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Springfield, PA Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

No one wants to lose their home, a place of shelter and safety, because of foreclosure. If you are notified that a lender has plans to take your home, you may be able to stop the process with the proper support.

Stopping mortgage foreclosure is possible in Springfield when homeowners take the necessary steps. By responding to a foreclosure complaint, homeowners can point out errors on a lender’s behalf, possibly stopping the manner there. If that is unsuccessful, homeowners may enter into mediation. During mediation, you may reach an agreement with your lender that allows you to keep your home while making payments. Unfortunately, not all lenders are open to this, which is why homeowners might have to go to court. During this time, we can offer a defense that illustrates a lender’s predatory lending practices or other violations allowing you to keep your home.

Call Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (215) 701-6519 for a free case evaluation with our Springfield, PA mortgage foreclosure defense lawyers.

Dealing with Mortgage Foreclosure in Springfield, PA

Losing your home because of foreclosure is a nightmare for many homeowners in Springfield. Fortunately, there are procedures you can follow to address the threat of possible foreclosure and prevent it from happening. Immediately after receiving a foreclosure notice, homeowners should respond to a lender’s complaint. Mediation typically follows this step, giving homeowners an opportunity to settle the issue before going to court. If mediation is unsuccessful, you might have to go to court. Errors on a lender’s behalf might disrupt their ability to foreclose upon your home or get a deficiency judgment against you.

Foreclosure Complaints

Ignoring a foreclosure complaint from your lender will not help you to stop foreclosure on your home. Immediately after receiving a complaint, our mortgage foreclosure defense lawyers can draft a response in a timely fashion. Typically, homeowners must respond to a foreclosure complaint within 20 days of receiving one. If you do not respond quickly enough, you will enter into default. This can speed things up for a lender, resulting in you losing your home in as little as 30 days.

In your response, our attorneys will provide defenses to the lender’s assertions. The ender might have made errors of their own, falsely asserting that you have not paid certain amounts or have defaulted on your loan. Even if you have missed payments, certain arguments can be used in your response to a foreclosure complaint, showing that a lender acted inappropriately or engaged in predatory lending practices, invalidating their complaint.

Mediation

After you have received and responded to a foreclosure complaint, you may enter mediation to resolve the matter. In Springfield, which is part of Montgomery County, there is a mediation process for certain homeowners with equal to or less than $300,000 in debt. During this time, our attorneys can speak with your lender to come to an agreement that satisfies both parties and allows you to avoid foreclosure.

With mediation comes an automatic stay. This means that your home will not be foreclosed upon while you are in mediation. This does not mean your home is protected if mediation fails. However, for the time you are in mediated discussions with your lender, you will not lose your home.

The length of foreclosure mediations may vary, depending on the specific circumstances. While some homeowners might be able to reach an agreement with a lender within a matter of weeks, for others, the process might take months. The success of foreclosure mediation often depends on a lender’s willingness to agree with a homeowner and make concessions.

Court

If foreclosure mediation is unsuccessful in Springfield, homeowners might have to go to court. While this can be frightening, it does not mean you will lose your home. When mediation fails, the final decision will be made by a judge. If a homeowner is without counsel, a judge might be more likely to rule in favor of a lender right away. Pennsylvania does not allow non-judicial foreclosures, meaning the process must go through the court if mediation fails.

During judicial foreclosure proceedings, our attorneys might provide a similar defense to what they initially cited in your response to a foreclosure complaint. That said, during mediation, our lawyers may have learned additional information about a lender’s predatory practices or violations of certain laws that exist to protect homeowners, such as the Loan Interest and Protection Law, that strengthen your defense. Depending on your situation, you may also be eligible to benefit from the Homeowners’ Mortgage Assistance Program, which can help homeowners meet payments for a period of two to three years, allowing them to avoid foreclosure.

At the end of the proceedings, the judge might decide that you are able to keep your home by paying the lender through a repayment plan. If the judge favors the lender, your home might be foreclosed upon.

Deficiency Judgements

If a judge agrees with a lender and approves a foreclosure on your home, the lender may be able to proceed with taking and selling your property. However, there is a specific procedure that lenders must follow to complete a foreclosure. Missteps along the way might allow you to challenge the proceedings and halt them.

For example, the lender might have a deficiency after a foreclosure sale. This occurs when the sale of your home is less than the amount you owe to a lender. In Springfield, a lender must file a separate claim to receive those funds from you. Such matters are not decided during the original judicial foreclosure proceedings. If the lender does not do this within six months of the sale of your property, they cannot get a deficiency judgment against you in Springfield.