If you have been served in a foreclosure lawsuit, and have not had a final hearing in your case, you are on very dangerous ground. You're in a Foreclosure case, and your time to act is now!
Day in and day out, many of the most infuriating situations I encounter in court are not banks receiving priority treatment at a foreclosure trial or blatant failures by the bank to live up to the loss mitigation options they promise to home owners. It's the "innocent" violations of Florida law that benefit the bank, detrimentally impact a homeowner, who often times are not present. These occur through the process of a active foreclosure case, which may take many years to come to conclusion.
While there is a stabilization, currently borrowers with active foreclosure cases from 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 are still a large part of the current backlog.A large part of the issue is the frequent charge by the legislature and the state to "clear the backlog" which has resulted in a mass setting of cases for Case Management Conferences and Trial. Judges throughout the state are asking banks to set a motion for summary judgment in an active foreclosure case or to set the matter for trial. This is being done when there are clear fact issues or defaults still not entered for named defendants; something that, if unchecked, can create significant due process violations for Florida consumers.Without an experienced foreclosure defense attorney, any consumer in an active foreclosure case is at a huge disadvantage.
This is regardless of whether the case has "been thrown out" or you are told by the bank that they will stop the foreclosure. I've taken cases where a dismissal was entered, then vacated by a bank when the homeowner didn't appear because they thought the case was over. Additionally, I've heard horror stories of Florida home owners being asked by the bank to make a trial loan modification payment, the payment is made, and the bank still tries to go forward to a foreclosure judgment. Until there is a final dismissal and dissolution of a lis pendens, your case is not over. It is still an active foreclosure.If you are facing an active foreclosure lawsuit, it is important you speak with an attorney that knows how a active foreclosure case works, how the law protects you, what your goal in the lawsuit is, and how to use litigation to achieve that goal.