Process for Saving Your Home and Asserting
Your Legal Rights in Foreclosure
Our goal
is to assist consumers in defending their homes from foreclosure and asserting
their legal rights to keep them in their homes and to obtain favorable modifications
of their loans or to assist consumers in litigating their claims in State and
Federal Court. To achieve this goal we use a step-by-step process,
outlined below:
Step
1-The first step is for the homeowner to compile all of their mortgage loan
documents, including their closing loan package of documents, any and all
correspondence they have had with their lender or servicer, any court papers
served upon them, if applicable, and any other loan papers that they have.
Once all of the papers are compiled, we will review the papers and do a
case assessment regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their particular
case.
Step
2-After doing the case assessment, the next step is that we send out, on the
consumer's behalf, what is known as a Qualified Written Request (QWR) under
RESPA, which allows the consumer to obtain a wealth of information regarding
their loan. Once the QWR is received, the lender has 20 days to
acknowledge receipt of the request and 60 days to supply all of the required information.
Sending out the QWR stops any further action from being taken until the
lender complies with the QWR. If the lender does not comply with the QWR,
it is a RESPA violation. We can also send out a Verification of Proof of
Claim notice pursuant to the U.C.C. requiring the lender to verify the mortgage
debt and providing for a default if the lender fails and refuses to verify the
debt within the time period required.
Step
3-Once the QWR is sent out, we recommend that the consumer have their loan documents
audited by an independent, professional forensic mortgage loan auditor.
The loan auditor will review all of the documents and will summarize any
and all violations found and will document the lender's compliance or
non-compliance with RESPA, (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act); TILA (Truth
in Lending Act); the FACTA Act; HOEPA and other Federal and State laws.
Step
4-Once we have obtained the results from the QWR and the Forensic Mortgage Loan
Audit, we use them to document the lender's non-compliance and violations of
the law. Using these violations as leverage, we will then either
negotiate an acceptable loan modification agreement with the lender, or we will
threaten to sue for the violations. An acceptable loan includes the following
parameters:
a)
Reducing the mortgage loan amount down to the fair market value of the
property.
b)
Lowering the interest rate to 5 % or below, if your interest rate is higher
that 5%.
c)
Lowering the monthly payment.
d)
Stretching out the term of the loan back to 30 or even 40 years to keep the
monthly payment affordable.
If the
lender agrees to these terms, we recommend that the consumer accept the loan
modification agreement. If the lender fails or refuses to negotiate in
good faith, then the file is referred for litigation.
Step 5-If
the case is going to be litigated, the consumer has the option of representing themselves
or hiring an attorney. If the consumer opts to start the litigation pro
se, by representing themselves, we assist with legal document preparation of
all of the necessary court papers. If the consumer is sued judicially for
foreclosure by the lender, we will help the consumer defend the foreclosure and
also to assert their defenses and counter-claims. Ultimately, the case
may be removed from State Court, where the foreclosure was filed, to Federal
Court to litigate all of the consumer's Federal and State claims. If the
lender forecloses on the property non-judicially, we will draft appropriate
Court papers to sue the lender in State or Federal Court and will assist the
homeowner in litigating the case. At any time should the consumer feel
they are in "over their heads" and are unable to represent
themselves, we will assist them in retaining the services of an attorney. For
pro se litigants, we charge $50.00 per hour to draft legal documents, which is
far more cost effective than retaining legal counsel, which can be done when
necessary.
Our
ultimate goal is to keep the consumer in their home for as long as possible
without having to pay a monthly mortgage payment. We recommend setting
some money aside in an escrow account, which gives the consumer flexibility in
resolving the case at the end of the process. If the violations are
numerous and serious enough, the consumer may be able to get the mortgage
eliminated altogether, or may be entitled to rescind the loan or obtain
substantial damages from the lender.
After the
mortgage situation is resolved, we will assist the consumer in restoring their
credit.
We also
offer a non-judicial, administrative remedy process to eliminate additional
debts through the administrative process. Our goal is to assist the
homeowner in retaining their home, eliminating their mortgage, and help them
become debt free.