Foreclosure refers to the process where the holder of the mortgage on a home seeks to recover the entire balance of the loan which is due from the homeowner. This is caused when the homeowner falls behind in making payments on the loan. The ultimate goal of the foreclosure process is the sale of the home. The mortgage collateralized the loan. Thereafter, the financial institution and more specifically speaking the attorneys for the financial institution will seek to have the homeowner and their family removed from their home. In short, foreclosure legal proceedings are intended to terminate the rights of the borrower/homeowner from having legal title to their property and removing them and their family from their home. Below, our friends at The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo discuss the foreclosure process more in depth.
Foreclosure Procedures
Financial institutions follow certain procedures to comply with State and Federal statutes regarding foreclosing on one to three family homes. The foreclosure process generally won’t start until the loan is 3 months past due, meaning the homeowner is 3 months behind on their mortgage payments. In many cases, for a variety of reasons, the banks do not start the foreclosure process sometimes until the homeowner is as long as a year behind on mortgage payments.
Mortgage Assignment
You may find during the course of your ownership of a home different financial institutions become the owner of your mortgage. Mortgages are considered commercial paper and one bank or financial institution can readily assign it or sell it to another bank or other financial institution. These transactions of the ownership of your mortgage are called assignments. In a foreclosure lawsuit it is the burden of the lender bringing the lawsuit against you to prove they have the proper ownership of the mortgage and note on your home. It is a defense to the mortgage foreclosure that the institution bringing the lawsuit against you lacks proper title or ownership of the mortgage and note on your home.
Affirmative Defenses to a Foreclosure Lawsuit
Besides the failure to have a proper assignment of the mortgage from one financial institution to another, there are dozens of other potential affirmative defenses which can be utilized to stop a financial institution from taking back title to your home and evicting you and your family.
Keeping Your Home
Financial institutions hire experienced law firms to prosecute foreclosures. Homeowners are at a disadvantage when they try to deal with the attorneys for the financial institution or a servicing company that works for the financial institution. The best way to maximize the potential of keeping your home when you fall behind on your mortgage payment is to hire an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to represent you as soon as you become aware that you are facing a potential foreclosure. There are a variety of legal actions the foreclosure attorney can take to stop the foreclosure process from moving forward and keep you and your family in your home.
