It is not the fall that kills you, but the landing.  You may not get to land at home, but a Foreclosure Defense slows your descent into the credit crater, possibly giving you more landing sites to choose from.

Your foreclosure case has reached terminal velocity if you do not launch a legal defense.  There is no acceleration to a speedy recovery of your credit if you let the foreclosure complaint go through unopposed.

A Foreclosure Defense gives you the opportunity to prepare for landing.  No one should fall through foreclosure alone.  Seek competent legal counsel to find a landing spot with the best benefit to you.

This is as it should be.  It is an evolution in law brought about through the judicial system.  The system works—it is making the prosecution do what it is supposed to be doing, so then the defense can work instead of just picking off the over-ripe defenses.

After a vigorous round of Document-Document-Goose! lenders are doing a better job of putting their records in order—a practice which should serve them well from foreclosure prosecution backwards to loan origination.  Foreclosure defense attorneys are going to have to move off that first rung of “show me the note!” and climb up the ladder for more sophisticated defenses.

Borrowers should pay their loans, and lenders should not bring bad cases against their borrowers.  When someone’s house is at stake, both sides should have their docs in a row.

The Prosecution automatically gets “Best In Show” if the Homeowner forfeits his defense and lets the case proceed unopposed.  If the Homeowner does not defend, he automatically comes in last place possible for his credit.  He becomes as unqualified to borrow money as he can get for his next purchasing event—like a car, a student loan, or a new house.

A Foreclosure Defense helps mitigate loss of credit.  It helps the Homeowner seek a plan towards a competitive edge for his purchasing power, to work towards an outcome that brings the best benefit possible, whether through short sale, loan modification, or other resolution option.

You cannot groom a mutt into a show dog (you are not going to get a free house), but you can give a mutt a bath.  With a legal defense, you can try to avoid some of the worst credit consequences of foreclosure.  Seek competent legal counsel to find out what your options are.

You cannot unsay a misstep in court.  If you have received a court summons, seek competent legal counsel to make your reply.  Just as you cannot un-air a Superbowl ad, you cannot rewind legal procedures to correct for a better stance.

Regardless of the vehicle you drive, let an attorney chauffeur you through legal procedure to arrive at the best possible destination.

Sheriff David Shoar of St. Johns County recently printed a directory of “Wanted Ads” in The St. Augustine Record.  He is asking the public to act as a “force multiplier.”  Make your tax dollars go a little farther by “being an extra set of eyes and ears” and giving information on the whereabouts of individuals with outstanding arrest warrants.

Not to worry if you missed the print edition of the wanted directory.  This information is also online on the Sheriff’s Office website at http://www.sjso.org/wanted/indexwanted.aspx (with access to FDLE Sexual Predator and Offender database as well).

Help keep our community safe by working in partnership with St. Johns Sheriff’s Office.  You can call that office at (904) 824-8304 with information on anyone listed as having an outstanding arrest warrant.

If you find yourself on that wanted list, you may turn yourself in any time day or night at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office located at 4015 Lewis Speedway in St. Augustine.

If you intentionally ground your case by un-opposing the lawsuit, then you give the lender a score and you put yourself in the worst possible field position to regain credit.  However, if you step out of the end zone before you throw the ball, then you have a better chance at a higher credit scoreboard.

Foreclosure Defense is not about denying your debt; instead, it is about gaining as much yardage as possible into the recovery zone of your fiscal fitness.  Your credit is on the line.  The faster you can recover your financial footing, the faster you will be in position for the next big power purchase—like a car, a student loan, or a new house.

You do not have to stand on the sidelines.  A Foreclosure Defense is your opportunity to move the ball in your favor.

You may represent yourself in a court of law, but you may not want to.  A little legal counsel can go a long way to prevent devastating procedural errors.  Lack of response, failure to meet deadlines, or an improper response in a legal matter may hurt your position for what you are trying to accomplish.

Do not court disaster.  Seek competent legal representation.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Rusty Law!

You cannot wedge a legal defense against your front door and keep out home foreclosure just for the sake of staying in the house longer.  A Foreclosure Defense is not a delay tactic for the inevitable.  Instead, you have to have a plan for the defense—a plan such as short sale or loan modification, a plan towards the best case scenario given the circumstances.

Aim high with Foreclosure Defense so you do not sink so low on your credit score.  A Foreclosure Defense gives you time to pursue an alternative solution and keep the most amount of money possible.

Zero is something.  It is a number, and it can lead to higher numbers; similarly, a Foreclosure Defense can lead to a higher positive integer on your credit score.

Yes, your credit score is going to decrease regardless whether your foreclosure is defended or unopposed.  However, a Foreclosure Defense can give you choices toward a more positive outcome.

Foreclosure Defense is not about winning.  You are not going to get a free house not even if you sprinkle unicorn dust on the doorstep.  Foreclosure Defense is about limiting your loss, enabling you to have the best feasible purchasing power in the least amount of time.

If you are counting on foreclosure, you may want to figure in legal counsel to help get your numbers as high as possible on your credit rating.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a wage-earner plan.  It protects your assets while you make payments, and lets you to catch up on unsecured debt.  It acts like a consolidation loan—you make payments to a Bankruptcy Trustee, who then distributes funds to your creditors.

You have to make a financial plan, based on information like:

1. All your creditors and the amounts owed

2. Your income

3. Your property—all of it!

4. Detailed living expenses—food, clothing, shelter, utilities, taxes, transportation, medicine, etc.

And if you are married, you have to provide all this information for your spouse as well, even if you are the only one filing for bankruptcy.

Once the court confirms the plan, you have to make the plan succeed.  You have to keep making payments and not incur new debt—no new car, student loan, or house.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is popular these days because it stops foreclosure proceedings.  However bankruptcy should not be entered lightly.  Especially because of the complexity and recent major changes to the law, consult competent legal counsel who represents you (not the title company and not the real estate agent) before you take on this chapter of your life.

“Bankruptcy” is not always a bad word.  Like chemotherapy, you would not take it if you did not need it.