FORECLOSURE DEFENSE
Homeowners Facing Foreclosure in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
Facing a home foreclosure can be frightening, leaving you feeling helpless and uncertain about what your future holds. Because of the current housing and financial markets, this is a situation that more and more California residents are finding themselves in. However, you can use the services of a real estate lawyer to obtain legal relief.
The lawyers at Johnson Majka understand how to help property owners who are facing foreclosure. Your individual case will be analyzed for affirmative and defensive strategies that assert your rights under state and federal law. A lawyer on your side will engage in direct negotiations with your lender seeking a favorable change to your loan terms (a “Loan Workout” or “Modification”). Some of the remedies may include:
-
-
Short Sale, whereby the lender agrees to allow the sale of the property for less than what is owed on the promissory note;
-
Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure, whereby the borrower avoids an involuntary foreclosure by deeding the property to the lender;
-
Negotiating a new loan.
In addition, there may be a factual basis that provides a legal defense to a lender’s foreclosure action on your property. This is the first line of defense that a lawyer can use against a foreclosure sale and can only be evaluated after review of you original loan application and other documents.
Predatory Lending:
Predatory lending occurs when a lender or a broker encourages borrowers to falsify information on their loan application. Overstating the borrower’s income or omitting debt are common schemes used to obtain very high loan amounts that the borrower is unable to repay. Predatory lending also includes mortgage brokers and lenders who allow people to borrow very high amounts that they know borrowers can't afford to repay or conspire with appraisers to overinflate the value of properties. Predatory lenders commonly charge high fees for services not performed or use "bait and switch" tactics to place people into loans that set them up for inevitable default. Most negative amortization loans, by definition, are predatory. Proving these types of cases requires a lot of factual investigation, document review and discovery.
Advance Fee Agreements Charged by Non-Lawyers Can Be Illegal
If you have received a notice of default from your lender, you should know that California law prohibits anyone but a lawyer from receiving a fee before the relief you seek has been achieved. Furthermore, even if you haven’t received a notice of default, only a lawyer, a very short list of other professionals and a limited number of approved California licensed Real Estate Brokers may accept an advance fee. Any other person or business doing so is committing a crime.
Why Hire A Lawyer?
You should know that despite the news stories and barrage of advertising by “Loan Modification” companies and their ilk, meaningful, voluntary loan modifications only occur for a small fraction of applicants. However, many more lenders “volunteer” to renegotiate the loan terms when litigation, the threat of litigation or bankruptcy accompanies the application . That is where hiring a lawyer to review your case and represent you in the process makes sense. Your chances may be improved if the lender has violated the law during the loan process or subsequently, but you will never know unless you case is analyzed by someone who can do something about it. Only an attorney can review your particular case to determine if the lender, servicing company, or loan originator violated the Truth In Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Practices Act (RESPA), or may have engaged in Predatory Lending. In contrast, a “Loan Modification” company is unlicensed and unqualified to provide you with this legal insight or representation. And they frequently charge as much or more than the cost of a competent legal opinion and subsequent representation.
Contact our office for a free no-obligation consultation.