QUESTION: I lost my job last year, due to companywide restructuring. I have desperately tried to look for employment, but to no avail. It has been hard to keep up with our mortgage and credit card bills. Under one of the government-sponsored foreclosure mitigation programs, we were able to obtain a trial plan last October, 2009. We have been religiously paying for the lender under the agreement. January, was about to end, we don’t know if we should still be paying for the same amount. Hence, I called our agent who told us to continue making the payment. In the confusion, there has been a delay of a few days from the deadline.
When we received an eviction notice last weekend! We only have five days to answer the eviction. We called up our agent and they knew nothing about it. This is so unfair! We depleted our savings trying to save this house and scrape off to be able to pay for our mortgage. My wife works double jobs so that we will be able to keep our house. We have credit card debt of $90,000. Lately, we had been paying the minimum amount towards most of our cards in order to save this house. Do we just walk away? Can the bank turn around and sell our house under our feet? Friends suggest I file for bankruptcy. Please help me.
Answer: We have received a lot of clients where the bank had foreclosed the property while they are still under loan modification or worse paying under a trial plan. In most of these cases, the bank has separate departments dealing with foreclosure and loss mitigation. In other cases, the bank deals with loan modification. However, there is another entity, a trustee, e.g., Quality Loan Service, NDex West, etc., which is in charge of the foreclosure proceedings. Some loan modification companies are just concern with obtaining a successful loan modification agreement. However, one has to make sure that the house will not be foreclosed in the interim.
Your loan modification agents should have made sure that all these entities know that there is a trial plan. We usually communicate directly with all concerned parties, lender and trustee company, and obtain a stipulation that they will not foreclose during the duration of the trial plan. It is also important to look up if there are any trustee sale date scheduled for the property in question.
You can file for bankruptcy in order to discharge your unsecured debts. Bankruptcy laws affords debtors (the person who filed for bankruptcy) a reprieve from certain creditor actions, including eviction, foreclosures, garnishment, bank levy and repossessions. This means that the lender cannot go forward with these actions unless they ask the bankruptcy court’s permission.
You can also file a case for wrongful foreclosure in the state court and obtain a temporary restraining order. For these cases, we usually try to consolidate the unlawful detainer action (eviction) with the wrongful foreclosure action into one case. Most judge will issue a temporary restraining order but order the homeowner to post a bond. Meantime, you should find out if the loan is still bank owned or if another person bought the house. It is easier to reinstate the loan modification agreement if the bank/lender just bought back your property. Do not lose hope. There are still steps you can take, however, you must act now and consult a good lawyer who has a good grasp of loan modification, wrongful foreclosure, unlawful detainer and bankruptcy cases.
This article does not constitute any legal guarantee or advice for any individual matter and does not create attorney client relationship with the readership.
If you have any impending foreclosure, please call our office at 213-639-3888 or e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Our office is located at 3699 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 720, Los Angeles, California 90010.
* * *
If you have any loan from Countrywide or any of its affiliates, please call our office at 213-639-3888 or e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Our office is located at 3699 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 720, Los Angeles, California 90010.
* * *
This article does not constitute any legal guarantee or advice for any individual matters and does not create attorney client relationship with the readership.
( Published January 16, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. C5 )
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
