What can I do if my lender violated TILA?
There are several things you can do if a lender has violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), a federal law intended to protect borrowers and help them make informed decisions when dealing with lenders. It’s extremely important to be aware of your options as a borrower, specifically with regards to your mortgage.
Remedies for Truth in Lending Act Violations
When a creditor violates the Truth in Lending Act by failing to properly disclose information, your legal remedies include:
- rescinding your mortgage;
- consulting with a South Florida attorney to file a claim for damages;
Affordable Mortgages Under HAMP
If you have officially received approval for a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), your loan servicer will make sure that your new monthly mortgage payment is no more than 31% of your monthly income.
The strategies used to lower your mortgage payment under HAMP include the following:
- Reduction of your interest rate – a rate as low as 2% is a possibility. In return for the low rate, the U.S. Treasury Department extends financial incentives to your loan provider. This doesn’t mean that everyone who qualifies for a HAMP loan modification will get 2% interest rates. If a 5% rate is sufficient to lower you mortgage to an affordable payment, then a 2% rate would not be necessary.
Fighting Your Florida Foreclosure Action
Once you have been served with a Foreclosure Summons, your options as a defaulting borrower become severely limited. Available options to avoid a Florida foreclosure may be further decreased by your particular situation.
You can either accept the action and allow the lender to foreclose on your property, or you can fight the action using a foreclosure defense specific to your circumstances. Should you decide to fight the action, it would be in your best interest to contact an experienced Ft. Lauderdale foreclosure attorney who is knowledgeable with foreclosure laws.
Your options after receiving a Foreclosure Summons are essentially limited to:
Banks may warm to idea of principle reductions
by John Gittelsohn and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg News
Report says homeowners whose loan payments are cut by 20 percent or more still falling behind
The following is a recent story that was published in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel which talks about the recent studies that were released in a recent Government study which state that upwards of 40% of homeowners who recently had their mortgage payments cut by 20% or more found themselves back into default or delinquency within the next 12 months. The article references the recent Obama plan to assist homeowner’s in getting their mortgage payments reduced but since that plan has only really been in effect for less than 6 months I personally find it hard to understand how the study could even be talking about borrowers who had their mortgages reduced in the Obama plan since all of them must have had their mortgages reduced prior to the plan going into effect. Additionally (like many recent news reports) the story fails to address the issue of the lenders not fully converting the temporary modifications that have been offered to so many people, into permanent modifications that reduce payments and perhaps reduce total amount owed. To find out more on how to avoid foreclosure or to negotiate a Short Sale please contact the Burgess Law Firm to request a consultation. (read more below)
Best Foreclosure Defense in Weston
The recession has hit the state of Florida hard. Currently the sunshine state ranks second from the top for foreclosure filings. The other states hit hard with foreclosures are: California, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.
For the best foreclosure defense in Weston give Burgess Law firm a call today.
The top Florida cities with high foreclosure rates are: Sarasota, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Just in the month of August alone there were 62,400 new foreclosure filings with foreclosure sales numbering 8,498 that had an average sale price of $192,772.