Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin

Real Estate Foreclosure

While I am not familiar with a "contract for deed," which is not commonly used in WI, I am extremely familiar with WI foreclosures of mortgages and land contracts. An experienced bankruptcy attorney can immediately determine the answers to many of your questions via access to various data bases which would disclose the existence of such litigation. However, rules are different from state to state--some states may not even require a lawsuit. The lender’s attorney has no duty to speak with you or give you any information at all, since they represent the opposing party. If the lender is also the one who sold the property to you, you may have counterclaims available to you regarding your breach of certain home builder's warranty claims. Some states also have consumer protection laws which require certain lenders to honor claims against the sellers in some circumstances. A chapter 13 bankruptcy can also stop foreclosures and reinstate home loans. Finally, many states have "redemption periods," which allow the owners to remain in the property for a certain length of time, providing an opportunity to refinance or sell the home in order to pay off the loan and/or recover some of their investment. In WI, the redemption period on residential loans is one year following entry of the judgment of foreclosure, but only if the bank retains the option of pursuing the debtors personally if there is not enough money recovered at the sheriff's sale to pay off the obligation (this is known as a "deficiency judgment" collection in WI). If the bank does not retain the option to collect from the debtors personally, but instead agree to settle for whatever amount the sheriff's sale yields, WI law normally grants the owners a shorter, six month redemption period. The owners can continue to occupy the home during this time without making payments tothe bank. Such periods can be shortened if the home is abandoned by the owners or if the owners are somehow damaging it (known as "committing waste" in real estate parlance). There are many critical time limits for protecting your various rights in this situation, so you should not delay in speaking with a bankruptcy/Real Estate lawyer. Good luck!