1. Before a foreclosure can occur, your lender must get a court order allowing the sale. To do that, your lender must first file a lawsuit against you.The lender files a lawsuit and has a summons (a request to appear before a court or a judicial officer) served on everyone who may have some interest in the property. Once the summons has been served, the court has power, or jurisdiction, over the person served, and the person served is a party to the lawsuit.
2. Each person who has an interest in the property (defendant) has twenty days from service of the summons to respond with an answer. If a person fails to file a response to the summons, a default (automatic foreclosure) could be entered.
3. After an answer is filed, the case enters the discovery stage. At this stage we investigate your case and look to see if the lender has all of the legal evidence needed for them to win. Discovery usually involves the exchange and examination of relevant documents; requesting and providing answers to written questions; or live, sworn, witness testimony before a court reporter. The discovery phase may last for a considerable period of time. During this period you are still living in your home or retaining ownership of a rental property.
4. Once discovery is complete and the lender has provided all of the legal evidence to prove their case, one or more of the parties may ask the court to Rule on the case.
5. At a trial of motion for summary judgment hearing, the judge will then make a decision and issue a final order on the case.

If your lender moves to foreclose on your home, defending your foreclosure can buy you time, but most of all, can force your bank to come to the bargaining table and negotiate with you in good faith. Get help from an attorney experienced foreclosure cased to defend you.

How we fight foreclosure

Foreclosure cases, just like any lawsuit, have two sides, two stories, and two potential winners. Florida court procedures are designed to ensure that every party gets a fair chance to present its case. For some homeowners, this may be the first time they have anyone-in this case, the court-looking to protect their rights.

There are two main approaches, which may be used separately or together, to fighting a foreclosure. The first is a vigorous defense and the second is a strong counterattack. A vigorous defense forces the lender to prove their case. The face that you may be behind in your mortgage payments does not give the lender a green light to take your home. The lender has the responsibility to produce evidence to prove each and every part of its case. We work to find gaps or holes in the lender’s evidence. For example, in many cases, the lender may have misplaced or lost critical documents that it needs in order to prove that it has the right to foreclose. In such cases, courts have been willing to throw the foreclosure case out of court entirely.

The other approach is a strong counterattack. Sometimes the lender has in some way violated the many laws and regulations that apply to lenders. Proving a violation may allow you to get a credit that could reduce the amount owed or in some cases, proving a violation may bar the lender from foreclosing at all.

An experienced attorney would be able to advise you on these two approaches after reviewing your court documents and loan paperwork.