Sample Foreclosure Defense Legal Documents

For those who want some idea of what the legal documents in a foreclosure action look like, Broken Credit Blog has made available some of the documents filed in a Duval County, Florida case involving foreclosure defense attorney April Charney from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. Among the documents that were filed on behalf of the homeowner facing a foreclosure action are:

• Motion to Enlarge Time,
• Motion to Dismiss Complaint,
• Defendant’s Motion to Enlarge Time to Respond to Amended Complaint,
• Defendant’s Answer to Amended Complaint; Motion to Dismiss; Affirmative Defenses; Counterclaims; and Demand for Jury Trial,
• Defendant’s Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Strike.

For links to all of the 14 documents currently available on Broken Credit Blog, see Anatomy of a Florida Foreclosure Defense.

See also: Foreclosure defense a popular subject at Bar convention:

April Charney's foreclosure defenses, many based on Florida court rulings, as outlined in her materials, include:

• Failure to produce original note and mortgage or to re-establish.
• Fraud, including misrepresentation or omission of material fact made with intent to deceive.
• Duress, or unjustified pressure to sign a mortgage, particularly in a home improvement or solicitation setting or upon a refinancing.
• Unconscionability, when the mortgage terms are unreasonably favorable to the lender (must be proven procedurally and substantively).
• Unfair and unacceptable loan servicing, failure to follow HUD requirements for residential single-family mortgage lending and servicing.
• Scrutinizing foreclosure attempts under debt collection laws.

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Additional legal documents that can be helpful in fighting off foreclosure are available online courtesy of the Consumer Warning Network:

Forms that can be used when a foreclosure lawsuit has already been filed against a homeowner:

• Request for Production of Document, a fill-in-the-blank legal request to the foreclosing lender asking that the original note be produced, before it can proceed with the foreclosure,
• Motion to Compel to be filed with the court and request that the court set a hearing on your motion if the lender’s attorney does not respond within 30 days to the Request for Production of Document. That, in effect, asks the judge to order the lender to produce the documents.

If a foreclosure action has not yet been filed:

• Letter to the Lender, a fill-in-the-blank form which also requests they produce the original note, before taking foreclosure action against you.

For more, including informational videos, see Produce The Note “How-To."

For those in states that do not require a lender to initiate foreclosure proceedings in court to carry out a foreclosure sale, see How to use "Produce the Note” in Non-judicial Foreclosure States.

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Disenfranchised Homeowners Blog offers the following foreclosure legal document which may be helpful:

• Complaint For Recission Of Mortgage And Damages.

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From the Legal Advocacy Center of Central Florida, Inc. and the Volunteer Lawyers Project of Community Legal Services of MidFlorida, Inc.:

• Basic Foreclosure Litigation Defense Manual.