What is a Wrongful Foreclosure and What Can You Do to Stop it?
Wrongful foreclosure is a fraudulent practice where a home is foreclosed on through the use unethical and dishonest methods. Up to 4 million Americans have become victims to wrongful foreclosure and mortgage fraud since the 2008 housing and banking crisis. Though this issue continues to have a negative impact on many American homeowners, there steps you can take to protect yourself against wrongful foreclosure.
What is Wrongful Foreclosure?
Put simply, wrongful foreclosure is a type of foreclosure or mortgagee fraud. Se common actions leading to such instances include forged signatures and documents that result in a fraudulent eviction of the homeowner. This issue needs to be taken seriously as it not only affects your home and standing with loan providers. It has a negative impact on your credit, your ability to make large purchases or rental agreements and it could continue to have a large impact on your life for years to come.
What Can You Do to Prevent Wrongful Foreclosure?
The best way to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of wrongful foreclosure actions is to keep accurate and organized records from your lender. Make sure that you are communicating with them often so that any discrepancies are caught early on. This will help keep any inaccuracies from popping up which could lead to a possible wrongful foreclosure action.
Take the time to do your research before choosing a mortgage lender. Statistics show that many of the wrongful foreclosures are due to dishonest actions made by sketchy mortgage lenders who are looking to make money illegally. Choosing a lender with a good background and experience level will help you avoid situations in relation to mortgage fraud.
Why Fight a Wrongful Foreclosure Case?
If you believe that you are a victim of a wrongful foreclosure action you may be wondering about a wrongful foreclosure lawyer – is it worth it? The short answer is yes. Here is why.
Victims of fraudulent foreclosure cases are eligible to fight for compensation, negotiated settlements and or improved credit ratings and scores.
A fraudulent foreclosure may cause significant personal damage to you and your family including loss of value of home, having to move yourself and your family into a new home, emotional distress and other damages.
A good and experienced attorney could help you to win up to 9 times more than the costs of the actual damages proven in a trial. For example, if your attorney could prove that the total damages amounted to 250,000 dollars, you could be rewarded up to 2,250,000 dollars.
How To Spot A Fraudulent Foreclosure
There are many actions that lead to the dishonest and improper lending and foreclosure practices that could make you a victim of fraudulent foreclosure. Some common situations that are eligible for compensation include – homeowners who were foreclosed on without being in default, borrowers who were denied loan assistance in error, loan modifications which contained errors and foreclosure on military veterans who are protected by federal law from foreclosure. These foreclosure practices are illegal and if you are being victimizes by one of them then you need to contact an attorney right away as there is a statute of limitations involved in fraudulent foreclosure cases.
