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Reacting to Foreclosure - Maryland Offers Homeowners Legal Defenses to Delay Or Prevent Foreclosure



The laws are intended to: (a) protect homeowners who have been fraudulently induced to enter into high-interest loans; and (b) provide homeowners with information about alternatives to foreclosure as well as the need for submitting an answer if they can be served using a foreclosure complaint.

The most recent legal protections went into effect. Among other protections, the newest laws: (a) mandate that lenders provide the homeowner using a written notice of intention to foreclose at least 45 days ahead of filing a foreclosure action in court; (b) require that lenders wait until 90 days after a default in payment before commencing a foreclosure case; (c) require the foreclosure court papers be personally served upon the borrower; (d) require lenders to release a notice of sale in a paper at least three times prior to the foreclosure sale can take place; and (e) give homeowners the ability to pay delinquent payments up until one day ahead of the scheduled auction.

[ http://shortsaleexpertmaryland.com/ebook Maryland short sale expert] - The goal is to ensure that homeowners get increased time to explore alternatives. In responding to foreclosure criticisms, homeowners should assess whether their lender complied with the new procedural requirements. Where the required notices were not correctly served, a homeowner should especially raise the lender's noncompliance with all the law as an affirmative defense in their answer to the foreclosure complaint. By claiming the just accessible affirmative defenses, homeowners may have the ability to delay foreclosure and inspire lenders to offer non-foreclosure alternatives, like loan modification and short sales.

Previously, in 2005, the Maryland legislature passed legislation requiring lenders to provide specific notice. This law took effect on May 26, 2005 and, among other things, requires that foreclosure notices include advice and specific warnings.

[ http://youtu.be/0Ql5nh6gsE8 Maryland short sale Realtor] - Like other states, Maryland experienced record numbers of foreclosures in 2009. Baltimore County and Prince George's County have experienced the highest variety of foreclosures complete. On the other hand, the increase in foreclosure rates has influenced every section of the state. Foreclosure filings in August, 2009 were up by more than 70% as compared to August, 2008. These dismal figures reveal the upsurge in joblessness, large quantity of high-interest mortgages, and crumbling property worth. The most distressed homeowners should file answers when served with foreclosure criticisms. Homeowners who answer foreclosure complaints are usually competent to impede the foreclosure procedure. In many cases, homeowners who have filed replies to foreclosure charges have discovered that their lenders tend to be more prepared to contemplate various options, including loan modifications and short sales, that are not made available previously.

[ http://shortsaleexpertmaryland.com/ebook short sale process Maryland] - Foreclosure reply forms are not too difficult to complete and file with all the court, and can be found for downloading. A foreclosure response need not be long or complicated. The primary purpose is to set forth any affirmative defenses which may be relevant, also to deny those allegations in the complaint which are fictitious. In foreclosure cases, responses frequently include the following affirmative defenses: (a) the mortgage was entered into fraudulently or in violation of the Truth in Lending Act; (b) the lender didn't comply with applicable notice periods; and (c) the lender failed to personally serve the foreclosure summons and complaint. All these are some of the affirmative defenses that a homeowner should think about maintaining in their own reply form.