Foreclosure Defense

Foreclosure Defense Lawyers in Orlando, Florida 

Orlando Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

Legal Counsel, P.A. employs foreclosure defense lawyers in Orlando, Florida who works with individuals who are facing losing their homes to foreclosure. If you have a mortgage and can no longer pay the bills, the bank may have the right to take your home through a process known as foreclosure. One late or missed payment on your mortgage won’t result in foreclosure. Most banks give homeowners a grace period at the start of each month during which they can pay their mortgage payment. Sometimes this grace period is as long as 15 days, during which a payment can be made without any late fees or penalties. Any payment made after the 15-day grace period may be assessed a late fee.

Generally, you’ll have to miss several payments, or fail to pay your mortgage for several months before the bank can take legal action and foreclose on your home. Your bank may send you a letter informing you that you are in default of the loan. The letter might specify a period of time during which you can make up the late payments, pay the late fees, and become current on the loan. The ideal time to fight your foreclosure is before you have been formally sued by the bank. If you are receiving letters from the bank telling you that you are late in paying your mortgage, now is the time to take action. You may have several options available to prevent foreclosure. Once foreclosure has started, you may still have several options to prevent the bank from taking your home, or delay the bank from taking your home. Legal Counsel, P.A. employs foreclosure defense attorneys in Orlando, Florida who may be able to help you fight to keep your home if you are facing foreclosure. Have questions? We have answers. Contact Legal Counsel, P.A. today at 407-982-4321.

Preventing Foreclosure in Orlando, Florida

Before the bank can foreclose on your home, it must send you written notice that you are in default of the loan. In this letter, the bank must give you a period of time by which you can make late payments, pay late fees, and take the loan out of default. If your financial difficulties are likely to be temporary, now is the time to speak to your bank and lender. For example, if you were laid off or fired and need some time to find a new job, in a few months you may be in a position to begin repaying your mortgage. You may be able to negotiate with the bank to prevent foreclosure. Most banks don’t want to foreclose on a home because often the process results in the bank losing money. By negotiating with the bank, you may be able to get a loan modification, or forbearance, or may be able to ask for a repayment plan to prevent foreclosure. If you are getting late payment letters in the mail from your bank, don’t ignore these letters. Contact Legal Counsel, P.A. employs foreclosure defense lawyers in Orlando, Florida who can advise you about your options.

What options might your bank be able to offer you to prevent foreclosure? Sometimes the bank can offer borrowers loan modifications, forbearance, or repayment plans. How do each of these work?

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  • Loan Modifications. A loan modification is a change that your lender can make to your loan that can change your monthly payments to make them more affordable. A change in interest rate, or a change that extends the repayment period for your loan could potentially lower your monthly payments and make your mortgage more affordable. Some ways that a bank can modify your loan includes lowering your interest rate, extending the term of the loan (turning a 15-year mortgage into a 30-year mortgage, for example), or turn your variable interest rate mortgage into a fixed-rate mortgage. However, to qualify for a loan modification, you may need to prove to your lender that you are facing a financial hardship. A legitimate financial hardship can include the loss of a job, the death of a spouse, or a disability or illness suffered by either you or your spouse. If you think a loan modification could help you prevent foreclosure, Legal Counsel, P.A. employs foreclosure defense lawyers in Orlando, Florida who may be able to help you appeal a denied loan modification application or negotiate with your bank or lender for a loan modification. You may be required to submit quite a bit of information to the bank to prove that there is a hardship. Our foreclosure defense lawyers at Legal Counsel, P.A. may be able to assist you with this process.
  • If your financial hardship is likely to be temporary either due to the loss of a job, a divorce, due to the death of a spouse, or due to health reasons, you may be able to ask your lender for a forbearance. During a forbearance, your lender may permit you to stop paying your mortgage or permit you to pay less each month for a specific period of time. After this time period has ended, you’ll be required to resume normal payment amounts and may be required to make up for the missed payments. Legal Counsel, P.A. employs a foreclosure defense attorney in Orlando, Florida who can review your situation, determine whether forbearance is the right option for you, and negotiate with the bank to prevent foreclosure.
  • Repayment Plan. If you couldn’t make payments on your mortgage because you lost a job or were laid off, but now you can pay your mortgage again, you might find yourself struggling to both pay for the months you couldn’t make payments and to stay current on your payments. Some lenders and banks may be willing to put you on a payment plan so that you can make up the missed payments. The past due amount may be spread out over a longer period of time, like a year, and these payments may be made in addition to your regular mortgage payments. If you have fallen behind on your mortgage and believe that a repayment plan could help you, Legal Counsel, P.A. employs foreclosure defense lawyers in Orlando, Florida who may be able to assist you.

These are some of the ways you might be able to prevent the foreclosure process from beginning by working with your bank or lender. But what happens if your bank has already begun the legal process of foreclosing? What if you’ve already been sued? Legal Counsel, P.A. employs foreclosure defense lawyers in Orlando, Florida who can also help you either slow down the foreclosure process or offer you defense to stop the process. Have questions? We have answers. Contact Legal Counsel, P.A. today at 407-982-4321.

Foreclosure Defense Lawyers in Orlando, Florida 

In Florida, in order for your bank to foreclose on your home, it must file a lawsuit against you in court. You’ll receive a summons. In order to fight your foreclosure, you must answer the summons or the court will enter what is known as a default judgement against you and you’ll lose your home. When fighting your foreclosure in court, there are several valid defenses you may be able to use to prevent the bank from taking your home. What are they?

  • Ask the lender to produce the note. In order for a bank to foreclose on your home, it must have its paperwork in order. This means that the lender and bank must show that you owe it money. In some cases, banks have lost the paper trail with mortgage notes and promissory notes, resulting in homeowners winning their defense against foreclosure.
  • Errors. Sometimes mortgage servicers make errors. If the bank failed to credit your payments to your account, assessed you late fees or penalties when it shouldn’t have done so (or levied very high or abusive late fees), or if the bank violated the terms of your mortgage agreement, you may be able to fight foreclosure.
  • Your lender failed to send you a letter of default. Before a lender can begin the foreclosure process, it must send you a letter of default telling you that you have missed payments, stating what you owe in missed payments and late fees, and giving you a period of time to rehabilitate the loan. If the lender failed to do this, the lender may not be able to foreclose.
  • Lender failed to offer loan modification options. If you have certain types of federally-backed loans, like a VA loan, USDA loan, or FHA loan, the bank may have been required by law to offer you a loan modification, forbearance, or repayment plan options. If your lender failed to offer these options, you may be entitled to fight your foreclosure and ask the lender to offer you these alternatives.
  • Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. If you other debt obligations are making it impossible to keep up with your mortgage payments, Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be an option that could prevent foreclosure and put you in a better financial situation to repay your mortgage. During Chapter 13 bankruptcy, your debts will be restructured so that you can keep your home.

These are just some of the options you might have when it comes to foreclosure defense. If you are facing losing your home, fight back. Legal Counsel, P.A. employs foreclosure defense lawyers in Orlando, Florida who may be able to help you.  Have questions? We have answers. Contact Legal Counsel, P.A. today at 407-982-4321.

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