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.