The Second Wave of Foreclosures That Never Came

After the launch of a nationwide investigation into the foreclosure robo-signing scandal, many real estate experts feared that a delay in foreclosure processing would create a backlog of distressed properties which would eventually flood the housing market. But the predictions never came to be. While the major banks worked on a foreclosure settlement with the nation’s attorney generals, many were forced resolve their foreclosure issues with homeowners. A significant number of homeowners used mortgage modification to avoid foreclosure or untethered themselves from an unaffordable mortgage by short selling their underwater home. There’s nothing worse that paying good money to a bad attorney. Quite often, you wind up losing your case and you are still out all of the money you paid. You could have lost on your own, for free! It can also be a waste of money to get multiple attorneys to handle the different aspects of your case. Besides wasting money, you could be giving up important rights if your attorney cannot handle them properly when they arise. While there are a number of things to look for when choosing the right attorney, I have focused on three of the most important keys to victory. You can click to read more information about the restraining orders lawyer.

Interpersonal relationships can be very complicated and it is nearly impossible for people to get along with everyone they know all of the time. Disputes and disagreements are common among people, especially those who share living space, work environments, and social circles. Although many arguments and problems can be settled by discussion and mediation, other problems may be so severe that they cannot be resolved amicably. Disputes between spouses, friends, and family members may escalate to dangerous proportions. If a person feels threatened or has reason to fear bodily harm will come to them, they may want to take legal action to protect themselves. One of the most common methods of doing so is to file a restraining order against the person with whom they have a dispute. approved rulings that may require individuals to move out of a home they share with another person, desist in physical violence toward another, stay away from another person’s property, or stay a certain physical distance from another person at all times. The court often looks at the specifics of the case, and may make amendments to the order for certain occasions, events, and circumstance. Failure to obey a restraining order may result in the arrest of the person who violates the court’s commands and criminal charges may be pressed against the individual at fault. Such orders are designed to protect people from harmful actions and hopefully keep hostility at bay. If the person does not obey the wishes of the court, he or she may find themselves in serious legal trouble. Unfortunately, restraining orders are not without their legal complications and flaws. The court cannot predict every situation a person might be placed into, and the instructions of the order may be so vague as to cause problems with correctly following the law. In addition, people who have a restraining order against them may be wrongly accused of violating the order by a vindictive family member or person who wishes to see them arrested. Persons who are wrongly accused of violating restraining orders have the right to defend themselves from criminal charges. If you have been wrongly accused of criminal actions, it is important to consult an experienced criminal defense attorney to discuss the situation and formulate your defense. I have seen criminal defense attorneys explain to the court that they are really not in a position to deal with the custody, visitation and child support issues because the client has another attorney for those issues and the attorney handling the restraining order case is clueless when it comes to those issues. Sometimes, the family court issues can be an integral part of settling or winning the case but if your attorney cannot address these issues, you are seriously prejudicing all of your case. I have also seen plenty of family-law attorneys handle restraining order cases that clearly knew next to nothing about criminal defense. Because of moves I made at the restraining order hearing, I was able to get very serious assault charges dismissed. These charges could have landed my client in prison for many years but the testimony elicited during the hearing boxed the prosecutor in where they had no choice but to dismiss the charges. It may be extremely difficult for an attorney that does not practice criminal defense to come up with that strategy.

Since March, the five largest U.S. mortgage servicers provided loan relief to 309,385 borrowers, according to a Nov. 19 report by Joseph Smith, who heads the independent office established to monitor compliance with the settlement. Almost 22,000 borrowers had principal forgiveness totaling $2.55 billion. And 113,000 borrowers won bank approval for short sales, yielding another $13.1 billion in principal writedowns.

The unexpected side-effect of the foreclosure delays and subsequent deals struck with homeowners is that there are fewer distressed homes flooding the marketplace. Fewer distressed properties on the market is causing home prices to rise in some regions. According to the National Association of Realtors the median price of an existing single-family home in October sold for 11 percent more than what it sold for in November 2005.