What is Homeowner Bill of Rights? And How Can it Help Homeowners in Foreclosure?

On January 1, 2013, the California Legislature passed the Homeowner Bill of Rights (“HBOR”) to promote foreclosure alternatives and impose certain requirements on lenders and servicers of loans before they can initiate and proceed with a foreclosure sale. Under the HBOR, borrowers can sue lenders and servicers of loans if their lender and servicer failed to comply with the HBOR requirements. Some common violations include (1) failure to contact a borrower prior to recording a notice of default, (2) failure to provide a single point of contact when a borrower requests a loss mitigation alternative, or (3) conducting a foreclosure sale when a borrower has a pending loss mitigation application. These protections allow borrowers to defend against foreclosure until their lender and servicer of the loan complies with the requirements imposed by HBOR.

What Should I Do if the Lender Initiated a Foreclosure Process?

You may contact the lender and/or the servicer of the loan and request a loss mitigation if you don't have one pending. The HBOR requires lenders and/or servicers of a loan to review a borrower for foreclosure alternatives to see if a borrower can qualify for a foreclosure alternative before the property is foreclosed upon. However, it is very important to understand that nothing in HBOR requires lenders and servicers to modify the terms of your loan or provide you with a particular outcome of a loss mitigation review. Usually, a loss mitigation request can be downloaded on the lender's and/or servicer's website. This application must be properly completed before sending it to the lender and/or servicer with the required documents. Under the HBOR, when a borrower submits a complete loss mitigation application and while the lender and/or servicer is evaluating it, the lender and/or servicer cannot conduct a foreclosure sale until the evaluation is complete and the borrower is provided a written determination. Because the HBOR has imposed certain requirements on lenders and/or servicers to comply with prior to a foreclosure sale, you can also consult with an attorney to determine if your lender and servicer of the loan violated the HBOR when they initiated the foreclosure process. If your lender and/or servicers did not comply with these statutory requirements and is continuing with the foreclosure process, you may initiate a lawsuit against your lender and/or servicer for violations of HBOR. What Legal Value Firm Offers At Legal Value Firm, we can evaluate your case and file a lawsuit against your lender and servicer of the loan if they violated the recently enacted HBOR to protect your rights and defend against the foreclosure. Please check out www.LegalValueFirm.com for more details! Thank you for reading. We caution our readers that every legal matter has unique qualities which require consultation with an attorney to evaluate how this purely informational post may apply in your specific situation. Please contact Legal Value Firm today.