Affordable Foreclosure Attorney

Let Our Montgomery Foreclosure Lawyer Help You Use Chapter 13

When you are facing foreclosure on your home in Alabama, it can be a frightening situation. Although it can seem like a foreclosure process takes a long time, when you are going through it, it can seem like it happens in an instant. You may realize you are behind on your mortgage payments, but you may believe you can still dig yourself out of the hole and make up the payments. If you have a bit of bad luck several days later, though, your plans suddenly fall apart, and you are reading a foreclosure letter from your mortgage lender.

As foreclosure lawyers, the team at Grainger Hawley & Shinbaum, LLC knows that the financial situation regarding your mortgage can quickly spiral out of control after just a couple of unexpected setbacks. The best advice we can give you is to seek the help of our Alabama foreclosure lawyers before your financial situation is in a dire position. By allowing us to help you file Chapter 13 bankruptcy, we can come up with a solution that may help you remain in your house while you work through the financial hardships related to your mortgage. Call us at 334-260-0500 as soon as possible for a free review of your case.

Our Foreclosure Lawyer in Alabama Can Help You Understand the Foreclosure Process

Alabama Code § 35-10-3 covers how the foreclosure process comes to a conclusion in the state. Before reaching that point, federal foreclosure laws cover how the foreclosure process works throughout the United States and in Alabama. Most mortgage lenders will follow the federal laws and steps for initiating a foreclosure on a home.

• Missed one payment: When you miss your first mortgage payment, the mortgage lender often will reach out to you to see what is happening with your financial situation.
• Missed a second payment: If you miss a second payment the following month, the lender may reach out again, seeking to find a workable solution to catching up on your payments.
• Missed a third payment: If you miss another payment and become 90 days delinquent, the lender may send a formal notice, giving you another 30 days to become current.
• Missed a fourth payment: If you miss a fourth payment, the lender often will send an official notice of default, meaning that the lender plans to start foreclosure processes 30 days in the future if you cannot bring the mortgage account current.
• Starting the formal foreclosure: If nothing changes after another 30 days, the mortgage lender usually will start the formal foreclosure process.

Eventually, the mortgage lender will have an auction for the foreclosed property or may sell it to someone else. As part of this process, the lender will give you an eviction notice, meaning you must vacate the property.

Some Lenders Will Negotiate With You, but You Should Be Wary

In some circumstances, the mortgage lender will be willing to negotiate with you after you miss a couple of payments. Perhaps the lender will be able to modify your payment schedule or will allow you to pay only interest for a few months until you can recover and pay the extra money you owe. You will need to contact your lender as soon as you realize that you may be having problems making your payments so you will have the best chance at negotiating a settlement. If you wait until foreclosure processes begin, lenders will be far less interested in negotiating with you.

Through our years of working with clients who attempt to negotiate with their mortgage lenders after falling into arrears, our foreclosure attorney knows that some lenders do not treat their customers fairly. The mortgage lender may defer the payments for a bit during negotiations before suddenly denying your negotiation request. The lender then may want you to make all the back payments quickly. You had a false sense of security during negotiations, so you weren’t preparing to make this lump sum payment, and you end up in worse shape than before you began negotiations.

Be Wary of COVID Deferrals From the Lender

Mortgage companies have been offering COVID deferrals within the past couple of years. The lender makes this sound like a great deal for you, as you would not have to pay your mortgage while trying to deal with financial issues arising from the pandemic.

However, now that the pandemic is ending, lenders may make demands regarding the COVID deferral payments that were not entirely clear when they offered the deferrals. Lenders may suddenly demand that borrowers pay the entire deferred amount in a lump sum, or that borrowers make “catch-up” payments that require repayment of the deferrals within a few months or a year. Any of these processes can leave borrowers in a significant bind at a time when they may feel they are just starting to regain their financial footing after the pandemic.

Do not agree to a deferral of your mortgage payments for any reason unless you have a full understanding of how the repayment process will work.

Mortgage companies do not always just “tack on” the payments to the end of the loan process. You may need our attorneys to look over the agreement to be certain the lender is explaining the process to you honestly.

Speak With Our Foreclosure Attorney Instead of, or in Addition to, Negotiating With the Lender

Going through negotiations with the lender would be great if the process worked successfully more often. However, what our foreclosure defense attorney finds is that a mortgage lender may not be truly willing to negotiate with you. And even if the lender is willing to negotiate, it sometimes ends up not benefitting you in the long run.

Rather than putting all your hopes into having a successful negotiation with the mortgage lender, consider reaching out to our foreclosure lawyer in Alabama. You may want to contact our foreclosure attorney at the same time you start attempting to negotiate with the mortgage lender, so you are ready to move forward with the team at Grainger Hawley & Shinbaum, LLC in case the negotiation process fails.

Our Foreclosure Attorney Will Help You Sort Out Your Options

Our Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyers will work with you to help you determine whether filing for bankruptcy is the best way forward to avoid a foreclosure that would cause you to lose your home. Through our firm’s work with many clients over the past almost 20 years, we clearly understand the benefits that a bankruptcy filing may provide. We know that a Chapter 13 filing is not perfect for everyone’s situation, and you can trust us to be honest with you about finding the best way forward for you. Once we go through the facts in the case, we often discover that filing for bankruptcy delivers the goals our clients are seeking regarding keeping their home. Call us at 334-260-0500 today for a free review of your situation.

How Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Works

The Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan works for individuals who have income coming in, but who have trouble keeping up with debts. Through this filing, we will set up a plan so that you can pay off your debts through the required period, which ranges from three to five years. As soon as we file for Chapter 13, your creditors must stop any collection actions against you. The advantage of bankruptcy is that it stops collection procedures and spreads your debt repayment process over a few years.

When you hire our foreclosure lawyer in Alabama, we will walk you through the entire process. It is vital that you are as honest with us as possible about your financial situation and your work situation. Only through complete honesty can we put together the best possible Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan for your needs. Trust that we will always put your needs first. (We also offer Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing services if you need them.)

Our Alabama Foreclosure Lawyers Know the Importance of Moving Forward Quickly

One of the best pieces of advice we can give people who find themselves falling behind on mortgage payments is to reach out to our foreclosure attorney as early as possible. We understand that it can be emotionally challenging to admit to yourself that you are struggling financially and that you are not going to be able to meet your mortgage loan obligations. However, being honest with yourself is vital, so you can work with our foreclosure attorney to try to solve your problems before it is too late.

If You Wait Too Long, Our Foreclosure Attorney May Not Be Able to Help With a Bankruptcy Filing

To be able to stop the foreclosure process, you must have your Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing completed before the sale of the home runs its course. If you wait too long, we may not be able to complete the bankruptcy filing process in time to keep your home in your possession.

It is important for us to note that filing for bankruptcy cannot help your situation if you simply cannot afford your home. When you file for Chapter 13 with the help of our Montgomery foreclosure lawyer, we will set up a repayment plan for your debt. In terms of how this plan works with your mortgage payment, you will need to continue to make your regular mortgage loan payment separately from the plan. Our repayment plan under Chapter 13 only deals with repaying the amount you are behind, also called the “arrearage.” As long as you can show through the repayment plan that you will be able to afford making these arrearage payments over the three- to five-year debt repayment period, while also being able to make your regular house payment separately from what appears in the plan, you can keep your house and avoid going through foreclosure.

How Our Foreclosure Defense Attorney Can Formulate Your Chapter 13 Plan

As soon as you and our foreclosure attorney complete your bankruptcy filing, any collection proceedings against you will stop. This prevents the mortgage lender from moving forward with the foreclosure process.

Remember, however, you must have the ability to continue meeting your mortgage payments for the length of the bankruptcy repayment plan (and separately from the plan), while also showing the ability to repay any missed payments (the arrearage) as part of the plan. Attorney Charles E. Grainger practices in this federal bankruptcy court, where the court primarily applies federal laws in its cases, but it sometimes does apply state laws, too.

At Grainger Hawley & Shinbaum, LLC, We Listen to Your Hopes for Your Financial Future

Our Montgomery foreclosure lawyer will take the time to listen to what you want to achieve by filing for bankruptcy and by trying to avoid foreclosure. What we may find through our discussions is that you are willing to do whatever it takes to protect your home from going into foreclosure. As long as we can make your Chapter 13 plan include your mortgage payments, we will be ready to create a plan that aims to keep your home out of the foreclosure process.

Our Affordable Foreclosure Attorney Will Work to Get You Out of the Hole

When you hire the team at Grainger Hawley & Shinbaum, LLC, we will treat your situation with the respect it deserves. We appreciate your putting your faith in us to help you work through your foreclosure situation, and we will give you our best effort at every step. We do not judge you about why you need our foreclosure defense attorney. We simply want to help you by relieving your stress and by finding a way to work through the situation with your mortgage through the filing of Chapter 13.

We hate to see people going through the stress of foreclosure and other financial hardships. We understand that some people have a negative feeling toward filing for bankruptcy, but it sometimes is the best way to solve a problem like this. Don’t spend sleepless nights worrying about your financial situation. Let our Alabama foreclosure lawyers work toward a solution that lets you have a chance of regaining your financial footing. Call our team today at 334-260-0500 for a free consultation.

Client Testimonial

”Mr. Grainger and his staff (especially Susan) are friendly and welcoming. They treated us with respect and they went above and beyond our expectations. We highly recommend thier services. You cannot go wrong with Grainger Hawley & Shinbaum, LLC, LLC” – Amy Lawrence McMullen (Google Review)