If you find yourself in foreclosure, you'll have the option of hiring a judicial foreclosure lawsuit defense attorney or trying to handle the case yourself. You will also have the option of not fighting the foreclosure at all and simply staying in your home until you are no longer able to. The best option is based on your individual situation. One of the most common reasons why you would want to fight a foreclosure is if the lender did not follow the proper procedure for a foreclosure.
The Proper Procedure for a Foreclosure
The lender must follow loss mitigation procedures during a foreclosure. For example, the lender might be required to contact you directly by phone. If these loss mitigation steps are not followed, your lender might be legally able to move forward with the foreclosure and might be required to start from scratch. This can provide you with more time to catch up on your mortgage payments or take whichever other steps are needed to cure your default.
You will want to record everything that the mortgage company does in response to the default. For example, the mortgage lender will need to inform you of the various ways that you can cure your default. They must also assign someone to assist you with the process and complete various other steps. Because state requirements can be confusing, you might want to hire a judicial foreclosure lawsuit defense attorney to guide you through it.
Errors With Your Account
Mortgage companies can make errors when accepting payments. A mortgage lender might never cash your money order or might cash it and fail to apply it to your account. You will always want to keep records of payments you made to prove that the mortgage company made an error with your account.
Your partial payment might also be added to a suspense account. This is an account that will hold your payment until you have made enough of a payment to where it covers both the amount due and the interest. You must be informed that your partial payment has been added to a suspense account.
Failure to follow any of these rules can lead to the foreclosure process restarting, and you may at least be able to remain in your home for a longer period of time. In some cases, you might even be able to cure your default and save your home.
