Mortgage Foreclosure Lawyer
Serving Perry County, Juniata County, and New Bloomfield, PA
If financial issues are troubling you, perhaps the most frightening thing on your mind is the possibility of your family losing its home. Even the most fundamental aspects of life, such as safety and access to education, become uncertain when you don’t know where you or your family will live. Your home is much more than an investment, and you need a lawyer who understands that.
There are a number of legal options available to you if you are facing a foreclosure. Your New Bloomfield mortgage foreclosure lawyer can help you find legal relief during this difficult time. To begin, call us at Czekaj Law, LLC to speak with an experienced foreclosure lawyer today at (717) 275-9770 .
Foreclosure Process in Pennsylvania
Foreclosures can be a long and arduous process. Your attorney can fight for you and your family during this time in order to make sure that your rights are protected as you seek to keep your home. The foreclosure process includes the following steps:
- The Demand Letter – Before a lender can file a foreclosure against a homeowner, Pennsylvania law requires that the lender send the homeowner a demand letter informing the homeowner that they are in default. This letter is legally required to explain a number of details to the homeowner including how they can cure the default, and consequences of a failure to cure.
- The Notice of Intent to Foreclose – This notice from a lender to a homeowner is required by law. It must be given at least 30 days before foreclosure is filed, and it must also give the homeowner the opportunity to cure.
- The Foreclosure Lawsuit – Pennsylvania law requires that all lenders must file a lawsuit in state court in order to begin a foreclosure against a homeowner. Once at this stage, your Central Pennsylvania foreclosure attorney can argue in court on your behalf against the lender. This strategy may be best for you if your foreclosure defense attorney feels that the lender has perhaps committed an error in the process, and such an error would cause the court to rule in your favor.
There are a variety of actions that your attorney can help you with before a foreclosure is formally filed against you. If you have fallen behind on your mortgage in Juniata County, Perry County, or anywhere in Central Pennsylvania, call your real estate foreclosure attorney as soon as possible.
Mortgage Modifications
A Czekaj Law, LLC lawyer can help you modify your mortgage in order to prevent the foreclosure process if you have fallen behind on your mortgage payments. A mortgage modification is different than refinancing your mortgage. Refinancing is when you take a new loan to pay your old loan, but it might be very difficult to refinance if you are behind on your payments. In a mortgage modification, we can help you by negotiating with your lender to adjust the terms of your mortgage so as to make it easier for you to prevent a foreclosure action.
It is possible to negotiate any new terms with your lender. After a successful negotiation, your mortgage may include one or several of the following changes:
- Missed payments rolled into the loan principal
- Reducing your interest rate
- Extending the term of your loan
- Reducing your monthly payments
Modifying your mortgage may take several months, and your lender will be willing to negotiate with your lawyer if they determine that modifying your mortgage will cost them less filing an expensive and lengthy foreclosure suit against you.
A modification can help prevent you from needing to file for bankruptcy. Additionally, your lawyer in New Bloomfield will very possibly negotiate a mortgage modification if you are in a bankruptcy proceeding. We can negotiate with your lender with the objective of easing your mortgage obligations in order to keep you in your home.
Other Measures to Prevent Foreclosure
While we can help you modify your mortgage with your lender, we also have experience in using a variety of other legal approaches to help you prevent a foreclosure. Some of these legal processes include:
- Pre-Foreclosure Forbearance Plan – A forbearance plan can occur if you are able and willing to pay a certain amount of your missed payments in a time period to be determined with your lender. This is different than a mortgage modification since this approach would not alter the terms of your mortgage. This plan may be up to six months long, and it would be an easy course of action if you are ready to simply catch up on your missed payments.
- Litigation – We have the knowledge and experience to argue on your behalf against your lender in court during a foreclosure lawsuit. This might be an ideal strategy if together we determine that your lender is legally wrong in their foreclosure suit against you. Of the many thousands of mortgages in Pennsylvania, there are always a number of instances where the lender is violating the rights of the homeowner or is simply acting in error.
- Chapter 13 Reorganization – You may be wondering if bankruptcy will stop foreclosure. It can in many circumstances. If you file for a Chapter 13 reorganization bankruptcy, we will likely negotiate with your lender to make your payments easier during this three to five year process. This would allow for you to keep your home and reorganize all of your debts. Unlike a simple mortgage modification, this negotiation is done within bankruptcy court and your lender must abide by any determination made by the court.
- Chapter 7 Liquidation – We can help you liquidate your debts in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but in this circumstance you will possibly lose your home since your mortgage was secured by the property itself. Once the process is finalized, you will not owe anything further to the lender. This could be an ideal course of action if you are ready to walk away from the home after a period of several months.
- Short Sale – A short sale occurs when you sell the home for less than what you still owe on the mortgage. In a situation such as this, we could negotiate with your lender so that they accept the price of the sale as a fulfillment of your total mortgage even though they will be paid less than your outstanding mortgage balance. Your lender may agree to this since they would determine that it would not cost them as much money as going through a foreclosure suit against you.
Our Mortgage Foreclosure Lawyer Can Help You
Losing your home can be one of the most stressful and devastating things to happen to your family. You have legal options when you fall behind on your mortgage payments, and it is important to have a lawyer who understands the legal processes of mortgage and foreclosure law in Central Pennsylvania. Czekaj Law, LLC offers you and your family an experienced approach to these issues. Call your Perry County mortgage foreclosure lawyer today at (717) 275-9770 .