Sometimes you have to give something up to get something else. That's the case for recent clients of our firm who agreed to a consent order that involved them consenting to judgment and withdrawing their contesting answer to the foreclosure complaint in exchange for getting more time before judgment was entered and avoiding a trial.
A little background on foreclosures is required to explain what a consent order is. In judicial foreclosure states like Florida, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, a lender must sue a homeowner in a civil lawsuit in order to foreclose on their home.
If you're served a foreclosure summons and complaint, which starts the lawsuit, you have the right to answer it and deny the bank's claims and raise your own defenses. And you should, if you have any desire to keep your home. It can buy you a lot of time in your home, during which you can work toward a permanent solution.
