Procedural Foreclosure Defenses

It is said that there are many ways to skin a cat. When fighting a foreclosure lawsuit, procedural defenses can be raised in the Answer submitted by the homeowner’s attorney. These defenses are based on various federal, state and local statutes, banking laws, decisions in former cases, and obligations that financial institutions have to meet under the Truth in Lending Law, predatory lending laws, and other legal precepts.

Lack of Standing Defense

One of the most significant and powerful defenses that can be used is that the financial institution has failed to provide the homeowner with a ninety day notice that they are accelerating the mortgage and calling it due and owing. In addition, issues arise with regard to defective assignments from one financial institution to another. If the assignment is not properly made, the financial institution suing the homeowner may not actually own the note and mortgage and therefore be barred from participating in the foreclosure lawsuit.

Missing Documents

Before a bank can initiate a foreclosure lawsuit, it must have a copy of the original note and mortgage. Photocopies are not sufficient to meet this standard. A defense can be drafted into the Answer submitted by the homeowner to deal with this issue. Thereafter, counsel for the homeowner can demand the original documents be produced for inspection at the office of the attorney for the homeowner.

Numerous Defenses and Countersuits

There are more than forty potential defenses which can be submitted on behalf of the homeowner to a foreclosure lawsuit. In addition, our office usually submits four to eight counter lawsuits requesting the mortgage be set aside in our responses to the Summons and Complaint served by the attorneys for the financial institution.

We only have to be successful in any one of our affirmative defenses or counter lawsuits to stop the foreclosure case from moving forward through the courts. There are numerous procedural and legal errors made by financial institutions which can be litigated to save homeowners from losing their homes. Our office also utilizes the Truth in Lending Law to stop foreclosure lawsuits in their tracks.

A Winning Team

The five lawyers at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo present a winning team for our clients. We keep our clients in their homes by litigating procedural legal defenses and various other techniques to stop foreclosure lawsuits in their tracks.