Santa Rosa, CA - If you're in foreclosure and your home is about to be sold at auction, here's what you need to know. Once the auction takes place, there's a new owner of the house - either the foreclosing bank or a third-party buyer. And that new owner is going to serve you with a three-day notice to quit.
Does that mean you have to git in three days? Hardly. Case in point is a case I just settled. As you should be aware, a notice is just the first step in an eventual eviction. (First comes the notice, then an unlawful detainer lawsuit, and finally the sheriff eviction).
My clients were served with a lawsuit brought by Fannie Mae in early October, evicting them from their Rohnert Park home. They desperately wanted to be able to stay through the end of November. I attempted to call FNMA's attorneys numerous times; I never got through.
My response was to file a "demurrer" attacking the sufficiency of the complaint. It was a very brief complaint that claimed compliance with the foreclosure statutes but didn't detail any of the foreclosure steps. Even so, it was probably sufficient but worth making an argument over.
On the eve of the hearing on the demurrer, I was miraculously able to get the lawyer on the phone - the same lawyer who had not responded to any of my prior calls - and they agreed to settle the case giving us until not only the end of November but through the first weekend in December. No attorneys fees or costs. Just a stipulation for entry of judgment and a promise to leave the place "broom-clean."
Unlike in standard landlord cases, where a wide range of facts could provide solid defenses to unlawful detainers, in foreclosure cases there's little opportunity to stop an eviction after foreclosure. (More on that later.) But a little litigation engagement can result in very useful settlements.
