Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Wrongful Foreclosure
I just found out that my condo was foreclosed last month. I do not reside there currently since I rented it April last year. I have owned the property for over 10 years and have always been current on my payments to 1st and 2nd lienholders. I have been living with relatives and travelling since I rented the place, so I did not receive any mail regarding defaults on payments. As far as I know, my payments were made and accepted by the lenders. So how can the 2nd claim that I defaulted on the 1st? And subsequently hold the trustee's sale? And what can I do now, 4 weeks after the auction?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Wrongful Foreclosure
Your remedies are very limited after the fact and the law holds you responsible for keeping track of your loan status whether you travel or not. If you have impounded taxes, or an adjustable loan it may be that the payment increased and you did not know it. If the payment increased and you continued to send your old payment, they would merely hold the old payment in a suspense account and would not apply it to the loan because it would not be considered a full payment. The bottom line is that the argument that you did not know about the foreclosure is very weak and not likely to carry any weight in court. It takes over four months to foreclose (and they usually warn you for about 3 months before they start) and there is no justification for not keeping abreast of the status of your loan or providing the lender with an address where you can get and read your mail for that period of time.
Re: Wrongful Foreclosure
If the property has been sold, you can likely only sue for damages. The buyer is probably a holder in due course and takes the property free of any defenses or claims you have against the mortgagee or its Trustee.
Re: Wrongful Foreclosure
I have to look at the details. If the foreclosure was unlawful, you may be able to get the property back..plus. Contact me directly.