Can I Dispute a Foreclosure Action on My Home?

 

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Can I dispute a foreclosure action on my home?  The answer to that is yes you can.  In Florida we are a judicial foreclosure state, which means that the person who holds your mortgage, must file a lawsuit called a mortgage foreclosure action against you and you will be served with the papers. That is usually done by a process server.  The summons provides that you have 20 days in which to respond.  That is the best time to engage an attorney and to file a response. That is how you dispute the mortgage foreclosure action in the event that there is some allegation in the complaint that is not correct.

 

So if you want to dispute it and try and save your home, the courts have set up what they call mediation.  And you can take advantage of mediation once you receive the summons and ask the court to send you to a mediator which will be automatic.  If you want to participate in mediation to try and resolve the foreclosure action, you need to file certain paperwork such as your financial statements to send to the lender.  If the foreclosure action is just flat wrong and you have made all your payments and you are not in default well then the attorney would file an answer to the complaint.  I think that you would be well served by hiring a lawyer to handle this because you are governed by the rules of civil procedure and it would be an expense to you.  But that’s the best way to bring forward any defenses you have to a mortgage foreclosure action.

 

So the best time to defend a mortgage foreclosure action as soon as you receive the summons which has attached to it the mortgage foreclosure complaint.  We do any number of foreclosure defense cases and attempt to get mortgage modifications, participate in mediation as well as defend and try mortgage foreclosure cases to try and save your home for you.

 

If you have any questions, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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How Long Do I Have to Wait to Qualify for a New Mortgage After a Short Sale?

 

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How long do I have to wait before I can obtain a mortgage if I sell my property in a short sale?  You have to wait at least a minimum of two years before you are able to apply for a mortgage if you have been foreclosed by a federally insured lending institution.  Some lenders may require a longer waiting period than two years but that’s the minimum and you need to of course have your credit recover since that period of time.  There is certainly no harm in applying to refinance or obtain a mortgage on your home after a short sale.

 

So if you have any questions about that, well give me a call at 847-2288.

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Can I Pay a Family Member to Be My Caregiver?

 

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Can I pay a family member to be my caregiver?  The answer is yes you can and it’s called a personal services contract and is used to help qualify people for Medicaid.  If you would like to see about qualifying for Medicaid I suggest that you give my office a call and ask to speak to Jaleh or Thomas Mitchell.  They do elder law and are familiar with and can provide you with a personal services contract.  It’s important that you do sign a contract for paying a relative for your personal care because if you do not, and then when you pass away, they will have a difficult time receiving any compensation from your estate for their services because they are not liquidated. We do not know how much you have agreed to pay them and furthermore it is presumed, if they are a family member that they were doing it for love rather than for money.

 

So, if you would like to set up a personal services contract, give my office a call and ask to set up an appointment with Jaleh and/or Mr. Mitchell and they will be glad to prepare the contract for you.

 

Give us a call at 847-2288.

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Does It Cost Money to Refinance My Home?

 

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Does it cost money to refinance my home?  The answer is yes it usually does.  You usually have to go through the entire underwriting process and have to pay various fees.  There are some programs such as a streamline FHA or a VA program where the costs are minimal.  At one time there was a program involving mortgages that were not in default for a period of two years which is the making homes affordable wherein there were not any costs to refinance your property or modify your mortgage.  But by in large, you have to go through the underwriting and pay the fees.  They may not be quite as much as what they were when you initially got your mortgage but yes, you will have to pay to have your mortgage on your home refinanced.

 

One of the savings you can have is if you have your owner’s title insurance policy, if you contact me I will be glad to give you a credit towards your refinancing and when you do apply for refinancing. And you can designate who you wish to have at closing and who would be your title agent and assist you with the paperwork.

 

My phone number is 727-847-2288.  Thank you.

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Should I Invest In a Vacation Rental Property?

 

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Should I invest in a vacation rental property?  Well these are usually timeshares and my experience over the years with timeshares are is that you use them maybe once or twice and after that you get very tired of paying for the dues that are required or the yearly assessments.  And I will tell you that there is a very, very limited resale market for timeshares.  They’re very difficult to get rid of.  Sometimes I tell folks that ask me about it; it’s sort of like having the plague, you can’t get rid of them.  Also the value of timeshares or what you pay for timeshares, a very, very high percentage of that purchase price has to go into marketing and that the actual value of the timeshare is not that much and that they have to spend a lot of money to market the timeshares.

 

Now recently I don’t know if this question that was posed to me was not directed to timeshares but I think that to finish up on timeshares is that think long and hard before you buy a timeshare.  And you need to be sure that you want to use it.  You can trade them if you are ready to travel and I think that there’s any number of ones now where you get points so you don’t necessarily have a fixed time period.  So if you use it I think it’s great but don’t call it an investment because I don’t think you’re gonna get your money out of it.  You’ve got to use it or it’s of no use and they’re very difficult to get rid of.

 

Now I was about to talk about vacation rental properties and that there is a new phenomena or use of property now.  In some communities they don’t have any restrictions on single-family homes and you rent them out on a weekly basis.  Now in Pasco County they do have a restriction and you have to get particular land use for zoning for a property to be able to use them as a vacation rental property.  So if you’re an investor and wanting to buy that type of property, well I think it’s a good investment but you’re running a hotel and it’s high maintenance as far as managing the property.  So investing in a vacation time rental, particularly if it’s a timeshare, think long and hard before you do it because once you buy it, you’re not gonna get your money back and it’s very hard to get rid of.  So if you have any questions about them you can give me a call.  Not that I have too many answers.  My phone number is 727-847-2288.  Thank you.

 

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