Homeowners who receive Notice of Foreclosure must act quickly to protect their home and property rights. There is only a short window of 20 days to respond to lawsuits filed by banks or mortgage lenders, and time is money. Failure to respond within that time can result in a default judgment by the Clerk of the Court being entered against the homeowner, forcing them to pay any amount due in full or lose their home at auction. The Law Offices of David C. Levine, P.A. is prepared to take fast action in order to begin the process of defending homeowners and their property.
When a client comes to us we know the first step to take in defending a foreclosure a law suit to give us time to properly evaluate your individual case so that we can develop a strategy moving forward for attempting to achieve your goals. If pressed for time, we can file a Motion for Enlargement of Time, and this gives us time to meet with the individual home owner and review the particulars of their specific case in order to help the homeowner design legal defense strategy for achieving their goals. Simply by taking these first steps we are empowering the homeowner to negotiate with their bank or mortgage lender in order to create a more favorable result for the homeowner. Based on any evidence we may find that the lender does not have grounds to bring suit, we can file a Motion to Dismiss, a summary dismissal of all charges and claims.
If Motion to Dismiss is denied, the homeowner must offer their formal Answer to the court. The Answer is where we formally admit or deny all of the allegations contained in the Plaintiff’s complaint. Additionally, we assist the homeowner with determining if there are viable Affirmative Defenses that should be asserted to defend the lawsuit. We are knowledgeable in a wide range of Affirmative Defense strategies that have proven effective in defending against foreclosure lawsuits.
At the same time we file an Answer we file our initial Discovery request which includes:Request to Produce, Interrogatories, and Request for Admissions. This step allows us to obtain relevant information and documentation so that we can properly understand and specifically defend the foreclosure case. The information that we are requesting includes communications between the institution and the homeowner and documents relating to loan servicing. If there is any issue with the lender’s documentation this can result in aus filing a Motion to Compel Discovery. And if the information provided reveals a problem with the Plaintiff/Bank’s claim we will utilize these specific facts to defend the lawsuit. All of this takes time, and we’ve all heard the old adage that time is money. Thus, the longer this whole process takes the more financial exposure we create for the banks, and this creates leverage and incentive for the bank to work with the individual home owner to design a reasonable plan moving forward that will allow the home owner to hopefully save their home.
In some cases, we find that the lending institution does not have a claim based on mistakes in the documentation we have obtained. At this time we would be able to file a Motion for Summary Judgment, which is a request that the court dismiss the charges based on our findings. However, if dismissal is denied, the Law Offices of David C. Levine, P.A. are prepared to defend homeowners in foreclosure litigation up to and including trial.