Challenge the fees being charged in a foreclosure complaint filing

[raj3001]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey

Two yrs ago, foreclosure complaint was filed against my cousin. The complaint was resolved in a couple of months and complaint was dismissed by lender. Now lender is asking for lender attorney fees. How can we challenge the fees being charged in a foreclosure action? The lender voluntarily dismissed the matter, is there any defense to this? Can the lender waive this? How can he convince the lender? Can he payoff the remaining balance in return for waived fees which is a very small percentage of the balance? Has this been done successfully in the past?

Please let me know. Appreciate your responses.

Thank you

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey

Two yrs ago, foreclosure complaint was filed against my cousin. The complaint was resolved in a couple of months and complaint was dismissed by lender. Now lender is asking for lender attorney fees. How can we challenge the fees being charged in a foreclosure action? The lender voluntarily dismissed the matter, is there any defense to this? Can the lender waive this? How can he convince the lender? Can he payoff the remaining balance in return for waived fees which is a very small percentage of the balance? Has this been done successfully in the past?

Please let me know. Appreciate your responses.

Thank you

He should read his contract to see if the fees are allowed, but I suspect that they are. The rest of your post doesn't contain any legal questions. Your cousin is free to contact his lender and negotiate.

 

[raj3001]

re:

Thank you, it's a standard mortgage contract so the language is there. But does it not depend on circumstances also?

What are the negotiation points? If he pays off a large portion of balance and reduces lender risk, will they waive them off?

 

[Zigner]

Thank you, it's a standard mortgage contract so the language is there. But does it not depend on circumstances also?

What are the negotiation points? If he pays off a large portion of balance and reduces lender risk, will they waive them off?

I implied it before, I'll state it here. There's no way we can guess what the lender might do. Your cousin needs to ask them.

 

[adjusterjack]

Thank you, it's a standard mortgage contract so the language is there. But does it not depend on circumstances also?

What are the negotiation points? If he pays off a large portion of balance and reduces lender risk, will they waive them off?

The lender paid a lawyer and incurred other costs to handle the foreclosure. That's what your cousin owes. There's no "disputing" the amount. Negotiating the lawyer's fees should have been part of whatever agreement he made with the lender to stop the foreclosure and keep the house. Since he apparently didn't do that, it's likely too late to do it now. Except that if your cousin wants to make a discounted lump sum offer he'd better have the cash to back up the talk and the lender might accept it. No guarantees. As Zigner comments, he really needs to talk to the lender. There's no way to predict the outcome.