Fighting a Florida Foreclosure

If you do nothing, your lenders' attorney will file a default against you and then proceed to obtain a court order directing YOUR home to be sold at a public auction. If this occurs, even if you have equity, you will generally receive no money from this type of sale, and your credit will be damaged for years.

Most attorneys and the public do not realize that a foreclosure can be defended. This does not mean the homeowner will not have to pay payments that are actually delinquent. However, if a homeowner's equity in their home is protected by such a defense and they are not subjected to a fast foreclosure, they may stand a better chance to economically survive.

If you could not pay your lender their monthly payments on time, you have defaulted on the mortgage and note. BUT, that does not mean you must leave the property immediately, as is the case when you cannot pay your landlord their rent.

A continuing default on a mortgage gives the lender a right to seek the judicial sale of the borrowers' residence by bringing a foreclosure action under State Statutes. In almost all instances the borrower is in the wrong not because they wanted to stop paying on the mortgage but simply because events in life resulted in a financial inability to pay on their mortgage. Although the borrower has defaulted and is in the "wrong" that does not mean the homeowner has to roll over and abandon their home or just stay there and wait for the inevitable.

In most cases a foreclosure defense will not avoid liability; you may have to repay your mortgage. However, generally by asserting your rights and forcing your lender to prove their case, this results in property owners staying in their homes for an extended period of time.