Our Rushmore client was $37,929.55 past due on her mortgage and in active foreclosure. Now, after completing her 3 month trial plan, she has gigantic savings of $763.79 on her monthly mortgage payment and a lower interest rate through a great permanent loan modification we helped obtain! Next step: foreclosure dismissal.
The stakes are very high when fighting foreclosure, and disaster is often only narrowly averted. It's a challenge to deal with the courts, the banks and their attorneys, and get the best results. But an experienced professional can help you do just that.
A recent case, for clients I'll call the Bello sisters to protect their privacy, illustrates this well.
The Bellos are immigrants from Africa who own a home together in New Jersey. They were working hard trying to realize the American dream when a loss of income caused them to default on their mortgage payments to PHH Mortgage.
Since New Jersey is a judicial foreclosure state, they were served a summons and complaint, officially putting them into foreclosure. PHH hired an attorney to handle the case and try to take the Bello's home from them.
How do you end up in foreclosure because of a reverse mortgage? And is that a reverse foreclosure? What do you do if you inherit a house that has a reverse mortgage?
Before we answer those questions, let's first define what a traditional and reverse mortgage are.
In a traditional mortgage, you borrow a lump sum of money to purchase a home, then pay it back in monthly installments, plus interest, over time. You start out with little or no equity and build it as you pay down the balance of the loan. If you stop paying your mortgage, your home will be foreclosed for defaulting.
In conjunction with a group of nationally-recognized law firms, our lawyers are investigating TD Bank and the outrageous overdraft fees they charge.
We intend to file suit in the near future.
In late 2015 a homeowner in Orange County, Florida came to our law firm seeking assistance avoiding foreclosure. To protect his privacy, I'll call him Mr. Hannah.
Mr. Hannah's home is in a great location in central Florida just a few miles from Walt Disney World. But being near the “most magical place on earth” didn't help him when, in 2010, he encountered a hardship and couldn't afford to make his mortgage payments to Wells Fargo. In 2011 he was served foreclosure papers.
By the time we were retained to represent him, Mr. Hannah's home was scheduled to be sold in a foreclosure auction.
Our client told us that he wanted to pursue both a loan modification and a short sale at the same time. He figured that way if one didn't work out he would have the other option to fall back on. We've heard this from other clients in the past, but it doesn't work like that.
Falling behind on your mortgage is a terrible situation to be in, but even if a foreclosure sale date is fast approaching, it doesn't necessarily mean that all is lost. You may still be able to stop foreclosure, possibly even permanently.
Depending on your situation, a loan modification, adjournment, emergency motion, or bankruptcy could help you avoid losing your home to foreclosure. Here's how each works:
Applying for a loan modification can stop a foreclosure sale when the application for it is submitted to the mortgage servicer at least 37 days before the sale date. When a bank pursues foreclosure while a loan mod application is under review, that's called dual-tracking, a practice that is prohibited by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's mortgage servicing rules.
Amerihope Alliance Legal Services is a leading loan modification and foreclosure defense law firm with attorneys licensed in 5 states. We have helped over 7,000 homeowners fight back and keep their homes.
Our goal is to provide valuable information to help homeowners who are trying to obtain a loan modification or to stop foreclosure. You may schedule a free consultation at any time.
