Stop Home Foreclosure in Florida
With Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Tampa area homeowners can stop foreclosure actions by filing a Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The filing of your bankruptcy creates an “automatic stay” that stops all adverse creditor action. As long as your bankruptcy case is filed prior to the foreclosure sale, you will gain an opportunity to save your house.
Florida law governs how foreclosure sales are conducted. In Florida, mortgage foreclosure is a “judicial” process, meaning that mortgage companies have to file a special kind of lawsuit in a specified court in the county where the property is located.
In most cases, you only have 20 days to respond to the foreclosure lawsuit. If you do not respond to the foreclosure lawsuit, or if you respond but fail to assert any legal defenses to the foreclosure, the court will issue a judgment that sets out requirements for the lender to publish notice of the date and time of the foreclosure sale. Not having money is not, unfortunately, a legal defense to a foreclosure.
Once the foreclosure sale is conducted, you lose your title interest in your home, subject to a 10 day review of the fairness of the sale.
How Can Chapter 13 Help?
When you file Chapter 13, the foreclosure process stops immediately. As part of your Chapter 13, you will file a proposed repayment plan whereby you “cure” or pay back any missed payments due the mortgage company. Chapter 13 repayment plans can last as long as 5 years. So, for example, if you are behind on your mortgage $5,000, you can pay back the missed payments in your plan at the rate of $85 per month.
Chapter 13 does not work for everybody and your desire may be simply to gain a little breathing room to decide if you want to stay in your house or not. Whatever your situation, the lawyers and staff at Clark and Washington urge you to call us. We do not charge for telephone or in-office consultations.
Clark and Washington urges any Tampa area resident who has missed two or more mortgage payments, or who is facing foreclosure to call our office as soon as possible. A change to the Florida’s foreclosure law has been passed by the Florida legislature and will go into effect on October 1, 2008. The full implications of this new law are not fully known, but on its face, it appears that this change may limit or preclude last minute bankruptcy filings to prevent foreclosure.
Your best course of action, therefore, is to contact our office as soon as you realize that you are in trouble with your mortgage. You can reach our office at 813-345-5954.
|
