Foreclosure Defense FAQs
How can an attorney help keep me from losing my home to foreclosure?
Believe it or not, your lender really does not want to take your home away from you. They would much prefer that you keep paying your monthly payment. If you are at risk of losing your home to foreclosure but wish to keep your home, there are many things we can do to make that happen! While acting as your foreclosure defense team, we will negotiate with your lender to:
- Lower the principal amount of your loan. Let’s say your original principal due was $400,000. Your attorney may be able to negotiate that down to $350,000 or even lower. Your lender will be willing to take a slight loss rather than have you stop making payments altogether.
- Lower the interest rate on your loan. Maybe your original mortgage was negotiated with a really high-interest rate (let’s say 9%). Lowering that rate to 6% or below will significantly reduce the amount of interest you’ll be paying over the life of the loan.
- Wipe clean any late charges. Penalties and fees for missing mortgage payments can add up QUICKLY. You may have thousands of dollars due in late fees alone. Part of your foreclosure defense will involve attempting to wipe those amounts clean so that you don’t have to dig yourself out of a hole just to get back to the starting line.
- Lengthen the life of your loan. If you had a 20- or 30-year mortgage, extending that by several years will also stretch out the payments so that your monthly amount due will be much lower.
What is a foreclosure?
Your bank or lender can take possession of your property via the foreclosure process if you fail to stay current on your mortgage payments.
How does the bank start foreclosure against me?
After you have failed to make three mortgage payments, your bank or lender can send you a Notice of Intention to Foreclose. They are required to send you this notice at least 30 days before filing a formal complaint.
Where are foreclosure complaints filed?
They are filed with the New Jersey Superior Court, in Trenton, New Jersey.
I want to keep my home. Is that possible if the bank has filed for foreclosure?
It is absolutely possible – as long as you obtain legal assistance as soon as you receive the complaint. Ideally, you should retain the services of an experienced foreclosure defense attorney when you receive the notice of intention, because after you receive the complaint, you have only 35 days to generate an answer. You also only have 60 days to request foreclosure mediation.
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