A foreclosure isn’t always the end of a story.
Client Success Story written by Elizabeth Hurley, Legal Director at The Waterfront Project
A home holds decades of memories. For one Jersey City senior, the fight to protect those rights isn’t over.
A Judge granted our motion to vacate a writ of possession entered against our client, a disabled Jersey City senior who had been ejected from her longtime home by HUD. Our client’s parents purchased the home in 1970 and took out a reverse mortgage in 2013.
After the passing of our client’s mother in April 2020, the mortgage company assigned the mortgage to HUD, which then implemented non-judicial foreclosure proceedings. In its own foreclosure sale, HUD purchased the home.
HUD then filed an ejectment case against unnamed occupants and obtained a writ of possession by default earlier this year, resulting in our client being locked out without notice. We were able to restore our client to possession of her home while briefing the larger issue of whether there were grounds to vacate the judgment against her.
In our brief to the court, we argued that the assignment underlying the foreclosure violated federal regulations, which prohibit the assignment of a reverse mortgage to HUD after the passing of the last surviving borrower. The Judge agreed that we had presented a meritorious defense and vacated the writ.
Why this matters:
Our client can now challenge the foreclosure sale in court because HUD sold the home to itself using an improper assignment. This is important because lenders and mortgage holders must follow strict legal procedures during foreclosure. When those rules are not followed, homeowners may have legal grounds to contest a sale and seek justice.
For our client, this ruling represents more than a legal victory. It creates an opportunity to challenge the circumstances surrounding the loss of a home that held decades of family history and memories. Without legal advocacy, procedural violations may go unchallenged, leaving homeowners with fewer opportunities to protect their rights or pursue possible remedies.
At The Waterfront Project, we believe that losing a home should never mean losing the opportunity to be heard. Our work helps ensure that homeowners and tenants understand their legal rights, that the proper procedures are followed, and that potential violations do not go overlooked. Every homeowner and tenant deserves a fair process, and every case deserves to be heard.