Right to Cure Notice: Your Chance to Negotiate with the Bank
Every person whose home is being foreclosed upon is supposed
to receive a Right To Cure Notice from the lender or the lender’s
servicer. This notice is required
by Mass. Gen. Law ch. 244 § 35A.
This is a very important notice and is the beginning of the
foreclosure process by the bank.
DO NOT IGNORE THIS NOTICE.
This notice is required to inform you of certain rights you have as a
borrower and provide you with certain information about the lender and/or the
servicer.
If this notice does not have the correct information in it,
you may have a defense to your foreclosure.
TIME TO CURE YOUR DEFAULT
Under the law currently in effect, you have a 150-day right
to cure a default of a required payment under your mortgage. This includes any
interest and late fees. The letter
will inform you of the amount you owe.
If the lender states that it has engaged in a good faith
effort to negotiate an alternative to foreclosure, and that the effort has involved
at least one meeting either in person or by telephone and after the meeting,
you and the lender were unsuccessful in coming to a solution, the lender may
then begin foreclosure proceedings in 90 days. If you receive a letter from the lender asking you to
negotiate with the lender a “commercially reasonable alternative to
foreclosure” and you do not respond within 30 days, then your “cure” period is
only 90 days. THE LESSON IS: OPEN ALL THE MAIL FROM THE BANK AND READ IT. DON’T HESITATE TO SEND IT TO YOUR
ATTORNEY.
You are only provided one opportunity in a three-year period
to cure a default. Please make
sure that you inform your attorney if you have been involved in a default and
then payment before this time around.
The earlier you attempt to deal with any default of your
mortgage the better. As always, an attorney can be your best voice with the
bank and help you to document the efforts you have made to negotiate with the
bank.
Next time…..what information is required in the Right to
Cure Notice.