The ownership of a single family home is the American dream. A foreclosure in effect destroys that dream. Families facing foreclosure are apprehensive with regard to how they will deal with this situation. The threat of having your home sold and being forced out of your home is not something a family looks forward to. However, when a bank initiates a foreclosure lawsuit the homeowners have an opportunity to present their case in front of a judge. Since the foreclosure crisis laws have been enacted in New York State to encourage good faith settlement negotiations between financial institutions and homeowners. It gives homeowners an opportunity to consider all forms of loss mitigation. This includes having the homeowners obtain a reasonable mortgage modification.
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Bankruptcies are brought in federal courts. Upon filing of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy the federal bankruptcy court issues a stay stopping all legal proceedings in the state court. The state court foreclosure action is frozen. Your house will not be sold. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows you to reorganize your finances, establish a plan to catch up on your mortgage and it keeps you and your family in your home.
Stopping the Foreclosure from Moving Forward
While the homeowner is pursuing loss mitigation options including obtaining a mortgage modification, the foreclosure lawsuit must also be dealt with. This will require the homeowner to retain experienced legal counsel to put in an answer to the summons and complaint. The summons and complaint must be responded to in 20 days if the homeowner is personally served or 30 days if they are served by any other means other than having the summons and complaint put in their hands. If the homeowners do not put a written response in to opposing counsel and file that response with the court within a timely manner the lender will be able to obtain a default judgment against the homeowner. This means the homeowner will lose their opportunity to deny the allegations and pursue their claims against the financial institution. A default judgment will have the impact of reducing the time frame the homeowners have to pursue alternatives to the sale of their home and the homeowners being forced from their home.
Foreclosure Strategies
The best way to deal with a foreclosure litigation is take an aggressive posture. This means not only responding to the allegations in the complaint but counter-suing the financial institution to set the mortgage aside. This type of action gives the homeowners some leverage during the course of the mortgage modification process.
Conclusion
If you are facing foreclosure it is strongly recommended your retain an experienced foreclosure defense law firm as soon as you are served with paperwork staring the foreclosure lawsuit.
Elliot S. Schlissel, his partner Nathan D. DeCorpo, and his associates, having been fighting foreclosure lawsuits throughout the Metropolitan New York area for more than 45 years. The firm maintains offices in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties and can be reached at 800-344-6431 or by e-mail at Elliot@sdnylaw.com for the purpose of setting up a free consultation regarding foreclosure issues.
