15 ways to delay foreclosure or even stomp it to pieces

Welcome to day of the trial version of sort sale your home and get paid course, today we’re going to be talking about ways to extend the time you have in foreclosure. I’ve come up with over 15 different ways and if for some reason you found one that I haven’t included and fill in the feedback down at the bottom of this page to let me know. I’m going to talk about these different ways but I want to make it clear that I don’t condone all of these activities for all instances. By using these strategies you may be able to buy yourself some more time for your particular situation. Remember I’m not an attorney, the only legal advice I’m giving you is to check with an attorney for legal advice.

This information is for educational purposes only and you should always consult with an attorney first and by the way making sure you consult with an attorney.
Delay foreclosure technique number 1- The first and probably one of the more well known ways of delaying a foreclosure is chapter 7 bankruptcy. Any kind of bankruptcy will immediately stop your foreclosure where ever it is. A chapter 7 bankruptcy will actually dissolve all debt and absolve you of the responsibility to pay your debt. It will temporarily delay foreclosure with the US bankruptcy court. Usually it will buy up to 45 to 75 days, sometimes more sometimes less depending on your local foreclosure system and your local bankruptcy court judge as well.

Delay foreclosure technique number 2- The second way of delaying is chapter 13 bankruptcy. This type of bankruptcy reorganizes your debt and creates a payment plan. The most recent law changes mean that more people will be forced to file this type of bankruptcy. If you were to simply file this bankruptcy but never make the payments it will still buy you has much as 45 to 75 days and sometimes even more. Again it differs from municipality to municipality. If you make payments according to the plan and properly include mortgage debt in the bankruptcy you should be able to permanently stop foreclosure, however, I warned you in lesson one of that typically a chapter 13 payment plan is not realistic. It is very difficult to be successful with a chapter 13. However it will force your lender into a payment plan.

Delay foreclosure technique number 3- Another way that people use to delay foreclosure is what I call a “hybrid bankruptcy solution.” You want to check with an attorney on this but it is where you could actually file a string of bankruptcies to increase the time even more. Typically you can’t file one bankruptcy after another. However I have known people who mixed it up a little bit. For example a husband could file Chapter 13 and delay the foreclosure. Then when that gets kicked out of bankruptcy court and is days from the foreclosure sale he could file Chapter 7 bankruptcy and delay it more. Then when that gets kicked out of bankruptcy court and is approaching the sale date the wife could do the same thing filing Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 strategically. Such a strategy used by itself has been known to delay foreclosure for more than a year of extra time. Obviously there are attorney fees involved but what’s an attorneys fee when you didn’t have to make your house payment.

Delay foreclosure technique number 4- File a written answer in the court system, asking for more time. You need to do that as soon as you get notice of legal action. This could easily buy you an additional 30 to 60 or more days. If you don’t file a answer typically the case goes straight to default judgment and the foreclosing lender doesn’t even have to prove the facts of the case which makes it much cheaper, easier and quicker for the plaintiff.

Delay foreclosure technique number 5- Related to the technique number 4 is the filing of a continuance. You would file a continuance after the first hearing is scheduled. A continuance like all court documents should probably be filed by an attorney. A continuance is simply a request that the judge or magistrate give you more time because you need to prepare for the case or your attorney can’t make that date or other reasonable excuses. You can do a continuance pro se, however an attorney would know how to do it properly in your situation. If you do do it pro se you might want to examine some similar cases in the local court house and learn about how other people have filed the same paper work. An attorney might be willing to write it up for you for cheap. That at the least would be a good thing.

Delay foreclosure technique number 6- Technique number six is something that I especially don’t recommend however it is an idea for you to look into. I’m trying to give you as many options as possible so that you can find a useful solution. This is called switch the deed. Again make sure you ask an attorney about this because of the legal implications. I know of people that have gotten a blank quick claim deed from a legal forms company and just used that to deed their property to someone else or to add someone else to the ownership. The court will then typically require the plaintiffs to basically start over and notify the new owner of record about the foreclosure action. You want to be careful about this if it’s just simply to delay things it could be construed as contempt of court or something similar to that. I’m not an attorney but I can see that there’ll be issues with that. Someone might not like it too much.

Delay foreclosure technique number 7- Another strategy  that I know has worked in the past is for a defendant to challenge the sheriff’s appraisal. Once your property has worked all the way through the court process and they’ve scheduled a sheriff sale typically the sheriff appraises the property for the purposes of auctioning it off. The property is then auctioned off and the starting minimum bid is for a certain percentage of that appraisal amount. You could challenge that appraisal and make a case to the sheriff and/ or the judge that, “hey you appraised it wrong so you need to go out and re-appraise it. I think it should be X price because of this , this , and this. You need to go re-appraise it and reschedule the sale because it’s been appraised wrong and you’ve advertised it for this price. Otherwise I am going to suffer a loss because of your mistake.” This has worked in the past and it’s something you could try if you think it’s something that would apply in your situation.

Delay foreclosure technique number 8 & 9- The 8th way to delay your foreclosure is through payment plans like forbearances and low modifications. Banks will delay or stop foreclosure when you go to do a loan work out and plan to start making payments. Loan modifications are harder to get and will usually completely stop the foreclosure. It typically will actually stop the foreclosure and move the back payments to the end of the loan. A forbearance plan is easier to get but only pauses the foreclosure until you’re completely caught up which means there will be less of a delay. Also typically a forbearance includes unrealistically high payments. Also you’re more likely to need a significant amount of money to start the forbearance plan. Either one of these though if you’re able to get into them could allow you some extra breathing room to delay things until you can do a short sale or take other action.

Delay foreclosure technique number 10- If you’re planning on selling your house and you have an offer, technique number ten would be to tell the bank that you have an offer. Simply call up the bank and in an urgent tone of voice explain that they need to delay the foreclosure process because you have an offer for them that’s going to pay them off. You may need to call the pay off department rather than customer service or the loss mitigation department. My associates and I seen bank halt sheriff sales and delay the foreclosure process numerous times because of this and I know of one title agent that would do this routinely. She would call up the banks for her clients and tell them, “hey we have an offer. we have cash to pay you off don’t foreclose on this.” She would even make the call when the offer would not cover the entire amount and the bank often times would stop the sale with out even asking the amount of the offer. Then after it was pushed off they could work a short sale. So the call could be a plor or it could be legit but either way, it’s an opportunity to get the foreclosure process slowed or stopped.

Delay foreclosure technique number 11- Use a non profit organization as an advocate with the court, the media, the sheriff and your lender. In our area there is a group called ESOP that has had amazing success at using all sorts of tools at their disposal to delay or stopping foreclosure or getting special benefits for their clients. The good thing about this is that most non profits are free. The bad thing is that right now they tend to be busy and overworked.

Delay foreclosure technique number 12- Defend the foreclosure- I have recommended in previous lessons and this one to get an attorney. I realize if you are in foreclosure it might not be financially feasible to retain an attorney. You should have an attorney no matter what technique you are using so that you can have quality advice that keeps you out trouble and puts you in a better position. You need someone you can trust. There are attorneys that specialize in foreclosure defense. A good attorney can rip to pieces most of the foreclosure complaints put together by lender attorneys because most of those complaints are put together in foreclosure factories with form letters by underpaid paralegals. They only work because no one challenges them so they work by default. Usually there is some I that is not dotted and at some point due process is not followed. I have seen attorneys delay foreclosure cases for years with out even using bankruptcy. One of my client’s attorneys just had a case thrown out of court almost with out trying. That was after 4 months of the law suit. Now the lender has to start all over again. Interestingly enough the lender suddenly got real motived to do a short sale with my client. We just received a call from the office of the president of this large bank wanting to get a short sale approved immediately.

Delay foreclosure technique number 13- Recently I’ve seen cases where attorneys challenge the right of a plaintiff to sue based on jurisdiction. The attorney argued that since the foreclosing lender was based out of state that they should be suing in federal court. This got thrown out of the common pleas court and the plaintiff was forced to refile in federal court.

Delay foreclosure technique number 14- I’ve seen defense attorneys challenge the right of a plaintiff to sue based on the fact that they could not prove that the plaintiff actually owned the mortgage. This could stall the case indefinitely or at least until they can trace back from all the servicer transfers and the sale of the mortgage from one investor to the other, to find the original signed document that says that you, the borrower, actually owes the money. In some cases that document does not exist. There has actually been federal judges that have totally eliminated the mortgage balances because they couldn’t prove that the defendant actually owed that amount of money. If you’re planning on doing this type of suit you probably want to find some attorney that has experience doing this and has successfully done so. I will be putting attorney referrals on estopforeclosure.com or you can go to findlaw.com to find such an attorney.

Delay foreclosure technique number 15- Finally, there are thousands of state and federal rules that a lender must abide by as they lend money. There are so many that it’s nearly impossible to faithfully fulfill all the necessary requirements. There are attorneys that specialize in exploiting auditing your loan documentation and bringing law suits against against lenders. If you’re attorney makes a good case your debt could be erased, but most likely your attorney could at least delay a judicial or even a non judicial foreclosure and very often lower the balance of the loan a significant amount (note- I am currently working with one law firm that audits mortgages for compliance with federal law. They have had significant success at lowering balances and slowing/ stopping foreclosure. Email me at andy@eSTOPforeclosure.com for more info). Suing your lender will always motivate your lender to be more aggressive about offering you a reasonable short sale settlement or even better option to keep your house.

That’s 15 ways that you can possibly stop foreclosure and I want you to think if you have any other ways that I missed. if there are any ways I will be glad to include those ways and give you credit for it. Just fill out the comment form at the bottom of this page and let me know. Before you go, take action and jot a reminder to follow up on the methods that would work best for you based on your situation. Until next lesson I wish you a wonderful life.