foreclosure question

[justbroke]

The bank is following a process. They will only tell you to leave in the next 3 days (Notice to Quit/Vacate in 3 Days or you will face an eviction.) You would simply contact the foreclosure (or loss mitigation) department at the bank.

Personally, I might start packing 1-2 boxes a week just to be ahead of the curve. Who knows... it could be 12 months before they actually foreclose. No one can predict the process these days.

[coak1875]

Justbroke what is MFJ, I am like rikamaroo, i just got a notice in my door that says legal papers need to be serve kindly call. When I saw that I checked public records and notice lis penden filed on 11/21/2011. Do you think that I should wait to get serve and contact the attorney for cash for keys now? I do not intent to respond to the 20 day notice especially since i will not be keeping the house anyway. After getting the notice i planned a move out date for Mar 31st, 2012. Do you think that is reasonable.

[chiwawa]

How about Lis Pendens in California? Can I delay foreclosure by hire an attorney in California?
Thank you

[jimbo367]

I think it's crazy not to answer the summons & complaint, your answer alone slows the entire process up.

It can be a simple answer you can Google samples, when you answer the bank has to serve you each step and wait your reply to each phase, you need not reply but it slows it all down.

Save the payments for a new house or rental.

Depending on the state, you can live free for years.

[justbroke]

Justbroke what is MFJ, I am like rikamaroo, i just got a notice in my door that says legal papers need to be serve kindly call. When I saw that I checked public records and notice lis penden filed on 11/21/2011.

I am guessing that this is a Motion for Foreclosure Judgment. The "lis pendens" is a type of notification recorded in the public record to inform everyone that there is a "lawsuit pending" regarding the subject property.

Do you think that I should wait to get serve and contact the attorney for cash for keys now? I do not intent to respond to the 20 day notice especially since i will not be keeping the house anyway. After getting the notice i planned a move out date for Mar 31st, 2012. Do you think that is reasonable.

It's always good to respond, but even your response could speed up things. Unless you have a defense to the various statements made in the Complaint (Foreclosure Lawsuit), you just give them ammunition. For example, some people will say "I didn't pay because I was waiting for a modification". Well, they just affirmed that they didn't pay. How to craft a response is important. IN any case, any response will in fact slow things down in most cases.

I can't give you any legal advice, but not responding will not put you out any sooner than March 31, 2012. In fact, many foreclosures are taking many days in Florida. The bank would still need to go through "mediation" before any foreclosure could be done (in Florida). That alone would delay the case some more.

In fact, if you fight it by hiring an attorney, you could delay it for many months. Typical costs are $1,000-$1,500 for foreclosure representation in Florida. (BE VERY CAREFUL, some of them charge monthly retainers so I don't recommend those services for a person who just wants a short delay.) Florida foreclosures had been taking 720+ days to reach judgment. I think that time will now start to diminish now that the banks have their new procedures and process in place.

If the lender is on top of the ball, the fact is that you could have about 90 days before a foreclosure sale would ever occur (from service of the complaint). Answering the complaint would delay it more, if you answer correctly. That could delay another 30-60 days making the total time period 120-150 days (4-5 months). Hiring a foreclosure defense attorney could delay much longer... 9-12 months.

As suggested, save your money now. Think about what you want to do. You may actually have a real defense to foreclosure -- due to various issues with paperwork -- that could cause a delay. The bank would rather not spend a lot of money foreclosing, so then using the paperwork issues as leverage for a deed in lieu (cash for keys) may be an advantage.

As always, you will need to look at your financial goals and what you're willing to spend or not spend to defend the foreclosure lawsuit.