payments. As history as shown, Florida’s courts have the ability to process foreclosure cases at a rapid pace, leaving catastrophic results for families who could have otherwise saved their homes by timely hiring an experienced attorney who could have helped develop a plan to stop foreclosure.

Foreclosure is the legal procedure by which your lender asks a judge for approval to sell your house at auction, usually due to an alleged loan default. In Florida, you only have 20 days to file a response to a foreclosure complaint after being served. If you don’t file a response to your lawsuit within this time period of time, your mortgage lender has the right to get a default. After your lender gets a default against you, it can then secure a final judgment of foreclosure which provides it with the legal right to sell your home at auction.

Foreclosure Defenses

Florida law, Federal law and your mortgage loan documents themselves can give you with numerous and meritorious defenses to a foreclosure lawsuit. For instance, your lender may have not complied with the material provisions of the loan, may have lost the required legal documents, may not be the true owner of the loan, may be responsible for mortgage servicing abuse or predatory lending, may be demanding an exaggerated pay-off, may be assessing unlawful costs and fees, or may have violated numerous federal and/or state laws while attempting to collect on the debt. Here is a list of common foreclosure defenses.

Alternatives to Foreclosure

A foreclosure case does not have to end with the loss of your home. There are several alternatives to foreclosure; your own solution may include:

Short Sale

A short sale occurs when your lender allows you to sell your home for less than the total amount owed on your mortgage loan. A word of caution. Our law firm routinely helps folks with short sales and has effectively obtained releases of deficiency judgments and secured money for homeowners to help them with relocation expenses. A word of caution. Sometime lenders refuse to forgive the excess debt following a short sale or judicial auction and sue you years later again for a “deficiency judgment”. If you have been sued for a deficiency judgment, there are defenses available to you in these circumstances that an experienced lawyer can exploit.

Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure

A Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure occurs when you deed your home back to the lender prior to foreclosure. It can be advantageous to negotiate with your lender and have it ultimately accept the deed of your home as a complete settlement for all of your obligations under the mortgage loan. This is helpful when you are upside down on your mortgage loan and you do not have any equity in your home.

Loan Modification

A Loan Modification is by far the most popular mitigation option available. It allows you to retain ownership of your home while repaying your lender at a more manageable monthly payment. A modification can either be a temporary or permanent. Usually, a loan modification involves a reduction of your interest rate, an extension of the time you have to pay your mortgage loan, or a reduction of the principal balance.

Why Fight?

Andrew J. Pascale has been representing homeowners for over a decade and has tried numerous foreclosure cases successfully. Mr. Pascale knows the ins and outs of the foreclosure process better than anyone and he is committed to working with homeowners in Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach County who have been sued by the mortgage lenders for foreclosure as a result of a missed payment or other grounds. Mr. Pascale has extensive experience in litigating real estate disputes, and is dedicated to obtaining your greatest possible outcome in a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit.

Call Now

Please call us at (877) 667-1211 to speak to an experienced foreclosure defense lawyer.