Foreclosure
What should you do if you are facing foreclosure?
Getting the notice from the bank that your house will be foreclosed can leave you in a state of panic. This is not just a house, but your family’s home – how can the bank take it away from you? The stress of struggling with debt and pending foreclosure actions can be all-consuming, but you…
Read MoreHow Bankruptcy May Help You Keep Your Home
At times when people come to see us, they are often in danger of losing their homes. In many of those situations, however, we may be able to help them keep their homes through bankruptcy, or other legal options that may be available. Where a person has a regular form of income, Chapter 13 bankruptcy…
Read MoreFacing foreclosure? You may have more options than you think.
At the Albuquerque law firm of Giddens & Gatton Law,amp; P.C., we help people across New Mexico facing severe debt problems to find legal solutions. Unfortunately, debts quickly mount when a consumer is faced with unexpected job loss or a medical crisis, often putting his or her home at risk of foreclosure when mortgage payments…
Read MoreNew Mexico Supreme Court Puts Brakes on Predatory Lenders
While high outstanding medical bills continue to rank as the leading cause which precipitates financially distressed people to file for bankruptcy protection, high-interest loan obligations constitutes the third, most cited reason. As individuals saw their homes threatened by potential foreclosure, their retirement savings lose their value overnight and, in some tragic instances, their jobs eliminated…
Read MoreGoldman Sachs Settles with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over Mortgages
In the wake of the Justice Department’s record-breaking settlement with Bank of America requiring the mammoth institution to pay a settlement of approximately $17 billion for fraud related to mortgage practices, now investment banking firm Goldman Sachs is entering in to a civil settlement as well. It agreed to pay $3.15 billion to resolve claims…
Read MoreStatute of Limitations Bars Suit Against Home Lender Which Foreclosed
In a recent case against their former real estate lender, two New Mexico residents failed in District Court to successfully bring claims against that lender because they waited too long to file their case. These homeowners alleged that, in March 2007 when they signed their loan documents with Countryside Home Loans (“Countrywide”) securing funds to…
Read MoreNew Mexico Homeowners Win Partial Victory against Wells Fargo
The U.S .Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which rules on federal cases originating from several western states issued a decision earlier this year which gave two New Mexico homeowners a continued opportunity to prevail in a suit against Wells Fargo bank. The plaintiffs in the case of Schlegel v. Wells Fargo Bank[1] procured a loan…
Read MoreMaking Your Judgment More than Just a Piece of Paper
The owner of a plumbing company consults with his attorney because one of his customers has not paid for a large job that was successfully completed several months earlier. After sending out monthly invoices replete with late fees and monthly interest charges which caused the bill to escalate each month, the company has yet to…
Read MoreLoan Workouts; Nipping it in the Bud
About two decades ago the acclaimed and prolific novelist, Tom Wolfe, came out with the book, A Man In Full. The novel was about a fictional developer who owned many high-rise buildings and office parks in the metropolitan Atlanta area. One of the problems this character faced was that he was failing to make his…
Read MoreIn New Mexico Judicial Foreclosure Is The Typical Route
Some states provide a non-judicial route to the foreclosure of residential homes. The State of New Mexico has this option, but it is rarely used. Generally, in judicial foreclosure, a court decrees the amount of the borrower’s debt and gives him or her a short time to pay. If the borrower fails to pay within…
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