Living Mortgage Free While Foreclosure Cases Continue

July 23rd, 2008

Having created havoc during the first quarter, the foreclosure crisis continues to intensify. But gradually a defense is building up and legal help is being sought to buy time. House owners are engaging lawyers to continue with the case. In the meantime borrowers are living mortgage free while foreclosure cases continue without paying a cent!

Although the chances are slim of evading foreclosures the lawyers are forcing the wheels of justice to churn slowly for fees ranging from $1,500 to $3,000. Sometimes the cat and mouse prolongation game can spill over from months to years. On an average it takes seven months for the foreclosure process to complete its full circle. House owners can use the time gained to save for shifting, selling the house or browsing over other alternatives. Landlords can go on collecting rent to recover a part of the losses.

Foreclosure defense mechanism is gaining so much popularity that more lawyers are getting themselves trained and specializing in the stream. These are the bankruptcy and real estate lawyers who are readying to meet the demand that is growing with increasing foreclosures.

Controversy regarding this practice has however crept in. Delaying tactics are costing the lenders dearly. The tax system too is suffering with dwindling collections. Many say is unethical to hold the entire system at ransom with foreclosure procedural delay.

Arguing against this argument it is said that in Florida the lender has to sue the borrower to sell the unit. But in most cases the trials are over without the borrower appearing in court. It is like a murderer who never appears to admit his crime. It is left to the plaintiff to prove it while the defendant is silent.

The legal fraternity says that the foreclosure process is not all that straightforward in favour of the lender. If the right notes are played things can get tough for the lender to prove credibility. There are many ways of fighting foreclosures. So far these venues have not been tapped.

The lenders are being forced to prove ownership of the debt. This is proving difficult with the mortgages having been parceled and sold off in pieces as securities across the country and even abroad. In the shuffle the promissory notes got lost. It is getting impossible to physically retrieve them. If this happens then the lawsuit can be dismissed.