Mobile Foreclosure Defense Attorney

The foreclosure process begins as soon as you miss a mortgage payment. Once that happens, your lender gains the right to foreclose on your home for as long as you owe this debt. In most situations, your lender will send at least one warning before formally notifying you that it intends to foreclose.

It’s important to act as soon as possible because lenders can foreclose within 30 days of their notice. If you allow this process to occur unchallenged, you could lose your home in a foreclosure sale and remain liable for the unpaid balance on your mortgage (known as a deficiency balance).

Remember: You can’t get your home back after a foreclosure sale, so it’s vital to discuss your situation with a foreclosure defense lawyer in Mobile as soon as possible. We can also walk you through what happens during foreclosure and what your next steps should be.

You might think there’s nothing you can do to stop foreclosure, but this is incorrect. Foreclosure – and all collection actions your creditors may have against you – can freeze when you file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

As soon as you file for bankruptcy, the court will order an automatic stay against collection actions. This means that your creditors can’t leverage legal recourse to collect payment until your bankruptcy case settles. The automatic stay can prevent foreclosure if your lender has yet to file and it can also stop foreclosure in its tracks if it's already underway.

Many people assume that once their home is foreclosed on, they’re off the hook with their lender. However, that’s not always the case. It’s possible that even after your house has been foreclosed on, you may still owe your lender money if they are unable to get the sufficient mortgage amount by reselling your home. This is called a “deficiency.” If your lender is unable to recover enough money from the sale of the house to cover your debt, they may be able to get a deficiency judgment against you, which allows them to sue you for the difference.

After receiving a foreclosure letter you still have several options if you act quickly. Most lenders provide a 4 week notice period in which you can take steps to stop the foreclosure by doing any of the following:

• Reinstatement - Some lenders may allow you to make a payment to bring your loan back up to the current amount, this is known as reinstatement. By reinstating your loan your lender may choose not to foreclose on your home.
• Filing for Bankruptcy - If you are unable to make your payments your best option may be to file for bankruptcy. By filing for bankruptcy you may be able to get an automatic stay which temporarily prevents your lender from foreclosing on your home.

Once your house has been sold, there isn’t much you can do to get it back without redeeming the property by paying the full amount to purchase the home back from your lenders. Alabama law allows homeowners up to 1 year after their foreclosure to redeem their home (Alabama Code Title 6. Civil Practice § 6-5-248). However, if you fail to move out of the home within 10 days after the lender gives you a written demand for possession, you will lose your right to redeem the home.

The automatic stay only persists for as long as your bankruptcy case is ongoing, which may only be as long as you need to plan a move to somewhere else. If you don’t want to lose your home, though, you can fight to keep it by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

While Chapter 7 can eliminate certain unsecured debts outright, Chapter 13 allows debtors to consolidate and reorganize their debt – including secured debt like mortgage arrears – and pay it off within three to five years. This makes Chapter 13 a powerful tool you can use to save your home if your debt is primarily mortgage debt.