Many Florida residents are able to diligently make their mortgage loan payments each month. They continue to do so believing that they will not have to face home foreclosure. However, one couple found out that mistakes were made by their mortgage loan servicing companies. Now, after eight years of fighting, they are being forced out of their home.
The couple was able to produce documentation that proves they made every mortgage payment. One of the loan servicing companies that owned their mortgage loan mistakenly applied one of the couple’s payments to someone else’s account. The victory was short lived, however.
Two years later when another company purchased the loan, it claimed that the couple had missed payments. The company was unable to produce the necessary records and was found to be in contempt, but it was not enough to save the couple’s home. The court said that the paperwork provided was enough to substantiate the foreclosure. The couple appealed the decision, but lost.
Sadly, this couple’s plight might not be as rare as many Florida homeowners would choose to believe. The question becomes what homeowners can do to help prevent this from happening to them. Fighting the foreclosure in court might be successful, but there could be another option.
Filing for bankruptcy could help avoid home foreclosure. The stay of execution automatically put into place by the court when the case is filed would stop foreclosure activities until and unless the lender requests the right to continue the proceedings and the bankruptcy court allows it. In the meantime, it is possible that a deal could be worked out with the lender under the supervision of the court that could allow the filer to keep his or her home.
Source: wftv.com, “Action 9: Couple loses foreclosure battle”, Oct. 18, 2016