Filling out an Answer

Step 1:
FILL OUT THE “CAPTION” OF THE ANSWER
Step 2:
FILL OUT THE FIRST PAGE OF THE NOTICE OF APPEARANCE
Step 3:
CHECK OFF AND EXPLAIN YOUR DEFENSES
Step 4:
ADD ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Step 5:
FILL IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 4TH PAGE
Step 6:
FILL OUT AND SIGN THE VERIFICATION SECTION
Step 7:
MAKE 2 COPIES OF THE VERIFIED ANSWER
Step 8:
“SERVE” THE PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY
Step 9:
FILL OUT THE AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE
Step 10:
FILE THE VERIFIED ANSWER AND AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE AT THE COUNTY CLERK
Step 11:
APPEAR AT YOUR SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE

My mortgage is guaranteed by the Veterans Administration (“VA”) pursuant to Title 38 of the United States Code. The loan servicer has not complied with the regulations requiring that the servicer extend all reasonable forbearance options. Compliance with these regulations is a condition precedent to foreclose. Further, failure to comply with these rules gives rise to equitable defenses to this action.

Service requirements for mortgages holding Veteran Administration guarantees and insurance require the mortgagee to demonstrate a proper ability to service loans adequately. The VA Lender’s Handbook states that holders of VA guarantees or insurance are not expected to start a foreclosure action until every reasonable effort has been made to arrive at some other solution. You should raise this defense if you have a VA loan and feel your servicer did NOT make reasonable efforts to work with you prior to filing the foreclosure.



I have tried to tender payments in the amount of $___ on ____ which would have paid the principal, interest, and fees I owed at the time in full, but the lender refused to accept the payment and proceeded to foreclosure against me wrongfully.

In a foreclosure proceeding, a valid tender of an amount that is sufficient to fully eliminate all defaults prior to the bank or servicer’s option to accelerate is a total defense.

You should raise this defense if you feel that you paid all arrearages to your Bank prior to them sending you an Acceleration Letter, which is the letter you received prior to the foreclosure being filed that stated that the whole amount of your Mortgage is due immediately. Be sure to fill in the blanks with the amount you paid and the date you paid it.



Partial or Full Payment: I have made payments in the amount of $_____ which have not been properly credited and are not reflected in the Summons and Complaint:

You have paid the mortgage payments, or some portion of the mortgage payments, that the Plaintiff claims you owe.

You believe that the amount of debt is incorrect and that you do not owe what the mortgage company says you owe.

For a fraud to have occurred there MUST have been six things that happened:

  1. There was a misrepresentation of fact by another party (frequently a mortgage broker or a representative from the bank) to you;
  2. The statement was untrue;
  3. The speaker knew the statement was untrue;
  4. The speaker was trying to deceive you;
  5. You relied on the untrue statement;
  6. You were injured (injured can mean financially injured) by the untrue statement.

You should use this defense if all six of these events happened to you. If you feel that you were deceived prior to closing on your loan, you believed those deceptions, and as a result you were more likely to sign your loan documents, you should fill in this section.

Fraud is a defense that must be pleaded with particularity – that is to say that you must be VERY specific with your allegations. Therefore, if you are choosing fraud as a defense you must list exactly how the fraud occurred. You will need to check any and all of the above boxes that you feel accurately state the specific fraudulent behavior. If there are other fraudulent statements made to you other than the ones in the boxes below, check the “Other” box and list them out specifically in the lines provided.

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