In 2007 and 2008, the United States encountered a financial crisis which had not been seen since the Great Depression seventy five years earlier. One of the root causes of this crisis was the housing bubble which had burst. This caused thousands of Marylanders to default on their mortgage. Prior to this time, the laws in Maryland allowed for a very quick process in order to foreclose on a home. However, beginning in 2008, and over the next five years, the foreclosure laws changed drastically, particularly for residential properties.
Under the prior law, the lender simply filed some papers in court, advertised the sale, sent a notice to the borrower and then would hold the foreclosure sale. This could be completed in sixty days.
Under the current law, the lender has to send the borrowers a Notice of Intent to Foreclose, which is a document the size of a short book. Then, the lender has to wait forty five days and file papers in court. Next, the lender has to attempt to serve the borrower. The Borrower then has the right to request foreclosure mediation. The number of notices sent to the borrower at various times in the process have been raised from one to a half dozen. The courts also scrutinize foreclosure papers in much more detail than they did ten years ago. This process often takes more than six months.
It used to be that any lawyer would file a foreclosure since the process then was so simple. However, many lawyers now shy away from handling them, because there are so many traps for people who have not conducted them under the new law. Baltimore real estate lawyers at Huesman, Jones & Miles have successfully concluded thousands of foreclosures over many years, both before and after all the law changes which have made the process so difficult. In the past, we have handled foreclosure for large banks and mortgage companies. We have now shifted our focus to handling foreclosures for small local lenders, such as banks, credit unions and even individuals. We can provide the experience of having handled thousands of foreclosure, as well as the personal touch of a small law firm.
For more information, call our real estate lawyers in Baltimore County at (443) 589-0150 or submit an online inquiry form.
