Foreclosure starts across the Dallas-Fort Worth area have averaged slightly more than 800 per month this year, an increase of about 24 percent over the prior year and well above the roughly 16 percent national rise, according to KERA News reports. The figures point to mounting pressure on Texas homeowners, and they carry particular weight because state law permits a foreclosure sale within weeks of a default notice, leaving borrowers with little margin for delay.
Leinart Law Firm is urging Texas homeowners who receive a default notice from their mortgage servicer to seek legal advice before a sale date is set. Reviewing a loan modification, reinstatement, or Chapter 13 with a bankruptcy lawyer in Mesquite, TX at that early stage leaves more time to pursue whichever option best fits the homeowner's circumstances.
"Texas law allows a foreclosure sale within weeks of a default notice, which is why the first letter from a servicer deserves prompt attention," said Marcus Leinart, founder of Leinart Law Firm. "When we meet a client before the notice of sale is posted, there is often time to work with the servicer while keeping a Chapter 13 filing available if that effort does not succeed."
Most Texas mortgages can be foreclosed without a court case. Under Section 51.002 of the Texas Property Code, a homeowner must receive at least 20 days to cure a default on a residence and at least 21 days' notice before the sale, which is held on the first Tuesday of the month. That can leave as few as 41 days between the certified default letter and the auction.
Filing a Chapter 13 case before the scheduled sale changes the homeowner's position in three ways. For most filers, the automatic stay halts the foreclosure sale as soon as the case is filed. Past-due amounts are included in a court-approved plan lasting three to five years, while the homeowner resumes regular monthly payments. The servicer is then bound by the plan's repayment terms after the court confirms them, instead of demanding a lump-sum reinstatement.
Homeowners who have already received a notice of sale can still file before the auction, though the timeline leaves little room for preparation. The implication of the foreclosure data is that more North Texas households may soon confront a compressed legal window in which the difference between a default letter and a lost home can be measured in weeks.
