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Hazleton, PA Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

Lenders could seek foreclosure against homeowners after a few missed payments, and our lawyers can help borrowers find a solution in these situations.

To determine your defense against foreclosure, our lawyers will review the loan document and other materials in your application to see if the bank was predatory in servicing your loan. We can also expose missteps during the foreclosure process that might warrant a case dismissal or explore the lenders’ openness to loan modification, which could avoid foreclosure entirely. Chapter 13 can also be a solution to foreclosure, giving borrowers three to five years to repay lenders without fear of losing their homes.

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

What Our Lawyers Can Do When Preparing Your Defense Against Mortgage Foreclosure in Hazelton, PA

When preparing a case against mortgage foreclosure, our attorneys will review the original loan document and your application to gauge whether or not the provider gave you the loan, knowing you would be unable to meet its terms. We can also review any recent mortgage payments you have made and approach your lender about potential negotiations to see if we can reach an alternative arrangement that would stop foreclosure and let you keep your home.

Review the Original Loan Agreement

Loan servicers must consider various factors when giving mortgages, such as an applicant’s income, expenses, assets, credit history, and debt. Lenders also have to follow federal and state laws about fair lending practices. We can review the application documents you sent to the servicers, any documented communications between you and the servicer during the application and approval process, and the original loan agreement you signed. Based on that information, our mortgage foreclosure defense lawyers can determine if the bank was predatory when initially providing your loan. Loan providers who engage in predatory lending typically see their foreclosure complaints thrown out. Other signs of predatory lending include instating prepayment penalties, waiving credit checks, requiring balloon payments, or attaching high interest rates to loans.

Review Recent Mortgage Payments

Banks sometimes get things wrong. If you have been making payments according to the loan terms as you understood them, and your bank recently informed you of its intent to foreclose, you may be understandably confused. In such situations, we can review your recent payments and present them to the court to show the bank does not have standing to proceed with foreclosure. Sometimes, late payments happen because of simple mistakes, like errors with automatic payments. In these situations, we can approach lenders, explain the situation to the court, and make a plan to get you caught up on payments. If you notice any late payments on your credit report, address them with your lender right away to avoid potential problems down the line.

Explore Loan Modification

Homeowners do not always need defenses against foreclosure when banks are willing to negotiate alternative agreements via loan modification. Our lawyers can explore this possibility early on in your case, as negotiations could settle the matter much sooner and save time and resources for everyone involved. This makes many banks open to negotiations. Another reason for that is that all foreclosures in Pennsylvania are judicial. This means that banks can only foreclose homes after getting court approval. Furthermore, since all foreclosures go through the courts, it could delay when banks get paid, often making them willing to renegotiate mortgage agreements with our lawyers to avoid foreclosure.

Potential adjustments to mortgage agreements include extending the length of your mortgage or negotiating lower interest rates so that you can catch up on late payments while falling further behind.

Expose Violations of Foreclosure Procedure

There are many steps in the foreclosure process, starting with banks notifying homeowners of their intent to foreclose 30 days before filing a foreclosure complaint in court. Failing to do this or violating any other lender responsibilities during foreclosure could lead to a case dismissal, and the lender would have to restart the process. At that point, lenders might be open to reentering negotiations as that might help save the resources associated with restarting a case in court. Because our lawyers are so familiar with the foreclosure process, we can carefully monitor lenders’ actions throughout the case and alert the court to any missteps.

Consider Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a fine debt management tool for anyone facing foreclosure who has no viable defense to stop it or cannot cure their mortgage. If the bank learns you might file for bankruptcy, it could agree to revisit loan modification, as bankruptcy would also require extra time and resources for your lender.

A bankruptcy petition comes with an automatic stay on creditor efforts to collect from debtors. This pertains to ongoing foreclosure proceedings, like property auctions. Since Pennsylvania does not have a right of redemption period after sheriff’s sales, bankruptcy might be the last option to keep a recently foreclosed home.

To keep your home with bankruptcy, you would file Chapter 13. The other bankruptcy type for consumers, Chapter 7, requires asset liquidation. And, because Pennsylvania does not have a homestead exemption, you could lose your home to repay your mortgage lender if you file Chapter 7. We can make sure to protect your assets by filing Chapter 13 and writing a repayment plan that gives you the time and structure to get back on your feet and in a good place with your mortgage. Foreclosure has a significant effect on a borrower’s credit. While bankruptcy does as well, it also gives borrowers a path toward rebuilding their credit.

Chapter 13 gives borrowers three to five years to repay lenders. During this time, we can also address any other debt you are dealing with. If other debts are dischargeable, they will be erased.