Trusted Fort Lauderdale Short Sales Lawyers on Your Side
A short sale is when the bank agrees to take an amount less than what is owed on a sale of the property. What seems like a straightforward process, however, is anything but, especially when there are realtors or other mortgage brokers involved who are only concerned with their commissions and looking out for their own best interests.
Unfortunately, homeowners and investors are frequently led to believe that they don’t need an attorney to do a short sale, even though the legal contracts they are being asked to sign are often not in their best interest. Like any other legal contract, a Fort Lauderdale short sale attorney who is experienced in handling short sale transactions must carefully review a short sale document to ensure that the homeowner’s rights are not being violated.
Contact our Florida short sale lawyer today for assistance with handling your case.
Importance of Having a Fort Lauderdale Short Sales Lawyer
Here is a common situation that happens way too often at Loan Lawyers: A client comes to our office with a collection letter stating that they owe $100,000 or another large sum of money and they have no idea what it could be for since they don’t owe anyone that much money. The first question we ask them is if they have ever done a short sale on their home or investment property.
When the anticipated response is, of course, yes, we explain to them that the short sale is the reason they are being sued for such a large sum of money. Yet when we explain this, they are often confused and tell us that the bank or realtor promised them they wouldn’t have any further obligations under the mortgage.
That may be true, but what homeowners or investors frequently fail to realize is that they also must be fully released from all financial obligations under the Promissory Note. The result is that these deficiency amounts of the loan that the consumer thinks the bank is waiving for them then get sold off on the secondary market often resulting in future debt collections and lawsuits against the unsuspecting homeowners.
Benefits of a Short Sale
One of the major benefits of a short sale is that is it an alternative to foreclosure. So, rather than having your home foreclosed upon and losing the rights to it, a homeowner can agree to sell his or her house for less than the amount owed on the mortgage. This can end up where the seller owes money to his or her lender and also requires the lender’s approval, but a short sale does provide a number of benefits in addition to avoiding foreclosure on one’s home.
Both Parties Are Better Off
Not only are short sales beneficial for homeowners looking for a nice house at a lower budget, but short sales are also beneficial for the banks themselves. This is because short sales are usually the most cost-effective option for the bank despite agreeing to sell the home for less than the value of the loan.
In most cases, the bank will only approve a short sale if the current homeowner is behind in their payments by several months. Instead of continuing to receive zero payments on the home, the bank prefers to try and sell the home through a short sale to at least acquire some of the loan’s costs.
The bank does have the option to foreclose upon a home instead of approving a short sale, but this can be disadvantageous to the lender. Foreclosure can be much more expensive than a short sale because of an eviction and administrative expenses associated with the foreclosure process. In addition, lenders usually have to pay a ton of maintenance and repair fees when they foreclose upon a house before they put it back on the market. Even when they put the home back on the market, there is no guarantee that the home will sell in a timely manner. As a result, bankers are left having to pay all maintenance costs associated with the home until it finally sells.
Not As Big A Hit On Your Credit
Sellers do not run the risk of hurting their credit as bad with a short sale as they would with foreclosure. Because the seller’s credit does not take a huge dive when it comes to a short sale, that individual is able to purchase another home in a faster time period than if they had to go through a foreclosure case.
Talk to a Short Sales Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale
In addition to making sure that our client’s rights are protected during the short sale process and in the future, Loan Lawyers has been successful in aggressively negotiating and advocating for our clients by ensuring that the maximum amount of loan balance reductions are achieved. Our Fort Lauderdale foreclosure defense lawyers work with you in order to help you reach a favorable outcome.
Before you speak to the bank or a realtor about the possibility of doing a short sale on your property, contact our Florida foreclosure defense lawyer today at (844) 344-4813 for a free consultation to find out how we can help negotiate your loan balance and protect your rights. We serve clients in Fort Lauderdale & Miami!
