An eighty-five year old homeowner came to the Melbourne office of Shuster & Saben caught between a rock and a hard place. Her property insurance company dropped her because she did not replace a thirty-year-old electrical panel in her home. When her lender learned that her property insurance was not renewed it replaced the old insurance policy with a force-placed policy costing nearly quadruple the price. The client could not afford to pay both her mortgage and the cost of replacing her electrical panel.
The client’s sole source of income was Social Security and she did not have savings available to pay for the expensive home repair. The client had tried on her own, for months, without success, to obtain a loan modification from her mortgage servicer. Prior to the filing of a foreclosure action, firm attorney Richard Shuster advised her that she since she could not obtain other insurance coverage until she replaced a dangerous, outdated, electrical panel and she could not afford force-placed coverage she had no other choice but to miss a few mortgage payments and use the money that to fix her home. The client was encouraged to speak to the lender and let them know her situation. Hopefully the homeowner could fix her electrical box and obtain a loan modification before the loan servicer brought a foreclosure action.
Unfortunately the loan servicer filed a foreclosure action after the client missed several payments. When the servicer filed the foreclosure action, the client did not have sufficient funds to pay the firm’s usual fees for foreclosure defense and was given a hardship discount. After being retained the firm moved to dismiss the foreclosure action and submitted a loan modification package for the borrower. Less than sixty days after being hired, the firm has obtained a HAMP loan modification that will lower the client’s interest rate from 6% to 2.25% The client has fixed her electrical box. Shuster referred the client to top insurance agent to obtain a new insurance policy to replace the force-placed insurance policy obtained by the loan servicer. With swift proactive representation designed to solve problems, the firm has helped another client save their home.
About Shuster & Saben: Shuster & Saben tailors its approach to each clients unique situation with a goal of solving problems and protecting our clients home and assets. If you want more than cookie-cutter foreclosure delay, a free consultation (for homeowners in foreclosure) is a phone call away.