Equitable Liens Sometimes a person contributes either money or valuable improvements to someone's property, in exchange for a verbal promise they will receive something in return, such as an ownership interest in the property, repayment, or a part of the proceeds upon sale. Although there is nothing in writing, the party who lent the money [...]
Fraud In a real estate context, “fraud” refers to any number of situations where an individual is misled into entering into a transaction by the other party using lies, deception, or concealment of the true facts, and as a result, the person does not get what they bargained for. Fraud often involves one person taking [...]
Quieting Title A “quiet title” lawsuit is to “wipe clean” the title to real property. This type of action is filed when there is a serious title problem or “cloud” on the title which renders the title unmarketable (meaning you are unable to pass title or obtain a mortgage because of the cloud). The cloud [...]
Real Estate Defects Litigation When real estate is sold in Florida the seller is obligated to inform the buyer of any defects of which the seller knows which are not readily observable, and which materially affect the value of the property. That may be a leaky roof, a septic tank which backs up, a yard [...]
A loan modification is when a lender changes one or more terms of the mortgage. The goal is to lower your payment to one you can afford. The lender may lower your interest rate, change the rate from adjustable to fixed, increase the number of years to pay off the mortgage, and may actually decrease [...]
A short sale is when the lender allows a homeowner to sell a property for less than the mortgage payoff. For example if your property is worth $120,000.00, and the amount of the mortgage is $200,000.00, a bank may agree to let you sell the property for $120,000.00 on a short sale. The bank would [...]
The Deficiency Judgment Once the lender is the high bidder at the foreclosure sale, and owns the property, the lender will list the property for sale. Because the property is upside down, the price it sells for will be less than the amount of the judgment. This creates a loss, or “deficiency” as it is [...]
The foreclosure action will be served on you approximately 90 days after your first missed payment. You have 20 days to file a response. After the response is filed, it takes approximately 45 days before a Summary Judgment Hearing takes place. You then have 35 days until the foreclosure sale. The total time you have [...]
When you buy a house or other property you borrow money from a lender, usually a bank. At the closing, you sign a document called a Mortgage, and another one called a Note (also known as “promissory note”). The Note is a written promise to repay the lender and the Mortgage is an agreement that [...]
I consult with a lot of people lately who are faced with the prospect of losing their homes in foreclosure. Many of them have become ‘upside down’ on their mortgages; the balance of their mortgage is greater than the value of the property. People whose mortgages are upside down have no good options. They have [...]