When it comes to foreclosure defense, there’s only one real sure way to win the case. It’s probably not what you think.
Your first option is to hope the bank forgets about your client and they can keep the home no matter what. But hope isn’t a plan so you might as well stop that one dead in its tracks.
You could, of course, instruct your client to sell his property to the highest of the low bidders. They call themselves real estate investors. They go around to distressed homeowners and make offers on their homes that would make a dead real estate agent roll over in his grave. And the sad part is they usually walk away with the deal. It’s a win for the investor because the homeowner takes a big loss, which they perceive as a lot better than losing the house to the bank. It’s not the best deal, believe me.
Another option is to short sale the home. Again, your client will be taking less than fair market value for the home just so they can keep their credit clean. Not really a deal, is it?
Seriously, your best foreclosure defense option is to seek a loan modification. 83% of all mortgages have lender violations in them. In essence, the lender has just walked up to you with a silver platter and handed you a gold nugget. Take it. Perform a forensic loan audit and uncover those violations. Once you know where the lender has failed to comply with the law - whether intentional or by oversight - you can pound the nail into the stake. Approach the lender with your negotiation offer and close the deal. Your client keeps the house and pays less each month to boot. Now that’s a deal!
What’s the best foreclosure defense? It depends on who you ask. You can sell your home for 80% of value to an investor who will flip it for 100% and take your equity, but where does that leave you? Or you can pay a big lump sum payment to get your loan caught up, but will that really make your financial situation better?
When you consider that 83% of all mortgages contain lender violations in them, that makes the best foreclosure defense a loan modification. But to do that and be successful in the long run, you should first seek a loan audit from a competent loan auditor.
A forensic loan audit is a process of looking over your mortgage documents to ensure that your lender complied with all local, state, and federal laws. Even a slight error can sometimes be enough to leverage your position against your lender and force a renegotiation of your loan terms. So if you are facing foreclosure, don’t sell. Get a loan audit and let your attorney do the rest.
More and more homeowners are finding themselves in need of a good foreclosure defense plan. Unfortunately, too many of them go in without a plan and base all their homeownership dreams on hope. That’s why they end up with no home and no credit. You don’t have to let that be you or your client.
A good foreclosure defense must be waged using the proper tools. And there is no tool as indispensable as the forensic loan audit.
Whether you and your client are seeking a loan settlement through direct negotiation, a loan modification by mediation or arbitration, or you are going the litigation route, you’ll need to first gather up your ammunition and that means getting the information you need to approach a lender with the right attitude and the data that will get them on your side. No lender wants to go to court. That is costly and time consuming. So if you order your loan audit before you start discussing your client’s situation with the lender then you’ll improve your chances for success by 80% or better.
Most homeowners aer not aware of the options available to them when facing foreclosure. Did you know you can stop foreclosure on a dime simply by rescinding a mortgage transaction?
A mortgage rescission action does several things simultaneously:
- Stops the foreclsoure process immediately
- Requires your creditor to refund all closing costs
- Cancels prepayment penalties
- Voids the Security Interest
- If you go to litigation, you could end up receiving as much as three times the damages due you
- Mandatory reimbursement for your legal fees
- The creditor is required to pay all of the money you have paid toward the life of the loan
The Truth in Lending Act is a powerful piece of legislation that allows a consumer of a mortgage loan the ability to rescind a mortgage if the mortgage company is in violation of certain statutes and the contract. Regulation Z is the teeth in this legislation and it’s a legal right your mortgage company would just as soon you not know about it. But you have a right to know, and you have a right to foreclosure defense.