99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall – Awaiting Foreclosure
The average foreclosure process takes 749 days in Florida. You can sing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” thousands of times while awaiting foreclosure eviction, but in the end, you will be homeless and very drunk. Two years is a long time without a house payment. You could sit back, relax, and spend all your money on beer…the problem is you come out the other side without a place to live and poor credit. If you are facing foreclosure, you need a plan, and you may need a legal defense to give that plan a chance. Foreclosure defense does not work without a plan (you cannot launch a defense just to postpone the inevitable); however, a plan sometimes does not work without a legal defense. There are good people doing the right thing. They are trying to work with their lender to set up a loan modification or a short sale. These homeowners have a mortgage balance they cannot afford to pay in full, so they are trying to negotiate a monthly payment or a sale price to give the lender some income on the property. These negotiations take time…and often the lender’s attorney is faster than the loan [...] Read More
Happy Holidays
No one should be alone for the holidays. And no one should go through foreclosure alone. There are options available to those facing foreclosure. Seek competent legal counsel to learn more, and to find out which program is best suited to you. If you cannot afford an attorney, please contact Legal Aid at http://www.jaxlegalaid.org/stjohns.html. Happy Holidays. Read More
Gift of the Mortgage Modification Magi
A young married couple was very much in love, but they could barely afford their one bedroom house. The husband had a pay cut at his job, and then the couple began to fall behind on their mortgage, but they never gave up hope. The couple worked diligently with the loan department towards a mortgage modification. With lower payments, they would be able to stay in their cozy little home. The loan department offered the couple a HAMP modification (Home Affordable Mortgage Program), which gave them a three month trial of lowered payments, after which they could get a permanent modification. The couple made it through the first payment, and then the second, and when they cleared the third, they rejoiced. The husband stood on the curb of their one bedroom home and waited for the permanent modified loan package to arrive by FedEx…and while he stood there, he was served with foreclosure papers. The irony was not bittersweet. It was a demonstration that the loan department and the legal department do not speak. Yes, while you are working to negotiate a mortgage modification, also yes, the legal department is putting together a foreclosure lawsuit against you. The lender works [...] Read More
Lemons to Lemonade
In Foreclosure Defense, you work with what you have to make the best of a sour situation. It might not turn out as well as lemonade, but it is usually better than lemon-seed-surprise. There is a lot you can do with lemons, but getting a free house is not one of those things. You cannot make double chocolate cake with lemons, nor can you get a free house with Foreclosure Defense. Instead, you can try for a best case scenario from a worst case circumstance. You may be looking at a short sale, a loan modification, forbearance, refinance, and in some special cases, bankruptcy. The goal is to fit the resolution to the homeowner’s needs for optimal financial security. Foreclosure is bad, but Foreclosure Defense may be able to squeeze the best possible result from a sour situation. Read More
20 Days of Foreclosure Summons
Eight Days of Chanukah, Twelve Days of Christmas, Seven Days of Kwanzaa, and you have 20 Days to respond to a Foreclosure Summons. Regardless of how many shopping days you have left, if you received a Court Summons, the clock is ticking. It ticks over holidays and weekends. A Foreclosure Defense can give you more shopping days to find a resolution that is right for you. You do not buy the first pair of jeans you put your hands on any more than one-size-fits-all in Foreclosure Defense. Foreclosure lawsuits come with deadlines, and the more deadlines you meet properly, the more choices you have open, the closer the fit for an outcome tailored to your situation. On the First Day of Christmas a Process Server gave to me: a Foreclosure Suit with a Court Summons…you only have 20 days from there to respond. Time is a side-effect of Foreclosure Defense. The purpose of a legal defense is not to delay the inevitable, but to allow an alternative strategy to go through, like a Short Sale or Loan Modification. Accept Service of Process, and start the clock towards resolution. Seek competent legal counsel to guide you through the process and help [...] Read More
Sleeping Beauty & Adverse Possession
Once upon a time there lived a very lazy princess. Born of privilege and richly spoiled, the princess never had to do a thing; she was even forbidden to use a spindle lest she should prick her finger. And so the princess grew up to be a very lazy person indeed. When she came of age to inherit land, her father and mother lavished upon her a huge lot of prime real estate with good fields for growing crops and the finest palace money could buy. The princess was very beautiful, but she was so lazy, she fell asleep and did not pay her property tax. Indeed, she took such a long nap that weeds and brambles grew up around the place, and it appeared vacant and unkempt. Along came a land pirate who spied the fields of good soil. He put up his own fences, started paying property taxes on the land, and began turning a fine profit on the fertile fields. He knew nothing of the beautiful princess who was asleep inside the palace. The land pirate had been living there and working the fields and paying taxes on the land when one day a big storm drove [...] Read More
Home Foreclosure for the Holidays?
No turkey from work? Company car repossessed? Thirty-year retirement pension a thing of the past? The average life-span of a home mortgage is seven years…and a lot of those are in foreclosure. Foreclosure is the new black. In Florida, 350,000 homeowners can boast about the sun in the morning and the moon at night…because their debt ceiling is tied up in the foreclosure court system. Foreclosure is no holiday, but you can make informed decisions along the way. Seek legal counsel to learn more about the choices available. No one should go through foreclosure alone, not during the holidays or any other season. Read More
So Wrong!
Sometimes people commit crimes and sometimes cops lie. Neither is supposed to happen, but the gap between what is supposed to happen, and what does happen could mean the difference between incarceration and a lesser punishment, depending on the situation. In criminal cases we could be talking real estate versus jewelry: do you get a corner cell or wear an anklet? If you are facing criminal charges, it could be worth your freedom to explore your defense options. Even if you know you are guilty and prepared for punishment, get a second opinion from competent legal counsel. While you may represent yourself in court, a criminal defense lawyer may be able to help the punishment better fit the crime. Just because you are guilty does not mean you have to accept the maximum penalty. Good legal counsel will review your case from all angles, including police reports and witness statements. Sitting on Santa’s lap when you are 40 is not your best move, neither is accepting a large fine or jail time without at least looking at your possible legal defenses. The best way to avoid criminal charges is not to commit the crime. If you have committed a crime, [...] Read More
Watered Down Fortune
In 1880 President Ulysses Grant visited St. Augustine, accompanied by Frank Hamilton Taylor, an artist who covered the tour for Harper’s Weekly in watercolor illustrations. More recently, many Florida homes have turned pastel hues in value, watered down by a flood on the market. When your house is under water, a short sale can be a lifeboat. A short sale is a real estate transaction in which the lender agrees to accept a lesser sale price than the mortgage balance owed on the house. It is not ideal for anyone involved, but it does give the lender some return on the property, it relieves the homeowner from a mortgage he cannot afford, and it has the by-product bonus of putting another homeowner in the place, instead of leaving it vacant. Thus a short sale helps maintain the property value in the community. Again, a short sale is not ideal, but it is often best for the universe when home value is upside down. You are all wet if you think a short sale will stop a foreclosure. Just because you have a buyer at the table does not prevent a process server from handing you a foreclosure lawsuit. It may [...] Read More
Foreclosure? Good Thing You Had Your Orange Juice
Income loss? Unemployment? Foreclosure summons on the way? Good thing you had your orange juice. While Vitamin C is healthy, you may need more than antioxidants to deal with Home Foreclosure. Eat your vegetables…Home Foreclosure can be stressful mentally and physically. You may be suffering poor circulation of funds, so you are going to need your strength to deal with legal lifting. Foreclosure is not for the faint of heart; however, good legal counsel can provide the knowledge you need to make informed decisions about your financial future. Foreclosure Defense offers choices. It is not about winning; it is about pursing the best possible outcome for your particular situation. Every foreclosure case is different. Despite the staggering number of foreclosure lawsuits, each homeowner has a unique set of circumstances. There are choices to consider, depending on the individuals involved. If you are fighting foreclosure, you may need more than Vitamin C to keep your strength up. Seek competent legal counsel. No one should go through foreclosure alone. Read More