As a mortgage foreclosure defense attorney, it really burns me up that homeowners are once again getting the short end of the stick.  There is a double standard going on in this real estate meltdown.  Lenders are telling homeowners that they have a “moral obligation” to pay their mortgages, and the failure to do so [...]

Mortgage deficiencies after foreclosure.

Borrowing for a home has been tough ever since the subprime securitized loan market collapsed a couple years ago.  Without government help through the FHA, many such loans would not be made right now.
But although the government is backing FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and shoring up the mortgage market by backing many of [...]

In some states, once bank forecloses and gets your house back, you do not owe them any money.
But not everywhere.
Check with an attorney in your state.
In Michigan, we have foreclosure by publication, an auction process, or through a court.
If the mortgage company bids the amount you owe at the foreclosure auction, you owe them nothing.

When you sell your home for a price that is less than the total debt secured against the property it is often referred to as a “Short Sale”.  Due to falling home prices and booby-trap loans, a short sale is becoming one of the few alternatives to foreclosure. Does it help a hard pressed homeowner [...]

I frequently have clients tell me that their homes are “in foreclosure.”  Upon reviewing the situation carefully, however, I find that the phrase “in foreclosure” may mean different things to different people, and it may be important to distinguish between those different meanings.
To me, as a lawyer in a judicial foreclosure state (where it takes [...]

Lately I have had a number of clients who have asked me whether they should continue to seek mortgage modification, or go ahead and file a Chapter 13 to stop a foreclosure.  With the slow pace of lenders’ response to modification applications, and the pressure of possible foreclosure, it can be a difficult decision.  Here [...]

Short home loan refinancing is not a new concept.  Unfortunately, due to tightened credit for sub-prime borrowers, it has not been much of a factor in dealing with the current home foreclosure crisis.
However, short refinancing may soon become a realistic option for even those homeowners with challenged credit.  Despite possible tax consequences from debt cancellation, [...]

The client’s “plan” for the underwater house with a 10 year interest only loan is to file bankruptcy now, and plan on selling the house in a couple of years.  Sound familiar?  The homeowner has bought the same pitch that was made to folks with adjusting rate mortgages:  “sure, you won’t be able to pay [...]

Short sales in Southwest Florida, especially Lehigh Acres, Cape Coral and Fort Myers are nothing new.  We have been living with this problem for a while.  The new trend is for buyers to put in multiple offers on different properties creating a kind of buying frenzy.  This behavior may have been brought on by the [...]