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surewill62 · Oct 8, 2008, 10:33 AM

I have not been able to pay my mortgage due to a major slow down in my business. I have received a summons from the courts stating a lawsuit has been filed against me seeking to foreclose and that I have 20 days to respond in writing. I guess the courts and the Plaintiff wants to know what my intensions are. I'm also unsure as to where I should respond to the courts, do I have to state my intensions in writing an take it to the courthouse and file the response with the clerk of court? Thanks for any comments that may be able to help me.

Neilcathy67 · Oct 8, 2008, 10:49 AM

As with most people you probably ignored all the letters and phone calls. The Bank has now hired a lawyer an sent you a summons and if you do not answer it in 20 days they will obtain a deault judgement against you. You need to obtain some legal help , even if it is to answer the summons as you own attorney, they call it Pro se. The court will recognize this as your answer, all you do is deny everything on the summons, as there probably are several counts. The process slows down and lawyers send documents back and forth, asking for admissions, documents and interrogories, etc. In some states this take two years and in that time maybe you can work out a settlement. Educate yourself about being a Pro Se attorney or seek someone who has and they can help you.

ScottGem · Oct 8, 2008, 11:12 AM

Note: OhSoLow has been permently banned for varioius reasons. All his posts have been removed. Please ignore any comments he has left until they are also removed.

Foreclosures work differently in different areas. A foreclosure action is not the same as a standard lawsuit over debt for a variety of reasons. In fact, it most areas its closer to an eviction than suit over debt.

If you don't answer the summons (and you need to respond to the court that issued the summons), the court will order the foreclosure to proceed. Generally the next step is to post a notice of auction at which time the property will be sold. Once the foreclosure is finalized and the property changed hands, you will be given some time to move out.

You can forestall the foreclosure right up to the start of the auction by paying the arrears or negotiating a settlement.

You can check with the court clerk to find out what format your answer has to take. Again this will differ depending on the location.

JudyKayTee · Oct 9, 2008, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by Neilcathy67

As with most people you probably ignored all the letters and phone calls. The Bank has now hired a lawyer an sent you a summons and if you do not answer it in 20 days they wil obtain a deault judgement against you. You need to obtain some legal help , even if it is to answer the summons as you own attorney, they call it Pro se. The court will recognize this as your answer, all you do is deny everything on the summons, as there probably are several counts. The process slows down and lawyers send documents back and forth, asking for admissions, documents and interrogories, etc. In some states this take two years and in that time maybe you can work out a settlement. Educate yourself about being a Pro Se attorney or seek someone who has and they can help you.

When you answer, please state which State you are addressing. This is not the case in my area and I don't know where the OP is.

The answer is not always due in 20 days; in some cases you should also file a counterclaim. Foreclosures and Judgments are not the same thing - there is a very long road with a lot of twists and turns before a Judgment is granted on mortgage arrearages.