Why We Need A Timeline To Meet With You On A Wrongful Foreclosure Case
foreclosure sign in front of a home
If you are facing a foreclosure, or even if you have been foreclosed, why do I need a timeline to meet with you?
Because under state and federal laws, dates are very important when dealing with a foreclosure. What might be legal if done in 30 days might be illegal if done in 29 days.
Think of a football game — the whole game can be won or lost based on mere inches.
The same is true of foreclosures and dates.
So when you bring us a timeline, it let’s us see whether the mortgage company has been following the law or it hasn’t been following the law as it relates to a foreclosure.
An example under RESPA is you can do letters called Notice of Error letters and Request for Information letters. There are very strict time limits that the mortgage company must follow when they get your letter.
You send them a letter, they get it, they have five business days to acknowledge it. If they don’t, then they break the law with respect to that letter.
Then, from the date they get the letter, thirty business days forward, now they have to substantively respond to it. If you ask for information, they have to give you information.
If they don’t, they break the law.
You say, “Hey, you made an error.” Maybe an error in denying my loan modification or rejecting my payments or force placing insurance or putting this on my credit report in a certain way. Whatever it is. They get that notice of error letter on this day, thirty business days forward, they’ve got to respond and say either, “We did not make an error and we’re not fixing it” (and they better be right when they do that), or, “Okay, we made an error. We’re going to fix it.”
If they don’t, they break the law.
And breaking this law is up to $2,000 for every single violation.
As far as the timeline to foreclose, there’s a certain period of time that has to pass by before they can actually do the foreclosure.
If you properly apply for loss mitigation, things such as a loan modification, short sale, etc. within a certain period of time, it has to immediately stop the foreclosure. Dates are very, very important in a foreclosure case. Maybe more important than any other type of case that we handle.
When we ask for a timeline, it’s not just to make you do work — instead we’re saying, “Help me understand these dates, going all the way back here. Everything that happened up to the foreclosure, if it’s happened, or the threat of foreclosure.”
Then, when we can look at that, we can talk about that timeline together and say, “Did they do something wrong?” If they did, what are your options?
Or, “Hey, has the mortgage company done everything right?” Okay, well, what are our options now?
I hope that this is helpful to you.
If you would like more information … Maybe you’re facing a foreclosure or you’ve already had a foreclosure … Give us a call, (205) 879-2447. Or you can contact us through this website and we’ll be happy to help you.
Have a great day and thanks for watching the video or reading this article.
PS — we have a comprehensive video training course that is free if you live in the state of Alabama — it is designed to help you fully understand your options when facing a foreclosure. Some have said it is too detailed and everyone is amazed at the amount of information we are giving away in this video series. This is designed to be as good as a full consultation with with a foreclosure defense lawyer — but its free.
I think you’ll like it if you are serious about working to save your home so check it out by clicking video series on stopping wrongful foreclosures. After you go through this, it makes any meeting or call we have much better as you will know more about state and federal law related to foreclosure than 99% of attorneys in Alabama.