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Landsdale, PA Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

The term “foreclosure” makes many people anxious. The thought of losing your home is never pleasant. Many people will not know what to do or if they have any options at all in the face of a looming foreclosure by creditors.

Fortunately, our lawyers are here to help. We have experience dealing with foreclosures for many clients, and we can lend that experience to assist you with your situation. We can examine your foreclosure proceedings and figure out the best way to defend against creditors threatening to foreclose on your property.

For a free case review, call Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates’ foreclosure defense lawyers at (215) 701-6519.

What is a Foreclosure in Pennsylvania?

Foreclosure is the legal process where creditors take the property of a debtor and sell it to pay off a loan that is in default. Generally, foreclosures happen when mortgagors, people who have signed a mortgage, do not pay what they are supposed to pay repeatedly. At that point, the mortgage goes into “default.” This means that one of the parties to the mortgage has done something they were not supposed to or, alternatively, failed to do something they were required to. When a mortgage defaults, the creditors can initiate foreclosure proceedings against the property involved in the mortgage to try and take the property and sell it for cash to pay off the debt of the mortgage.

How to Prevent Mortgage Foreclosures in Landsdale, PA

There are a number of things you can do to prevent a mortgage foreclosure in Pennsylvania. When you meet with our mortgage foreclosure defense attorneys, we can go over the unique facts of your situation and figure out the best possible path for you and your needs.

Pay the Mortgage

This is the most straightforward way to prevent foreclosure, but also realistically the most difficult. In many mortgages, even after an event of default has happened, you will have an opportunity to “cure” it. This means that you will have a short period of time to make the payment that you missed or did not pay. However, even with the cure period, foreclosures tend to happen when people are having financial difficulty, so simply paying off creditors is technically an option but not necessarily the most viable in many situations.

Mortgage Modification

If you cannot pay the mortgage outright, you may be able to negotiate a modification to the mortgage with your creditor. A mortgage modification is when the original terms of the mortgage are changed to better reflect the current situation. For example, you may be able to work with a bank to change how much you need to pay in each down payment so that the mortgage is manageable to you when the original one was not.

However, creditors who are upset that you have not been able to make payments on a mortgage may not be the most amicable and willing negotiators. There is always the chance that you will be stonewalled, and the creditor will push to go forward with the foreclosure. The best option for giving yourself a good chance of negotiating a modification with your creditor is to have competent legal representation during negotiations.

File for Bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy is one way to immediately stop foreclosure proceedings against your property. Many people are afraid of bankruptcy because it is seen as an indication of poor financial wherewithal. However, the reality is that filing for bankruptcy can be an excellent reset button for difficult situations. When you file for bankruptcy in court, something called an “automatic stay” is put in place. Automatic stays prevent creditors from taking any action to collect debts you have. This includes trying to foreclose on a property.

Once the automatic stay is in place, depending on the chapter of bankruptcy you file under, there will be court-sanctioned procedures set in place to help pay off your debtors. Some forms of bankruptcy are over quicker but will sell off more assets, while others may let you keep more things but be stricter and last for a longer period of time. For example, Chapter 7 bankruptcy has very few limits on what can be liquidated, or sold off, to satisfy debts. Conversely, Chapter 13 bankruptcy lets debtors earmark many things as “off limits,” but will likely take longer to finish than Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Go to Court

Another way to contest and fight to stop a foreclosure is to go to court. If a creditor wants to take your property, they have to file what is called a notice of intent to foreclose. This is a document the creditor files with the court declaring their intent to foreclose on our property. From that point, our lawyers will have 30 days to try and settle the matter outside of court.

After that time, if the matter cannot be settled out of court, you may have to try and resolve the dispute in court. The first step in this process might be something more informal, like mediation. In mediation, a third party, which can be a judge but does not need to be, will try and facilitate cooperative negotiation between you and the foreclosing creditors. If that fails, you will have to fight against the foreclosure in a court of law.

If you have to defend your case in court, there are several paths our lawyers can take. For example, you may argue that the lending practices of the bank that signed off on your mortgage were unfair and predatory.