Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

Florida Supreme Court Ruling Could Increase Foreclosures In State

The Florida Supreme Court has issued a ruling that could increase the number of foreclosure actions brought against homeowners in the state.

According to the Florida Bar News, as a result of the state Supreme Court's November 3 ruling,“Lenders who have had a foreclosure suit dismissed can bring new action if the borrower continues to default after the dismissal and the case is brought within five years of nonpayment.”

The ruling had to do with the statute of limitations provision in Florida that says foreclosure on a mortgage has to be brought within five years of the borrower defaulting on payments.

What Does a Foreclosure Defense Attorney Actually Do for You?

If you're considering hiring an attorney to help you avoid foreclosure and/or get a loan modification, you may be wondering what specifically an attorney will do to help you keep your home. You know your mortgage issues are too important to try to handle alone, but how exactly does an attorney help?

Do they just show up in court and say something in Latin “Your honor, the corpus juris, et cetera, entitle my client to keep their house. Also, carpe diem, and liberum domum (free house), please.”

Of course not. So what does an attorney actually do when you hire them to defend you from foreclosure and assist you in getting a loan modification?

Can a Home Be Foreclosed If Property Taxes Are Not Paid?

Few people have been more universally hated throughout history than tax collectors. They take your hard-earned money, but it always seems like too much for what the government they represent provides in return. It's a story as old as civilization. Nobody likes paying taxes.

Hire a Foreclosure Defense Attorney? What Happens When You Get Served.

You’ve been served and you weren’t playing basketball. If you’re a couple months behind in your mortgage, you probably knew it was coming. You asked for more time to pay the back mortgage payments. Instead, your lender starts threatening you with the F-word. You have two options when facing foreclosure: let your lender win or hire a foreclosure defense attorney and fight.

The Judicial Foreclosure Process

Whether you live in New York, Illinois, Florida or New Jersey, foreclosures are judicial, which means the lender must file a lawsuit in state court. The court allows a lender to start the foreclosure process after you miss three payments. However, most lenders wait for you to become more than three months behind. How nice of your lender, right?

Why Hire a Foreclosure Attorney?

If you are struggling to pay your mortgage, it's encouraged that you speak with an experienced and knowledgeable foreclosure defense attorney who can properly inform you of the best solutions for your specific situation. Not to mention that on average, a defended foreclosure usually takes anywhere from one to two years or longer.

Each foreclosure case is different and has complicated nuances that can ultimately make or break the case. For example if you have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit in Florida and New York you have 20 days to file a proper legal response in court. In Illinois, you have 30 days to reply. In New Jersey, you have 35 days. In your reply you can:

Accept the Claim -OR-
Dispute the Claim – Perhaps your loan servicer didn't follow proper foreclosure procedures or the foreclosing party can’t prove it owns your loan. Maybe your loan servicer made a serious error with your account such as misapplying funds, failing to credit payments to the account, or charging unreasonable and non-allowable fees. Or you’re in the military and as an active military service-member you have some special protections against foreclosure and have certain rights under the Service-members Civil Relief Act (SCRA). -OR-
Claim Affirmative Defenses – Which means that without denying responsibility, you may claim that the foreclosing bank had contributing negligence or perhaps there is an expiration of the Statute of Limitations.

Failure to file a legally satisfactory Answer could result in default being entered against you and not being able to fight the foreclosure.

The Attorney’s Role

The Folly of Foreclosure [Infographic]

You are up to date with your mortgage payments and bills - congratulations. Think that your neighbor's foreclosure isn't going to affect you? Think again.

THE EFFECTS OF FORECLOSURE:

Emotional Well-Being Distressed - According to Harris Interactive Poll of persons going through foreclosure 38% are Scared, 35% are Depressed, 9% are Angry, 8% are Embarrassed, and 9% None of these.

Increase of Violent and Petty Crime - According to Neighbor Works America, homes in foreclosure that become vacant provide sites for crime. Lin Cui of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Economics study showed that the rate of violent crime within 250 feet of the property is 15% higher than the rate in the area between 250 and 353 feet from the property.

And the Winner Is... [2015 Client Distinction Award Winner]

For the third year in a row, Gregory M. Nordt, ESQ is a Martindale-Hubbell® Client Review Rated Lawyer of Distinguished 4.4 out of 5 as of January 1, 2015 based on his client reviews of four main areas of question:

Greg Nordt, Esq. Speaks About Florida Foreclosures on Real Money with Ali Velshi

Our attorney Gregory Nordt, Esq. was featured lastnight on Real Money with Ali Velshi. Parts of Florida still have extremely high foreclosure rates topping the charts with New Jersey and New York.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Thursday, February 20, 2014 [fa icon="user"] Kristen Clinton [fa icon="folder-open'] florida foreclosure defense

When you first heard these stories, you probably didn't believe they were true. Whether the stories featured controversial changes to the Florida foreclosure laws, Florida's unbelievable foreclosure timeline, or a slap on the wrist for Florida's Foreclosure King, the three biggest foreclosure stories in Florida in 2013 are, well... as "Florida" as it gets.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Monday, December 23, 2013 [fa icon="user"] Jake Sterling [fa icon="folder-open'] florida foreclosure defense, stop foreclosure in florida

We've heard all types of questions from our clients, but one question that we're hearing often is this: "can my mortgage be canceled if I don't make my mortgage payments for 5 years?" Some foreclosure defense lawyers and "foreclosure rescue" companies have been advertising that Florida homeowners can get out of foreclosure by not paying on their home for 5 years, and homeowners aren't sure whether to believe these claims or not.

In fact, Florida law does state that there's a 5 year statute of limitations on foreclosures (technically on promissory notes). Although this may seem straightforward enough, it gets a bit complicated when you delve into the specifics of the law.

Florida Supreme Court Ruling Could Increase Foreclosures In State

What Does a Foreclosure Defense Attorney Actually Do for You?

Can a Home Be Foreclosed If Property Taxes Are Not Paid?

Hire a Foreclosure Defense Attorney? What Happens When You Get Served.

The Judicial Foreclosure Process

Why Hire a Foreclosure Attorney?

The Folly of Foreclosure [Infographic]

And the Winner Is... [2015 Client Distinction Award Winner]

Greg Nordt, Esq. Speaks About Florida Foreclosures on Real Money with Ali Velshi

The 3 Biggest Foreclosure Stories in Florida for 2013, and What they Mean for 2014

Is Your Home Free If You Don't Pay Your Mortgage for 5 Years?

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