Indiana Real Estate Legal Questions

Yes, an attorney can help with mortgage modifications.  Many consumer rights attorneys have experience with loan modification.  You should contact a local attorney to determine if loan modification is an appropriate option for you. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

In more simple terms, it sounds as if you bought a house with a mortgage on it and now the payments are in default.  Certainly, the mortgage lender is entitled to foreclose if it does not receive the payments that it originally contracted to receive.  Whether you have personal liability is another question and depends on the language used in your purchase agreement.  Did you "assume the underlying debt" or did you simply buy the property "subject to" the underlying debt?  If the former, then you will have personal liability if the foreclosure does not wipe out the debt.  If the latter, you will not have personal liability.  You should confer with a good real estate attorney about the situation.  Take all your purchase documents with you so he/she can review the details.... Read More

You have provided inadequate information for a comfortable response.  I will assume that you have financed the purchase of your property and that your lender has secured its loan with a mortgage or Deed of Trust.  I will assume further that you have defaulted in the payments and that the lender has filed suit in court to foreclose on its lien.  I will assume further that you do not have an attorney and have not responded to the suit and so now the lender's attorney has filed a motion for a default judgment. If my assumptions are correct, the motion will be granted if you do not answer it by a proper filing in court showing cause why the judgment should not be granted.  It is likely that the only reason that could stop the entering of the judgment would be a showing that you could pay the debt (or, if the loan documents permit it, that you could bring the payments current).  If you cannot stop the entering of the judgment, in due time the judgment will be entered and the lender's attorney will send you a notice to vacate the property.  If you do not, then eviction proceedings will begin. All this seems, perhaps, cold and heartless when a debtor has lost a job, or lost income or for whatever reason, is unable to make payments.  But the lender made the loan with an agreement that the loan would be repaid according to a specific schedule and, if that schedule is not maintained, it can attach the property in lieu of receiving the payments.  You should also keep in mind that, following a successful foreclosure, the property will be sold.  If it does not generate enough money to pay off your loan, the lender will almost certainly have the legal right to sue you for any deficiency.  It is recommended that you confer with a good real estate attorney and see if reasonable terms can be worked out to either avoid the possibility of a deficiency claim -- or to minimize it.  If you have not heretofore tried to communicate with your lender and work something out, probably the worst thing you can do at this point is to simply ignore the proceedings.... Read More