Chances are, there are real vampires in your neighborhood right now, and no silver bullet can stop them.

Vampire foreclosures are a real phenomenon that is sweeping the nation. The term was coined by housing statistics provider RealtyTrac to describe homes that are being lived in by the original homeowners, but have been seized by a bank. According to RealtyTrac, 250,000, or nearly half of all bank-owned homes fall within this category, and this number won't be falling anytime soon, although these homes will eventually have to hit the market.

Zombies and Vampires Are Everywhere 

If you're familiar with housing lingo, you may be wondering if these vampire foreclosures are the same thing as "zombie" foreclosures. They aren't. Zombie foreclosures are foreclosures in which the homeowner abandons the home after a foreclosure sale date has been set, only to find out that the house never was sold or the title was never transferred over. This means that fees such as homeowners association fees, maintenance fees, and property taxes are still piling up on the property, which eventually wrecks the original homeowners' credit. There are tons of zombie foreclosures too: all in all, vampire and zombie foreclosures make up about 67 percent of all foreclosures.

Sunday was a perfect day to spend at Calder Race Course.  Breezy, sunny and a very comfortable 79 degrees. The best part was Amerihope Alliance Legal Services had the opportunity to sponsor a race for the SPCA horse rescue. Our law firm sponsored the 5th race and although none of us bet on the winning horse, Notalotatrouble, we all enjoyed the day and had lots of laughs.

Even Dracula would be embarrassed by the bloodthirst of some attorneys for people's money. Oftentimes these lawyers put money before people, and lives can be destroyed or seriously altered in this process. There are ways to avoid becoming a victim of their thirst, and to make sure that the foreclosure defense attorney of your choice is out for the bank's blood, not yours.

Hire the Right Person for the Job

If your house was flooded, you wouldn't call an electrician. If you had cataracts, you wouldn't call your general practitioner. It's a mystery why so many people hire lawyers who don't specialize in foreclosure defense to defend their homes from foreclosure. While many bloodthirsty "general practitioner" attorneys would have you believe that they have what it takes to save your home from foreclosure, foreclosure defense takes a specialist who is not only experienced in the art of foreclosure defense, but is actively working on current foreclosure defense cases. Don't worry, although the word "specialist" usually brings to mind expensive costs, that is not necessarily the case with these attorneys. Many foreclosure defense attorneys are sensitive to the needs of people in foreclosure, and have alternative fee structures that are designed to help those who are in financial trouble. Some foreclosure defense attorneys even offer loan modification as an ancillary service, which will help concerned homeowners kill two birds with one stone.

No Outcome Is Guaranteed

If a lawyer guarantees a "win" or a certain result on a case, then RUN! Bloodthirsty attorneys will often do this to goad unsuspecting people into signing up. The truth is that foreclosure defense is an involved process that involves plenty of negotiation with the bank's lawyers; no result is guaranteed. The only thing an attorney should guarantee is that they will do their utmost to save you and your home from the ravages of foreclosure.

Since its beginnings in 2007, the foreclosure crisis' effects were felt by people across every layer of social strata.  Given the lavish spending habits of the rich and famous, it will probably serve as no surprise that some to the biggest names in entertainment suffered harshly during the economic downturn and endured foreclosure like millions of other Americans. Here are 6 celebrities that have experienced the worst part of the Great Recession; some in more interesting ways than others.

1. Rihanna

In 2009, Rihanna purchased a $6.9 million mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Allegedly, flooding from a "moderate rainstorm" in 2010 caused "extensive damage" to the house, and she famously defaulted on the home and sold it via short sale for $4.5 million in 2011. Her lawyers then sued the former owners of the home and several other parties for good measure. It seems that the pop singer didn't have a good enough "Umbrella" in place. By the end of the next year, the buyer had already put the home back on the market... for $9.95 million.

The government shutdown has affected many "normal" parts of American life, not to mention the lives of hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal employees. Although the most important question about the shutdown is "When and how will it end?" many Americans who are experiencing foreclosure or are at risk for foreclosure would like to know how their homes might be affected. After all, even without knowing how long the government shutdown will last, it could be argued that mortgage fraud and the ensuing financial crisis crisis debilitated Americans more than the government gridlock can or will.

Freddie Mac is helping consumers separate foreclosure fact from fiction in a new video series recently launched on its YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/FreddieMac). Each video dispels one of five common myths that could prevent people from keeping their homes if they face foreclosure. It is based on content from the Freddie Mac Get the Facts on Homeownership education and outreach materials. Here are five common myths that consumers should be aware of when it comes to dealing with foreclosures.

According to reports from the United States Department of the Treasury, about 63,000 homeowners received loan modifications during July 2013 (which is the last month statistics are available). This brings the total for 2013 to 519,000 loan modifications, a number which dwarfs the number of foreclosure sales (378,000) that were reported up to the same point. All in all, this totals 6.6 million permanent loan modifications since 2008. According to analysis from financial firm Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods, loan modifications are playing a large part in strengthening today's housing market. 
It's clear that loan modifications have done plenty to improve housing statistics, but these numbers conceal serious issues that are often glossed over by pundits and the national media.

On the morning of this client's Summary Judgment Hearing early in 2013, our client and his son followed the wrong signs in the courthouse and sat outside the court room for 2 hours before someone told them that the cases had been moved to a different location.  By this time they figured out what was wrong, it was two hours later and the Judge had already granted Wells Fargo a Summary Judgment and allowed them to schedule a foreclosure sale date. Here is what happened after they found Amerihope Alliance Legal Services.

On August 14, 2013, our firm was retained by a family who was deep in the foreclosure process. As a matter of fact, Wells Fargo had already scheduled a foreclosure sale date of September 24, 2013 on their home. Despite the fact that there were only a few weeks before the house was to be sold via foreclosure auction, our foreclosure defense attorney reviewed and accepted their case, and were ready to defend our client against Wells Fargo's foreclosure action in court.

We Saved This Homeowner From Green Tree Mortgage Servicing

The arms of the banks have no idea what the legs are doing, and it's turning into one disastrous dance for American homeowners.

Thousands of homeowners have lost their homes, and many others are still struggling with their mortgages today because of this disconnect; a disconnect that causes many homeowners to lose their homes. Homeowners are being held back the most by the extreme lack of communication between various departments of mortgage lenders. For example, many people who had successfully received loan modifications from their lenders were illegally confronted with foreclosure after cementing the terms of their loan modifications.

One of our clients faced three foreclosure sale dates due to Green Tree Mortgage Servicing's disorganization, but our foreclosure defense lawyers intervened to force Green Tree mortgage to play by the rules. We enabled him to keep his home.