It is common for homeowners on occasion to fall a month or two behind in paying their mortgages. Banks will usually not take any action in these situations. However, if you should fall three or more months behind on your mortgage payments, the bank who holds your mortgage may refuse to accept your mortgage payments in the future unless you pay the total amount of the arrears you owe including late charges and penalties. This is called accelerating the mortgage.
Notices By Banks
Banks will usually provide you with a late notice when you don’t make your mortgage payments. They also may send a letter to you describing options you have with regard to mortgage modifications, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, and short sales.
Negotiations With Lenders
If you are behind on your mortgage, it is recommended you try to negotiate with your lender. Your lender may be willing to enter into a forbearance agreement with you. Forbearance agreements are sometimes given to homeowners when they become disabled or when they suffer a temporary loss of employment. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have extensive experience in negotiating with lenders for alternative remedies to be utilized by banks instead of foreclosure proceedings.
If you have a continued inability to make your mortgage payments you may receive a notice of default correspondence from your financial institution. Eventually you will be sent a letter by your lender giving you 90 days notice prior to the start of a foreclosure lawsuit. If you haven’t hired an attorney by this time, it is strongly suggested you hire a foreclosure defense lawyer when you receive this correspondence. The purpose of this letter is to give you one last opportunity to bring your mortgage current by making all back payments before you get served with a foreclosure Summons and Complaint. The foreclosure lawsuit will not start for at least 90 days. This gives you several months to try to rectify the situation with your financial institution.
Foreclosure Lawsuits
After receiving the 90 day notice, the lender may not actually sue you in 90 days. The lender may take several more months to obtain the necessary documentation and paperwork before initiating the foreclosure proceeding.
Bankruptcies
In some situations, filing either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be helpful to deal with your financial difficulties which put you into foreclosure. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy will eliminate all of your debts including your mortgage obligation. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy you can catch up on your arrears over a 5 year period while making your current mortgage payments. Unfortunately, if you couldn’t afford your mortgage payments to begin with the Chapter 13 bankruptcy won’t work for you.
Experienced Foreclosure Defense Lawyers
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have helped numerous New Yorkers stay in their homes, fight foreclosures and obtain mortgage modifications. Should you fall behind on your mortgage, give us a call and we will set up a free consultation to set up a specific plan to protect you and your family from being forced from your home.
Nelson and Joyce Coniglio had received more than 700 collection calls during a 4 year period when they fell behind on their mortgage payments. The Coniglios hired an attorney to try to make Bank of America stop calling them. Unfortunately, this didn’t work. A Federal Judge sitting in Florida recently awarded the Coniglios $1 million dollars related to the “unrelenting phone calls from Bank of America.”
