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Can Someone Practically Defend A Foreclosure On Their Own?

I guess it’s possible but it absolutely should not be done. It’s possible for a person to operate on themselves so that they can withstand the pain but when you are in the court system, you need a lawyer. A foreclosure case is a civil action that is filed in your local courthouse. It is a court case and my philosophy has always been that if you are in court, you need a lawyer because the machinery of justice will grind people down when they are not aware of their rights. It’s the same as operating on yourself, you wouldn’t want to operate on yourself and any time that you are in court you don’t want to be handling that yourself either.

A foreclosure defense lawyer can help in a lot of ways, primarily in trying to get you a loan modification and in my experience banks are a lot more willing to work with people who are represented by lawyers because generally the communication is a lot better, the documentation is better because the borrower’s lawyer is helping the borrower prepare their loan modification and get their documents in order. You always have a question of, when you are doing it yourself, the bank will say you haven’t filled out the right paperwork, you are missing paperwork. When we help a borrower out, we keep an exact record of everything that we send to the bank so that we can prove down the road, we sent 3 years of bank statements, we sent tax returns and pay stubs and we can prove through certified mail or with the current receipts on the email that the bank actually received that.

Most borrowers don’t do that step of confirming that the bank has received it but it can make all the difference in the world. If you don’t file any proper response, then you could be looking at being forced from your home about two months from when you’ve been served. With a foreclosure defense lawyer, normally that time is going to be at least a year. If nothing else, normally a foreclosure defense attorney can help buy you time. At a minimum, that is justification to see a foreclosure defense attorney.

What Are The Main Factors You Consider When Planning A Foreclosure Defense?

The main issue that I start with is equity in the house. Usually, my first question is if there is equity in the house? If the house is severely underwater and it’s very difficult to see the property ever having equity and in those cases the borrower has a decision as to whether or not they want to stay in this house on the terms that they have because they might have bought the house at the top of the real estate market and those numbers, in many cases are just never going to work out. So that’s the number one question I always have, is there equity in the house? That is going to dictate a lot of how the case goes, it’s going to dictate whether the borrower has enough incentive to try to make the loan work and modify it. The second thing usually is the borrower’s income.

Have they lost their job and have they no prospect of having any income? Are they 12 months behind? 24 months behind? Those are usually very difficult cases. If the mortgage has gone to default because of a temporary issue, a health issue or a borrower was laid off but is working again. They just got behind for a couple of months. Those are the easiest cases from my standpoint where the borrower still has income. Maybe it’s reduced income but they are regularly getting income, they can show that and maybe that’s the situation where we can get the bank to do a lower payment or something.

The hardest cases though are the ones where there is no equity or property, no income and there is just very little that can be done in that case besides trying to create a soft landing for the borrower and trying to make it so that they have as much time in the house as possible before they have to find somewhere else to live. The main considerations in defending a foreclosure are practical considerations, that includes considerations of what the borrower’s finances are and what other options do they have.

For more information on Foreclosure Defense Options In Florida, initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (386) 487-5466 today.

Need Help With Mortgage Foreclosure?
The Decker Law Firm has handled hundreds of mortgage foreclosure matters and has a wealth of experience in this area. Our firm has represented a variety of creditors including major financial institutions, credit unions, commercial banks, holding companies, and private individuals in the prosecution of mortgage foreclosure actions in Florida’s Third Judicial Circuit.
Andrew  J. Decker, IV Attorney Photo
Andrew J. Decker, IV
Lawyer

Andrew J. “AJ” Decker, IV, grew up in Live Oak, Florida and graduated from Suwannee High School in 1997. He attended Emory University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2001. He subsequently attended Florida Coastal School of Law, graduating with high honors in 2004. AJ represents client in civil litigation matters, focusing…

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