Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Return Date: Tough luck. You can ask for a continuance but there's no guaranty. You should consult with a foreclosure attorney who can advise whether you want to ignore the case or appear and protect your interests. Granted, if you fail to file an appearance on the return date you can be held in default but those kinds of defaults are generally easily undone, if you plan on appearing and protecting your interests. No attorney will just file an appearance and walk away; once an attorney appears of record the attorney is obligated to represent you and to get out would would have to withdraw and that becomes problematic.

You spoke to a lawyer about chapter 7. Great. If you can have your mortgage DEBT discharged in chapter 7, then no, the lender would be precluded from obtaining a deficiency judgment, but whether you can have that debt discharged is another issue because chapter 7 is "means" tested. Go back to the attorney you spoke with and walk through the various scenarios with all the information that would be used in the bankruptcy to see whether it makes sense.

If you are resigned to the foreclosure going ahead, it may not be important to appear. If you do not appear, a default judgment of foreclosure will be taken, but if this is your first time in foreclosure you will still have several months that the lender must wait before holding a sale of the property, confirming the sale and having you move. Things would not change if you appeared and admitted you were in default. You would only delay matters if you legitimately contested some aspect of the foreclosure, which you would probably want to have an attorney accustomed to appearing in foreclosure matters handle, if applicable.

It is more likely than not that the foreclosing lender would seek a deficiency, but it is not a certainty. So, if you do not have other reasons to file bankruptcy or if the deficiency would be the matter that would lead to a final decision, then you may want to wait. On the other hand, if you are only postponing the inevitable, maybe you are being given good advice and should follow up. Often, debtors spend years trying to do the right thing, hurting themselves by exhausting savings, retirement, etc., only to eventually file anyway.

The scope of this space does not afford an opportunity to assess the situation and advise you. I recommend you assemble for legal consultation: (1) your income information for October 2012 through the present, including wages and unemployment during that period; (2) all your bills (copies neatly assembled, back pages included); (3) last four years� tax returns; (4) a credit report (use www.annualcreditreport.com to obtain free report if not requested in last year); and (5) other information that may apply, such as copies of lawsuits. Call at your earliest convenience to afford the most opportunity in which to be advised about your best course. You are not required to use an attorney in your area.

I do not recommend filing bankruptcy on your own. There are too many complex issues. I have seen several posts on this site for debtors who filed on their own and are seeking counsel concerning complications. Most of them will have a hard time finding an attorney to get involved to unwind the mess without the attorney charging several times what would originally have been paid.