Florida’s Original Foreclosure Defense Firm.

STAMATAKIS + THALJ

AFFORDABLE, EFFECTIVE Foreclosure Defense program.

Why do I need Foreclosure Defense? When you do not pay your mortgage, State law requires your lender to sue you in order to take back possession of the home. Your bank will hire a foreclosure lawyer, who will begin by sending you a ‘nasty-gram’ otherwise known as a Demand Letter. They will demand payment of the past due amount or repayment of the entire loan (this is called loan acceleration because they are accelerating the payoff time from 30 years to 30 days) within 30 days. If you do not pay then they will sue you. This is called a Foreclosure lawsuit.

How will I know that I have been sued? You will be served with the foreclosure lawsuit by a process server. The foreclosure lawsuit itself usually consists of a number of papers (about 30-50 pages in length). The papers will include the Summons, Complaint, and a copy of the Mortgage. As most have already noticed, the one thing that will be missing from the foreclosure lawsuit paperwork is the Promissory Note (we will discuss this controversial topic later).

TIP #1: Because banks are filing 55,000 -60,000 foreclosure lawsuits against Floridians every month, often times the process serves take 2 months to serve the foreclosure lawsuit after it has been filed in court. If your mailbox starts filling up with various advertisements from bankruptcy attorneys, realtors, mortgage brokers, loan modification companies (all scam artists and usually illegal), and people claiming that they will buy your home for cash (definitely a scam), then you can be sure that a foreclosure lawsuit has been filed against you. When the bank files a foreclosure lawsuit they simultaneously file a Lis Pendins (otherwise known as an LP), a fancy term for a piece of paper that puts all would-be buyers and title companies on notice that the bank will not allow you to clear the title to sell the property. The LP is a public record that is accessed by all these various vendors who use these lists as their mailing lists. Bottomline – junk mail means you have been sued.

TIP #2: Click here for a view of our mailer. Call us and throw the rest of them away.

What can I expect from a foreclosure lawsuit? Once you have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit, you will have 20-30 days to respond (some foreclosure law firms give people 20 days some give 30 days, but we would argue that federal law requires 30 days). If you  fail to file a response the bank will enter a Clerical Default against you. This Default does not require a hearing or even a Judge’s approval. It is merely a certification by the Clerk of Courts that you have not responded to the foreclosure lawsuit. Once the Default has been entered, the bank’s foreclosure lawyers will begin supplementing the court’s file with the required paperwork and move for a Summary Judgment against you and the property.

How long does a Default Foreclosure action take in Florida? If you do nothing in response to your foreclosure lawsuit, then the bank will have your house ready for foreclosure sale within 6-8 months after the lawsuit is served. This number represents an average and is based on our experience in this legal field for the last decade. Our experienced foreclosure defense attorneys can change these time frames.

TIP #3: Media outlets and consumers alike have spread misinformation regarding the timeframe of the average foreclosure lawsuit. While we do agree that in some cases foreclosure has taken a year or two even when the homeowner does not contest the  foreclosure lawsuit, most foreclosures are completed in the 6-8 month time frame discussed earlier. If your plan is to not do anything and hope that you get another year in the house before you are kicked out then the law of averages says you will be disappointed.

What do I do once I have been sued? Consult with our foreclosure defense attorneys immediately. If our foreclosure defense attorneys file the initial response to the bank’s foreclosure lawsuit within the first 20 days then the timeframe of the foreclosure lawsuit will usually be greatly increased. Don’t be discouraged if it has been more then twenty days, our foreclosure defense attorneys can still extend the timeframes in most cases. Our foreclosure defense attorneys will provide a real defense to the foreclosure lawsuit while participating in discovery and negotiating a final outcome with the bank and the banks’ foreclosure attorneys.

Can I defend myself? Technically yes, but your bank’s foreclosure attorney will roll over you as if you were not there. Plus, I wouldn’t expect much help from the Judges who will likely sweep you and your ‘defenses’ to the side.

I am trying to sell my house, can my realtor stop the foreclosure? NO. If your realtor tells you otherwise then they are flat out lying to you. Do not risk sacrificing your legal rights because your realtor does not want you to explore your foreclosure options by consulting an experienced foreclosure defense attorney.

If I hire STAMATAKIS + THALJI‘s foreclosure defense attorneys, how long can you keep me in my home? The answer to this question depends on what your goals are and what you are willing to do to stay in the home. Our foreclosure defense lawyers will fight for every single day in the home and can often times double, triple, quadruple (or even more) the timeframes of a usual foreclosure lawsuit. Many of our original GREAT RECESSION cases (from 2007) are still pending in courts around the State of Florida. If you are a BANKRUPTCY candidate then a well timed BANKRUPTCY may delay a foreclosure lawsuit for an additional year or longer.

How long is a Foreclosure Judgement enforceable against me? Florida law allows creditors to collect on foreclosure judgments for 20 years.

Will my friends and family (or even enemies) know that I have a judgment against me? Foreclosure judgments are published on the internet by the local Clerk of Courts for all the world to see.

Am I responsible for DEFICIENCY JUDGMENTS after Foreclosure? YES. Florida law says that the bank can pursue you for the foreclosure deficiency for 20 years after the foreclosure judgment. If your realtor or loan mod con-artist tell you otherwise then fire them immediately because they are either lying to you or do not know what they are talking about.

I have heard that banks do not pursue deficiencies after foreclosure? Is that what you heard? Unfortunately, I can tell you our foreclosure defense lawyers are defending these exact cases. They will become more and more prevalent once the economy starts to pickup steam.

How can your FORECLOSURE DEFENSE attorneys help me? In a number of different ways. Once we begin defending your foreclosure lawsuit we will gain the time and leverage needed to achieve your ultimate goals. Do you want a LOAN MODIFICATION? Our foreclosure defense attorneys will work on your loan modification for you. More importantly, we will delay the foreclosure lawsuit as long as possible to allow you to build up savings and/or find a job to afford your loan modification. Do you want to sell your house? Our foreclosure defense attorneys offers SHORT SALE services along with our affiliated realtors to help you sell your house while simultaneously avoiding a foreclosure judgment and staying in the house as long as possible (to save as much money as possible to help you land on your feet). Are you a BANKRUPTCY candidate? You can consult with our Bankruptcy Attorneys to determine if a Chapter 7 liquidation or Chapter 13 reorganization is right for you. Our foreclosure defense attorneys can help you stay in the house as long as possible before filing to help put you in a better long term position no matter what your goals.

Attorneys are expensive, how can I afford a foreclosure defense lawyer? Easily. Our foreclosure defense attorneys offer our famous dollar a day foreclosure defense program. For a $500 retainer and $1 per day we will defend your foreclosure as long as it takes. Our rates are designed to help you afford and save for the much needed additional services like LOAN MODIFICATION and BANKRUPTCY.

TIP #4: Be on the lookout for foreclosure defense attorneys offering a foreclosure defense for a large monthly fee (usually $250 – $1000 per month). Many of our clients are former clients of these so-called foreclosure defense lawyers. We can tell you that many of these foreclosure defense attorneys do not have much experience with mortgage foreclosure and are only doing it now because it seems like easy money (but it is not if you truly have the client’s best interest in mind). Their fees are expensive, do not take into account the fact that the client will need to pay more money for a future service like LOAN MODIFICATION or BANKRUPTCY, and most importantly, these foreclosure defense attorneys do NOT know how to file a BANKRUPTCY or negotiate a LOAN MODIFICATION. There is a reason why our foreclosure defense attorneys created the first true foreclosure defense law firm and still maintain the largest presence in the State, simply put our foreclosure defense program is the best on the market.

How does STAMATAKIS + THALJI know so much about FORECLOSURE DEFENSE? That is easy, we used to work for banks foreclosing people out of their homes. Fresh out of law school, Scott Stamatakis took a job at Florida Default, the State’s largest bank foreclosure law firm. In just a couple of years he became their leading foreclosure litigator handling many big clients like Bank of America. Once we started our law firm we began doing what we know, representing smaller banks with a vision of becoming one of the biggest bank foreclosure mills in the State. That dream was soon crushed by the tough realization that the people we were foreclosing were real and in real pain. Our personalities simply did not fit with such a lifestyle. Our live and let live attitudes were not a good match for the bank foreclosure game. But, our experience in the industry helped us identify the foreclosure crisis well in advance and after taking a huge leap of faith (by firing all of our bank clients) we soon embarked on a journey that has led us to this point. Our foreclosure defense program is a well crafted system that is based on a fundamental understanding on the innermost workings of the bank foreclosure law firms.

If you are in foreclosure or threat of foreclosure then call us today for your FREE CONSULTATION. I know our foreclosure defense attorneys will help.