Every couple of days, I have to have what is now lovingly called “the come to Jimmy” (A play off the come to Jesus moment) conversation with a client or a potential client. This is the conversation no homeowner wants to have but every good attorney should have with their client (fellow lawyers, feel free to use it).
The names are being changed to protect the innocent.
Kevin O’Neill is a 38 year old single father of two daughters who are 10 and 8. Kevin lives in a five bedroom, three and half bathroom house in a nice part of Allentown. Three years ago, his ex-wife who had gone back to school finished her degree and left him for a professor. She didn’t fight for custody but she did sue him for alimony and after two years in court, the judge ruled that she was not entitled to it.
Kevin had spent nearly $20,000 holding off his ex-wife’s legal attack and was now working on one income that had shrunk due to his additional responsibilities as the custodial parent. His take home pay is about $4400 per month and his mortgage is $2800. (If you can do basic math you see the problem here).
Kevin had tapped out his savings (big mistake) keeping up with his mortgage but now the savings was gone and he had just gone four months past due on his mortgage and was served with an Act 91 notice of intent to foreclose.
More bad news. Kevin had put $18,000 down on his house in 2002 and then refinanced to put his e
x-wife through school. This would had all the makings of a Lifetime made for TV movie except the victim was a man.
So Kevin sees his dream house, his dream life, and his investment of eight years of timely payments on the mortgage going down the toilet. Its enough to make anyone hide in the corner, but instead, Kevin did the smart thing, he picked up the phone and called me. Kevin set up an appointment and came.
Kevin brought his daughters with him. They played with my girls while we discussed his situation. That’s right, this is not some pretentious law firm that is going to stick its nose up at your kids… they can play with toys or watch TV here, this is a family law firm that doesn’t practice family law! (However if you need a family law attorney, my friend Sarah Mussel is a great one).
Kevin desperately wanted to keep his home, and he could have, but it doesn’t make sense. The house is five bedrooms. Five bedrooms for three people is overkill. When Kevin and his ex-wife purchased the home, it was with the idea that his ex-wife’s mother was going to move in… clearly that wasn’t going to happen now. Even though Kevin’s house is in a nice part of Allentown, he’d like to get his daughters in a school that has more options, which means moving or sending them to private school, something he would never be able to afford with that mortgage.
So, “I’m f–ked,” Kevin said. 
“Not so fast,” was my reply. The reality is that I have no magic wand to make a mortgage payment shrink, and if someone says they do, walk, better yet run away! What I can do is hold off a foreclosure for a year, maybe longer, to buy you time to save up and find a place to live.
A foreclosure is not automatic. It is a legal action, a complaint in foreclosure. Each foreclosure complaint lists several things on it, and I can object to them one at a time. Without getting into the fine minutia of each thing I can do in a foreclosure, I can hold your foreclosure off for a long time simply because of defects in a creditor’s complaint. The best part about hiring me to defend your foreclosure is you no longer have to deal with it. Legal paperwork can be irritating and intimidating. I’ll be the guy picking up the phone and answering the letters and emails.
Like most things in life and in the legal world, this is all about timing and accuracy, and that is why you hire an attorney.
By the end of the 
conversation, Kevin had hired me. For my relatively low monthly fee, Kevin would be able to stay in his home, put money aside for the eventual move, and manage and control when and where he moved. Like I tell every client, I will help you control the situation rather than have it control you! If I can’t accomplish that, its time for me to quit practicing law and join the circus.
Just so you can see this in real numbers (each case is different, this is an example) look at the numbers below:
Take home pay: $4400
Utilites: $200
Transportation: $550
Food: $500
Miscellaneous Expenses: $750
By defending the lawsuit, my client is now in positive income by $2400 per month. He will recoup his $18,000 down payment and then some if the foreclosure is held off for two years. If he saves even half that, it is $24,000 saved at the end of two years. If you had to start over, would you rather start over with nothing or with $24,000 in the bank? Yeah me too.
Even though Kevin doesn’t intend to stay in his home, he is going to benefit drastically by defending his foreclosure.
So does it always make sense to answer a foreclosure action? 
No. Suppose Kevin were unemployed and collecting unemployment. His income would be cut significantly and he would not see the benefit of fighting the foreclosure. Suppose Kevin had met a woman (or a man, it is 2012 after all) that he wanted to marry (not yet legal in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, lets fix that) and that person owned or rented a home he and his kids could move into. It may make more sense to walk away and share expenses.
Not everyone should defend a foreclosure, but in my experience, most people benefit by fighting a foreclosure.
Still not sure? That’s quite alright, that’s where I come in. Call 610-928-1233 or email me at jim@padebt911.com and we can set an appointment for a free, no-obligation consultation. Feel free to bring your kids.