Ohio Foreclosures Legal Questions

To marshal all liens and foreclose on them (the long way to say foreclosure) anyone with a possible interest in the property has to be a named party. This means that the foreclosing party (usually a bank) will name absolutely everyone who could potentially have some kind of claim. Unless they are seeking specific damages from you or your spouse or are claiming that you owe them on the note or mortgage, this can be safely ignored.... Read More

If  your spouse owned the house prior to your marriage, and you never had an interest in the house, you should not be responsible for the debt unless you signed on a Mortgage or equity line of credit(second mortgage). You do not have a liability issues on the property from the facts of your question... Read More

I believe you may be able to file a predatory lending complaints on the federal level. With the bank has done to you is your every date bait and switch scam. These scams are illegal and there is federal law that protects against them. My office usually has a client allow a free questionnaire to deal with these situations, which are good in any state in the United States of America. We have an outside agency draft up the complaints and file them and if further litigation is needed we would retain an attorney in your state to handle any court proceedings. I'm not sure if anyone in your state is doing this, as many only use the local state and federal courts, but these complaints are filed with agencies such as HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development) and CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).  I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://www.newenglandforeclosuredefenseattorneys.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147... Read More

Yes you can declare chapter 7 bankruptcy or chapter 13 bankruptcy and include the debt of another person prior to that person receiving a judgment against you. Simply include the amount that they are attempting to sue you for, even if a lawsuit has been initiated and that debt will be discharge when you receive your discharge. Furthermore filing for bankruptcy prior to receiving a judgment, we you will take advantage of the automatic stay, which. All of the proceedings of the lawsuit. This means is that they will not be able to seek legal fees from you or any interest on the debt, once you receive a discharge the amount you are being sued for will no longer be a legal obligation for you to pay. If for some reason afterwards the attorney working on the lawsuit waits until after your bankruptcy has been discharged to attempt to collect legal fees from you based on this, you can simply reopen your bankruptcy include those additional attorney's fees as they are part of the previously discharged debt and you will not have to pay for those legal fees either. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://fallriverbankruptcyattorney.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147... Read More

When the Bank files the actual foreclosure proceeding in the Court, they are permitted to report it on your credit report. Even if they stopped the foreclosure and never sold the real estate at sheriff sale. This is likely the case- the creditor stopped the foreclosure before the house was sold, but is still reporting it to the Credit Bureaus... Read More

You probably want to set up an appointment with a bankruptcy attorney right away. Unless your foreclosure attorney can get the sale date pulled, then bankruptcy will be the only way to stop the sale. There can be a process and quite a bit of documentation to file the bankruptcy, so you need to get started on it as soon as possible, in the event the sale date is not pulled. Even if the bankruptcy is ready to go but the sale date gets pulled, then you don't have to file. You may be out a few hundred dollars to the attorney, but it is better than risking your house... Read More

If you are unable to work with the Treasurer's office to make payments on the taxes, then you may need to consider a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The Chapter 13 would put you in a repayment plan for the taxes over 5 years and prevent the foreclosure while allowing you to keep your house. You would also need to stay current on the taxes that come due while in the plan. You would need income to show the Court that you can afford the repayment plan so you may need to wait for your disability claim to come through. In the meantime, stay in communication with the Treasurer so they know the situation and hopefully they will hold off on the foreclosure but they don't legally have to... Read More

The mortgage company will likely have you fill out a hardship package and have you continue providing paystubs and bank statements while they review to see if you qualify for a mortgage modification. If you receive a modification, the arrearages will be put on the end of your loan and your interest rate may be reduced. One issue can be that banks take too long while determining if you qualify for assistance. The foreclosure process does not usually stop while they are reviewing your application. If you get close to a sale date- a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can stop the sale and get you into a repayment plan over five years for the amounts you are behind. A chapter 13 may be something to consider now if you have not been making any progress with the mortgage company- so you can stop the fees and penalties that are accruing on your mortgage. I would be happy to discuss any options with you.       We are a Debt Relief Agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code... Read More

Generally, I don't recommend short sales.  They provide little or no benefit to the borrower.  To the contrary, the borrower, who in this case is your wife, could be faced with forgiveness of indebtedness income.  That is the difference between what she owes on the mortgage and what they receive from the sale.  The IRS considers that income and the mortgage company will likely issue a 1099c requiring that she report that as income. However, if she simply allows the house to go to foreclosure, there should be no forgiveness because the debt was not forgiven.  It is then unlikely the mortgage company would pursue any deficiency as they generally settle for whatever they get from the property. If you are determined to proceed with a short sale, your income information does not make you liable.  Rather, it is merely a way of determining theoretically whether the mortgage company could have pursued your wife.  It is an academic exercise.  ... Read More

Once the real estate has been foreclosed upon, the lender can sue you in Ohio for any deficiency balance owed. The lender has 2 years under Ohio law to pursue the deficiency. If they do not try to obtain payment within 2 years after the foreclosure, then they are barred from trying to collect. Whether they can come after your personal assets depends on how you signed the promissory note. It is likely that you are personally liable on the notes, so any judgment would be against you personally and therefore against any personal assets you have. If you receive notice that a mortgage company is pursuing a deficiency balance, I would advise you meet with an attorney and discuss ways to protect your assets.... Read More