Consumer Debt and Foreclosure Actions
Originally written by Sarah Poriss Attorney at Law, LLC
President Dewey
If we agree with that assumption and the logical extension, “if it’s on the internet it’s also true” then Thomas E. Dewey was the 34th President of the United States, Aliens invaded New Jersey in the ‘30s, Mr. Rogers was a Navy SEAL, and the African nation of Benin is frantically trying to bestow vast riches upon you.
So, we know better. Most of the time. But, slap some kind of patina of authority or ‘real life experience’ on an on-line post or article and things change. People believe. People take action. People think they can go to court without an attorney.
Yet, I find myself in competition for clients with the Internet. The same wonderful technology that allows me to watch House of Cards over a rainy weekend offers pages – and pages- of minute instructions on how to represent yourself in a foreclosure matter. Step-by-step, or follow this simple flow chart, or these people in Iowa countersued the bank and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!
“Banks won’t have the original note, so …,” “The affidavits were robo-signed, so …” “The latest lien/deed/promissory note wasn’t filed properly, so …,” “You need to walk away now …” “Never walk away …” and so, so much more.
And this isn’t counting the myriad of foreclosure scams, like one alleged in Connecticut that I wrote about last week.
Let’s talk about the best intentioned sites – the ones that just try to walk homeowners through the process, save them the cost of a lawyer. These are usually blogs, many of them by homeowners who have been through at least some of the process. They attest to what happened to them. In their state. In their local court. In front of one judge. This, of course, will work for you as long as your facts are exactly the same as the person who posted. Exactly.
Law isn’t about cookie cutter answers, there are too many variables. In last year’s Pawn Sacrifice, a movie about the Bobby Fischer – Boris Spassky chess match in 1972, Fischer’s coach explains to an uninitiated reporter, “after the first four moves of any chess game there are 300 billion possible move combinations.”
Okay, that’s rather a lot more than a foreclosure case, but, after any given court day or filing date, there are a myriad of possible combinations.
But, as Bobby Fischer said, “People think there are all these options, but there is only one right move.”
You won’t find that on the internet.
Sarah Poriss, Attorney at Law is a leader in Consumer Debt and Foreclosure defense in Connecticut. Her blog was named one of the ABA’s Top 100 law related blogs nationwide for 2015. You can contact her at sarah@sarahporiss.com, you can read more of her blog at sarahporiss.com.
