Columbus Foreclosure Avoidance Lawyer
If your home is being wrongfully foreclosed upon by the bank, you can rest assured that the attorneys at Kohl & Cook Law Firm will work tirelessly and aggressively to fight back against that wrongful foreclosure and employ all available defenses to keep you in your home. However, there may be times when the bank is not in the wrong and you don’t have any viable defenses to the foreclosure. In this situation, there might be no way to save the home, but simply walking away and letting the bank foreclose might not be your best option. Submitting to foreclosure means you get evicted on the bank’s terms and timeline and not your own, and if the foreclosure sale doesn’t cover the amount you owe, you could lose the home and still be stuck with liability for the rest of the amount through a deficiency judgment. For these reasons and others, a foreclosure is something to avoid if you can.
If you are facing foreclosure and don’t have a path to keeping the home, you might still have several options to avoid a foreclosure that are better for you, your credit and your finances. The real estate foreclosure defense attorneys at Kohl & Cook Law Firm can help you explore your options and choose the way out that is best for you. Learn more about some of these alternatives below, and contact our experienced Columbus foreclosure avoidance lawyers today.
Short Sales
In a short sale, you agree with the bank beforehand that you will sell the home and get the best deal you can, and the bank will accept whatever you can sell the home for as satisfaction for what you owe on the mortgage, even if the amount is less than what you owe. The bank accepts whatever the house sells for in complete satisfaction of the mortgage obligation, without coming after you for any deficiency. A short sale can be a great option to get out of the mortgage and avoid foreclosure if the home is saleable for a reasonable amount that is close to what you owe. If the market is good and the house is in good condition, but you haven’t built up much equity in the home, a short sale might be an attractive option to both you and the lender.
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
In this process, you turn over the deed to the property to the bank. The bank accepts the deed and relieves you of any obligation for paying the mortgage. Most of the time, banks would prefer to have cash rather than collect a bunch of properties they have to turn around and sell, but if the house is holding a good value, the lender might be willing to accept this deal, which allows them to avoid the hassle of foreclosing and then still having to sell the property anyway.
Cash for Keys
Cash for keys is like a deed in lieu, but you negotiate a cash payment for yourself from the bank in exchange for turning over the deed. By accepting a deed in lieu, the bank avoids the time, cost, and trouble of foreclosing, and that might be worth something to them that they are willing to pay for. Don’t expect a huge windfall, but a cash-for-keys settlement could help you with moving expenses or provide you with some breathing room to find a new place to live.
In any of these methods, an experienced real estate foreclosure lawyer at Kohl & Cook will negotiate on your behalf to get you the best deal possible, ensure you do not remain liable for any deficiency, and keep your credit report in the best shape possible without a Foreclosure stamped on it for the next seven years.
Contact Kohl & Cook Today
Above are just some of the ways our foreclosure avoidance attorneys can help you when you are facing foreclosure. At Kohl & Cook, we’ll explore all your options with you. If you are eligible for a mortgage loan modification or have defenses to a wrongful foreclosure, we might be able to prevent or stop a foreclosure and keep you in your home. If the house can’t be saved, we can help you exit gracefully and in the best position for moving forward by utilizing a strategy like the ones described above. Call our experienced Ohio foreclosure avoidance lawyers today for a free consultation and expert assistance in finding the best path forward.
