How to Appeal If You Lose a Magistrate Court Dispossessory If you lost your dispossessory trial in magistrate court, the judge will issue an order for you to be removed from the property (called a writ of possession). The judge may also hold that you owe your landlord money for rent and/or other charges. You have seven (7) days from the date of the judgment (usually the day of your hearing) to file your appeal. You can check with the court to find out when your appeal must be filed. If you do not file an appeal, your landlord can use the writ of possession and have you removed from his property no earlier than the eighth (8th) day following your trial.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
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WPD File
How to Appeal From a Magistrate Court Dispossessory If you lost your dispossessory trial in magistrate court, the judge will issue an order for you to be removed from the property (called a writ of possession). The judge may also hold that you owe your landlord money for rent and/or other charges. You have seven (7) days from the date of the judgment (usually the day of your hearing) to file your appeal. You can check with the court to find out when your appeal must be filed. If you do not file an appeal, your landlord can use the writ of possession and have you removed from his property no earlier than the eighth (8th) day following your trial. If the judge puts in his order that you owe your landlord money, your landlord may try to collect that money by garnishing your paycheck, back accounts or property. The landlord may also use a collection agency to try and collect the money from you.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Other Formats:
WPD File
How to File a Dispossessory Answer If a Landlord wants a tenant to move out of rental property and the tenant will not voluntarily move, the landlord must go to court and seek an order permitting the tenant to be removed from the property. Once the terms of the lease have been followed, Georgia law requires the landlord to demand or request that the tenant immediately give up possession and vacate. This demand is best made in writing. If the tenant refuses or fails to give up possession, the landlord can file a Dispossessory Affidavit.
While the legal process can take several weeks, self help evictions, including changing the locks or threatening the tenant, are illegal under Georgia law. A landlord who suspends a tenant's utility service prior to the final judgment in a dispossessory action has broken the law and may be subject to a fine up to $500 under Georgia Law found at O.C.G.A. § 44-7-14.1. A tenant can take legal action against the landlord for damages suffered due to a wrongful self-help eviction. If the tenant cannot obtain an attorney, the claim can be filed in the magistrate court of the county where the landlord is located or as a counterclaim in the dispossessory action brought by the landlord.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Other Formats:
WPD File
Learn about Eviction in Georgia
(Separate Website)
This presentation was developed as part of the Law and Government Education Project in the Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. In partnership with the Law School and the Center for Teaching and Learning at UGA and the Law School at Mercer University, the Institute develops resources on basic areas of Georgia and federal law. These resources are then distributed across the state in a variety of ways including the State Bar of Georgia?s Pro Bono Project website. We hope you will find this presentation to be useful and informative. Please be advised, however, that this presentation is designed to provide general information only and does not substitute for legal advice. At the conclusion of the presentation you will find a list of organizations which may be able to provide assistance to those who have legal issues relevant to the topic of this presentation. We encourage viewers to contact these organizations for help. Also, please consult the Pro Bono Project website for a list of other presentations available for viewing.
By: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
Mortgage and Foreclosure Relief: Answers for Reservists, Guardsmen and Other Military Personnel
(Separate Website)
Information for service men and women about how the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act helps with mortgage relief, lease termination and eviction issues.
By: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
New Protections For Tenants After A Foreclosure On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed a new federal law protecting tenants when the property they rent is sold at a foreclosure sale. The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act is a federal law but it applies to state court eviction proceedings. The new owner must give the tenant the required notice before filing to evict. The law expires on December 31, 2012.
Protections for Tenants
When property is purchased at a foreclosure sale, this law requires that the new owner accept and follow any existing leases. The tenant?s lease does not end when the property is sold at foreclosure. For example, if a tenant living in the foreclosed property has a lease with nine months remaining, the new owner cannot evict the tenant until the lease expires and proper notice is given the tenant. There are three exceptions to the rule that the new owner cannot terminate the existing lease:
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Tenants at Foreclosure Act Know your rights as a renter of a foreclosed property under the new federal law
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Tenants' Rights As a tenant, you have rights, but you also have responsibilities. For your own protection, there are some things you need to do before you even sign the lease, while you are renting and when you move out. There are also things you need to know if your landlord tries to evict you.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
Common Questions about Home Loans, Mortgages and Predatory Lending
This document answers common questions about loans, mortgages, and how to protect your home from predatory lenders.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
High-Cost Home Loans: Don't Be a Target
(Separate Website)
Homeowners Beware! You may be a target for abusive lenders trying to sell you a loan you can't afford. If this happens, you may unable to make the high payments and lose your home at a foreclosure sale or spend all of your spare cash paying off a loan you didn't need or want.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Read this in:
Chinese / 中文
,
Spanish / Español
History of Predatory Lending
Atlanta Legal Aid's Bill Brennan, as one of the nation's experts on predatory lending, was asked by Senator Grassley to testify at the Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on "Equity Predators: Stripping, Flipping, and Packing Their Way to Profits." Bill was warmly received and several Senators made statements at the hearing indicating the value they placed on legal service program involvement in this area. Bill's testimony (see text below) clearly outlines the problems of predatory lending and equity theft, how victims are targeted, and some historical perspective.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Predatory Mortgage Lending Abuses
This document describes the different ways that mortgage lenders can trick homeowners into giving up their homes.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Protect Your Investment - Don't Let Predatory Lenders Take Your Home
(Separate Website)
Senior citizens are an attractive target for unscrupulous mortgage lenders because they have a lot of equity in their homes after years of diligently paying off their mortgages, and they use that equity to finance home repairs, medical care and other needs. While these lenders may encourage seniors to use their hard-earned home equity to secure new loans - they will not tell seniors about the high fees, hidden payments or other disadvantageous loan terms that could lead to the loss of their homes.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Schemes to Cheat the Unwary Homeowner If you are like most homeowners, your house is your most valuable investment. As a homeowner you have to be very careful to protect your investment or you may become the victim of schemes to steal your money, your equity, or even your house. This brochure will help you recognize equity theft and title conversion scams and avoid them.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Read this in:
Chinese / 中文
,
Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt
What You Should Know About Refinancing
(Separate Website)
Refinancing is a process in which you pay off one or more existing debts with a new home loan. If you have perfect credit, refinancing is sometimes a good way to obtain a lower interest rate or to convert a variable rate loan to a fixed rate. However, if you are in the midst of financial difficulties, if you have too much debt, or if you have bad credit, refinancing is loaded with pitfalls. We recommend that you be very careful when refinancing debts. Many refinancing loans hurt consumer. Here are twelve things to consider before refinancing.
By: National Consumer Law Center
When Your Home Is on the Line: What You Should Know
(Separate Website)
More and more lenders are offering home equity lines of credit. By using the equity in your home, you may qualify for a sizable amount of credit, available for use when and how you please, at an interest rate that is relatively low. Before making a decision, you should weigh carefully the costs of a home equity line against the benefits. Shop for the credit terms that best meet your borrowing needs without posing undue financial risk. And remember, failure to repay the amounts you've borrowed, plus interest, could mean the loss of your home.
By: Federal Reserve Board
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
New Protections For Tenants After A Foreclosure On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed a new federal law protecting tenants when the property they rent is sold at a foreclosure sale. The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act is a federal law but it applies to state court eviction proceedings. The new owner must give the tenant the required notice before filing to evict. The law expires on December 31, 2012.
Protections for Tenants
When property is purchased at a foreclosure sale, this law requires that the new owner accept and follow any existing leases. The tenant?s lease does not end when the property is sold at foreclosure. For example, if a tenant living in the foreclosed property has a lease with nine months remaining, the new owner cannot evict the tenant until the lease expires and proper notice is given the tenant. There are three exceptions to the rule that the new owner cannot terminate the existing lease:
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Saving Your Home From Foreclosure
(Separate Website)
Unemployment, divorce, death and abusive
lending practices put many homeowners at
risk of losing their home. If you are facing
foreclosure, you may be tempted to give up
and walk away from your home. Don?t give
up! There may be an option available that
allows you to keep your home or sell or transfer
your home quickly before a foreclosure
sale. Here are some guidelines.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Mortgage and Foreclosure Relief: Answers for Reservists, Guardsmen and Other Military Personnel
(Separate Website)
Information for service men and women about how the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act helps with mortgage relief, lease termination and eviction issues.
By: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Steps That Advocates Can Take To Help Prevent Foreclosure
(Separate Website)
Older homeowners fall behind on their mortgages for many reasons: sudden decreases in income due to the loss of a spouse; poor financial management which contributes to nonpayment of utility bills, service shutoffs and liens against the property; failure to perform necessary repairs and maintenance which make the property uninhabitable; second mortgage scams which make impossible demands on the homeowner's limited resources.
All of these contributing factors can be addressed by skilled advocates -- if homeowners turn to them in time. This issue of Consumer Concerns for Older Americans examines some of the measures that legal and non-legal advocates for the elderly can take to defend homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Foreclosure Rescue Scams
(Separate Website)
A growing scam that disproportionately targets older Americans can, and often does, literally cost them the homes they have lived in for years and worked hard to obtain. It is called a foreclosure ?rescue? scam, and it is anything but what the word ?rescue? implies.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Avoid Foreclosure Scams If you are behind in your mortgage payments you need to be aware that there are people who may try to take advantage of you. Con artists know that people your situation are often looking for help to keep their home.
Other Formats:
WPD File
Brochure on Avoid Foreclosure Scams Brochure on Avoiding Foreclosure Scams
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Other Formats:
WPD File
Brochure on the Foreclosure Process In Georgia, most home foreclosures happen without a court hearing. Before the foreclosure sale, the Bank must send You notice that it will foreclose and publish notice of the sale in the local newspaper. Then the home is sold on the courthouse steps. After the foreclosure sale, the bank can file a dispossessory action in court asking to have You removed. The dispossessory hearing is not a chance for You to argue that the foreclosure was wrong.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Other Formats:
WPD File
How to Avoid Foreclosure and Keep Your Home If you have fallen behind in your home mortgage payments it is important that you do not ignore the problem. Even if you are behind in your payments it may still be possible for you to keep your home. It is important that you act quickly.
Your Home: Money Matters From the Federal Trade Commission
(Separate Website)
This FTC website offers videos, brochures and options for homeowners facing foreclosure.
By: Federal Trade Commission
Tenants at Foreclosure Act Know your rights as a renter of a foreclosed property under the new federal law
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
The Making Home Affordable Program
(Separate Website)
Find out if you qualify for the new Making Home Affordable Refinance and Modification options. The Making Home Affordable program will offer assistance to as many as 7 to 9 million homeowners making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments, while attempting to prevent the destructive impact of foreclosures on families and communities.
By: financialstability.gov
HOPE NOW Loan Servicing
(Separate Website)
HOPE NOW is an alliance between counselors, servicers, investors, and other mortgage market participants. This alliance will maximize outreach efforts to homeowners in distress to help them stay in their homes and will create a unified,
coordinated plan to reach and help as many homeowners as possible. The members of this alliance recognize that by working together, they will be more effective than by working independently.
Georgia Department of Banking and Finance Website
(Separate Website)
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (Department) is the state agency that regulates and examines banks, credit unions and trust companies which are chartered by the State. The Department also has regulatory and/or licensing authority over mortgage brokers and lenders, check cashers, sale of check companies, money transmitters, international banking organizations, and bank holding companies conducting business in Georgia.
By: Georgia Department of Banking and Finance
Mortgage and Real Estate Loans Information from the Federal Trade Commission
(Separate Website)
This web site contains documents relating to: (1) home equity loans, home equity credit lines and common home equity scams, (2) high rate, high fee mortgages, (3) reverse mortgages, (4) payday loans, and (5) mortgage discrimination. You may view the documents on-line and print them out or print them in PDF format.
By: Federal Trade Commission
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America Website
(Separate Website)
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America ("NACA") is a non-profit, community advocacy and homeownership organization. NACA?s primary goal is to build strong, healthy neighborhoods in urban and rural areas nationwide through affordable homeownership. NACA has made the dream of homeownership a reality for thousands of working people by counseling them honestly and effectively, enabling even those with poor credit to purchase a home or refinance a predatory loan with far better terms than those provided even in the prime market.
Struggling to Pay Your Mortgage? FHA Secure can Help If you have an adjustable rate mortgage coming due or if your interest rate is already too high, you may be able to refinance your mortgage using the FHASecure program offered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
Other Formats:
WPD File
Recognizing Foreclosure Rescue Scam in English and Spanish Recognizing Foreclosure Rescue Scam in English and Spanish
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
5 Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Scams
(Separate Website)
The Federal Reserve created "5 Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Scams"which is one among many other free mortgage foreclosure resources available to the public. To access other Federal Reserve consumer resources, visit www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Consumer Tips for Avoiding Consumer Tips for Avoiding
(Separate Website)
Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks outlines the different types of scams that promise to ?rescue? you from foreclosure and which are popping up at an alarming rate nationwide. If you?re falling behind on your mortgage, others may know it, too ? including con artists and scam artists.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Foreclosure Rescue Scams:Another Potential Stress for Homeowners in Distress
(Separate Website)
If you think you may be facing foreclosure, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation?s consumer protection agency, wants you to know how to recognize a foreclosure rescue scam and provides this fact sheet to help you idenitfy scams.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
HUD Resources for Homeless People
(Separate Website)
Homelessness is a problem that affects many people in America. If you are homeless yourself and need help or if you want to learn more about homelessness and how you can help, we have information for you.
By: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
National Coalition for the Homeless Web Site
(Separate Website)
The mission of the National Coalition for the Homeless is to end homelessness. We focus our work in the following four areas: housing justice, economic justice, health care justice, and civil rights. Our approaches are: grassroots organizing, public education, policy advocacy, technical assistance, and partnerships.
By: National Coalition for the Homeless
VA Programs for Homeless Veterans
(Separate Website)
One-third of the adult homeless male population and nearly one-quarter (23%) of all homeless adults have served their country in the armed services. While there is no true measure of the number of homeless veterans, it has been estimated that more than 250,000 veterans may be homeless on any given night and that twice as many veterans experience homelessness over the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered at risk because of poverty, lack of support from family and friends and precarious living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing. Almost all (97 percent) homeless veterans are male and the vast majority is single. About 45 percent of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness and, with considerable overlap, slightly more than 70 percent suffer from alcohol or drug abuse problems. This document tells you more about the kinds of programs available to help veterans with these problems.
By: Department of Veterans' Affairs
Voter Registration for Homeless People
(Separate Website)
This fact sheet explains how homeless people can register to vote in federal or state elections. This document does not give legal advice. If you want to challenge election laws or practices in your state, you should talk to a lawyer or contact the National Law Center for further information.
By: National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
Common Questions about Home Loans, Mortgages and Predatory Lending
This document answers common questions about loans, mortgages, and how to protect your home from predatory lenders.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
High-Cost Home Loans: Don't Be a Target
(Separate Website)
Homeowners Beware! You may be a target for abusive lenders trying to sell you a loan you can't afford. If this happens, you may unable to make the high payments and lose your home at a foreclosure sale or spend all of your spare cash paying off a loan you didn't need or want.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Read this in:
Chinese / 中文
,
Spanish / Español
History of Predatory Lending
Atlanta Legal Aid's Bill Brennan, as one of the nation's experts on predatory lending, was asked by Senator Grassley to testify at the Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on "Equity Predators: Stripping, Flipping, and Packing Their Way to Profits." Bill was warmly received and several Senators made statements at the hearing indicating the value they placed on legal service program involvement in this area. Bill's testimony (see text below) clearly outlines the problems of predatory lending and equity theft, how victims are targeted, and some historical perspective.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Predatory Mortgage Lending Abuses
This document describes the different ways that mortgage lenders can trick homeowners into giving up their homes.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Protect Your Investment - Don't Let Predatory Lenders Take Your Home
(Separate Website)
Senior citizens are an attractive target for unscrupulous mortgage lenders because they have a lot of equity in their homes after years of diligently paying off their mortgages, and they use that equity to finance home repairs, medical care and other needs. While these lenders may encourage seniors to use their hard-earned home equity to secure new loans - they will not tell seniors about the high fees, hidden payments or other disadvantageous loan terms that could lead to the loss of their homes.
By: National Consumer Law Center
Schemes to Cheat the Unwary Homeowner If you are like most homeowners, your house is your most valuable investment. As a homeowner you have to be very careful to protect your investment or you may become the victim of schemes to steal your money, your equity, or even your house. This brochure will help you recognize equity theft and title conversion scams and avoid them.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Read this in:
Chinese / 中文
,
Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt
What You Should Know About Refinancing
(Separate Website)
Refinancing is a process in which you pay off one or more existing debts with a new home loan. If you have perfect credit, refinancing is sometimes a good way to obtain a lower interest rate or to convert a variable rate loan to a fixed rate. However, if you are in the midst of financial difficulties, if you have too much debt, or if you have bad credit, refinancing is loaded with pitfalls. We recommend that you be very careful when refinancing debts. Many refinancing loans hurt consumer. Here are twelve things to consider before refinancing.
By: National Consumer Law Center
When Your Home Is on the Line: What You Should Know
(Separate Website)
More and more lenders are offering home equity lines of credit. By using the equity in your home, you may qualify for a sizable amount of credit, available for use when and how you please, at an interest rate that is relatively low. Before making a decision, you should weigh carefully the costs of a home equity line against the benefits. Shop for the credit terms that best meet your borrowing needs without posing undue financial risk. And remember, failure to repay the amounts you've borrowed, plus interest, could mean the loss of your home.
By: Federal Reserve Board
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
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Information Not Legal Advice
LegalAid-GA.org provides general information only. This is not legal advice and cannot replace legal advice. You can get legal advice only from a lawyer. Deadlines are extremely important in most legal matters. You may lose important legal rights if you do not hire an attorney immediately to advise you. Viewing this web site or sending an e-mail message through this web site does NOT create an attorney-client relationship.
LegalAid-GA is a project of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, the Georgia Legal Services Program and the Pro Bono Project of the State Bar of Georgia. This website was produced with funding from the Legal Services Corporation.
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