Judicial Foreclosure States means that in order to foreclose, the banks or loan servicers are required by law to file a lawsuit against you to foreclose. At least you are forewarned and can take action to stop or slow things down before an eviction, Pro Se or not. There is much you can do at this point!
In Non-judicial States, the banks or loan servicers don't have to file a lawsuit against you to foreclose. All they have to do is file documents into the county record to commence foreclosure. And the bad thing is, once a document has been accepted into the county record, it is by law "presumed" to be legal, legitimate and authentic, and the court sees it as such! Even if it is fabricated, phony or fraudulent! Once your case has reached the stage of the Trustee's Sale and the sale of your home at auction has taken place, all they have to do is file and Unlawful Detainer against you, which is the beginning of the process to evict/remove you from your home. They know most homeowners don't know they only have 5 days max to respond to the UD summons, and if you don't reply, answer or respond in that 5 days...they can get a "default judgment" where the court rules in their favor, and you will be served notice by a Sheriff that you must leave your home. At this point, it is almost too late.
NON-judicial foreclosures are NON-Constitutional in that they deny you "due process". They do not allow you to defend yourself. By the time you reach the UD stage, you cannot bring up issues of title, contract, fraud or much else...well, you CAN bring them up, but you won't be listened to. They see it as this: since the county filings are already in place and presumed to be legitimate, you cannot go back prior to that and question their authenticity. You will be evicted before you can do that...and that is the way it is set up: to get you out fast so they can have your home and sell it off to a 3rd party. The UD courts are strictly "eviction" courts. The Judge's Bench Guide for UD's says for the Judge to "resolve" UD's in 30 to 45 days max! That means, they just want you out of there...yesterday!
Now, on to the "Fast-Track" part (the courts literally call a UD a fast-track case):
The Wrong-doers in NON-Jud states don't want homeowners to know about the 5-day Answer time limit after you are served with a UD summons. It doesn't have to be a fancy, eloquent answer, just an answer (you need to follow court procedure, though, complete with "proof of service" (more about that later)! The next most common step the banks take is to file a Summary Judgment (SJ). You have the opportunity to "Oppose" that. If you do, you will slow things down.
Now, there are several other steps you can take:
(1) You can file a "cross-complaint" (very little written on that subject, but it is enough), which will then make you the Plaintiff instead of the Defendant. Then you can follow option (2) below.
(2) You can "Remove" your UD case to Federal Court, which means you can take your case out of the "slaughter house" courts (as they are known by) and into a higher court where important issues of fraud, title, contract, and issues of the Constitution can and will be heard, whereas they won't be heard in a UD court (where if you bring them up there, you'll be sunk). There are Sample pleadings that can be used to do this if you don't know how. THIS CAN BUY YOU FROM 4 TO 6 WEEKS...if not permanent! There is a chance your case may be "remanded" (sent back) to the UD court. You can correct any mistakes in the Remand Order and re-file. Then you can attempt the following options.
(3) You can chance waiting until an unfavorable ruling at your hearing, and they you can Appeal (there is a short time limit to do so, so check your state or local court rules)...but this is cutting it close! Not recommended.
(4) Bankruptcy: you can file a BK (as it is known) which will put a temporary 'stay' or 'halt' on the UD action. This can be good if you have no other option, but what banks try to do is lift the "stay" within about 6 or so weeks so they can proceed with the eviction regardless of the BK stay. This can buy you some time, but usually not for long. You need a back-up plan in case this happens!
I will post some things to use as a basis to increase the chances of your case making it to Federal court and staying there. Note: State courts do not decide issues based on Constitutional law. Federal courts do. That is why you need to find what is called "Federal Question" to base your cross-complaint on, or your Removal on. For example: the HAMP program which has pulled many people into foreclosure via loan modifications is a FEDERAL PROGRAM, so that constitutes a "Federal Question"...sufficient to move a UD to Federal court. If the $ amount the bank set on your initial UD is under $75k, by filing a cross-complaint, you are now the plaintiff, and you can re-set the $ amount (a good place to start is with "treble damages", meaning 3 x the amount of your loan or of your home...whichever they are after). With the $ amount AND Federal Question, your case will stay in Federal court and you will be "out of the woods" with your UD.
***This is by no means legal advice. It is meant for educational purposes. If you try any things mentioned here, do so at your own risk. Better yet, ask an attorney (many will answer a few questions free of charge).
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