Jacksonville Attorney Gerald L. Wilkerson

READ FIRST! If you have been served with a summons in a foreclosure case, you must act fast. You only have 20 days within which to file your response from the day you are served with the summons. Your failure to file your defensive pleadings within 20 days can result in you losing your home, paying attorney's fees and more. Please do not think that because the server didn't personally serve you that you can ignore the case.

Foreclosure in Florida is not hopeless. In most cases you can fight it, and sometimes even win. Mortgage companies are very cumbersome, and they take shortcuts, lose paperwork, or simply make huge mistakes forming a basis for a defense. There are alternatives or solutions to help you save your home, in many cases. Alternatives to foreclosure include, but are not limited to:

A Deed in lieu of foreclosure: This is a scenario whereby the lender accepts the borrower's deed in exchange for avoiding bankruptcy. It offers several advantages to both the borrower and the lender. The lender avoids a costly protracted foreclosure process, and the borrower avoids the hassles of a foreclosure on his or her record.

Another benefit to the borrower is that it hurts his/her credit less than a foreclosure does. Advantages to a lender include a reduction in the time and cost of a repossession, lower risk of borrower revenge (metal theft and vandalism of the property before sheriff eviction), and additional advantages if the borrower subsequently files for bankruptcy.

A short sale: The lender decides that he can suffer a smaller loss by agreeing for the home to be sold below what is owed by the borrower. Both parties must consent to the short sale process. Here again there are benefits to the borrower and the lender in that they both avoid the costs and hassles of a foreclosure.

A Loan Modification: This is a change in one or more of the terms of a Mortgagor's loan, allows the loan to be reinstated, and results in a more affordable payment.