Holdover borrowers abuse the due process protections of our legal system to stay in property in contravention of the law, while at the same time monetizing that property to mount challenges to foreclosure sales. The Ryan Firm knows that once the tenants are evicted, the motivation to maintain the foreclosure challenge lawsuit generally fades. Plus, The Ryan Firm knows every single trick in the book and has a counter-strategy for each one. Don’t be fooled by tales of immediate and cheap evictions – they are just that – tales. Those days are long gone.
The Ryan Firm recently represented an investor who loaned hundreds of thousands to an individual who obtained the loan by fraudulent misrepresentations. The borrower claimed the property was a rental property investment that they would not ever occupy; but they were actually living there. After defaulting on the loan, and after the investor purchased the property back at the foreclosure sale, the borrower and her family members refused to leave, and filed a wrongful foreclosure lawsuit.
This investor interviewed The Ryan Firm immediately after the foreclosure sale, but thought that The Ryan Firm was “unnecessary horsepower” – and hired another lawyer to evict, and defend the wrongful foreclosure action. Two years, two unsuccessful eviction lawsuits, and over $50,000 in attorney’s fees later, that investor hired The Ryan Firm.
The Ryan Firm immediately initiated eviction proceedings and prevailed at summary judgment – within months of entering into the cases. These former borrowers played every trick in the eviction defense playbook including multiple requests to several different judges to pause or otherwise disrupt the eviction, or to consolidate the eviction with the wrongful foreclosure case (which would cause years of delay for the eviction). However, The Ryan Firm argued before three different judges, prevailed on every motion and defeated every tactic thrown its way. Then The Ryan Firm argued a bulletproof motion for summary judgment and obtained a judgment for possession of the property, for the client. Despite multiple post-judgment attacks by the occupants to thwart that judgment, The Ryan Firm successfully defended it at every turn.
Ultimately, thanks to The Ryan Firm, the Sheriff’s Office evicted all the occupants of the property, and returned the property to the client’s possession. Finally, our client is able to refurbish and seek to sell the hard-won property.