Special Circumstances

• Author: Rebecca A. Taylor
• Pages: 41-48

Special Circumstances

Chapter 7

41

Sometimes your clients will possess certain characteristics that dis-

tinguish them from the ordinary foreclosure defendant, such as a

homeowner working to save his homestead property. Sometimes

your client may not live in the property at all, or even be the home-

owner of the property. Sometimes your client may not have ex-

ecuted the traditional mortgage, as there are increasing numbers of

foreclosures that deal with reverse mortgages. Following are some

examples of special circumstances that may describe your clients

and that may change their available rights and the ideal strategy for

those cases.

Military Status

The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940 (Civil Relief Act)

protects homeowners in the military from losing their homes to fore-

closure without certain conditions being met by the bank.1 The Civil

Relief Act is intended to assist service members in devoting “their

entire energy to the defense needs of the Nation” and serves to

temporarily suspend “legal proceedings and transactions which may

prejudice the civil rights of such service members.”2 The Civil Re-

1. See 50 U.S.C.S. App. § 501 et seq.

2. Sylph, 42 F. Supp. 354–56 (E.D.N.Y. 1941).