New National Mortgage Settlement Foreclosure Rules Offer New Hope for Ohio Area Homeowners, Report Columbus, Ohio Foreclosure Defense Attorneys at Jump Legal Group

    COLUMBUS, OH, October 24, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Many Columbus, Ohio homeowners report that upon falling behind on their mortgage payments, they worked with the bank for months, and sometimes years, filling out forms and submitting information, only to learn that the bank foreclosed on their home. The new national mortgage settlement offers hope for Columbus, Ohio homeowners by adding new ways for your foreclosure defense attorney to fight your foreclosure.

The National Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement

To address the foreclosure processing abuses that have been going on since at least 2008, the U.S. government entered into an agreement with five of the nation's largest banks to improve how these banks service mortgages and how they treat struggling homeowners. The banks involved in the national mortgage settlement include Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial and Citigroup. On October 2, 2012, the deadline passed for these 5 banks to be in compliance with the more than 300 new mortgage loan servicing requirements set forth in the settlement agreement. As a result of these new servicing requirements, Jump Legal's foreclosure defense attorneys are in an even stronger position than ever to defend your foreclosure and help save your home.

Four New Foreclosure Rules that Can Help Columbus, Ohio Homeowners Stop Foreclosure

1) Prohibits the Use Of "Robo Signers" in The Foreclosure Process

Prior to the national mortgage settlement agreement, Columbus, Ohio lenders may have commonly used "robo-signers" to attest to facts in the foreclosure documents when that actually did not know the facts. Under the government mortgage settlement agreement, the use of "robo-signers" to hurry through the foreclosure process is prohibited. If your Columbus, Ohio home has been foreclosed upon, Jump Legal's foreclosure defense team will review your loss mitigation history and foreclosure documents for compliance with the settlement.

2) Prohibits Banks From Foreclosing While Working With You On A Loan Modification

Many of our clients thought that their bank was working with them on a loan modification only to discover that their home was being foreclosed upon, and in some instances, already scheduled for a sheriff's sale. This process of "dual tracking" mortgage loans is now prohibited under the new national mortgage settlement agreement. If your bank is prosecuting a foreclose lawsuit while reviewing you for a loan modification, they may be in violation of the new mortgage servicing requirements. You may be able to raise this as a defense to your foreclosure if you contact our firm early enough in the foreclosure process. Further, if you contact an attorney early enough so your attorney can request a mediation hearing, these servicing requirements may prove central to getting you, the homeowner, the best result possible.

3) Requires Banks to Provide A Single Point Of Contact For All Borrowers.

Under the new national mortgage settlement requirements, the bank must provide customers with a single point of contact. This contact person is supposed to be able to address all of your mortgage related issues. It is a violation if you are being transferred from one department to another in your attempt to find out the status of your loan modification, whether payments have been received, or whether a foreclosure has been filed. This single point of contact is to ensure that the you, the homeowner, are given every opportunity to save your home and that foreclosure is used by the bank only as a last resort. Each foreclosure defense attorney at Jump Legal will review how the bank communicated with you and whether they met these new servicing requirements. Jump Legal can use the bank's failure to properly communicate with you to fight to save your home.

4) For Columbus, Ohio Homeowners Who Qualify, New National Settlement Requires Banks To Refinance Or Grant Principle Reductions.

Under the terms of the new government mortgage settlement agreement, banks must give homeowners who qualify principle reductions and/or the opportunity to refinance their mortgage. Whether a homeowner will qualify for a principle reduction or refinancing will generally still be decided on a case-by-case basis by your bank. If you were denied a refinancing or principle reduction when you met the bank's guidelines, Jump Legal's foreclosure defense attorneys may be able to help you. The new compliance rules that came out of the national mortgage settlement make it a violation for the participating banks to deny a homeowner an opportunity to refinance or receive a principle reduction when the homeowner qualifies.

Frequently Asked Questions

I was working with my bank to get a loan modification only to learn the bank foreclosed on our house. Can Jump Legal's Foreclosure Defense Attorneys help me?

The new national mortgage settlement agreement bans the practice of "dual tracking". Dual Tracking is the process in which the bank simultaneously forecloses on a homeowner while working with the homeowner on a loan modification. This means that Jump Legal attorneys have another defense to utilize to fight your foreclosure. Also, with this new mortgage servicing requirement, Jump Legal's foreclosure defense attorneys anticipate many homeowners will have even additional time to apply for a loan modification, even if they must file bankruptcy to resolve other debts. In fact, if the homeowner does in fact file bankruptcy, your lender will be made to account for even more servicing guidelines.

My home is in foreclosure. Can Jump Legal Foreclosure Defense help me save my home?

Jump Legal has helped many clients here in Columbus, Ohio save their homes by defending their foreclosure. In fact, Jump Legal pioneered foreclosure defense here in Ohio and remains one of only a handful of firms in Ohio that routinely engages in foreclosure defense on behalf of clients. So, if like many of our clients, you could afford your mortgage payment if the bank would work with you through a loan modification, principle reduction, or refinancing, but instead your bank has foreclosed on your mortgage, Jump Legal's Foreclosure Defense attorneys can help you fight your foreclosure.

My home is in foreclosure, but if I could refinance my mortgage or get a principal reduction I could afford my house payment. Can a Jump Legal's Foreclosure Defense attorney help me?

The new national mortgage service compliance rules make it a violation to deny a homeowner an opportunity to refinance or a gain a principle reduction when the homeowner qualifies. Jump Legal's foreclosure defense attorneys may make the review of your loan modification part of the formal foreclosure court proceeding making it difficult for the bank to deny the homeowner the loan modification, principle reduction, or refinancing, when the homeowner qualifies. To this end, Jump Legal's foreclosure defense attorneys can use these new mortgage service requirements to help fight your foreclosure.

Jump Legal Group, LLC is located at 2130 Arlington Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. Jump Legal practices in the following areas of law: Foreclosure Defense, Loan Modifications, Debt Settlement, Bankruptcy, and Creditor Violations. You can contact the firm at www.legaldebtsolutions.com or by calling 614-556-4522.

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