What Exactly is a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit?

Across the country, homes that are worth less than what they’re originally sold for are known as upside down homes. A job loss, divorce, medical issue can cause homeowners to fall behind in payments. 

No matter how much a homeowner is behind, if the arrearage lasts longer than several months, homeowners stuck with properties that no longer hold the value they once did, will also be sued by the lender for the amount that is due. There are also fees and penalties pinned onto the amount due. Then, property owners will have to contact an attorney looking for answers to the troubling problem of owning an under water home with many mortgage payments overdue..

The problem worsens if no the overdue payments remain overdue and the bank or lender will file a lawsuit. 

Work With Lanigan and Lanigan

Experienced Winter Park, Florida foreclosure attorney Eric Lanigan and Orlando, Florida lawyer Roddy Lanigan of Lanigan and Lanigan, provide frustrated and nervous Florida homeowners with foreclosure defenses.

One of the first things the reviewed when you come in to meet with Eric or Roddy is whether your home mortgage was robo-signed: paperwork signed quickly in a rush to close the loan. 

It is common for the Lanigans to find several mistakes in the mortgage, not so fundamental as to cause the mortgage to be invalid but to certainly enough to create problems for the mortgage lender.

A Florida foreclosure defense is built and options are presented including mortgage workouts, Florida foreclosure defense, situations which will vary by individual financial standings and mortgage paperwork.

No one has the same mortgage. No client has the same economic scenario so don’t get wound up after hearing about what a friend, family member or co-worker tells you about what happened in their foreclosure defense. It will not be the same for anyone.

The ultimate situation for one client may be the polar opposite end situation, for another client. But at the end of the financial hardship or legal issue, the lender and the homeowner should be able to come together to find a resolution.

Banks and lenders aren’t willing to do this all the time and sometimes have to be forced through a lawsuit to make the situation right. Many homeowners are please if they can stay in the house and have a payment plan that is affordable. It’s also a good situation when they have a house where there is not a tremendous amount between what they owe and what the house is worth.

What the Lanigans do in reviewing a Florida foreclosure defense case is to look at the transaction, the paperwork all the way back to the original mortgage loan transaction.

There are many federal requirements. Documentation should be organized carefully with every signature in place, dated by the proper bank or lending institution authority.

But what has been found is that during the rush to lock in a mortgage with a new homeowner as was so frequently done throughout the country; there are on occasion improper signatures.

Lenders on occasion have been found to have signed where they shouldn’t have. Bank or lending authorities have signed in multiple roles, questionable signatures, missing signatures.

Now, depending on the situation, this alone can make a document unenforceable or force the lender to withdraw the foreclosure lawsuit.

What Exactly is a Foreclosure Lawsuit?

Florida foreclosure litigation is a lawsuit filed by a lender against a homeowner for non-payment on the mortgage note on the home. A mortgage agreement is a legally binding document that must be honored by both sides: the homeowner and the lender. When one side defaults or refuses to honor the language set forth, there is a legal reason to file a lawsuit.

Banks have to file foreclosure actions, when a loan goes into default; but, the reality is the last thing on earth the bank wants is anther vacant house in their inventory. There is a strong likelihood that the bank will work with the homeowner who is able to put forth the right alternative to the existing mortgage.

This is called a mortgage workout. The bank will not negotiate with a homeowner and no homeowner should have the arrogance and confidence to negotiate and get a “deal” from a lender. It’s not going to happen without proper legal representation by an attorney with extensive experience defending foreclosure lawsuits.

The lender hires the best attorney possible to handle the foreclosure which is exactly what the homeowner should do: hire an attorney.

Foreclosure Takes Time

Like any other litigation that goes through the court system, it's going to take a while, months usually, unless the homeowner sits on their hands and does nothing.

The Lanigans tell clients if you do absolutely nothing in response to the foreclosure papers, it will still take probably at least four or five months to complete the process before you would be moving.

The Lanigans find that in using the same kind of negotiating techniques used in other types of litigation coupled with a thorough knowledge of the mortgage industry and what the banks are dealing with will fight the foreclosure

Things can come together to create a defense to a mortgage foreclosure case based on paperwork: either the original mortgage documents or the ensuing paperwork that comes to the homeowner when the foreclosure is filed. 

Find out what the options are in your case by calling the Orlando or Winter Park office and sitting down to begin the foreclosure defense process. 

Experienced and Aggressive Florida Lawyers

Winter Park, Florida, and Orlando, Florida, law firm Lanigan & Lanigan, P.L., offers clients a range of business, financial and real estate legal services.

Lanigan & Lanigan is led by attorney Eric Lanigan who has practiced Florida law since 1976; and Roddy Lanigan who has practiced law since 2007.

Aggressive representation Eric Lanigan Eric.Lanigan@LaniganPL.com, 831 W. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, Florida, 32789 www.LaniganPL.com 407-740-7379

Lanigan & Lanigan, P.L., practice in the following areas:

• Bankruptcy
• Business & Civil Litigation
• Foreclosure Defense
• Mortgage Workouts
• Real Estate
• Securities & Investment Losses

Aggressive representation Roddy Lanigan Roddy.Lanigan@LaniganPL.com, 310 E. Pine St., Suite 250, Orlando, Florida, 32789 www.LaniganPL.com 407-740-7379
Call the Lanigans for a consultation at 407-740-7379. at the 831 W. Morse Blvd.,
Winter Park, Florida, office.

Or at 310 E. Pine Street,
Ste. 250, Orlando, Florida.

Lanigan & Lanigan. Aggressive representation
with a personal touch.

Be Sure Before Filing Bankruptcy in Florida

Add up credit card debt ask for lowest APR.

Florida residents who are thinking about filing bankruptcy are usually overwhelmed by high personal debt. When the debt continues to grow and there doesn’t seem to be a way out, or additional income, the situation becomes personally stressful.

Bankruptcy seems to be the only option if you truly feel that you’ll never be able to pay the amount down. But before getting to that point, it’s important to review the many options for paying the debt down to a manageable amount.

Before You Decide to File Bankruptcy in Florida

When asking the question, “should I file bankruptcy in Florida to get rid of my debt?” you should first go through your bank statements to review spending habits, saving habits, monthly income

Credit card debt can add up due to medical bills.

and assets.

Take the Bankruptcy Means Test

The bankruptcy means test is the financial and economic test that weighs your income, with your assets, with your debt, disposable income,

1. What is annual salary?
2. What is your overall debt?
3. Is your monthly income less than the Florida median income for a household matching the size of your household?

If your answer to No. 3 is yes, you are likely to qualify to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy but to be sure, make a meeting with Eric Lanigan and Roddy Lanigan to review your financial and economic situation.

10 Questions to Ask Before Filing Bankruptcy

making the decision to file bankruptcy in Florida, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are there any odd jobs that you can take for a few hours a week to make monthly payments to pay the debt down?
2. If it’s credit card debt, have you called the card to get a decreased annual percentage rate?
3. Are you making more than the minimum amount due on your credit cards?
4. Have you consolidated your debt by putting your credit cards into the lowest annual percentage rate
5. Have you looked at your credit card bills to be sure that you’re paying on time, paying more than the maximum, with no lingering late fees from one late month?
1. If you have had only one late payment call the credit card company to find out if the company will forgive the late date and resume the regular interest rates available.
6. Is there an asset or assets that can be liquidated to pay down the debt?
7. How long will it take for you to pay the debt down?
8. Is there a debt with an out of control interest rate that can be renegotiated to receive a lower interest rate?
9. What is the latest of your outstanding bill or bills? Have you gone months without paying any of your bills? How many bills are being paid late monthly?
10. Is there a medical bill that you have that you can negotiate down by speaking with the hospital or medical facility or doctor over time?

Meet With the Lanigans to Review All of Your Debt

Begin a file for your debts. Create a carefully calculated page to bring in to your meeting with the Lanigans.

Be certain that you are looking through all of your debt, your debtors, your savings, your investments, your assets, medical, home, personal bills and account numbers.

You are legally responsible for telling the truth about all of your financial standings, status and information.

Forgetting or leaving something out is not an excuse and telling an attorney after the papers are filed can be grounds for bankruptcy fraud.

A Foreclosure Defense You May Find On Your Own

Florida Foreclosure Defense: The Defective Acceleration Letter 

Everyone likes to read and research foreclosure defense online. You watch some videos on YouTube and read articles or websites you find to try to decipher your case. You may feel that your bank is is possibly doing something wrong or have seen errors in your mortgage paperwork. Here is something that you can look for in a foreclosure acceleration letter as soon as you receive a lis pendens or the official foreclosure notice. 

It's very important that you keep all of your paperwork to provide to your attorney when you begin fighting your lender if they file a foreclosure lawsuit against you. 

What it is:
An acceleration letter is the letter homeowners receive from the bank prior to filing foreclosure it's what we call a condition precedent that they're required to file or to send to you, to tell you how much you're behind what you need to pay and if you don't pay that amount of money within 30 days they're going to accelerate the loan and that means to accelerate all the payments to make them due at one time and that's the step before foreclosure.

Why it’s a viable defense:
Use a defective acceleration letter in a mortgage situation to force the bank to provide you with the amount of money that is due without incorrect penalties, vague payment terms and amounts and a delay that they cause with letters that do not provide the homeowner with the amount due that they know and that you do not.

What to look for:
A common defect in an acceleration letter is the language that says “you have to pay X amount within 30 days, plus whatever principle, interest, penalties may accrue since the date the letter was issued.”

Note:
The bank did not state what the dollar amounts due actually are. The banks simply state that the money, fees, penalties are due. This is a big problem. You don't know how much to send in because you don't know how much principle, interest, penalties, late fees have accrued since the date of the letter. All the fees increase daily. So to actually circumvent and stop the fees from accumulation, you have to overpay.

But the letter on its face is defective because it doesn't tell you the exact amount to send in. Should you try to overpay, the bank could be as dishonest and state that they could not accept the payment because it was incorrect or overpaid.

Hire an Experienced Attorney:

You should stop trying to win or outsmart the banks on your own. Don’t expect reasonable response. The banks are sending automated letters. Departments generate template letters that are sent out to inform you and may not even have a person on the letter to whom you should respond.

The goal is to dismiss the case and force the bank to start over again with a proper acceleration letter. This provides the homeowner the legal right to pay the bank only what is due, the exact amount that is due within the rights afforded them by the law.

When you get statements from any bank and the charges are confusing and they don't make any sense and you can't make anything out of them, don't take the position that well it's a big bank and they must be right and I must be wrong. Because it's coming out more and more that not only are they wrong, they know they're wrong.

Contact Eric Lanigan and Roddy Lanigan at 407-740-7379 to come into the Winter Park, Florida office. 

Key Aspects of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Companies that decide to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy because its long-term revenues will be higher than the liquidation value of the company’s assets. Creditors may receive more money back if they allow the debtor business to reorganize and work out a payment plan in a In Chapter 11.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is similar to Chapter 13. But the major difference is that there is no limit regarding the amount of money owed by the debtor. Originally only intended for large corporations, individuals can now file Chapter 11 as well. However, only a very small percentage of individuals are likely to qualify.

Usually only celebrities and those individuals with the ability to generate large amounts of revenue long term with contracts for performances or in commercial or advertising contracts may file Chapter 11 as individuals.

Chapter 11 is only preferable for an individual when their debt exceeds the limits of Chapter 13, specifically: $360,475 of unsecured debt and $1,081,400 in secured debt.

What Happens First

The first step in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is the drafting and approval of a disclosure statement by the bankruptcy attorney.

Unlike those filing individual Chapter 7 bankruptcies, debtors under Chapter 11 are may be able to keep homes, sometimes eliminate their second mortgages, and restructure other secured debts. 

A Chapter 11 reorganization is the most complex of all bankruptcy cases and may be the most expensive. It should be considered only after careful analysis and exploration of all other alternatives with the consultation and professional advice of a licensed, experienced bankruptcy attorney.

Winter Park, Florida, bankruptcy attorney +Eric Lanigan  has practiced Florida law since 1976. Orlando, Florida, bankruptcy attorney +Roddy Lanigan has practiced Florida law since 2007. +Lanigan & Lanigan, P.L. provides clients aggressive representation with a personal touch.

In a Chapter 11 bankruptcy,  the financial reorganization is the next step in the restructuring process. Businesses often explain that the bankruptcy will have no effect on client and customer experiences with them. It’s usually business as usual as there is a transition to new structure.

Chapter 11 bankruptcies differ from most personal bankruptcies because they involve significantly more input from creditors. 

Besides continuing the business, like a trustee, the debtor in possession can avoid certain transactions that occurred prior to the filing of the bankruptcy case.

Named after the U.S. bankruptcy code 11, Chapter 11 is a form of bankruptcy that involves a reorganization of a debtor's business affairs and assets. It is usually filed by corporations and larger businesses which require time to restructure their debts.

Chapter 11 gives the debtor a fresh start, subject to the debtor's fulfillment of its obligations under its formal plan of reorganization.

In Chapter 11, once the cases are begun, it might be impossible to stop them without creditors’ approval. Unhappy creditors can vote to sink a proposed restructuring, which could lead to a liquidation.

Chapter 11 Bankruptcies are complicated. Chapter 11 enables the debtor to continue functioning by maintaining ownership of all assets while creating a reorganization plan for paying back creditors.

After filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a business has 120 days to develop a reorganization and payment plan. By working with the Lanigans, your restructuring plan is created in coordination with you the business owner. The process is complex and requires extensive planning together with the client.

Schedule a consultation in either of the +Lanigan & Lanigan, P.L. locations:
Winter Park, Florida: 831 W. Morse Blvd., or Orlando, Florida: 310 E. Pine St., Ste. 250. Call 407-740-7379.