TAKE THE FORECLOSURE MACHINE HEAD ON BY

TAKING ACTION EARLY!

Are you facing the possibility of foreclosure of your primary residence or investment property?   Have you already been served with letters from your bank demanding payment, Default Letters, a Notice of Acceleration or a Foreclosure Complaint?

Have you attempted to handle the problem on your own by calling your bank to ask for help, and been met with the frustration of never having the opportunity to speak with the same bank employee twice and/or been told conflicting information by your bank each time you call? 

Have you sent financial paperwork to your bank over and over again, only to be told months later it was never received and therefore they claim it is too late to help you?

Were you the victim of deceptive lending practices by your bank or mortgage broker?

Our State of Florida is in an unprecedented mortgage crisis and Florida real estate market statistics are staggering.  1 in every 64 houses in Palm Beach County, FL, 1 in 110 houses in Broward County and 1 in 171 houses in Miami-Dade County is currently in foreclosure.[1]    

Like many Floridians, you may be experiencing your own financial hardship and have questions about what to do and where to turn.  Whether you fear you are heading for default, your payments are overdue, or you have been served with foreclosure papers, now is the time to take action and gain control of the situation.  The earlier you address the problem of default, the better.  The greater number of options may exist for those homeowners who understand that time is of the essence.  Do not wait, be proactive! 

At Ermel Law, we aggressively litigate foreclosure actions on behalf of homeowners.  You may have read about law firms that focus on delaying litigation as much as possible so that the homeowner has more time in his home.  Unfortunately this is a short sighted approach; we all know that if the only defense is to throw pleadings at the Court for purpose of delay, the day will eventually come when the party is over and a foreclosure judgment is entered. 

Our philosophy is much different.  We do not use the courts as a tool to delay the foreclosure process.  When hired to represent homeowners, we identify and discuss realistic options with our clients.  Those are options that will prove to be strategic and successful as applied to each client's individual situation.  Our objective for every client is to provide as much predictability as possible for the future.  For some clients, that means an aggressive defense due to valid legal defenses that must be asserted due to fraudulent loan practices, failure to comply with the federal Truth in Lending Act, failure to prove ownership of the note, or failure to locate the original note corresponding to the loan.  In other cases, it means loan modification, short sale or deed-in-lieu so that our homeowner clients obtain closure to their default situation in order to move on with their lives and rebuild their credit. 

In addition to being skilled litigators, our firm is different because we are professionals who understand the business of real estate.  We study the South Florida real estate market daily and understand the fundamental correlation between the market, lending practices, mortgages and real estate foreclosure law.  The market and the law are intertwined in the world of Florida real estate foreclosures, and we believe it is critical to the legal defense of homeowners to incorporate this belief into our practice.  We know how lenders are analyzing their short sale files and the variables upon which they are focused at that particular time…what it takes to get the short sale approval through the primary lender, investor pipeline and secondary lender…how to prepare our clients so that they are able to maximize leverage at mediation…we know which banks are offering Cash for Keys settlements and how to negotiate a favorable deed-in-lieu settlement.  Most importantly, we are aware early on in the process as to whether loan modification is a legitimate goal or not and we advise our clients accordingly so they can make intelligent decisions based on the information at hand.

We all ask ourselves why it is so hard to get a loan modification with reasonable terms these days.  The answer is simple if you understand how banks think and operate.  Banks view real estate from the standpoint of asset protection, investment and valuation standpoint, not from a legal standpoint.  Banks want to know whether they can turn your non-performing loan into a performing loan via modification and how much time that is going to take.  If the bank cannot create a performing loan within a reasonable time frame, their focus then shifts to how much your property is worth and what is the timeframe in which they can sell it. 

There are inalienable rights bestowed on all Florida property owners.  Why not do everything you can to know your options and defenses, so that you can intelligently make decisions about your future and protect those rights?  There are options out there. We may be able to help you save your home and are committed to making sure your property rights are protected. 

For more information, please visit the Ermel Foreclosure Blog, Questions about Florida Foreclosure page and sign up for our monthly Ermel Law Tribune- Perspectives on Real Estate for the most up-to-date information on Florida real estate, Florida housing prices and trends, updates on Florida and Federal legislation affecting Florida foreclosures, and news affecting mortgages and banks.