Category Archives: Foreclosure
How Long to Satisfy a Paid Off Mortgage?
We have helped 3 different clients over the last week to eliminate mortgages and other liens from the public records. In each of the these situations, the loans were satisfied, but the lien holders (lenders / banks) failed to record a satisfaction or release. Of course, we didn’t know this until after we filed… Read More »
Reforeclosure Helps Remove Omitted Junior Liens
Recently, we helped a client who bought real estate at a foreclosure sale but realized that the plaintiff’s attorneys forgot to include a junior lien in the foreclosure lawsuit. Luckily, there is a process in Florida to eliminate that junior lien, even after the foreclosure lawsuit is complete and the property is sold at… Read More »
Help! The IRS has a Lien on my House!
When I meet with a client who has owes money to the IRS, we determine whether the IRS has filed a lien against real property or if the IRS is trying to collect a debt owed by the client, or both. Despite contrary language in the Florida Constitution, federal tax liens can be enforced against… Read More »
After Divorce And Bankruptcy, Am I Responsible To Pay Attorney Fees In Foreclosure?
I received another question from a listener of The Crushing Debt Podcast: I was divorced 8 years ago and my ex-wife got the house in the divorce. I had to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy 4 years ago. Recently, I was served foreclosure documents because my ex-wife isn’t paying on the house anymore. Will I… Read More »
Can I sell my house when I have an IRS lien?
Federal tax liens can be enforced against homestead property. However, in my experience, the IRS will not enforce a lien against a property with a purchase money mortgage (where the homeowner uses the loan to buy the house). If the IRS is first to be recorded first in time (like against a second mortgage… Read More »
The Foreclosure Has Started, Can We Still Sell Our House?
This week we answer another great question from a podcast listener, and one that we’ve answered briefly in other episodes of the Crushing Debt Podcast. This question comes from a listener in Miami, FL, who asks if she can sell her house after receiving an offer for more than what she owes, even though… Read More »
Foreclosure Question: Who Is A Third Party Bidder?
We received an interesting question, “When a holder of a first mortgage, who is a private individual, enters a bid at foreclosure auction greater than the amount of its mortgage, does that mortgage holder’s status change to a third-party bidder for purposes of the safe harbor provision under Florida law?” The simple answer to… Read More »
What Foreclosure Laws Did We Lose In 2017?
December 31, 2016, marked the end of many programs designed to help people in foreclosure: HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program), HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives), HARP (Home Affordable Refinance Program) and MDRA (Mortgage Debt Relief Act). What did we lose and what are the alternatives now that they’re gone? HAMP provided loan modification incentives… Read More »
Foreclosures To Increase In Florida?
On November 3, 2016, the Florida Supreme Court issued a decision that may increase the number of foreclosures filed in the State of Florida, when it issued its decision in Bartram v. U.S. Bank National Association. The Court held that Florida’s five-year statute of limitations applies to payments that are more than five years… Read More »
