BANKRUPTCY WILL STOP FORECLOSURE IN FLORIDA

There are good Tampa Florida foreclosure defense firms that can help you fight against your foreclosure and give you the time you need to get a loan modification, short sale, or deed in lieu of foreclosure. However, filing for bankruptcy in Florida should always be a viable option during your foreclosure defense whether your ultimate goal is to keep or to surrender your home. A Florida Bankruptcy Attorney explains:

A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can help get rid of (or strip off) your Second or Third Mortgages or home equity lines of credit (HELOC)

If your goal is to remain in the home, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy might be your best option. Your attorney can discuss with you how you can repay everything you own on the home over a long period of time.

If your goal is to surrender your home, debtors are well advised to consider filing for Chapter 7 to avoid a deficiency judgment.

Here’s what to expect if you DON’T contact a Tampa Foreclosure Attorney like Pikramenos Law Group:

You will be served with a Complaint and a Lis Pendens after you have become delinquent paying your mortgage. These are usually served between 90 and 120 days of being late on your mortgage payments. A lis pendens means “suit pending” and is a document filed with the court to notify of pending litagation. The document is filed with the county courthouse by the mortgage lender and indicates that the lender will sue for the money owed. The lis pendens acts as an encumbrance to your property because it states a claim to property. To sell a home all encumbrances must be cleared before transferring unless the buyer wants to inherit them (which isn’t likely).
After you are served you have a very short period of time within which to respond. From this date the ENTIRE foreclosure process in Florida will usually take a minimum of 150 days.
If you do not answer the Complaint, a judge will most likely grant a Default Judgment against you allowing the foreclosure process to proceed. Contacting a Florida Foreclosure Attorney will assure that you slow the process and can assert the most appropriate legal defenses to this Complaint and Lis Pendens.
At the foreclosure sale, your bank is typically the high bidder and will be issued title to the property within 10 days. Any tenants residing on the premises can then be evicted in approximately 10 days.
Once the foreclosure sale is complete, the right of redemption (the homeowner’s right to buy back the property for the full amount) is shut off and your only defenses that may be raised are improper auction sale procedures causing the property to sell for far lower than the property’s value. If redemption does not occur, there will be an auction or a “sheriff’s sale”. At the county courthouse, the highest bidder will take the home. The mortgage lender’s rights will have been terminated and will then transfer title over to the highest bidder within 10 days.
If the highest bid amount does not clear the loan amount, there will be a deficiency. The lender can still collect on this deficiency against you as an unsecured debt, just like a credit card lender. The Pikramenos Law Group can help achieve waiver of deficiencies so that you will not be held responsible for this.

Foreclosure Defense Options
Any homeowner facing either bankruptcy or foreclosure in Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Pasco or Bradenton is well advised to Contact a Tampa Foreclosure Attorney. A foreclosure can be detrimental to your credit for many years. There are ways to stop a foreclosure including filing for bankruptcy, redemption, short sales, and transferring a deed in lieu. Filing a Chapter 13 may even work to keep your home. Working to modify your loan through a Loan Modification process may also make it possible to keep your home.