A residential foreclosure can happen to anyone. We have had clients who are very rich and very poor. Everyone has the potential to be the victim of a bank foreclosure if they breach their contract with the bank.
It has now happened to Saved by the Bell’s “Screech” – – Dustin Diamond. Wells Fargo has sued him in Wisconsin, alleging that Diamond owes Wells Fargo $269,329.36.
The first thing that Diamond should have done once he realized that he was the defendant in a foreclosure action is hire an attorney experienced in defending foreclosures. It does not appear that he has done that. Instead, he is speaking with TMZ, where in an interview written about here, he stated that he didn’t even know he was behind on the mortgage, because he hasn’t been to that particular property since January 2019. That, of course, is no excuse to refrain from making mortgage payments.
Diamond also told TMZ that he moved into the house in 2003, when the property was worth $340,000, and that he made a $68,000 down payment. He said that he does not understand how he now owes $269,000. This is because banks can, in many cases, be entitled to default interest, which can be as much as 20%. If he has not made payments in over a year, the amount owed increases exponentially.
Diamond also told TMZ that he has other problems at this home as he has a broken water main that flooded his home’s basement and as a result, he lost 30 years of memories, including his comic collection, instruments, chess collection, family pictures and videos. He told TMZ that, “Foreclosure means nothing when a house is destroyed … with my items I’ve lost, it now feels like Wells Fargo is trying to kick me when I’m down.” This, however, is not a defense to a foreclosure, especially as the bank was obviously not responsible for the leak.
Most importantly, Diamond told TMZ that he still has not figured out how to deal with the foreclosure. This is an easy answer. Hire an attorney! Based upon the statements that he made to TMZ, he obviously does not understand how a foreclosure works or how to combat it.
It is extremely important to hire a skilled attorney at the beginning of the foreclosure process before it is too late. Successfully defending foreclosure cases can be difficult given that a contract exists with the lender that has almost always been breached by the borrower. In addition, the borrower often has a myriad of options to consider that may be beneficial to the borrower. Cotzen Law is experienced in handling foreclosure actions and can help. We have handled hundreds of foreclosure cases and in many instances have defeated the lenders.
