Can I Vacate My Home To Avoid Foreclosure?

If you are behind on house payments you may be at risk for foreclosure. A foreclosure is when your lender tries to take back your home, and the affects can be devastating. You face loss of your house and may still even owe the lender once you have been forced to vacate! A foreclosure is a serious legal action against you, and should be met with a serious defense. The first thing you should do if you have received notice of a foreclosure is consult with a skilled attorney, to make sure the party seeking foreclosure even has the right to try and take your home. All too often the party initiating a foreclosure action does not have the legal right to start and maintain a foreclosure action, and it is worth checking into to see if that is the case in your situation.

But, if you have decided to allow your house to go back to the bank and not fight the foreclosure, you may be wondering if you can just turn over the keys and vacate the premises to avoid the action? The answer is no, and here is why:

•         The lender has to complete the action to get title to the property.

•         Vacating the property makes the case go faster, but does not give the lender the same legal remedy as a finished foreclosure case.

•         Most lenders will want to proceed with the action, so a judgment can be obtained that allows the lender to come after you for any amount still owed on the loan after the house sells at foreclosure sale.

So, your best bet to avoid a foreclosure is to find another option aside from moving. Fortunately, other options do exist. For example, you can stop a foreclosure and possibly even save your home by filing for bankruptcy. Filing a bankruptcy case automatically puts a stop to any pending legal action for collection or foreclosure that has been filed against you. So the benefit to filing bankruptcy when you are not able to make your house payments is that you stop a foreclosure, but also stop potential wage garnishments and car repossessions. For more information, let a qualified debt management and bankruptcy attorney explain your options to you.

If you have more questions about bankruptcy and foreclosure, contact us at www.law-ri.com. We will help by coming up with solutions that work for you and have multiple locations to meet your needs for office visits.