FORECLOSURE HEARING

As the plaintiff, the mortgage company will generally present their case first. They will call their witnesses and question them. Once they are done questioning each witness, you have the right to cross-examine them (ask that witness your own questions).

This is good for clarifying details, asking them to admit something useful for your case, or even catching them in a lie to discredit them. However, remember that cross examination is for asking the witness questions. You should save any statements or testimony for when it is your own turn to present your case.

Once the mortgage company has finished with their witnesses, you will be given the opportunity to present your case. You will call your witnesses and ask them questions to get them to testify about facts that support your defenses or undermine the mortgage company's claims. You can call yourself as a witness, in which case you will not ask yourself questions, but instead tell the court your side of the case normally. The mortgage company's attorney will also get to question your witnesses, including yourself.

Although the court will generally still require a final foreclosure hearing even if you did not file an Answer, your ability to defend the case in the final hearing will be more limited in that situation. If you did not file an Answer, the court may not allow you to testify or call your own witnesses, though you should still be able to cross-examine the mortgage company's witnesses.

NOTE: In foreclosure cases, South Carolina allows the parties to provide sworn written testimony instead of bringing live witnesses to trial, as long as they gave at least 10 days written notice to the other side and there was not any objection. The mortgage company's attorney usually states this in their hearing notice. If you want to be able to cross-examine the mortgage company's witnesses, you should send a written objection to the mortgage company's attorney as soon as possible after receiving the notice. If you wait too long to object, the court might have to continue (postpone) the hearing to give the mortgage company time to arrange for their witness to be present.

At the end of the trial, the judge will generally rule on the case. If the judge is uncertain, the judge might take the case under advisement and issue a ruling later. 

If the judge grants the foreclosure, he or she will usually also set a date for the foreclosure sale. We will talk more about the foreclosure sale in the After the Hearing section.

Once again, the Foreclosure process can be extremely complex and it is highly encouraged you seek the assistance of a licensed attorney before deciding to proceed alone.