Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

Maxwell Swinney

What Bills Should You Pay When You're in Foreclosure?

When you fall behind on your mortgage payments, you don't instantly lose your home to foreclosure. It takes time for the legal process to play out. In 2016 it took more than 1,000 days on average to complete foreclosure. That's nearly three years, which is a long time to be living in your home without paying your mortgage.

While you're living in your home sans mortgage you will continue to have other bills, but money could still be tight, and your credit's in bad shape.

If that's the situation you're in, which of your remaining bills should you pay?

Pay Your Utilities

You are not going to be able to live in your house without electricity or plumbing, so you should continue to pay your electric, gas, water, and sewage bills even when you're not paying your mortgage.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Thursday, September 13, 2018 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure defense attorney

As if falling behind on your mortgage payments and being at risk of losing your home to foreclosure wasn't bad enough, it also costs you extra money in the form of fees, which make it even harder to get your mortgage back on track.

Being charged fees for not having enough money to pay your mortgage can feel like adding insult to injury. You didn't have enough money to pay the regular mortgage payments, now they add fees to that! Wonderful.

Unpleasant as it is, there's no getting around incurring some fees when you default on your mortgage. Your mortgage contract states that you will be charged fees in the event that you do not pay your mortgage in full and on time.

The amount of your missed payments, which include principal, interest, taxes and insurance, will make up most of the money you owe after defaulting, but the fees are nothing to sneeze at. Let's look at what some of them are.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Tuesday, September 11, 2018 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure defense attorney, foreclosure fees

Homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage sometimes lose their home to foreclosure because they fail to do simple things that could help them save their home. It's not that people don't want to save their home, or are stupid, they just don't have the knowledge and experience to understand how important it is to do some things and not do others.

Our law firm is very experienced in helping homeowners who are experiencing foreclosure. We've been in business for 10 years and have helped more than 7,000 homeowners stop or avoid foreclosure with a loan modification. So, we've seen every mistake that homeowners can make when they get into trouble with their mortgage. Here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid if you don't want to lose your home:

1. Not opening your mail

When you fall behind on your mortgage, you will receive important information in the mail. Your bank is required to send you a default letter/notice of intent to accelerate that tells you you will lose your home to foreclosure if you don't remedy the default. If you aren't able to avoid it, you will eventually be mailed a notification that a foreclosure sale date has been scheduled.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Saturday, September 8, 2018 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure, foreclosure defense attorney

Falling behind on your mortgage can force you to learn many legal concepts and words that you probably don't come across unless you're a lawyer, such as judicial or clerk's default.

What is a judicial or clerk's default?

A judicial or clerk's default is "a binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgment in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear before a court of law.”

A judicial default is issued by a judge, and a clerk's default is issued by a clerk of the court. How does that come into play in foreclosure? It has to do with the lawsuit that follows as a result of defaulting on payments.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Saturday, September 1, 2018 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] Buying a home after foreclosure, default judgment, judicial or clerk's default

Disclaimer: These results should not be taken as a guarantee, as each case is unique. We have helped over 7,000 homeowners. Here are some of their stories.

Every week we obtain loan modifications for our clients with a variety of loan servicers. You can see these results as they are announced on Twitter (#loanmodwow) or Facebook. Here are some of our results from this week with Mr. Cooper, Ocwen, Carrington, Bayview, Ditech, and Chase:

Mr. Cooper

Yes! Our Mr. Cooper clients were an astounding 57 months (almost 5 years) and $52,913 + fees past due on their mortgage, but we helped them get a 3 month FHA-HAMP trial loan modification plan with $35.46 monthly savings.

IL Couple Consents to Foreclosure to Get out of Their House

Sometimes you just need to get out of something. Whether it's a bad relationship, a social event, or even home ownership, there comes a time when you have to say “enough is enough,” and move on.

Recent clients of our firm, who I'll call the Jansens to protect their identity, were in just such a situation. They wanted to get out of their mortgage for their condo in Oswego, Illinois, which is west of Chicago.

The Jansens are in their 80s and fell behind on their mortgage due to some financial difficulties. They didn't have any equity in their home, and they needed to move out of state to be closer to family, so there was no reason for them to try and save their home.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Wednesday, August 29, 2018 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure, consent to foreclosure

Disclaimer: These results should not be taken as a guarantee, as each case is unique. We have helped over 7,000 homeowners. Here are some of their stories.

SPS

Our SPS client was an amazing 45 months and $45,757.09+ fees past due on her mortgage with a foreclosure sale date set, but we helped her get a final in-house loan modification with $154.61 cheaper monthly payment!

Successful Loan Modification Roundup Week of 8/17/18

Disclaimer: These results should not be taken as a guarantee, as each case is unique. We have helped over 7,000 homeowners. Here are some of their stories.

Mr. Cooper

Our Mr. Cooper clients were 11 months and $24,270+ fees past due on their mortgage payments with foreclosure started but we helped them get a final in-house loan modification with $216.67 monthly savings and $142,784.08 non-interest bearing deferment!

How to Contest a Judicial Foreclosure Lawsuit

If you fall behind on your mortgage, and your home is in a judicial foreclosure state, you lender must sue you in a civil foreclosure lawsuit to take your home. While being sued may sound scary, it's actually better for your in nonjudicial foreclosure states because you have more opportunities to contest foreclosure. And you want as many opportunities as possible.

But opportunities must be seized! Whether you want to keep your home by getting a loan modification, or you just want to avoid foreclosure for as long as possible so you can save money before giving up your home, you should seize the opportunities available to you by contesting the foreclosure lawsuit against you.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Thursday, August 16, 2018 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure defense, foreclosure, affirmative defense

Disclaimer: These results should not be taken as a guarantee, as each case is unique. We have helped over 7,000 homeowners. Here are some of their stories.

Every week we obtain loan modifications for our clients with a variety of loan servicers. You can see these results as they are announced on Twitter (#loanmodwow) or Facebook. Here are some of our results from this week with Bank of America, Ocwen, Caliber, Lakeview Loan Servicing, and M&T Bank:

Bank of America

Our Bank of America client was 14 months and $21,765+ fees past due on his mortgage with foreclosure started, but we helped him get a three month FHA-HAMP trial loan modification plan with $179.59 cheaper monthly payment!

Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

Maxwell Swinney

Recent Posts

What Bills Should You Pay When You're in Foreclosure?

Pay Your Utilities

What Fees Are You Charged in Foreclosure?

5 Ways To Lose Your House

1. Not opening your mail

What Is a Judicial or Clerk's Default, and Can It Be Vacated?

What is a judicial or clerk's default?

Successful Loan Modification Roundup Week of 8/31/18

Mr. Cooper

IL Couple Consents to Foreclosure to Get out of Their House

Successful Loan Modification Roundup Week of 8/24/18

SPS

Successful Loan Modification Roundup Week of 8/17/18

Mr. Cooper

How to Contest a Judicial Foreclosure Lawsuit

Successful Loan Modification Roundup Week of 8/10/18

Bank of America

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