If you’re facing foreclosure, you may have been advised to hire an attorney who can help you through the process. Is this necessary, though? What can a Fort Lauderdale foreclosure defense lawyer do for you that you can’t do on your own during foreclosure proceedings? This is the type of thinking that many homeowners have once their lender has started the foreclosure process. It doesn’t usually take long before the homeowner realizes that the foreclosure process is quite complex and that they should have hired an experienced foreclosure defense attorney.

Losing Your Home? Our Foreclosure Lawyers Help You Stop Foreclosure in Florida

When homeowners fall behind and miss mortgage payments, they run the risk of losing their homes. No matter the reasons for your financial difficulties or inability to meet your mortgage servicing obligations, you need to take proactive action to consumer protection for your rights and put yourself in the best position to keep your home.

Regardless of whether you are merely afraid that the bank will start foreclosure service proceedings, or you are already deep into a foreclosure lawsuit, you need a dedicated Florida foreclosure defense attorney who can ensure that you understand your loan documents, real estate law options, and rights, and who will fight to protect those estate law rights to avoid foreclosure. We have been consistently told by banks and their lawyers that when their firms get new files assigned to them they are divided into 3 tiers that determine how prepared they need to be to handle the real estate case for loss mitigation;

1. Pro-se (no lawyer)
2. Represented by a lawyer or foreclosure consultant
3. Represented by Loan Lawyers

What Does a Fort Lauderdale Foreclosure Defense Lawyer Do?

After receiving a notice of foreclosure from your lender or servicer, you may think the situation is hopeless and simply start packing your bags. This is, in fact, the worst thing you can do for your case. You may not know of the several defenses that are available to stop foreclosure, but a foreclosure defense lawyer will.

People that are facing foreclosure are already in financial hardship and so, they do not think they can afford a foreclosure defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale. However, most people are surprised to learn how affordable foreclosure lawyers are and do not consider what they have to lose if they do not work with one. Below are just a few of the things a foreclosure attorney will do while working on your case and helping you to stay in your home.

Explain Your Options

First and foremost, a Fort Lauderdale foreclosure defense lawyer will explain the options you have available to you. Again, too many people think that when they are facing foreclosure, the only option they have is to allow the bank or servicer to proceed with the foreclosure service. This is not true. Many options are available to you when facing Chapter 702 foreclosure of mortgages. You could be eligible for loss mitigation, loan modification, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, a short sale, or more.

Our Fort Lauderdale Foreclosure defense lawyer has a solid grasp of the law in a way that most people do not. Their judgment and experience will save you time, help you avoid mistakes, and give you the best chance of keeping your home through one of the available options. A foreclosure attorney will also explain the pros and cons of all options to help you determine which one is right for you.

File a Notice of Appearance

A notice of appearance (NOA) tells the court and the lender that the foreclosure lawyer represents you. Once it’s filed, all the communication and essential documents about your foreclosure will be sent to your lawyer, so you don’t have to deal with it directly. You also won’t have to act as the middleman between your lender and your foreclosure attorney, which could cause things to get missed. A foreclosure attorney will file this NOA for you, making life less stressful right from the beginning of your case.

Answer the Summons and Complaint

Florida is a judicial foreclosure state. This means that your lender must file a foreclosure lawsuit against you to foreclose on your home. Once they file the foreclosure lawsuit, you will be served a summons and complaint and become a defendant. If you don’t respond to this summons and complaint, a default judgment will be issued against you, which means you will automatically lose your home.

However, you have a certain amount of time to respond to this summons and complaint. When you respond, you tell the court and your lender that you are prepared to fight the lawsuit using any number of foreclosure defenses. An experienced foreclosure defense attorney will not only design an answer to the summons and complaint but also identify any mistakes within the complaint that you may have yet to notice.

Appear at Settlement Conferences or Mediation

In Florida, homeowners can go through a settlement conference or mediation to agree with the lender and you to try and avoid foreclosure. When you hire a foreclosure defense attorney, they will attend these meetings with you or on your behalf. This makes the process less stressful because a Fort Lauderdale foreclosure defense lawyer will act as your advocate and always keep your best interests in mind. However, there’s another benefit to having a foreclosure attorney by your side during these proceedings. A lot of work must be done when you’re going through mediation or a settlement conference, and an attorney will do all of this for you.

Reinstatement may be an option in your case, in which you bring the loan current, or the lender may offer a payoff option. While these options are rarely used because the homeowner does not have the funds, sometimes they can collect the necessary funds. In other cases, a short payoff is possible in which you do not pay the total amount due but still produce a lump settlement amount. Regardless of the settlement options available, a foreclosure attorney will enter into negotiations to give you the best chance of using one of these options.

Use Effective Foreclosure Defense Strategies

Florida foreclosure defense attorneys have the necessary skills and experience to use foreclosure defense strategies effectively. If the lender or servicer is unwilling to negotiate with you to reach an agreement to help you keep your home, your case may go to trial. This is a scary prospect, and many homeowners think that when their case gets this far, it is too late, and there is nothing they can do to keep a home. This is also not true.

For example, a foreclosure defense attorney will recognize when the lender lacks standing to foreclose due to a wrong mortgage assignment. Standing means the person filing the foreclosure lawsuit has something to lose when you do not pay the loan. It is easy to assume that lenders who file a foreclosure lawsuit always have standing, but it’s not always the case. If the lender has sold the loan, which is very common, they no longer have standing and cannot file a foreclosure lawsuit in Florida.

The mortgage assignment may have been unlawful, or you may have been the victim of unfair lending practices. After reviewing your case, a foreclosure defense attorney will recognize unfair lending practices and other missteps on the lender’s part to identify potential issues and use them as a defense to help you keep your home. These are just some of the reasons available in foreclosure lawsuits in Fort Lauderdale and Florida.

Save You from a Deficiency Judgment

If the lender forgives a portion of your debt, but you still have a remaining balance at the end of the process, they could petition the courts for a deficiency judgment. This will hold you responsible for repaying any portion of the debt still owed.

For example, if you’re facing foreclosure in Fort Lauderdale, you may put your house up for a short sale. In this instance, another buyer would purchase your home for less than what you owe on the mortgage. To recover that debt, the lender may pursue a deficiency judgment. This is very difficult for borrowers already in the wrong financial position but have more money added to their total debt.

An experienced foreclosure defense lawyer at Loan Lawyers will understand how to avoid these deficiency judgments. In the short sale example, a foreclosure lawyer will include that the lender waives the right to pursue a deficiency judgment in the temporary sale agreement. This will prevent you from having to pay more money at a time when you can’t even afford to keep your home. This will make a massive difference in your foreclosure case.

Assist with a Loan Modification

You may be eligible for a loan modification if you want to keep your home. In this instance, you will negotiate with your lender to change the terms of your mortgage loan. The lender may modify your loan’s length, interest rate, or other terms to make your home loan more affordable and stop foreclosure. However, loan modifications are not always easy to obtain, and you may need to learn how to negotiate to get the best terms. An experienced foreclosure attorney will know this and use that knowledge to bring you the best deal possible.

Offer Good Advice

When you’re facing foreclosure, there are many routes you can take, and you may have many options. Without the experience of handling numerous foreclosure cases, you won’t know what these are, or which one is best for you. A foreclosure defense attorney, however, can and will advise on what is best for your situation.

Banks and Law Firms

The experienced foreclosure defense attorneys at the Loan Lawyers have a proven track record of success in defending our clients against the efforts of various banks and foreclosure law firms. Some of the banks and firms we have extensive experience in winning against include the following (click here for our full list):

Law firms that may have contacted you:

Banks that may have contacted you:

Loan Servicers that may have contacted you:

What are the Common Defenses to Foreclosure in Florida?

In Florida, mortgage loan holders are required to go to court to initiate a foreclosure because of the amount due from missed payment on the foreclosing party. This means that you will have an opportunity to present to a court any defenses and objections to the bank’s attempts to foreclose on your home. Depending on the facts and circumstances of your case, loan documents, etc., there may be reasons and special protections established by the Florida Foreclosure Laws that could lead the court to delay or stop foreclosure of your home.

Some of the more common foreclosure defense strategies that our Florida foreclosure consultants have frequently argued include: