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Welcome to Real Property Defense Research!

We are real people, like you; and we’ve been through foreclosure – like what it appears that you are going through – and we have shaped more positive outcomes.

Quick Update

Our focus has primarily been outreach to post-foreclosure people regarding our research to maximize time in homes and/or real cash-for-keys rather than just hand the keys to the banks/investors (and leave tens of thousands of dollars in value on the table); however, we have learned of a new opportunity to extend the trustee’s sale date out 45 – 90 days when timely acted on. At the urging of several of our post-sale people, we are now making outreach e-mails, calls, and texts to people with as much lead time prior to the trustee’s sale date as we can since, in order to leverage this opportunity, the foreclosure trustee must receive certain information by mail by 5:00 PM five business days prior to the trustee’s sale date.

A quick note about our outreach

We do use a combination of e-mail, telephone calls, and text with intent to leave one e-mail, make one call (and if possible leave one text message) to each email address and phone number that we believe is associated with the foreclosed property.

Unfortunately, we sometimes call (text) outdated phone numbers. If you are the recipient of such call (or if you are uninterested), please accept our apology and please know that we only make the one outreach call/text prior to the trustee’s sale and one after the trustee’s sale. We appreciate your understanding.

For pre and post-sale people who find the information here helpful; unfortunately, we will not be making a second call to you. Please do contact us back at your earliest convenience. We are easy to talk to; we care; and we want to share information that we believe can be helpful.

About us…

Our research team-members each have direct personal experience with navigating our own foreclosure and post-foreclosure situations. Each of us could have given up pre-foreclosure or abandoned our homes or accepted breadcrumbs-for-keys from the winning bidder banks or investors post-foreclosure; however, we decided to take the road less-traveled; and, by doing so, we have each shaped a more positive outcome for ourselves. Each of us is passionate about advancing our core research focused and achieving optimal outcomes for people going through the foreclosure process or the post-foreclosure eviction process.

If your home recently went to auction, we invite you to browse these pages, listen to audio testimonials, consider the 2018-present results (allow time to load), and take some comfort in knowing that good people who have been through what you are going through want to share our research so that you can shape an optimal outcome for yourself as well.  

We run experiments that focus on maximizing time and/or money for people in or after foreclosure such as:

1. Slowing down the foreclosure process so that homeowners have time to catch up, sell, and or pursue other alternatives;
2. Slowing down the post-foreclosure eviction process;
3. Challenging the foreclosure sale (for those with passion and the resources to do so);
4. Claiming surplus sale proceeds for those who may be entitled to them.

And the good news is that those who leverage our research and participate in our experiments; whether their properties are valued $200,000, $2,000,000, or $20,000,000; are generally able to shape a more positive outcome when they take the right actions (i.e. actions that are different than what the mainstream guides us to take).

How does the mainstream guide us?

The mainstream offers much guidance that we view as counterproductive to optimal outcomes.

• The mainstream guides us to “just move out and move on”; however, those who do so miss out on valuable time in their homes and/or move-out assistance. Keep in mind, the sooner we move out, the sooner we have to pay fair market rent elsewhere.
• The mainstream guides us to use free legal aid or self help resources available at most courthouses; however, those who follow such aid/help almost always collapse their timelines by many months which results in a need to move out sooner.
• The mainstream guides us to licensed attorney out-of-the-gate. Most eviction defense attorneys are familiar with landlord-tenant evictions but not post-foreclosure evictions; and, sadly, most attorneys treat us like numbers rather than people.

Those who leverage our research stay in their homes, and most only use an attorney for important hearings – usually less than four appearances per year.

What results can those who leverage our research expect?

• Foreclosure auction date relief – generally 45-90 days or longer and more with other more traditional relief strategies; and/or,
• More time in their homes after the foreclosure auction – generally 9-18 months or longer ; and/or,
• More move-out assistance from the bank or the investor; and/or,
• Reduced stress and much-needed relief from the trauma of foreclosure/eviction and worries about what happens next; and,
• Peace of mind that comes from moving forward into well-researched/well-charted territory rather than unknown/uncharted territory; and,
• Satisfaction of being able to shape a more positive (humane) outcome rather than continue to get pushed around by the predator banks and their investor buddies; and,
• Relief and ability to regroup and rebuild.

What else is important to know (mainly for post-sale)?

• The sheriff doesn’t show up unless we first lose an eviction lawsuit which involves a process
  • Tip – We can generally agree to a settlement months and even years after the auction – even on the day of an eviction trial – which would prevent the sheriff from ever getting involved.
• Title generally transfers to the winning bidder 15 days after the auction.
  • Tip – if a certain notice is sent to the foreclosing trustee within 15 days of the auction, issuance of the trustee’s deed is held until 45 days after the auction.
• Within days of issuance, the trustee’s (transfer) deed will be recorded at the county recorder.
• The winning bidder or its agent will want to assess the situation. They may knock on the door or leave a note and/or business card and invite a conversation. Their goal will always be to get you out as quickly and cheaply as possible (for them).
  • Less is More. The safest thing is to simply not answer the door to strangers.
    • We know of no law that states that we have to open the door to strangers.
    • We know of no law that states that we must let a stranger into our home – even if that stranger says he’s the new owner.
  • If we do answer the door, a safe general response to any question (even “are you John/Jane Doe?”) is simply “I will listen to what you have to say but you may not come in and I will not answer questions.”
  • We would not make any statements suggesting inhabitability issues (otherwise, we might invite a “just cause” eviction which would be bad).
• After the trustee’s deed is recorded, the winning bidder can serve a Three/Ninety-Day Notice to Quit.
• When we don’t leave in the three days (ninety days for some tenants), the winning bidder can file and become the plaintiff in an Unlawful Detainer (eviction) lawsuit.
• Once filed, the eviction lawsuit can then be served on us (we are the defendants).
  • Tip: We know of no law that requires us to answer the door to strangers (even process servers).
• If we don’t timely respond to the lawsuit (within 10 court days) we can be defaulted.
• If we jump directly to an answer (which is what Legal Aid will guide us to do), we collapse the timeline and can get to a trial or summary judgment hearing within weeks.
• If we are defaulted or if a trial or summary judgment is won by the plaintiff, a Writ of Possession is generally issued and then delivered to the sheriff.
• The sheriff can then schedule to serve a Notice to Vacate which generally sets a lock-out date 5 – 10 days after service.
• When all of the wrong actions are taken, this process can complete in about a month.
• When we exercise all of our rights, this process can take many months and sometimes years.

What you can do right now

• Take a deep breath and know that you do have some time to gather information and make the right decision for yourself.
  • Note: the first window to slow the process down expires about 10 days after the auction.
• Listen to one or more of the audio testimonials of people who have leveraged our post-auction research here.
• Browse through our 2018 through present outcomes which are listed here (be patient for loading) so you can see what is possible (both good and not-so-good – we don’t sugar-coat reality).
• Call or text us and ask questions. We will provide honest answers.
• Ask us for references. We are happy to provide them to those who are seriously interested.

Fun Facts

• One of our members was able to buy his house back from the bank after the auction and shaved off 35% of his debt in the process (this is very rare).
• Several of our members received their surplus funds proceeds without having to pay 30% to an attorney to help collect it.
• We find that a hybrid do-it-yourself approach with limited scope attorney (i.e. attorney help for important court hearings) is both stronger and easier on the pocketbook than relying on an attorney from the start.
• Treat your tenants well! In post-foreclosure evictions, tenants can be extremely helpful!
• If you would rather not defend an eviction lawsuit, consider handing the keys to your tenant! Why? Because you would be doing a big favor to your tenant and you would not be rewarding the predators. Please talk to us about this option!