Having your home foreclosed upon can be a very stressful experience for you as a homeowner. Financial hardship is often unexpected, and even with your best efforts, keeping up with the mortgage payment is sometimes impossible. Depending on how long your situation lasts, it could result in losing your home to foreclosure.
A lawyer can work with you and the mortgage company, serving as a mediator to help negotiate the terms of your foreclosure and reverse the foreclosure process when that is possible, saving your home. Depending on your specific set of circumstances, that may not always be possible, and in that case, your attorney can work with you to decide what option is the best for your situation and may even be able to provide some guidance on ways to minimize damage to your credit and finances.
In Florida, foreclosures are judicial, which means the lender must file a lawsuit in state court. The lender initiates the foreclosure by filing a complaint with the court and having it served to the borrower, along with a summons. If you lose the case, the court will enter a judgment of foreclosure and the property will be sold to satisfy the debt.
Whenever a home faces foreclosure, an attorney is able to slow the process in order to buy you some time to get your finances in order. Once an attorney becomes involved in the situation, the mortgage company’s legal department must communicate with the attorney and this can slow down the foreclosure substantially. In addition, an attorney can negotiate a repayment plan that works for you, with the lender. You can discuss refinancing yourself, with your mortgage lender, but, an attorney knows all of the right questions to ask in order to ensure the best chance of negotiation. A mortgage company may also be somewhat more willing to listen to an attorney than to a person in financial trouble.
The best way to prevent a foreclosed home is to budget carefully and always have enough money set aside to pay for your housing costs. If an emergency financial situation does occur, deal with it right away; ignoring it will not make it go away. Communicate with your mortgage company any time you experience a financial hardship, you can ensure your best chances of keeping your home. When this is impossible, an attorney can help to stop the foreclosure whenever possible.
Last Updated on April 18, 2017 by The Orlando Law Group
