In nearly all cases of foreclosure, homeowners should seek out legal advice. This does not have to mean filing bankruptcy necessarily, but instead having a basic understanding of the legal process and how foreclosure will work its way through the courts. The lender spends thousands of dollars on lawyers who will pursue the legal process, and homeowners would be well served with the same type of advice. In the cases where legal help is absolutely essential, foreclosure victims can hire a lawyer to try and help defend against the foreclosure lawsuit by the bank, or to help file bankruptcy.
With defending against the foreclosure, the owners will be hiring their own attorney to go up against a whole firm of the lender's attorneys. This is not a very appealing situation for any individual lawyer to be in, no matter how sympathetic he may be to the homeowners' situation. And, if the foreclosure victims really are behind on their mortgage, what is their defense? They will most likely have to find a way to have the case thrown out of court and not play by the rules, but attorneys are specifically hired to make sure that the parties have played by all the applicable rules.
The homeowners signed a contract stating that they had an obligation to make the mortgage payments or they would lose the house, and then they defaulted on the contract. Arguing this side of a case in court in front of a judge is a bit of a losing battle for both the homeowners and their attorney, while it is quite an easy process for the lender's attorneys. And the more that the homeowners try to fight the foreclosure, the more the attorneys will be paid by the foreclosing bank for legal fees, filing fees, court costs, and anything else they can charge.
But in the case of filing bankruptcy to stop foreclosure, many attorneys know exactly what paperwork to file, where to file it, and how much to charge for these services. In most cases, the homeowners just fill out a few forms with general information and their name will be inserted into the same form motions and pleadings used by everyone else. For attorneys who specialize in it, filing bankruptcy is a relatively simple process and it will stop the foreclosure process immediately. Of course, it is not an inexpensive process for homeowners, who may have to come up with thousands of dollars to file and then establish a very expensive payment plan to reorganize their debts, but it is easy enough for the lawyers.
Homeowners should absolutely get as much legal advice as they can afford from a competent attorney before taking any step in the foreclosure legal process. But the lawyer has a choice between attempting to defend the homeowners in court against a lawsuit that has very little chance of getting thrown out, or helping them file bankruptcy and actually working on a short-term solution that will stop foreclosure in its tracks, at least for a little while. And it is much less work for any lawyer to go the bankruptcy route, and the results are probably more optimistic in the short term.
Obtaining legal advice, as stated before, should be a path pursued by every homeowner in danger of losing a home to foreclosure. While many will recommend bankruptcy, it is more important that the foreclosure victims have a solid understanding of how foreclosure works, rather than just pursue the most expedient method of stopping the process. Consulting with a lawyer for some general information will allow the homeowners to work more easily with the courts, if necessary, and will help them understand how much time they have to come up with a solution that will stop foreclosure for the long term.
Nick writes for the ForeclosureFish.com website and blog, which educate homeowners on how they can defend against a lender's default lawsuit and stop mortgage foreclosure on their own. Hundreds of pages of articles, blog entries, and reference materials are offered on the site, describing every possible method of saving a home, including deed in lieu of foreclosure, short sales, bankruptcy, and loss mitigation, among others. Visit the Foreclosure Fish website today to learn more about the foreclosure process and how to avoid it: http://www.foreclosurefish.com/ |
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