New Hampshire Homeowners Fight Back Against Foreclosures

While more residents are facing the possibility of foreclosure, a growing number of homeowners are fighting back. One of their allies is Mike Dillon.

Dillon is not an expert or a housing official but he has been successfully staving off foreclosure of his Manchester home for 10 years. Every day, often into the wee hours of the morning, he combs through public notices and other legal websites to find foreclosures in New Hampshire that look worthy of a fight.

Dillon said that often, stopping a foreclosure is a matter of checking the paperwork.

"What this comes down to is a very basic case of legal standing," he said. "If Fannie Mae, in this instance, doesn't actually own the promissory note, they don't have legal standing to bring foreclosure."

Dillon said that the entity trying to foreclose often doesn't have the official promissory note for the mortgage and, therefore, doesn't have the legal standing for foreclosure.

He said the first step someone facing foreclosure should take is to start digging in the registry of deeds and find out who really holds the note. With the exception of Carroll County, every county in New Hampshire has its registry online.

Homeowners in danger of foreclosure should also check public notices in the newspaper or online every day.

Banks are required to give three consecutive weeks of notice before the auctioneer can show up at a home.

Porter and Angie Moore, of Sandwich, N.H., took Dillon's advice and took their findings to a judge, who granted them a temporary restraining order that stopped the foreclosure until the lender produces more evidence.

The Moores said they don't yet know who owns their promissory note, and multiple lenders have claimed ownership.

The problem of foreclosures is likely to continue, said Housing and Urban Development counselor Mari Deblys.

"If anybody is saying it's getting better, it's not," she said. "I've been counseling for 22 years now, and I've never seen anything like this."

Deblys said she's proud of her 50 percent success rate for loan modifications, another popular choice for those fighting foreclosure.

Read on.