Woods Cross lies near the bottom of the Great Salt Lake Basin, approximately eight miles north of Salt Lake City. It was officially chartered in 1935 by the owners of the Reservoir and Pipeline Company who pooled their Mill Creek water shares and transferred their capital stock and assets to the new city board of trustees. Woods Cross was originally an unincorporated area extending from the southern boundary of Centerville south to the Salt Lake County line and including the areas and communities of Val Verda, Orchard, North Salt Lake, West Bountiful, among others. In 1847, after the initial Mormon settlement of the Salt Lake Valley, Peregrine Sessions went north to locate pasture lands. He selected a spot near Cudahy Lane, where he spent the winter with is family watching over the herds. The next year, 1848, other settlers arrived and built cellars and dugouts along and near the banks of the Jordan River. The historical development of Woods Cross is directly linked to water. Pioneer settlers in 1848 selected the area’s rich bottom lands to establish their farms generations of fertile silt deposits from the overflowing channels of Mill Creek created some of the best farm land in the state. The mountain watersheds east of Woods Cross retained rain and melting snows until saturation sent runoff water into the boggy meadows and sloughs of the bottoms. Here some of the water was trapped and absorbed into underground aquifers preserving fresh water along the eastern edge of the Great Salt Lake.

Among the early settlers of the area was Daniel Wood, for whom Woods Cross is named. By 1855 he was the wealthiest man in Woods Cross with land, houses, and personal possessions worth nearly $14,000. He built a school in 1854, a church in 1863 and in 1869 gave the lower portion of his rich farm gratis for a railroad depot and crossing–called Woods Crossing, and then shortened to Woods Cross. Another prominent early settler was Ira S. Hatch. The Hatch family played an important role in the establishment and operation of several brickyards in Woods Cross. Descendants of Ira S. Hatch and his three wives were well represented among the ninety-five original shareholders of the Deseret Livestock Company which was organized in 1891 by Woods Cross sheep men. It remained a Woods Cross company until 1933, at which time much of the stock was sold to Henry D. Moyle and his brothers and the offices of the company were transferred to Salt Lake City and the company’s mercantile store in Woods Cross was closed. As the watersheds in Bountiful were cleared to build homes and the sloughs along the Jordan were drained for commercial and industrial development, runoff had no place to go. Woods Cross townspeople struggled to control and utilize this water effectively. They built wooden troughs and ditches along the foothills to channel the water where they wanted it to go and they installed drains in the bottoms to carry the excess to the lake. They also built holding ponds and underground cisterns to save the runoff until the residents had a need for it. Not until a federally funded water project in the 1980s built concrete containing walls, collecting basins, and lined ditches carry the overflow to the Great Salt Lake did the city’s surface water problems disappear. The Lower Ditch of the Mill Creek water system was eventually replaced by the Lower Bonneville Canal. The canal impoverished the city at the same time that it provided an adequate and consistent water supply for the first time. The Bonneville project cost over $1,000,000 — a staggering sum which local farmers could hardly pay by themselves. Almost every tract of land in Woods Cross was mortgaged to meet the bonds and in danger of reversion to the state for tax debts.

When those bonds were finally retired in 1946-47, the bondholders had lost over 80 percent of their original investment. County Commissioner Calvin Rampton, later Governor of Utah, took the desperate condition of the people to the United States Senate. County remedies to reduce the past-due monies were not enough. Without government relief the people faced relocation and the city continuous litigation. Low-interest aid was granted, the bonds were cleared. By 1970, Woods Cross had become the third fastest growing city in the state of Utah, reaching a population of 3,124–up from 1,098 in 1960. The population continued to grow at a rate of more than a thousand a decade, reaching 5,384 residents in 1990. The unprecedented growth alarmed the city. With support from local residents, city officials preserved their hard won water resources by keeping town boundaries tight. Woods Cross allowed more aggressive towns like Bountiful and North Salt Lake to annex shopping centers and industrial parks and to supply them with water. Woods Cross and its population are visibly committed to their “rural way of life.” The LDS chapel, the park, and the city hall form the hub of the town. Small local businesses and limited heavy industry ring the city. Subdivision housing separates the two. Local residents (60 percent) told interviewers they preferred the rural life-style and less complicated life of Woods Cross to city life in Salt Lake City or Bountiful. Many new residents have selected Woods Cross as a place to raise their families. High-density housing and industrial complexes have consistently been defeated when proposed as developments for the city. Recent state and federal matching grants have enabled Woods Cross to mark its boundaries and welcome newcomers with evergreens and flowers. This carefully controlled growth keeps over-crowding, high crime rates, traffic congestion, homeless transients, and bitter inter-city squabbles to a minimum. “Let’s make every effort to keep our life-style” is and has been the political focus of both city officials and local residents.

How to Stop or Postpone a Foreclosure Sale Date

Many homeowners believe once they’ve received a letter saying their home is being foreclosed on, all hope is lost and they have no option to turn it around. Some people even make an effort to move out once the letter arrives because the foreclosure sale date has already been set. All it takes is to know how to postpone a foreclosure sale date to stop foreclosure. Some folks are not aware of the fact that home foreclosure can actually be stopped or postponed. Experienced foreclosure attorneys know how to stop a foreclosure sale date and even postpone a foreclosure sale date if that works better for your life situation.

How to Stop Foreclosure Sale Date

When looking to stop a foreclosure sale date, the first course of action is to remain calm and realize there are many options available.
 Contact lender for mortgage statements and ask for forbearance.
 Decide if you want to pay the balance or refinance.
 Challenge the foreclosure with a lawsuit.
 File for bankruptcy.
 Offer the house up for a short sale.
These are just a few approaches that obviously require more detail and activity to achieve the goal of stopping a foreclosure. However, it gives you an idea of the variety of possibilities available for keeping your home despite receiving a notice of default letter. The best way to know what option is viable for your life situation is to consult with an experienced law firm with a previous track record of helping families save their home from foreclosure.

Options that can Postpone a Foreclosure Sale Date

Make sure you ask for a Postponement. This is a logical step to getting your sale date postponed. Call your mortgage company and ask them to postpone the sale date. Then make sure to keep in touch with them so the lines of communication remain open. Many mortgage companies have websites that include assistance pages for those facing foreclosure. Visit these and see what steps are available for you with your particular mortgage company. It’s true that some mortgage holders are very cold and indifferent, but it’s also true that many of them are not. The smart ones understand how important ‘word of mouth’ advertising can be, and how effect compassionately helping out their customers is for earning trust and gaining future customers.

Filing Bankruptcy

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy (one in which you are looking to discharge, as opposed to restructuring, debt) may buy you some time, but eventually, the foreclosure process will continue. Chapter 7 bankruptcy, seeks to discharge all debt. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy (BK-13), by contrast, seeks to establish a manageable debt repayment plan. Once a BK-13 has been filed, the foreclosure process automatically stops — immediately. Under a BK-13 plan, the homeowner must continue to make monthly mortgage payments to the lender, while paying any past due amounts to a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee.

Litigation

If you choose to sue your lender, a judge may grant you a preliminary injunction. This will prevent the lender from foreclosing on your property while the lawsuit is ongoing. Should you fail to win, however, the foreclosure process will continue.

Short Sale

If you owe more on your property than the current value of the property, a short sale may be an option. In a short sale, the lender agrees to take possession of the property and, in exchange, forgives all additional mortgage balances owed on the property. The borrower must be able to prove that they cannot afford to repay any additional loan balance. While a short sale is being negotiated, the foreclosure process will be postponed.

How long does bankruptcy stop foreclosure?

Bankruptcy and foreclosure are often linked because bankruptcy is somewhat famous as a foreclosure stopper.

How long does bankruptcy prevent foreclosure?

That will depend on whether you file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, whether you are able to maintain normal monthly mortgage payments, and how aggressive your lender chooses to be in pursuing the foreclosure sale.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Foreclosure: How it Works

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a faster process than Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Most Chapter 7 cases are open and shut within a six-month window. When you file bankruptcy (7 or 13), a court-ordered injunction, known as the automatic stay, prevents the bank from foreclosing on your home. This is true even if you file bankruptcy the day before the foreclosure sale is set to take place.
Your Mortgage Lender May Gain the Right to Foreclose
If you enter bankruptcy behind on the mortgage, there’s a good chance that your lender will file a motion for relief from stay and will be given the right to continue with the foreclosure. However, even lenders who have successfully lifted the protection of the automatic stay are not always motivated to immediately resume with foreclosure. In fact, one of the biggest problems that consumers in bankruptcy are facing right now is lenders who are unwilling to foreclose on collateral. Until your name is officially removed from the deed to your home, either through foreclosure or by surrendering it in bankruptcy, you are responsible for insurance, homeowners’ association dues, etc. There is a tremendous backlog of foreclosures in this country and, depending on your location; your lender may not have the resources to foreclose on your home for quite some time. It is possible that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy could disrupt the foreclosure process for a year or more. It is possible that it will only disrupt it for a couple months. The point to take away is this: filing bankruptcy will temporarily stop foreclosure BUT lenders have a workaround. They can file the motion for relief from stay to get your home. Whether they choose to do this is entirely up to them.
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and Foreclosure: How it Works
Unlike its faster cousin Chapter 7, Chapter 13 bankruptcy lasts for a period of between three to five years. During this time, you pay back a percentage of the debts you owe to your unsecured creditors. If you file Chapter 13 bankruptcy with income that is below the median for a family of your size in your state, your Chapter 13 payment plan will be for three years. If you are like most debtors and file with income that is above the median in their state, your Chapter 13 payment plan will be for a period of five years. The automatic stay will prevent foreclosure for the length of the payment plan, either three or five years, as long as you maintain normal monthly mortgage payments during the life of the plan.
A little background: Many debtors enter Chapter 13 bankruptcy because they are hopelessly behind on their mortgage. The bank is demanding a lump-sum payment, or series of lump-sum payments to get caught up on a past-due mortgage. Many families simply do not have the means to comply. In order to stop foreclosure, they file for Chapter 13 because it allows for them to pay back the past-due mortgage balance over the life of the Chapter 13 plan. The amounts that are past due are broken up into small increments and added to the normal monthly mortgage payment, making the process of getting caught up far more manageable. While this is a significant benefit for consumers, it is crucially important to understand that whether you file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you do not get a free house. If you fall behind on your mortgage payments, the bank will have the right to foreclose on your home once they are successful in gaining relief from the automatic stay. If you can afford payments in a timely fashion, the bank can’t foreclose for the entire three- to five-year period or any other time in the future. By handling your past-due payments through a Chapter 13 plan, you have the opportunity to permanently stop the foreclosure.

Do I need to file bankruptcy because of foreclosure?

Foreclosure is a scary process. Most people are not used to receiving official documents in the mail from scary authority figures. When they do, they tend to panic, and understandably so. However, before you go rushing off and file for bankruptcy to prevent foreclosure, take a hard look at the condition of your finances as well as your state’s deficiency laws. Many states, such as Arizona, have anti-deficiency laws on the books, which prevent lenders from suing borrowers on the note after a foreclosure sale. You may have an emotional attachment to your home and by instinct want to keep it, but if you can’t afford to maintain it, filing for bankruptcy won’t make things all that much better. Sure, it may buy you some time, and depending on your circumstances this could be valuable, but make absolutely sure it is before you throw yourself into the federal court system head-first.

Utah Foreclosure Attorney

When you need legal help with a Foreclosure, please call Ascent Law LLC for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.

Ascent Law LLC St. George Utah Office

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