Foreclosure In Florida: Fight The Lender In Court

I live in Lee County, Florida. It is a wonderful community where the people are nice and the weather is great. It is truly a remarkable place to live. It is also recognized as one of the foreclosure capitals in the United States right now.

I am receiving more phone calls these days about the mortgage foreclosure process. The often asked question is: Is there still time to save my home. The simple answer is: “Yes, of course there is. However, you have to act quickly.” Why? Because Florida has a process known as Judicial Foreclosure, which means that in order for the lender to foreclose on your real property, it must commence a lawsuit and go through the proper process to obtain clear title.This is good news for the people of Southwest Florida. We actually have State Court Judges who must review the documents being filed by the foreclosure lawyers and the mortgage companies. Our State Court Judges are being educated on a daily basis about the abuses that are going on in the mortgage industry.

Many Courts around the nation are starting to take notice of the abuses that went on prior to the real estate bubble bursting. In just a few of the cases that I am defending, the documents being filed by the mortgage companies reveal that foreclosures are being initiated prior to the company ever purchasing the loan. Or, even better, is the case where the client was current on the loan when the foreclosure was filed. This one takes the cake.

I would advise all individuals who may be dealing with a home foreclosure to make time to educate yourself on several different issues. First, you will want to be able to retain competent counsel to defend your interests. This is a relatively new area for most attorneys as foreclosures have not really been big business in Florida for quite some time. As a matter of fact, I have been practicing law for quite a few years, and for almost all of that time, I entered an appearance in only a few mortgage foreclosure cases.

Now, I cannot count the number of cases that we are defending, as it changes daily. Our expertise in this area developed over time in the Bankruptcy Courts. As we reviewed more and more exotic mortgages, we began noticing certain patterns about the origination of these mortgages, and after questioning our clients, we realized that they didn’t have a clue about what they were signing or the financial consequences of their actions.

Second, you may want to get a bankruptcy consultation with several different attorneys. You must feel confident with your decision as all bankruptcy attorneys are not equal. I am the only Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney in Southwest Florida who practices primarily consumer bankruptcy law.