Most financial disputes concerning real estate revolve around mortgages and liens.  A mortgage is a legal agreement by which a bank or other creditor lends money at interest in exchange for taking a lien on the debtor’s property, with the condition that the mortgage is cancelled upon the loan being paid off by the debtor.  Mortgages are taken by banks, lenders or creditors,  on all types of Michigan properties: rural, residential, commercial and industrial.

Mortgages are secured by a promissory note requiring the debtor to make timely payments to the lender.  Failing to pay timely or to comply with other mortgage provisions such as maintaining insurance or paying property taxes will allow a lender to place a mortgage in default.  The most powerful remedey that a lender has as a remedy to obtain it’s monies back from the debtor is to declare a default and foreclosure on the mortgage.  Michigan foreclosures are either done judicially or by advertisement.

Common problems that create mortgages disputes are:

1. The mortgage loan is sold and the new lender may not properly abide by the terms of the original mortgage;
2. Tax or insurance escrows are miscalculated by the lender, increasing the debtor’s payment unexpectedly, thereby creating a  debtor’s financial distress.
3. A change in the debtor’s financial circumstances occurs and the lender refuses to work with the debtor to modify or temporarily adjust payments.