Facing a foreclosure auction in Newark can feel overwhelming, but you have legal options to stop the sale and protect your home. Understanding available remedies and acting quickly is critical, as once the auction occurs, recovery becomes significantly more difficult. Whether through bankruptcy protection, loan modification, repayment plans, or legal defenses challenging the foreclosure itself, multiple strategies exist to halt the auction process.
Time-sensitive action and experienced legal guidance from a Newark foreclosure lawyer are essential to successfully stopping foreclosure and saving your property. Contact Consumer Law Attorneys today for a consultation.
Understanding New Jersey Foreclosure Laws
New Jersey law allows a lender to initiate foreclosure proceedings when a homeowner is in default on their mortgage. The lender must send you a Notice of Default after you have missed 90 or more days of payments. Under federal law, your lender must discuss options other than foreclosure with you, whether it is forbearance or a modification, but they do not have to offer these options.
New Jersey is a judicial foreclosure state, meaning that the lender must go through the court system to take your home. Like any other lawsuit, the lender must begin the court process by drafting a complaint. You must be served with the papers. The law requires that you be given due process. This is how you can begin to mount your foreclosure defense in Newark.
Under New Jersey law, you have 35 days to respond to the foreclosure complaint. If you do not respond or seek an extension, the court may take it as a sign that you are not participating in the process, and it can issue a default order. The court will schedule a hearing, where they will consider whatever defenses you present. The judge will either allow or stop the foreclosure. If they issue a court order allowing the foreclosure to proceed, your property can be sold at auction after that. New Jersey does not give you the right to redeem your home by making payments after it has been sold.
Filing an Emergency Bankruptcy
Ordinarily, it may take some time for your bankruptcy attorney to prepare your initial filing with the court. There are times when you cannot wait to go through the regular bankruptcy process. Doing so will put your home at risk, especially if the lender has already started foreclosure proceedings. You can even stop a foreclosure auction through an emergency bankruptcy filing in New Jersey. There is an automatic stay, even if the court has already entered an order allowing the foreclosure, making timeliness even more imperative.
Thankfully, you have options that allow you to get into bankruptcy court, even if you are not ready for a full filing. You can make a so-called “skinny bankruptcy” filing. Here, you file only the documents that you need to begin the case without all of the necessary supporting documentation.
The benefit of a skinny bankruptcy filing is that the automatic stay still applies to your case. Your mortgage lender cannot continue with the foreclosure process because it is a violation of the automatic stay. You have 14 days after you make the filing to supplement it with the required documentation. Although you should be proactive to the fullest extent possible, emergency bankruptcy is still an option available to you.
How Chapter 13 Reschedules Payments
As opposed to the liquidation that occurs under Chapter 7, you will seek a restructuring under Chapter 13. Working with your bankruptcy lawyer in Newark, you propose a repayment plan for all of your debts that typically lasts three or five years.
One of the reasons why homeowners often opt for Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that it allows them to get some breathing room while they still keep their home. The amount that you owe your mortgage lender becomes part of the overall pool of debt that you are paying down during your period of restructuring. This amount is spread out over the course of your restructuring plan.
Chapter 13 does not stop you from having to make your regular mortgage payments. If you miss payments on your plan or your mortgage, your lender can still foreclose on your home. What it does do is give you more manageable debt payments. Hopefully, the breathing room that you get can allow you to make your monthly mortgage payments.
Get Immediate Legal Help from Foreclosure Attorneys in Newark
You are not as powerless as you may think when you are facing foreclosure in Newark. You can stop foreclosure in one of several ways. At Consumer Law Attorneys, we help you explore your options and put them into action. You can speak with a bankruptcy attorney when you schedule a free initial consultation. Call us today at (877) 241-2200, or send us a message online, to speak with a bankruptcy lawyer.
