Can The Bank Kick You Out of Your Home Because of a Foreclosure?
Every state has its own specific laws when it comes to foreclosure. In Florida, there is a pre-foreclosure process that banks must follow before they can file a foreclosure action. First, the notice of default must sent by the bank informing the borrower that they are not only in default, but what options they may have and must also adhere to the language of the contract between you and the bank, a.k.a. mortgage.
In Florida, you have the right to reinstate your mortgage by bringing your payments current. This will of course include principal, interest, late fees and if applicable, court costs and attorneys fees. In the event that a borrower does not timely reinstate his or her mortgage, the bank can choose to “accelerate” the mortgage. This basically means that the lender can require you to pay the full balance of the mortgage in order to avoid the foreclosure.
It can take anywhere from a few months to many years to foreclose on a property. The worst thing you can do is to ignore your foreclosure action. The bank will be entitled to an immediate default judgment if you do not timely file a response to the foreclosure complaint. A default judgment means that you have admitted all of the allegations in the foreclosure complaint due to your failure to timely respond (which in Florida is 20 days from the date that you are served with the complaint).
If properly defended by a qualified attorney, your case will take much longer than a couple of months. The banks committed a lot of errors during the most recent real estate boom and are paying the price for it today. Property values were increasing and banks therefore figured that they would not lose any money on their investment (in the event of a default). Well when the real estate market, for lack of a better term “crashed”, the banks found themselves foreclosing on an unprecedented number of borrowers. Foreclosure defense attorneys quickly realized that many of the banks simply did not follow the rules and routinely ignored certain state and federal laws.
One question I get all the time is, “Can the bank kick me out of my house once they file a foreclosure action?” The very simple answer to that is no. The bank cannot kick you out of your house until they prove their case and receive a final judgment of foreclosure. So in general terms, only a court order can force you to leave your home. It is important for homeowners to understand that they are entitled to their day in court and we pride ourselves at The Law Offices of Anthony Surber in vigorously defending your foreclosure. We have the ability to conduct a forensic audit on your mortgage to determine whether or not your bank has complied with both state and federal law. It is not uncommon for banks to deviate from proper procedures and laws.
There are things you can do to stop foreclosure and to resolve your situation without having to face a foreclosure judgment, or giving up your home. If you are dealing with foreclosure, please contact our offices for a free thirty (30) minute consultation.