Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

A California based national asset management company, Financial Asset Services, Inc., announced a new service to contact distressed homeowners who are nonresponsive: they will knock on the homeowner's doors! Jeffrey Flory, who is in charge of Financial Asset Services sale and marketing team, stated that "utilizing door knocks is a cost-effective way for mortgage servicers to reach out to homeowners that may have gone dark in the default process" and "it is out mission to bring the homeowner back to the table in a dignified fashion."

The hope of this new program is that the doors knocks will open discussions between the borrower and the lender and lead to more foreclosure alternatives, such as short sales or deeds-in-lieu, being negotiated. It has been shown in various studies over the past several months that the largest barrier to overcome in many instances is getting the two sides to actually communicate. Services like door knocking, court ordered mandatory mediations, rotating HUD counseling sessions are just a few of the ways that can be utilized to attempt to get a resolution to prevent foreclosure that can be beneficial for both sides.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit or just want to discuss traditional foreclosure alternative options that may be available to you, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review the circumstances of your case and decide the best course of action for you and your family.

The Homestead Exemption in Florida, which was established in the State's Constitution, has always provided for the protection of the Family home free from creditors and liens. In 1985 the Constitution was amended to extend the protection to the "natural person" and not necessarily having to be the head of the household. The 4th district Court of Appeals ruled that a husband and wife who are separated for a period of time can BOTH claim the Florida Homestead Protection from creditors. This ruling does nothing to allow two homestead tax deductions. Law v. Law et al., 738 So. 2d 522.

The case involves a husband and wife who were separated for several years. They both claimed Homestead exemption for the Hollywood home that they owned jointly. But when his mother got sick, he and his wife decided to sell the home to pay for the medical bills. His ex-wife had a claim against him for support and brought action to seek recovery through the sell of the home. He filed for Homestead exemption. The court of appeals ruled that "we see nothing inconsistent with our public policy if we extend a homestead exemption to each of two people who are married, but legitimately live apart in separate residences, if they otherwise meet the requirements." Court referencing Colwell v. Royal International Trading Corp., 226 B.R. 714 (Bank S.D. Fla. 1998) to show precedent on allowing dual homestead exemption. The court seemed to find it important to find that the separation was not contrived to defraud creditors.

If you would like to talk about how to create two homesteads and document them to avoid unnecessary litigation over the issue, contact a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer or if one or more of your home is in foreclosure contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

As a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer one of the questions that we often face is "how do I get my lender to agree to let me explore a foreclosure alternative such as a short sale?" While there are some methods that you as a homeowner may employ, such as contacting your lenders attorney directly to request time to pursue a foreclosure alternative, the best thing to do to ensure you get the best resolution for your is to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to assist you with your case.

Many Florida jurisdictions have put procedures in place, such as rocket dockets, to quickly dispose of the backlog of pending foreclosure cases and hiring a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer may be the first step to ensure that your lender isn't going through the steps to get a quick default as you are negotiating for a foreclosure alternative. Mediation services are available in a lot of Florida jurisdictions and having a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer on your side can help to ensure that your lender deals with you fairly.

If you are at risk for a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and would like to explore your foreclosure alternative options you should contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer is trained to spot your potential legal defenses and has the experience necessary to negotiate the alternative outcome that may be in your best interest.

The Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP), the $75 billion federal program intended to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure by lowering their monthly mortgage payments, is showing increased signs of ineffectiveness, with nearly half of all participants dropping out of the program according to RealtyTrac, Inc. According to the Treasury departments July numbers, of the approximately 1.3 million homeowners who sought relief by enrolling in the program, 630,000 of them have been "cut loose" from the program. That 630,000 who fell out of the program is a higher number, 421,804, than homeowners who have received a permanent modification via the HAMP program.

More than 100 mortgage companies are participating in the program but foreclosure rates and home repossessions continue to climb. Historically, lenders have taken over roughly 100,000 homes per year but lenders are forecast to repossess over 1 million homes in 2010 with the number of foreclosures and short sales predicted to increase to 1.5 million in 2011. Foreclosures and distressed home sales have crippled the housing industry by driving down home values which is discouraging potential sellers from putting their homes up for sale.

If you are one of the thousands of Floridians facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, there may be foreclosure options available to you. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case and determine what defenses may be available to you.

A bevy of recent state foreclosure court decisions around the United States has spurred optimism that as many as 62 homeowners may not be able to be foreclosed on by their lenders. At the center of the controversy in most of these cases is Mortgage Electronic Recovery Systems or MERS. To read a previous post explaining what MERS is and how it works click here. Essentially, MERS was created by large financial institutions to facilitate the transfer and assignment of mortgage and their accompanying promissory notes in order to cut down on the amount of work necessary to securitize these mortgages. Today around 62 million mortgages are now held, allegedly, in MERS name.

In most states a lender has to prove that it is the proper party to bring a foreclosure case by providing the original mortgage and promissory note, and assignment of the mortgage if the party bringing the case is not the original lender. Many cases focus on MERS inability to provide that necessary documentation but several state courts have now begun ruling that MERS never has standing to bring a foreclosure case because it is only a nominee and was not entitled to collect on the mortgage. There is a growing tide of states, including California, New York, Kansas, Nevada and Ohio that hold this view. While these decisions are not binding in other states courts, they can provide persuasive authority that courts in other states can look to.

This is just one of the defenses that a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer may be able to raise in a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit. As courts learn about the specific issues that a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit presents they seem to be untangling the web of deceit that may lenders have weaved over the last decade. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to discover what defenses may be available to you.

Many homeowners that apply for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) have their applications denied. Many of the applications that are not approved are denied because they do not properly document all of the things that are pre-requisites to acceptance in the programs. If your application has been denied you are allowed to re-apply to these programs.

If you have been denied entry into either program and your goal is to keep your home, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer Foreclosure Defense Lawyers are familiar with the guidelines that the government uses when reviewing HAMP and HARP applications. A Foreclosure Defense Lawyer can help to to determine whether or not you will qualify and if you do qualify they will be able to assist you in preparing the necessary documents. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Attorney for a consultation.

The federal government announced that it is setting aside $3 billion to assist homeowners that are struggling to pay their mortgages. Unemployment has been one of the major factors that have contributed to the country's current housing crisis. The money will be split up between two foreclosure prevention programs, the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets and Emergency Homeowners Loan Program.

The Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets will receive $2 billion which will be funneled through the housing finance agencies in 17 of the states hit hardest by foreclosures. This program assists homeowners who cannot make their mortgage payments due to unemployment. The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will receive $1 billion for the creation of the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program. This program will give financial assistance to homeowners at risk of foreclosure due to a medical condition, underemployment or involuntary unemployment.

Florida is eligible to receive up to $238,864,755 out of the $3 billion. Hopefully this will bring some much needed relief to homeowners in Florida struggling to pay their mortgages due to involuntary unemployment, underemployment, or a medical condition.

In Jacksonville theThe Times Union reported that Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum launched an investigation on August 10th to determine whether or not three of Florida's largest foreclosure law firms are using unfair and deceptive trade practices. The three law firms that are being targeted in this probe are The Law Offices of David J. Stern, P.A.; The Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, P.A.; and Shapiro & Fishman, LLP. This comes on the heels of McCollum initiating a similar investigation into the Florida Default Law Group and Fidelity National Financing, a Jacksonville-based corporation. It appears as if the state's Attorney General is finally getting fed up with the fraudulent practices of Florida's "foreclosure mills."

The unfair and deceptive trade practices used by these firms put homeowners at a severe disadvantage when they are attempting to save their home from foreclosure. If you or anybody you know has received a foreclosure notice from any of the law firms that have been named in this article, it is imperative that you contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or Florida Foreclosure Lawyer.

In a reversal of the falling foreclosure rates in June, which fell 7%, RealtyTrac announced that the rate of new foreclosure filed grew by 4% in July which equates to one in every 397 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing. While these numbers may seem like grim news but they do mark a 10% decrease from July 2009.

There were 325,229 total foreclosures reported in July with California accounting for 21% of that total with Florida accounting for 16% as the top two foreclosure states in July. For the 43rd consecutive month Nevada had the highest rate of foreclosure, with 1 of every 82 homes in foreclosure, although those numbers are down about 30% from the same time last year. In another positive sign, the top ten metro areas with the nations highest foreclosure rates all saw a decrease in foreclosure rates over last year.

These numbers constitute a mixed bag of information about the state of the foreclosure crisis. While there is evidence of improving conditions, there are still hundreds of thousands of U.S. homeowners that get a foreclosure notice each month. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, you should contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to review your case to determine the best course of action to try to save your home.

According to the credit-reporting agency TransUnion, the national mortgage loan delinquency rate fell during the second quarter of 2010, signaling a potential stabilization in housing credit conditions. This is the second consecutive quarter that the national delinquency rate has dropped, reversing a 12 quarter trend where mortgage delinquency rates increased. The mortgage delinqueny rate is the ratio of mortgage borrowers who are 60 or more days behind on their home loan payments.

The national delinquency rate fell to 6.67% during the second quarter, a decrease from the 6.77% rate during the first quarter of 2010. The top two states for mortgage delinquencies remained the same, Nevada with a 15.86% delinquency rate and Florida with a 15.02% rate. According to forecasts from TransUnion, the national rate is expected to continue to drop throughout 2010 but Florida is forecast to overtake Nevada as the state with the highest delinquency rate with projections as high as 16.2% of mortgages being delinquent.

While the TransUnion report paints a positive pictures for the rest of the U.S., the projections that Florida delinquencies will continue to rise is not good new for Florida homeowners. If you are delinquent on your mortgage and fear being served with a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, you should contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your circumstances. Many times there are defenses that a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer can raise that may be able to save your home.

As the numbers of Americans considering strategic defaults rises, more and more mortgage brokers are fielding calls asking about the possibility for "buy and bail" purchase. A "buy and bail" purchase is where a homeowner is considering a strategic default on their home, often due to an extreme drop in their home's value, purchases another home before they default on their current home. By completing a "buy and bail" purchase, a homeowner is able to get into another home, often at a steep discount due to low home values, before their credit rating is ruined because of the default.

Mortgage brokers are seeing an increase in "buy and bail" purchases even though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have attempted to set up standards to prevent it. The borrowers most likely to take advantage of buy and bail purchases are those with high credit scores and who have jumbo loans that fall outside of Fannie and Freddie funding limits. Many mortgage brokers ask about the potential for "buy and bail" purchases during the application process and if homeowners lie on their application, a "buy and bail" purchase constitutes fraud. While "buy and bail" purchases are becoming more popular, the FBI and other federal agencies are investigating allegations of "buy and bail" purchases aggressively.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, there are foreclosure alternative options that may be available to you. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case and options.

The Treasury department's latest numbers release regarding HAMP modifications showed significant gains in the total number of borrowers receiving permanent modifications and which lenders are approving permanent modifications. In June, 51,205 new permanent modifications were approved, an increase of nearly 15%, bringing the total number of permanent modifications to 389,198.

Of the new HAMP modifications approved in June, almost 52% of those approvals came from the nations four largest banks. Bank of America led the way with 9,263 (18%), followed by J.P. Morgan Chase with 7,255 (14%), Citimortage with 6,138 (12%) and Wells Fargo with 3,869 (7.5%) of the total permanent modifications approved in June.

These numbers may represent a dramatic jump in HAMP usage and may signify the beginning of recovery in the housing market, however only time will tell. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, it is in your best interest to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to review your case in order to determine what foreclosure prevention options may be available to you.

The country's average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage stands at 4.49%, which is an all-time low in America since Freddie Mac started keeping track of the rates in 1971. But unfortunately this record low has not sparked the substantial increase in home sales and mortgage refinancing that the federal government had hoped to see. Experts disagree on how low the 30-year fixed mortgage rate must go to jumpstart the housing market, but one thing is for sure, it's lower than 4.49%.

Mortgage refinancing and home sales have not increased for a number of reasons. The high unemployment rate has caused a lot of uncertainty, even for those who still have their jobs. Lenders are barely refinancing because so many of the homeowners that want to refinance are so underwater on their home loans. Also, many potential buyers are waiting for the market to hit rock bottom before they buy a home.

Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or Florida Foreclosure Lawyer if you are underwater on your home loan or if your lender has file a foreclosure on your home.

According to real estate data and analytics firm CoreLogic, the number of short sale has more than tripled since 2008. Their research study states that short sales will continue to rise from their estimated numbers, 400,000 short sales annually, and be an important part of the mortgage recovery. Four states, Texas; California; Florida and Arizona, account for 55.8% of the national short sale volume.

Though the numbers of short sales are likely to rise, CoreLogic states that this increase in short sales could potentially open the floodgates to short sale fraud. CoreLogic estimated that losses due to preventable short sale fraud amount to $310 million by the end of 2010. The average loss from each instance of short sale fraud is $41,500 with fraud occurring in 1 in every 53 short sales.

This study is evidence that there are alternatives to foreclosure to many homeowners. Programs such as HAMP and HARP, short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure are just a few of the alternatives that may be available to you. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to explore your foreclosure alternative options.

Lee Farkas, former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker has been indicted by federal prosecutors on charges involving a $2 billion fraud scheme. Taylor, Bean & Whitaker is one of America's biggest privately held mortgage lending companies. The indictment alleges that Farkas and unnamed co-conspirators began misappropriating money from other companies as a way to hide mounting losses at Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. The misappropriated funds allegedly came from the mortgage lending division of Colonial Bank in Orlando and from Ocala Funding, which is a subsidiary of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. Also included in the indictment were charges that Farkas committed securities fraud and wire fraud in an attempt to get the federal government to give Colonial Bank over $550 million from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).