Pending mortgage foreclosure case backlog down 75% from peak in Florida – What does this mean to you?

One of the many problems caused by the national mortgage foreclosure crisis from the last decade was the explosion in the number of foreclosure filings in Florida state courts. According to statistics published in a recent article on the Florida Courts (www.flcourts.org) website, the number of foreclosure filings rose to around 400,000 cases at the height of the crisis, as compared to the normal average of 70,000 or so in an average year.

This jump in filings caused a backlog that topped 300,000 cases in June of 2013. That is why virtually all foreclosure cases over the last 5 to 6 years have experienced many months and even years of delays working their way through our state court system. As of September of 2015, that back log amount has been reduced below 80,000 cases.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.flcourts.org/administration-funding/court-funding-budget/mortgage-foreclosure.stml

What does this mean to you if you are facing foreclosure right now? It means that your lender is most likely going to push harder and faster to try and seize your property, and get you removed from the premises. Gone are the days when you could stay in your property for years while the courts tried to figure out what to do with you. In addition, much of the leniency that was afforded to struggling home owners 5, 6 and 7 years ago has gone away.

You need to contact an attorney who specializes in defending your rights before it is too late. Many of the banks and other loan servicers have made it clear that they want your mortgage payments on time, and in full, or they will push for foreclosure in short order. They are also much tighter on granting mortgage modifications than they were back then, as well.

Before your lender takes your home, you need to talk with attorneys who are knowledgeable about keeping your home out of foreclosure. Korte & Wortman, P.A. will fight for your rights against any bank, loan servicer or their attorneys. The earlier you get us involved in your defense, the better chance we have of helping you keep your home.

Contact us at Korte & Wortman now. Check out our website to see our results: working with our clients to help them stave off foreclosure and save their homes by getting them the mortgage modifications and/or foreclosure defense they need. Check out a few of our many success stories on our website at http://foreclosurefactor.com/results/loan-modification-results/.

The knowledge and experience you need if you are facing foreclosure in West Palm Beach, Florida

Recent news in the real estate market seems to be all positive for anyone who owns a home. Just last week the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches announced that home sellers in Palm Beach County are getting 94% of their asking prices, 3.3% more for their homes than a year ago, and their homes are staying on the market for an average of only 38 days. The percentage of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgage is down from 24% in 2014 to just 16% this year.

To read more, please go to: http://www.rapb.com/realtors/industry-news/blog-posts/rapb-blog/2015/08/20/palm-beach-county-home-sales-dropped-to-38-median-days-on-market

All of those numbers sound great. But what if you are part of that 16% who is still underwater, and no longer can afford to stay in your home? The reality for those of you in this situation is much less rosy. In fact, lenders have started coming down hard on homeowners who can’t keep up.

Lenders including the banks have become more aggressive with their foreclosure procedures. They are no longer being as lenient with those who are in trouble with their mortgages. And then, they are adding a double whammy by using “deficiency judgments” against the deposed homeowner after the foreclosure, deed-in-lieu or short sale is complete. A deficiency judgment is a personal judgment against you for the difference between your home’s sale price and the original loan balance.

If you are facing foreclosure, or a deficiency judgment situation, you should not try to face this situation alone. You can cost yourself tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars if you do not know what to do. You need a lawyer who will fight for your rights, and your money.

Brian K. Korte is a founding partner of the law firm of Korte & Wortman, P.A., and concentrates his area of practice in mortgage foreclosure defense, credit card defense, trial litigation and personal injury. He represents thousands of clients throughout the State of Florida. Mr. Korte is a noted speaker on the foreclosure defense lecture circuit and has given countless lectures for Foreclosure Seminar Services and the Foreclosure Defense Tactics Group.

Prior to co-founding the firm, Mr. Korte practiced in the area of consumer litigation and has an extensive background in personal injury litigation. As a result of his courtroom successes, he saved over 3,000 homes through loan modifications as well as over 150 case dismissals, where the bank was unable to prove their case, resulting into the borrower’s mortgage completely dismissed.

Mr. Korte is an advocate for his clients, helping each one find the right solution for their family. His specialties / Area of Practice:

• Mortgage Foreclosure Defense
• Credit Card Defense
• Trial Litigation
• Personal Injury

His Bar Admissions include:

• Federal Bar
• The Florida Bar Association-Young Lawyers Section
• Palm Beach County Bar Association

Brian is also an active member of his local community in Wellington where he volunteers his time with the Wellington Soccer Academy and Wellington Youth Baseball.

Facing foreclosure can be a homeowners’ worst nightmare. If you are in this situation, facing a deficiency judgement, have any other credit issue or need an attorney for any real estate transaction in West Palm Beach or anywhere else in the state of Florida then contact us at Korte & Wortman, P.A. To learn more about Brian Korte, please go to http://foreclosurefactor.com/attorneys/brian-k-korte/.

Korte & Wortman, P.A. is a law firm specializing in all aspects of real estate law. In addition to using this blog as a helpful resource, please contact us directly if you have any questions or current legal issues in any type of real estate transaction. Our home office is based in West Palm Beach, at 2041 Vista Parkway, Suite 102. You can call us at (561) 544-7071, stop in to our office, email us at vdinapoli@kwlawfirm.com or come to our website at http://www.foreclosurefactor.com. Our firm of lawyers represents clients throughout the state of Florida and across the eastern seaboard. We also have offices in Sunrise and Clearwater, Florida.

We look forward to helping you get the best settlement or price possible in all of your real estate transactions!

Should you start missing mortgage payments to get a loan modification from your lender in West Palm Beach?

There are many circumstances that may occur that can cause a property owner to get behind on his payments. Some of which include an illness or death in the family, loss of a job, adjustable rate loans, divorce, credit card debt, and gambling and substance abuse problems.

During the last few years, particularly at the depths of the mortgage crisis, that was the type of advice that seemed to be going around from loan experts and even some lenders. More recently, lenders have started singing a different tune.

According to Marcie Geffner at Bankrate.com “If you’ve been tempted to skip a few mortgage payments to try to convince your lender to modify your loan, you may want to resist that temptation. Whether your goal is to stave off foreclosure or just make your payments more affordable, experts say deliberate delinquency is not as smart an idea as it may seem.

The bottom line is that:

• If you can make your payment, you should do so.
• If you can’t, you shouldn’t.
• If you’re in between, you should get help to assess your situation.

“Back in the day, (lenders) would only provide modifications to people who were significantly behind because that evidenced that they truly needed the loan modified. They were of that mindset, and they didn’t realize the enormity of the problem,” says Gail Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling in Silver Spring, Md. “But now, they’ve realized that the logic of making someone become delinquent and dig a deep financial hole before you help them was really not good for anyone.”

Loan modifications extended to nondelinquent borrowers

That new thinking can be seen on some, though by no means all, of the lenders’ Web sites, which have been updated to suggest, however subtly, that a late payment may no longer be a prerequisite to a loan modification. Here are two examples:

Chase’s Web site states: “If you are current on your mortgage, but have had (or are facing) a change in personal circumstances, such as an uncontrollable reduction in income or increase in payment that will create a financial hardship, and feel you are at risk of losing your home, your next step will be to determine if you may qualify for loan modification.”

Bank of America/Countrywide’s Web site states: “If you think you might fall behind on your payments or have already missed a payment, our specialists will work with you to determine your eligibility for one or more of these potential solutions: refinancing, extending the term of the loan, interest rate reductions, temporarily freezing monthly mortgage payments, extended repayment schedules (or) decreasing the principal balance of the loan.”

Christine Holevas, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase in Chicago, declined to comment on whether homeowners should make a late payment to better their odds of a loan modification. But she reiterated the standard advice that you shouldn’t wait until you’ve missed a payment to contact your loan servicer. Instead, you should pick up the phone as soon as you believe you may be in danger of delinquency. “If you think you’re in trouble, contact your servicer. You do not have to be late. You do not have to have missed a payment. Contact your servicer so they will know and they can start the process,” she says.

Missed payments now often disqualify borrowers

The federal government’s new Making Home Affordable plan may be another reason why lenders have tweaked their policies with respect to delinquency and loan modifications. The new plan, which includes a loan modification program and a refinance program, offers lenders new incentives to participate.

The loan modification program is open to borrowers who have missed one or more payments, but a missed payment is not a requirement. In fact, the FAQs for this program state that “responsible borrowers who are struggling to remain current on their mortgage payments are eligible if they are at risk of imminent default.” Risk of default might involve a mortgage payment that has reset and is no longer affordable, a significant loss of income or other types of hardships.

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/should-you-skip-your-mortgage-payment-1.aspx

Most people feel overwhelmed when they can’t make their mortgage payment. If you find yourself in this situation, then contact us at Korte & Wortman, P.A. To learn more about how we can help you with your foreclosure defense or give you the best advice if you are hoping to get a modification of your mortgage, please go to http://foreclosurefactor.com/practice-areas/mortgage-modification/.

Korte & Wortman, P.A. is a law firm specializing in all aspects of real estate law. In addition to using this blog as a helpful resource, please contact us directly if you have any questions or current legal issues in any type of real estate transaction. Our home office is based in West Palm Beach, at 2041 Vista Parkway, Suite 102. You can call us at (561) 544-7071, stop in to our office, email us at vdinapoli@kwlawfirm.com or come to our website at http://www.foreclosurefactor.com. Our firm represents clients throughout the state of Florida and across the eastern seaboard. We also have offices in Sunrise and Clearwater, Florida.

We look forward to helping you get the best settlement possible in all of your real estate transactions!

Answers to some of your important questions regarding Pre-foreclosure and Foreclosure issues in Florida

Q.: What is a foreclosure?

A.: When a secured creditor, usually a bank, attempts to recover monies owed to them based on a promissory note by selling the collateral. In more simple terms you have probably borrowed money from a bank or mortgage company in order to purchase or refinance a home. In exchange for lending you the money, you made a promise that if you could not pay them back they could take the house back.

Q.: Can the bank just come and kick me out of my house?

A.: No. Only an order of the court can force you to leave your home. Ultimately you may be evicted but there are procedures within the court system that the mortgage holder must follow first for the foreclosure and then another set for the eviction.

Q.: What are some of the pre-foreclosure steps I need to be aware of?

A.: In Florida, the pre-foreclosure timeline is as follows:

1. You are late with payments
   1. The process begins when you, the holder of the mortgage, are late with payments. You are still living in your house at this time. Here is what happens before the legal timeline for foreclosure starts ticking.

2. Mortgage and Note
   1. Two of the documents that you signed when you purchased your home were the Mortgage and the Note. The Mortgage states that your property is security for the debt owed to the bank. The Note is your promise to pay. The Mortgage is the legal document the bank will use to reclaim your home if you default in your payments.

3. Notice of Default
   1. When you fail to make the payments as promised, the mortgage lender will file a civil action Complaint against you by sending you a written Notice of Default. Basically, this notice means you have defaulted on the signed contract – the mortgage agreement – on your home.

The Notice of Default marks the line of demarcation between pre-foreclosure and foreclosure.

Q.: How long does it take to foreclose on a property in Florida?

A.: Depending on the court schedule, it usually takes approximately 180-200 days (6 to 7 months) to effectuate an uncontested foreclosure. This process may be delayed if the borrower contests the action, seeks delays and adjournments of hearings, or files for bankruptcy. It will also depend a great deal on your mortgage holder and how aggressively they pursue your case.

Q.: Once the foreclosure process starts is there anything I can do to stop it?

A.: Yes. If working from your first late payment there are at least 10 or 20 different ways to resolve the situation. The longer you wait, however, the more some of these options will become unavailable.

Q.: At what point will I have absolutely no options left?

A.: Never. You have not lost until you have decided the fight is over.

Do not let foreclosure proceedings against you go uncontested. You do have rights, right up until you decide the fight is over. Korte & Wortman, P.A. is a law firm specializing in all aspects of real estate law, including pre-foreclosure and foreclosure proceedings. Please contact us directly if you have any questions or current legal issues in any type of real estate transaction. Our home office is based in West Palm Beach, at 2041 Vista Parkway, Suite 102. You can call us at (561) 544-7071, stop in to our office, email us at vdinapoli@kwlawfirm.com or come to our website at http://www.foreclosurefactor.com. Our firm represents clients throughout the state of Florida and across the eastern seaboard. We also have offices in Sunrise and Clearwater, Florida.

We look forward to helping you get the best settlement possible in all of your real estate transactions!