Facing a Foreclosure Filing? Don’t Go it Alone.

Supposed a foreclosure lawsuit is filed against you. You file an Answer. The plaintiff files a motion for summary judgment quickly. New civil procedure rules require a homeowner to file his or her defense 20 days before a hearing. Most people are unware of that rule and lose. Even if they show up at the hearing, if they didn’t file their defenses to the MFSJ 20 days prior, they cannot raise any defenses. This is even if they had already filed an Answer when they were initially served. This is only one problem a homeowner could face in a foreclosure proceeding.

“I can’t imagine someone going through it without legal help, because I know how it was for me,” said Philip Jackson, a retired Clearwater police detective who has been involved in a long-running legal fight with St. Petersburg stemming from a foreclosure lawsuit the city brought against him in 2019.