If we were coerced in to a mortgage by a private party and would like t contest and have it discharge, who should we contact for help?
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If we were coerced in to a mortgage by a private party and would like t contest and have it discharge, who should we contact for help?
I have very limited income currently and need to contest a mortgage. What should I do?
Asked on May 9, 2019 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
Coercion in a legal sense means forced by illegal threats: for example, threats of violence or blackmail. If they did use such illegal threats, you can potentially void, or undo, the mortgage, but as part of doing so will have to return 100% of the money you received from it. (When the mortgage is vacated, it is like it never happened, so you can't keep any money received.)
If you were the victim of this kind of illegal threat and have the means to return the money, you can bring a legal action to void the mortgage (you would seek a court "declaratory judgment" that the mortgage is void, and court order vacating it), but such an action is not simple or easy and you would be well advised to retain an attorney.
But if by "coercion," you don't mean the use of illegal threats, just that someone "pressured" you to take out the mortgage (like a high-pressure used car salesman might), then you cannot get out of the mortgage. People can engage in "hard sales tactics" to get someone to enter into a transaction and that is perfectly legal; therefore, there is no ground to void the mortgage.
Your limited income is irrelevant: your personal situation does not overrule the contractual obligations you took on in taking out the mortgage.
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