Understanding the Connecticut foreclosure process is essential if you are to mount a defense to keep your home. Knowing what to expect will help you avoid being taken advantage of by banks who may try underhanded tactics to take your home from you. While it is true that banks generally want money rather than the property, they will do whatever it takes to get what they feel rightfully belongs to them.
Connecticut allows for three types of foreclosures to take place. Judicial foreclosure is the most common process where a judge decides if the debt is owed and what happens to the home. Strict foreclosure happens when there is no equity in the home. The lender files suit for the back payments and the courts gives the borrower a set amount of time to get caught up. If the loan is not brought current then ownership of the property reverts to the bank. Foreclosure by Sale is when the lender sells the property without the benefit of court supervision.
Your bank will initiate the proceedings by sending you a letter giving you 30 days to get caught up the payments. If you do not pay what is due then they go to the next step.
To determine who all the lien holders are on the account, a title search will be conducted. All lien holders, generally whoever is listed on the loan and other financial companies with interest in the house will receive a summons notifying them that the lender is about to foreclose on the home.
Within 15 days after getting the summons, you have to file a certificate for mediation. Participation in the mediation program is mandatory if you meet the eligibility requirements. People who own 1-4 family dwellings or who can answer yes on the questionnaire must work with their bank through mediation to come to terms about the home.
Although you will work with the lender through mediation to renegotiate the loan terms, the lender will continue to file papers with the court. These include a motion for a default judgment due to failure to appear which requests the judge to decide in the lender’s favor should you not appear, a motion for default judgment for failure to plead against anyone who has not filed and Answer motion within two days of receiving court summons and a motion for a summary judgment which asks the court to decide that you do owe the lender money.
It is important to know that the bank will not receive a decision from the court regarding the foreclosure proceedings until mediation ends. You are given 60 days to come to terms with the bank and you can ask for more time if you need it. Mediation is your best hope for saving your home so participating is critical.
Successfully negotiating with the bank during mediation will result in a withdrawal of the petition for foreclosure. If things don’t work out in mediation then the case will go to Judgment where it will be decided what will happen to the house. The property will either be reverted to the lender or required to be put up for sale depending on the value of the home versus what is owed on the note.
Up until the moment you are put out from your home, you can defend against a Connecticut foreclosure. If you want to keep you home then use all the resources available to you to win your campaign.
Ct foreclosure can be harsh, because no one wants to have their home taken away, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel.. Connecticut foreclosures happen often and no one wants to be out of a home, so you should look for some advice.
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