Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

Defending your Foreclosure is important to allow you the opportunity to stay in your home when possible. Two Cape Coral women and their two children are now homeless in separate instances of false promises made by part of Bank of America which lead to the sale of both their homes! The story of how the women began having financial trouble is not unique.

Nicole DePuy was forced to take a 75% pay cut at her job and foresaw the financial trouble ahead. So, in an effort to be proactive, she contacted her mortgage lender, Bank of America, altering them of her current financial situation and requesting a mortgage modification. Bank of America said they would work with her on getting a HAMP modification and that she only needed to send in an application and her financial information to get the process started. After two years re-sending her document and having Bank of America continually saying they lost them she was finally able to speak to a Bank of America representative face to face at a mortgage modification seminar. The representative told her that they would reduce her interest rate, re-amortize her mortgage, effectively cutting her payment in half. She told the representative that her house was scheduled an upcoming foreclosure sale and the rep told her that as long as she made her payments her home would not be sold. She received her mortgage modification package in the mail and made her first payment, then phoned Bank of America to make sure the sale was cancelled. She was told again that the sale had been cancelled. Ms. DePuy continued making her payments on-time until she found out that her house had been sold, by the buyer put a note on her door!

Laqurdia Tatum has a very similar story to tell. Ms. Tatum applied for and was approved for a mortgage modification under the federal HAMP program through Bank of America. When she received her approval letter she called Bank of America to ensure that it was a valid letter because she was afraid of being scammed and she was told that the letter was indeed from Bank of America. She sent in her first modified mortgage payment on time and when she saw that the check had cleared her account she again called Bank of America to make sure everything was fine. On that phone call she asked if her house would be taken off the foreclosure sale list and she was assured that it was. She then went on a weekend trip to Fort Bragg, NC to see her son off to Afghanistan and when she returned she found a notice of sale in the mail!

At this time Bank of America says it is still investigating what happened in each of these cases and has "vowed" to correct the situation if errors were made on their part.

While these are extreme examples of what can happen in the current mortgage modification climate, the fact that this happened to two individuals in the same city may mean it is not as rare as we think. The problems with delaying decisions, and losing documents over and over are complaints that we hear from clients on a regular basis. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit or are interested in a mortgage modification it is in your best interests to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer who can review your case with you to determine the best method to save your home.

Loan modification mishap update: Bank of America responds

If you are a homeowner that has missed payments on your mortgage, there may still be a variety of ways that you can challenge the bank's attempt to foreclosure on your home. If the bank files a complaint to foreclose on your home, you must make a legal response to the complaint within 20 days. If you do not file a response to the bank's complaint, then the judge will enter a default judgment in the bank's favor and the house will be sold at a foreclosure sale.

This is the worst thing that a homeowner could do. By filing a legal response, a homeowner keeps the door open to use the many defenses available to homeowners in foreclosure. It's is important to file the correct response to preserve your rights. Lenders have been under a lot of scrutiny over the past couple of years for their abusive tactics. If your lender has employed some of these abusive tactics there is a good chance that a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer can challenge the legitimacy of the bank's complaint. Some homeowners have been successful in having their mortgages eliminated, while at the same time getting to keep their home.

If your lender has filed a foreclosure complaint against you for being in arrears on your mortgage, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer . Do not ignore the foreclosure and let the bank take on your home. You cannot fight a foreclosure if you do not respond to the bank's complaint.

JP Morgan has been canceling loan modifications for various reasons causing missing documentation, excessive debt-to-income ratios, or inability to pay for a modified payments under the Making Home Affordable Plans as well as their own loan modifications causing many homeowners to file bankruptcy or defend their foreclosure reports ClickNews.

If you are considering a loan modification, you should have it reviewed by a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to help determine if the loan modification will benefit you. As previously reported, many "loan modifications" end up costing the home owner more than if they preformed under the existing loan because of hidden fees and the ability to change the interest rates 3-5 years down the road.

The federal government has made some changes to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) that will be implemented in the next few months. The changes include giving the loan servicers greater incentive to lower the principal of loans, temporary assistance to unemployed homeowners, making the program available to more homeowners, and helping individuals that cannot afford their homes get into one that is more affordable.

If a homeowner becomes unemployed, their mortgage payments will be temporarily reduced to a more affordable level for between three and six months. If a homeowner does not get a job during this reduction period or gets a job with a lower income, the homeowner will be considered for a permanent modification or enter into the alternatives to foreclosure program.

The most significant change was made to the process of considering homeowners for write downs of their principal. There is now more of an incentive for the servicer to reduce the principal of a mortgage. Loan servicers are now required in each foreclosure to consider another modification idea that will pay the servicers and their investors a percentage of every dollar of principal that they write down on a loan.

Other changes to the program include considering those that are actively in bankruptcy for HAMP. HAMP has been expanded to home owners that have FHA loans. Also, there are now increased incentives for the lenders to consider homeowners for permanent modifications. Hopefully these changes will increase the number of homeowners that are in HAMP.

Government watchdogs recently met with a Senate panel and told them that, in their opinion, the Obama administration's mortgage assistance programs are failing. In addition, the watchdogs told the Senate panel that the Treasury Department has been ineffective in its attempts to cure the program's problems. Special inspector general of all of the financial bailouts, Neil Barofsky, told the panel that the programs have not substantially lowered or stopped foreclosures.

The program has failed on a number of levels. The lenders get to decide which homeowners will qualify for the modifications. If an individual does qualify for a trial modification, the lenders have the final say over whether or not to permanently modify that individual's mortgage after they successfully complete the trial modification. There is no way that this program can succeed, on the whole, if the program is based on the lender's voluntary participation. In the majority of foreclosure cases the lender will make more money off of the house if they foreclosure and resell it. If the choice is theirs, why would they modify the loan?

An Indianapolis foreclosure attorney was recently sentenced in federal court to three years probation and almost of 300 hours of community servce for defrauding Citifinancial of thousands of dollars through a foreclosure fraud scheme. While working for Citibank, the attorney was required to submit a bid at sheriff's sale on foreclosed homes, sell the home through legitimate means and submit the proceeds of the sale to Citifinancial. Instead of following these proscribed procedures the attorney submitted inflated bids and had arrangements for family and friends to purchase the homes. The purchase price for the home made by his family and friends were for a few thousand dollars more than the Citifinancial minimum bid and the attorney would not send the profits to Citifinancial.

While this fraud was perpetrated against a mortgage lender this goes to show how fearless these mortgage fraudsters are. Be aware that the fraudsters are out there and your best option to save your home if you are facing a Florida Mortgage Foreclosure is to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer in South Florida found at least twenty documents that had been submitted by the Law Offices of David J. Stern that contained notary seals that did not exist at the time that the documents were allegedly created. This follows a Pasco County judge dismissing a case filed by Stern because the documents submitted by Stern's law firm were clearly fraudulent.

In 2002, Stern was reprimanded by the Florida Bar for misleading and overcharging his clients. Stern is now preparing for another run in with the Florida Bar. The Bar has filed a complaint on Stern in an attempt to determine whether or not Stern's firm has delegated too much of his firm's business to non-lawyers. And if all of these problems were not enough, David J. Stern Enterprises, Inc. is under investigation on behalf of its investors for possible violations of federal and state securities laws.

If you are among the thousands of homeowners that have received a foreclosure notice from the Law Offices of David J. Stern, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to help spot the fraudulent documents that are being submitted by these "foreclosure mills" far too often.

Predatory lending includes a variety of abusive practices by individuals that originate loans. Predatory lending practices may include refinancing that causes the borrower to lose the benefit of special terms in the loan, excessive or hidden fees, mandatory arbitration clauses, inadequate disclosures, failure to verify borrower's financial information, to name a few. No single act of abuse will rise to the level of predatory lending.

In an effort to combat predatory lending, Congress has created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. One of the major goals of the bureau will be to stop predatory lending. This is going to be an extremely difficult task. Individuals that originate loans are very crafty in the ways that they are trying to deceive customers while still following the mandatory disclosure requirements. It is certainly good news that there is finally a bureau dedicated to eliminate predatory lending. But time will tell whether the bureau can actually reduce predatory lending or if the lenders will just continue with more of the same.

If you believe you have been a victim of Predatory lending in Florida you should contact Legal Aid or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

DAL Group, LLC has signed an agreement to purchase the Chardan 2008 China Acquisition Corporation. The DAL Group is a company that provides processing services to mortgage lenders and servicers doing business in Florida. When the deal is finalized, the DAL Group will completely control Default Servicing, Inc. and the Professional Title & Abstract Company of Florida. These two companies handle most of the non-legal operations that assist David J. Stern in foreclosing on thousands of homes for the banks. After the merger the company will be named DJSP Enterprises, Inc., which stands for David J. Stern Processing. DJSP Enterprises, Inc. will be traded on the Nasdaq when the transaction is finalized. The Law Offices of David J. Stern have obviously made many millions of dollars off of the foreclosure boom that has taken place in Florida over the last couple of years and after hearing this it appears that the company will make a whole lot more.

Reno, Nevada firefighters found the bodies of two people, believed to be an elderly homeowner and her adult son, in the burned remnants of their foreclosed home. Sherriff's deputies came to the home in the morning hours of Tuesday July 20 in order to serve a notice of eviction following a June 3 public auction. When the deputies arrived they heard what was initially believed to be gunshots but were later thought to be sounds resulting from the fire.

One the fire was extinguished firefighters learned that the house had been heavily fortified with all the exterior windows being boarded up and the doors barricaded. The authorities found no weapons in the home but they suspect that an accelerant was used inside the house. A Sherriff's representative stated that the eviction notice was no surprise to the homeowners, they had been warned several times that the home had been sold at a June auction and utility companies had posted notices on the door to the home.

To read the full story of click here.

Home "flopping" is a practice where a home buyer hires a broker to assess a home's value for less than the fair market value. When they get the assessment the buyer convinces the bank to sell the home to them for the reduced price. Then the buyer conceals from the lender that they have a higher offer lined up on the home. After the short sale is complete the new homeowner quickly resells the property to the pre-arranged buyer and makes a quick profit. The FBI and Freddie Mac have warned that schemes like these are becoming increasingly common across the country. This scam has the potential to significantly raise the losses suffered by the lenders that have been increasingly willing to accept short sales because most short sales are much cheaper for lenders than foreclosure.

The Obama administration's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) Program has created financial incentives for parties that agree on short sales. The government has offered up to $3,000 to homeowners and $1,500 to servicers who closed on a short sale. But many critics of HAFA claim that there are not sufficient fraud safeguards in the program which allow these "flopping" scams to succeed. CoreLogic, Inc. estimates that "flopping" occurs in a little over one percent of short sales. According to that estimate this could cost lenders up to $50 million per year.

Lenders are not the only ones that are harmed by this practice. The homeowner that agrees to the short sale for less than fair market value is also hurt by these scams. If a homeowner gets less money than they should on a short sale they have to make up the difference when they pay a deficiency judgment to their lender. This scam harms everybody except for the person running the scam and hopefully our government will soon implement safeguards to protect everybody from these "flopping" scams.

Ignorance of the law is no longer a defense for debt collectors that violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in an attempt to collect a debt. The United States Supreme Court made this ruling in a 7-2 decision in the case of Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich. This ruling greatly restricts a debt collector's ability to use a mistake of law as part of a bona fide error defense under the FDCPA.

In Jerman, a law firm based in Ohio was sued by Jerman for violating the FDCPA when it attempted to foreclose on her home. The law firm's first collection notice asked Jerman for written proof that she had paid her mortgage with Countrywide Home Loans. The firm further stated that if she did not show proof of payment or dispute the debt in writing within 30 days the company would presume that the debt was valid.

The law firm argued that it should not be held liable under the FDCPA because it was a bona fide clerical error. And that the firm did not know that the FDCPA did not require disputes to be in writing. The firm won at the trial court level and on appeal by using the bona fide error defense. Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court stating that "ignorance of the law will not excuse any person, either civilly or criminally." This ruling will change the law in many jurisdictions because many states have a bona fide error statute identical to the FDCPA. If your home is in foreclosure or you are behind on your mortgage payments and a debt collector is harassing you, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or Florida Foreclosure Lawyer . There is a good chance a lawyer will be able to stop these harassing calls and/or letters.

It seems that JP Morgan Chase is now driving a much harder bargain when it comes to dealing with homeowners who are seeking to sell their homes via a short sale. In a typical short sale the bank and homeowner agree to a sale price of the home, for an amount less than the total amount owed, and the lender accepts the proceeds of the sale as a satisfaction of the mortgage debt. Last month, JP Morgan Chase began sending letters to certain borrowers preapproved for short sales, that they remain responsible for any deficiency amount.

One attorney warned that if there is a chance of monetary recovery that the lender will pursue a deficiency judgment. JP Morgan Chase has been vague when asked how widely applied the new policy will be. While there are about 20 states that do not allow deficiency judgments after a bank approved short sale, this new policy comes as yet another obstacle for homeowners seeking to alleviate the stresses of their already complicated financial situations.

If you are negotiating or discussing a short sale, a loan modification, or a forbearance agreement with your lender, it is in your best interest to have the agreement reviewed by a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer can help you to understand the agreement and what your liabilities are and can help you to negotiate terms that limit future liability.

Many homeowners that are struggling financially are faced with very difficult financial decisions. Do I feed my family or pay my mortgage? Should I try to keep my small business afloat or pay my home mortgage? Do I pay my medical bills or pay my mortgage? In many cases there is no "right" answer to these questions. The homeowner must look at their own circumstances and determine what will be most beneficial for them in the long-term.

Increasingly homeowners are choosing strategic foreclosure as a way to pull themselves out of a dismal financial situation. When the lender commences foreclosure proceedings against a homeowner, the lender cannot accept any more mortgage payments from the homeowner while the case is pending. This allows the homeowner to save the amount that they pay on their mortgage every month. This can help homeowners solve other financial issues that they may be facing. Since many foreclosure proceedings last for over two years, a homeowner can save a substantial amount of money while they live rent free.

Homeowners can sometimes get positive results from strategic foreclosure. However, there are many potentially negative consequences to strategic foreclosure. The main consequences to any type of foreclosure are the hit to your credit score and the fact that you lose your home. If a homeowner does not follow the proper procedure when strategically foreclosing, the consequences can be much worse. If you are thinking of strategically foreclosing on your home it is imperative that you contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your options and if a strategic default may be a good option for you and your family.

The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) is a federal law that standardizes the way that creditors disclose the terms of credit to their consumers. If a lender fails to comply with the strict standards of the TILA the penalties may be severe for the lender. Penalties for violations of the TILA can range anywhere from a monetary penalty to rescission of the mortgage. Rescission of a mortgage gives the borrower back all of the fees, payments of principal and interest, closing costs and any down payments made.

There are only a few violations of the TILA that will give the homeowner the option of rescission. For other violations of the TILA, the failure to disclose will give rise to the actual damages and additional statutory damages not less than $200 for equity loans and $2,000 if the loan is not a home equity loan. For the statutory damages under the TILA, a homeowner may only recover for one failure to disclose, regardless of how many violations there were.

If you recently purchased a home and your lender did not disclose all of the information that is required under the TILA, contact A Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to help identify TILA violations committed by your lender and get you the relief that you are entitled to.

As of March 1, 2010 all newly filed residential homestead foreclosure cases in Duval, Clay and Nassau counties are required to go to managed mediation. At the mediation conference the lender and borrower, along with their lawyers, meet in an effort to resolve the mortgage foreclosure without actually going to formal trial. There are only two ways in which a lender does not have to participate in managed mediation with the borrower:

1. if the borrower opts out of managed mediation by either filing out a form stating they do not wish to participate in the mediation or not responding to the foreclosure suit at all; or


2. by participating in any type of pre-suit mediation conference with the lender.

Unlike in the court supervised managed mediation, where the lender has to meet certain requirements of good faith dealing, in an unsupervised pre-suit mediation a lender does not have a duty to dealing in good faith. The lender could engage in pre-suit mediation, be willing to agree to nothing, and then not be obligated to comply with an order for managed mediation after filing a foreclosure action against you

While many courts are encouraging pre-suit mediation between borrowers and lenders, it is not in your best interest to do so without a competent attorney there to protect your interests. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer can help you to understand and protect your interests in a formal, informal, or court ordered foreclosure mediation with your lender.

It has been well documented how many homes in the Jacksonville area have gone through foreclosure over the last couple of years. Many neighborhoods across Jacksonville are continuing to feel the fallout from this epidemic. When a bank forecloses on a home they take possession of the property and attempt to sell it as soon as they can. But with the huge increase in foreclosures in the area, banks are having a hard time getting rid of all the homes they own. Therefore, many of them are remaining vacant for extended periods of time.

This can cause many problems for homeowners that remain in their homes. Often individuals going through foreclosure do not maintain their yards or homes while they are in the process of foreclosure due to the facts that they do not have enough money and they are going to be kicked out of the home soon. When the banks get possession of the property the homes often look bad. In many cases, the banks do not maintain the yard while they are attempting to resell the home. This leads to a very unappealing home when viewed from the street, and when you are dealing with foreclosure on the scale that we are here in Jacksonville, this leads to an unappealing neighborhood. When half of the homes in a neighborhood have been foreclosed and appear to be in disrepair the property value of every home in the neighborhood declines.

According to foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac, banks took aver nearly 528,000 homes in the first half of 2010, pushing the expected number of repossessed home in 2010 to over one million. Traditionally banks only took over around 100,000 homes per year. The number of homeowners facing foreclosure in the first half of 2010 rose 8% over the first half of the year 2009.

The increase in the number of home being repossessed is evidence that banks have stepped up their efforts to clean out the glut of distressed homes on their balance sheets. Almost 1.7 million homeowners received some sort of foreclosure warning in the first half of 2010. Even though April. May and June showed monthly declines in foreclosure notices experts are afraid a new wave of foreclosures as mortgage support programs fail, home sales remain low and unemployment remains high.

This last look into the foreclosure crisis shows that instead of attempting to help struggling homeowners, banks are ramping up their efforts to repossess your home. If you are currently facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit you need to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to discuss the best way for you to save your home.

A homeowner is "underwater" on their mortgage if they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. "Underwater" homeowners are much more likely to default on their mortgages, sometimes voluntarily. The average homeowner accepted into HAMP owes over $1.50 for every dollar that their home is worth. Even when these individuals have their mortgages modified, temporarily or permanently, they remain "underwater" on their mortgage. When a homeowner gets their monthly mortgage payment reduced they oftentimes are just paying less of the principal down, and with the rapidly declining real estate market they end up further "underwater."

Part of the reason that HAMP homeowners are more likely to be underwater is because of the Net Present Value (NPV) test that the lenders use to determine whether to foreclose or to modify. Under the NPV test the lenders chooses modification or foreclosure based on which route will make their investors more profit. Unfortunately this test leads the "underwater" homeowners towards loan modification and the homeowners that have equity in their homes to foreclosure.

A New York appellate court upholds the dismissal of a Countrywide foreclosure complaint because Countrywide did not have standing to bring the suit at the time it was filed. The trial court ruled that Countrywide was not the proper party to bring the foreclosure action since the assignment of the mortgage to Countrywide didn't take place until July, 2007...more than 5 months after they filed the initial foreclosure complaint!

These are the types of issue a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer sees time and time again in foreclosure cases. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit you should contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to review your case in order to determine your options.

Top Republicans have sent a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury demanding that the Obama administration bring an immediate end to HAMP. Their issues with HAMP are summed up by the quotes of Rep. Darrell Issa of California, "It defies common sense that taxpayer money is being used to pay banks to modify loans that are likely to default anyway." "In cases where loan changes could keep borrowers out of foreclosure, banks have a clear incentive to make changes without a need for public funds."

This may simply be the more of the norm in Washington, Democrats supporting government programs and Republicans asking for the government to keep their hands off and allow for the free market to control. But no matter which side of the political spectrum you are on, most will agree that HAMP has been a failure. Approximately 75% of the individuals that have their mortgages modified under the program default during the trial modification period. Those that successfully complete the trial modification are not receiving offers for permanent modification. HAMP has helped some homeowners but changes are needed in order to ensure that HAMP reaches more of the homeowners that need a loan modification.

Apparently New Jersey Judge William Todd is tired of plaintiffs and lenders not complying with the standing requirements in his courtroom. Judge Todd issued a 53-page Order that dismissed Bank of New York's foreclosure action filed on behalf of Home Mortgage Investment Trust 2004-4 as Trustee. The court concluded that Bank of New York did not even attempt to comply with New Jersey's procedural rules which require proof of all assignments in the chain of title. The only thing that the bank alleged was that they were the owner of the note before the litigation began. The court ruled that since the Plaintiff failed to prove standing the case would be dismissed and any re-filing be conditioned on the Plaintiff possessing the original note at the time of filing.

This Order is similar to a ruling handed down by the Florida Supreme Court in February 2010. Florida requires that a Plaintiff show each assignment in the chain of title in order to have standing. If the case is dismissed for lack of standing, the case cannot be re-filed unless it is certified that the Plaintiff has the original note at the time the Complaint is filed. Experts say that this well written opinion could bring change to the foreclosure procedures in the State of New Jersey.

If you are facing foreclosure in Florida or your home is already in foreclosure, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your options.

As a part of the Florida Supreme Court's order that all Judicial Circuits create a dedicated foreclosure process to deal with the backlog of foreclosure cases clogging the state court system, the courts have received a one-time allotment of $6 million dollars to hire and staff the new foreclosure courts. While the cry from many people is that the courts need to do something to deal with this backlog more quickly, the question of "do creating these "rocket dockets" actually help the homeowners?" is often overlooked.

In most Judicial Circuits in Florida, the court has thousands of Motions for Summary Judgment waiting to be heard. A Motion for Summary Judgment is a proceeding where the mortgage lender asks the court to hear a case without requesting a full trial. Requesting a Motion for Summary Judgment has been an effective tactic in most cases because homeowners rarely appear at the hearing because they do not know their legal rights. Increasing the speed in which foreclosure courts deal with cases can lead to sloppy practice and issues being missed. This method of practice really only benefits one side, foreclosure plaintiffs.

The best way to prevent getting "lost in cracks" and avoiding this rush to judgment is to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to discuss your case. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer is trained to identify defenses to your Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit to ensure that you are not one of the victims of the foreclosure crisis.

To read more on this check out Matthew Weidner's foreclosure blog chronicling new developments in foreclosure.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has handed down the largest fine against a Wall Street firm in the history of the SEC. Congress approved the penalties hand down against Goldman on Thursday. The settlement will require Goldman to pay a fine of $535 million, $300 million to be paid to the government and $250 million will be paid to the two banks that lost millions on their investments with the company.

This settlement stems from charges that the company sold mortgage-backed securities to investors without disclosing to the buyers that the company was expecting the securities to fail and hedging their bets. The fraud costs investors almost $1 billion. Although the fine was so large, the $550 million amounted to less than 5% of Goldman's 2009 net income after dividends were paid. After news of the settlement reached the stock markets, Goldman's stock price rose from $140 to $153.60, almost a 10% increase! Do you think that Goldman Sachs' executives learned their lesson?

James D. Powell pled guilty in Cincinnati to a Ponzi scheme which defrauded more than 90 victims, including two mortgage companies, of more than $9 million. This was a classic Ponzi scheme. The scheme was based on a promise of very high returns from a portfolio of real estate properties. Powell got a group of initial investors to invest a large sum of money. He then attracted new investors and paid off the old investors with the money from the new investors.

Powell created three companies, Capital Investments, Great Miami Debentures, and Great Miami Real Estate, that he held out as real estate investment firms. In addition to defrauding investors, he also defrauded a mortgage company of almost $1 million by falsifying documents to get loans on different properties. Many of the properties that Powell claimed were owned by the mortgage-backed securities investors were not owned by the investment group at all.

It seems as though the FBI sting operation known as "Operation Broken Dreams" has been a success. The operation has focused on mortgage fraud throughout the country. The FBI has arrested over 500 people in the sting operation since March.

United States Representative Jackie Speier introduced a bill which would protect a homeowner's credit score throughout the loan modification process. Many homeowners that are having a tough time paying their home mortgages are turning to loan modifications. But homeowners that have their loans modified outside of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) are discovering that their credit score has decreased due to the modification. Some lenders are reporting homeowners that have had their loan temporarily modified to the credit agencies for only making partial payments. This is against the law if the loan is modified under HAMP, but with the increase in loan modifications more homeowners are having their loans modified outside of HAMP.

This proposed bill would change the state of the law in this area. Bill HR5743 is called the Protecting Homeowners' Credit History Act. The bill would prohibit banks and servicers from reporting homeowners to the credit agencies if the homeowner paid their modified loan payments on time. The bill would also bar the credit reporting agencies from putting that information on a homeowner's credit report. This is a bill that seems to make a lot of sense and it should not receive that much resistance in Congress.

Hope Now Financial Services, a loan modification company based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, agreed to a settlement with homeowners that were defrauded by the company. The allegations were that the company was charging several thousand dollars in up-front fees for their loan modification services. But after the up-front fees were paid the company did nothing on behalf of their customers. Owners of the company were also charged with misrepresenting their affiliation with a legitimate non-profit group, Hope Now Alliance. Under the settlement the owners of Hope Now Financial Services agreed to pay the 514 consumers that filed complaints a total of $5,051,253. The owners are also barred from selling debt adjustment and loan modification services.

If you have been offered or are considering a loan modification, you must do your due diligence prior to accepting any offer. Check the Better Business Bureau and make sure that the company is a legitimate organization. If you are having trouble determining the legitimacy of a particular loan modification company contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer can help you determine whether the company is trying to scam you or whether they can help you modify your loan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs for fraud. The suit stems from the creation of securities sold by Goldman Sachs that were backed by home mortgage loans that had no chance of being successfully repaid. Unfortunately this appears to be more of the same from the investment groups that sold securities backed by a pool of home mortgages.

This lawsuit may have revealed a dirty little secret of the investment firms. All along they have been purchasing insurance on these extremely risky loans and loan pools. So when the homeowners eventually defaulted on the mortgages the investment firms still received payment. No matter how risky the loan, the investment company was guaranteed to receive the money that was owed to them one way or the other. Therefore, there was a huge incentive for the lenders to make no income no asset and stated income stated asset loans because they would get their money regardless. The worst part is that most of the time the borrowers that received these loans, that they would inevitably default on, were the ones that had to pay for this loan insurance with the lender as the beneficiary.

Foreclosure Lawyers in Jacksonville can help you evaluate whether you have defenses to a Foreclosure Lawsuit. They can also help determine if a strategic default on your home mortgage is a viable option for you. It is important to evaluate your complete financial circumstances as well as your mortgage documents to know what defenses and rights you have in defending a potential foreclosure.

Before entering into a loan modification, a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer can help you understand if you will qualify for any of the government based programs to help homeowners lower their monthly payments. It is important to understand that just because your initial payment will be lower, often the "loan modifications' being offered by many banks actually have you pay more for your home than if you performed under the existing loan. Whether this makes sense for you can be decided with the help of a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

If you would like a free consultation to help you understand your options contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer.

On July 9, an investment firm that lost $1.2 billion dollars in mortgage backed securities sued Bank of America, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns (now a part of JP Morgan Chase), Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Deutsche Bank, in Massachusetts State Court for fraud for selling securities they knew were doomed to fail due to a lack of underwriting and oversight in the mortgage lending industry. The Investors claim the banks misled them by assuring the loans in the securities met strict underwriting guidelines thereby misrepresenting the risks in the underlying loans.

The banks have claimed they cannot be responsible for the homeowners defaults because they had no idea that so many went to people who could not make their mortgage payments. The Investor group points out that these banks owned many of the mortgage lenders and in some cases the banks had their employees at the loan facilities. In one of the most shocking examples of lack of underwriting cited in the Complaint, one loan program gave loans to self-employed borrowers based solely on three letters of reference from past employers and the company made no effort to verify the information contained in the letters.

This is another example of how banks and the mortgage lending companies they own went out of their way to defraud the American people. Using this example it is easy to see how this fraud "goes from main street all the way to Wall street." If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit Florida Foreclosure Lawyer there are many defenses that can be raised to keep you in your home. It is in your best interest to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer Florida Foreclosure Lawyer.

A new group of scammers; calling themselves forensic loan auditors, mortgage loan auditors or foreclosure prevention auditors are the latest part of an ever growing group of people attempting to exploit financially distressed homeowners, says the Federal Trade Commission. These groups charge an upfront fee of several hundred dollars in exchange for reviewing your mortgage documents to ascertain whether the bank complied with all lending laws when processing your loan. The "auditors" make promises that you can use their report to reduce your loan principle, accelerate your loan modification, or even avoid foreclosure.

Individuals who are in default on their mortgage are the ones most often targeted in these types of scams. The FTC lays out several warning signs that individuals should watch out for when looking for foreclosure prevention assistance:

-Guarantees to stop the foreclosure process-no matter what your circumstances are
-Instructs you not to contact your lender, lawyer or credit or housing counselor
-Collects a fee before providing any services, accepts payments only by cashier's check or wire transfer
-Encourages you to lease your home so you can buy it back over time
-Recommends that you make your mortgage payments directly to it, rather than your lender
-Urges you to transfer your property deed or title to it
-Offers to buy your house for cash at a fixed price that is inappropriate for the housing market
-Pressures you to sign papers you haven't had a chance to read thoroughly or that you don't understand

While these types of scams are becoming more common, distressed homeowners need to know that there are genuine options available to help save your home. By contacting a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer you are taking the first legitimate step towards saving your home. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer understands the legal defenses to foreclosure and will fight to save your home.

While a Forensic loan audit can be a useful tool in defending a foreclosure in Florida, one must be careful what they are purchasing and the representations that are made.

One of the seemingly forgotten segments of the population in the current foreclosure climate are the families renting homes from landlords that are in foreclosure and therefore facing eviction. Do they have any right to stay in their home?

Included in the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 is the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA) which sets forth the rights of tenants when their landlords are in foreclosure. The intention of the PTFA is to preserve the rights of the tenants to remain in the home until the end of the lease term or to receive sufficient notice to relocate their families to a new home. Under the PTFA if a tenant is living in a home under a bona fide lease they may remain in the home until the lease term expires or receive a 90 day notice after they receive notice that their home has been sold and the new owner will occupy the home as their primary residence. If the tenant is living in a home under a month-to-month lease the tenant must receive a 90-day notice to vacate from the new owner.

If you are a tenant subject to eviction due to foreclosure by your landlord, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to preserve your rights. The PTFA was enacted to prevent unlawful evictions by landlords who have had their property foreclosed on and contacting a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer can help you stay in your home.

When a homeowner short sells their home they usually do not receive enough money in the sale to pay off the remaining balance on their mortgage. Therefore, the homeowner will usually still owe money to the lender after they sign over the check for the sale of the home. The only way to have the excess amount owed forgiven by the lender is to have them sign a waiver of a deficiency judgment. In order for the lender to waive your deficiency judgment, you must get the lender to agree to this waiver in writing prior to the short sale.

Sometimes the lenders orally agree to a waiver of a deficiency judgment but will deny it after the short sale has taken place. In other cases the homeowner just assumes that since the lender told them that they could short sell the home that the lender is forgiving any excess amount owed after the sale. That is not the case unless the lender has signed a waiver of a deficiency judgment. Do not make this mistake. If you are considering a short sale on your home, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to review your agreement so that you do not have suprises later like a deficiency judgment waived by your lender.

While most homeowners believe that it makes no sense for a Condo or Homeowners Association to foreclose on their home, there are several reasons that a Condo or Homeowners Association may choose to do so. One reason associations choose to foreclose on delinquent homeowners is to prove to homeowners that the associations are willing to foreclose so owners considering not paying are persuaded to pay. As many homeowners continue to face financial difficulties, paying their mortgage becomes the primary concern and paying the Condo or Homeowner Association dues becomes secondary.

Another, primary, reason a Condo or Homeowners Association chooses to foreclose is to recoup unpaid dues. Most Condo and Homeowners Association's create their association fee by taking their estimated budget and dividing it equally among the number of associated units. When homeowners do not pay their dues, the associations are faced with a budget shortfall and as more and more homeowners fall behind on their dues the shortfall becomes too much to bear. By foreclosing, the associations gain title and can evict the homeowners and potentially rent out the property in order to recoup those past due association dues.

If you are a homeowner facing financial difficulties and your goal is to stay in your home it is in your best interest to continue to pay your Condo or Homeowners Association dues. If that is not a possibility or if your Condo or Homeowners Association has already begun foreclosure proceedings, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to defend your foreclosure or to negotiate a workout of the past due amount.

This question is becoming more popular as the economy continues to struggle and homeowners continue to try to find ways to cut costs in order to pay their mortgages. The short answer is "yes" but there are many other questions that must be answered to arrive at that point. Many homeowners hold the belief that all their Condo or Homeowners Association can do is file a lien on their home but they are mistaken. The lien that Condo or Homeowners Association files will not rid the property of the mortgage but the lien does have the power to evict you from your home and put it up for sale!

In addition, there are fewer potential defenses that can be raised when a Condo or Homeowners Association forecloses on a home so it is in your best interest to pay your Condo or HOA dues or contact the Condo or Homeowners Association to attempt to work out a payment plan.

If your Condo or Homeowners Association is threatening foreclosure or if you are behind on you Condo or HOA dues it is in your best interest to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to defend your foreclosure or to negotiate a workout of the past due amount

A recent entry on the Jacksonville Short Sale blog http://www.shortsalejacksonville.com highlighted some of the potential pitfalls in filing bankruptcy to try to rid yourself of your home when you are facing foreclosure. In their blog titled "The Big Bankruptcy Lie," Short Sale Jacksonville discussed the need to contact a competent lawyer who has knowledge of both bankruptcy and foreclosure law. Bankruptcy itself will not transfer the title of your home to the lender and without a transfer of title you, as the homeowner, are responsible for all HOA dues and fees, taxes, insurance, etc. Banks are even slowing down the rate at which the take ownership of your home in an attempt to avoid paying these types of fees.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are exploring the option of bankruptcy in an attempt to rid yourself of your home contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to discuss all your options.

A Pennsylvania man has plead guilty to mail fraud pertaining to a mortgage fraud scam wherein he falsified financial documents and rental histories in order to prop up the creditworthiness of the buyers in order to get their mortgage applications approved. The man owned and operated a mortgage brokerage firm which marketed to individuals with low income or poor credit.

The falsification of documents was not the only fraud perpetrated by this particular individual. At loan closing he would present the homebuyers a settlement sheet with unexpected fees and costs. When the homebuyers did not have the money to cover the fees and costs he would offer to give them a second mortgage on the property, payable to him thereby giving himself a lien on the home. He would also conceal the presence of a second mortgage from the original lender. Inevitably, when the homeowners could not cover both mortgages and defaulted on their loans the homes was foreclosed on.

This is another of the horror stories that are coming out about the frauds perpetrated against innocent homeowners. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit it is in your best interest to contacts a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to examine your case and raise defenses to your foreclosure which help to keep you in your home or can save your home from foreclosure

This proposed financial reform has been approved by a committee composed of the leaders of the House and Senate. Included in this legislation is a provision designed to help unemployed homeowners that are going through foreclosure. The legislation would set aside $1 billion to assist homeowners who have lost their jobs. Earlier versions of this legislation were asking for $3 billion for the program.

The program's goal is to temporarily assist homeowners that have become unemployed to ensure that they do not also become homeless. Under the proposed legislation, if a homeowner qualifies for the program they will be able to borrow up to $50,000 to ensure that they can make their monthly mortgage payments. In order to qualify, the homeowner must have "a reasonable prospect" of continuing the mortgage payments on their own within two years of the assistance.

This program is part of a larger financial reform Bill and still must be approved by both the House and the Senate. A final vote on the Bill is expected to take place before July 1st. Lawmakers in both branches of Congress vowed to have the Bill on the President's desk by the 4th of July.

As the pressure from the Obama administration and the American public on lenders to modify distressed mortgages mounts, some lenders are getting creative in their efforts to reduce the rate of homeowner defaults. One of the major defenses mortgage lenders have raised in order to explain the delinquent homeowner rate is the difficulty in contacting distressed homeowners.

Recent newspaper reports say that mortgage services are claiming to only be able to reach 50% of distressed homeowners in order to discuss their financial situation. As a possible remedy for the problem some lenders are beginning to mail cell phones pre-programmed with the lenders number to homeowners. When the customers receive the phone they are instructed to call the number and bank employees can explain to them about the loan modification process.

This effort by lenders to keep in contact with distressed homeowners is evidence of just how tricky getting a mortgage modification can sometimes be. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, or are attempting a mortgage modification in order to prevent a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to discuss all the available alternatives to foreclosure.

As the Florida housing market continues to flounder, Florida Condominium associations are facing a unique problem; a growing number of units in default and an even higher number of homeowners who are not paying their condo fees. The lack of fee income has caused many associations to cut expenses but cutting back on things such as office staff and services provided.

Typically, when a homeowner fails to pay their condo fees the association has the right to place a lien on the past due fees and to foreclose on the property in an effort to take ownership. In most instances these efforts prove futile because even if the condo association takes ownership of the property it cannot sell or lease the property because the lien they used to foreclose is a subordinate lien to the bank lean due to the lender being owned more money.

In an April Foreclosure Florida case the lender and the condo association came to a "mortgage terminator" agreement which allowed to the condo association to take full ownership of a property they foreclosed on two years earlier. The lender, who after dismissing their foreclosure complaint last year, released its interest in the property giving the condo association "free and clear" ownership allowing the association to do whatever they deem necessary to recoup past dues condo fees. This case may mark a new means of conflict resolution between condo associations and lenders and give some condo associations leverage when trying to collect delinquent dues.

For more see the Orlando Business Journal article.

The Cash for Keys Program is an extension of the deed-in-lieu of foreclosure concept. Deed-in-lieu programs are not new, but the FHA giving the homeowner money to move is a new twist on the concept. Borrowers with FHA loans that receive a deed-in-lieu or cash for keys do not have to repay their mortgage.

Under the program, the lender offers the homeowner a cash settlement (usually around $2,000) and in exchange the homeowner agrees to vacate the foreclosed home. The homeowner then signs the deed over to the lender and the lender then cancels the amount owed on the mortgage. Lenders have also begun to extend these same offers to individuals renting homes that are being foreclosed. The lenders benefit because they do not have to go through the expensive eviction and foreclosure processes, they get the homeowner out of the foreclosed home, and the home is usually left in much better condition than if the homeowner had been evicted. The homeowner receives the benefit of receiving money to move and having the amount owed on their mortgage forgiven in exchange for the deed.

To qualify a homeowner must:

-Be facing long-term financial hardship;
-The house must be on the market for at least 90 days for a reasonable price;
-Face no additional liens or claims except for the first mortgage; and
-Leave the property clean and in good condition.

Mortgage delinquencies rose in May, stopping several months of improvement in mortgage delinquency numbers. According to numbers published by LPS Applied Analytics, almost 9.2% of all mortgage loans were 90 days or more past due. Those numbers constituted a rise over the 9% of delinquencies in April. The number of loans 30 days past due also rose according to the LPS report. Florida, along with Nevada, continue to have the highest numbers of troubled loans; with more than 1 in 5 loans being in some stage of foreclosure or delinquency in May.

While these numbers do not paint a rosy picture, they are an improvement over the numbers from the same months of 2009. In addition, the number of foreclosed loans that the banks took ownership of decreased in May, from the all-time high set in April.

These numbers underscore the importance of consulting a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer when facing a potential Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit. With 1 in 5 Florida homes in delinquency or foreclosure the banks attorneys are working hard to foreclose on your home. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer knows and will raise the legal defenses that can save your home.

For more information and to review a copy of the full report see the LPS Applied Analytics report.

Beginning July 1, Pinellas and Pasco counties will be giving certain homeowners the option of participating in mediation with their lenders. The program applies specifically to homeowners in danger of losing their primary residences and for which they have a homestead exemption. The homeowners are not required to participate but if they opt into mediation the lenders are required to participate.

If homeowners do opt into the program it will work like this: a mediator will be appointed by a third party mediation management company, the lenders will be required to pay a $750 fee (the fee will be added to the final judgment in foreclosure if the mediation is unsuccessful), and once at mediation the lender and homeowner discuss foreclosure alternatives ranging from loan modification to short sale.

Under a Florida Supreme Court mandate, all Circuit Courts in Florida must now have a mediation procedure in place to attempt to deal with the dearth of foreclosure cases plaguing Florida court. If you have been offered or have accepted a mediation conference with your lender contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer before your mediation. The lenders will have lawyers representing their interests and it is in your best interests to do the same.

Ms. Melissa Stuart met all of the eligibility requirements and was given a four month trial modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) by her lender, GMAC. If a homeowner makes their payments on time during the trial period they should receive a permanent modification (although this is rarely the case). Stuart made all of her payments on time, but instead of receiving a permanent modification offer she received a call from GMAC collections telling her that she owed them $4,000 because she had been kicked out of HAMP. Stuart was kicked out of HAMP because she made her payments early, on the 25th of each month instead of the 1st.

Stuart began to call everyone she could to find out what went wrong. She called the special investigator for the TARP program, Fannie Mae, and even one of Indiana's Senators. Shortly after Stuart made these calls GMAC called to tell her that they decided to give her a permanent loan modification. This goes to show that you should not just roll over and let your lender take advantage of you while you are in a vulnerable situation. If you are having trouble getting answers as to why you got kicked out of HAMP or why your lender is not giving you a permanent loan modification, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer . A foreclosure defense lawyer will get you the answers you are looking for.

Lenders will almost always grant a homeowner a trial loan modification under HAMP if they qualify. The problem for homeowners comes when the trial modification period ends. At that point the lender decides whether or not to permanently modify the mortgage. Unfortunately for the homeowners that have qualified for a trial modification, the lenders are rarely permanently modifying their mortgages.

The lenders are permitted to use the Net Present Value (NPV) test after the trial modification has ended to determine their next move. Under the NPV test, the lender looks at two options and determines which would be more profitable for their company. Whichever option is more profitable is the path they choose. Under option one, they foreclose on the home, win the home at auction, and sell the home. Under option two, they modify the loan under HAMP. The problem is that under this formula option one seems to be winning out the majority of the time and that is why the lenders are choosing to foreclose instead of permanently modifying the mortgages.

If you are going through a trial modification period under HAMP, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer . Florida Foreclosure Lawyersunderstand the NPV test and can help you to tell whether or not you can reasonably expect to receive a permanent loan modification under HAMP. If not, they will inform you of other options that may be available to you.

Docx, LLC is the subsidiary of Lender Processing Services (LPS) which creates the documents needed by LPS, its customers, and their attorneys. When a customer needed a document created LPS would send Docx the information provided by the customers. Then Docx would create the document for the customer using the information and pre-approved form provided by the customer. When Docx did not receive all of the information required to complete the pre-approved form, Docx would use placeholders in the blank spaces. Docx would use "Bogus Assignee," "Bad Bene," and other placeholders in the documents while they attempted to locate the unknown information. The problem was that on several occasions the company overlooked the placeholders and recorded the documents with the courts. LPS claims that none of these documents were ever used in a court proceeding. If LPS is in any way involved in your foreclosure make sure to take a long hard look at the documentation provided by that company or its subsidiary Docx.

In Wells Fargo v. Tyson, the judge awarded the homeowner defendant a judgment of $155,092 on a counter-claim that Wells Fargo trespassed on the homeowner's property. Wells Fargo did not dispute that a representative of the company entered the home, without notice, on two separate occasions. Although the home was not the defendant's primary residence it was apparent that the home was not abandoned because the homeowner maintained the outside of the home and continued to keep many personal belongings in the home. In spite of that fact, Wells Fargo changed the locks on the home illegally locking the homeowner out of their home.

This should serve as a reminder to all lenders that they do not have an absolute right to enter the property of a homeowner in which they hold the mortgage and note. If a lender or their representative unlawfully enters the property of a homeowner they may, and hopefully will, have to answer to a counter claim of trespassing. If you are going through a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and the company that owns your mortgage and note has unlawfully entered your home, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer. You may have a counter claim against the lender for trespass.

Strategic default is when a homeowner decides that they will intentionally default on their mortgage because the value of their home is far less than the amount they owe on their mortgage. Experts in the field believe that this increasingly popular option may undermine any government attempts to get the real estate market moving in the right direction. When many homes in a neighborhood go through foreclosure the value of the homes that have not foreclosed goes down. This leaves the individuals that are making their payments on time in a home that is worth far less than when the loan was originated. That homeowner is then left with a choice, keep paying on a home that is not worth nearly what they are paying for it or strategically default on their mortgage.

If the large number of foreclosures and strategic defaults continue to occur it is unlikely that the government programs attempting to rectify the real estate market will succeed. Strategic default is a very risky proposition that will negatively impact your credit score. But in certain, limited circumstances it may be the best option for a homeowner. If you are "underwater" in your home and are considering strategic default, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to discuss your options and the effect of your choice.

When a homeowner short sells their home, the only way to have the excess amount owed on the mortgage forgiven by the lender is to have them sign a waiver of a deficiency judgment. In addition to servicing the loans that it originates, Bank of America also services a substantial number of loans for its subsidiary BAC Home Loans Servicing. Bank of America will agree to waive a deficiency judgment, in limited circumstances, on the loans that the company owns. However, Bank of America will not waive a deficiency judgment on a mortgage that is owned by its subsidiary. Bank of America's investors man have a legal right in Florida to collect on a deficiency judgment. Bank of America's position is that if the investors in its subsidiary do not sign off on the waiver of a deficiency judgment there is absolutely nothing that they can do except to collect the deficiency for their investors.

It is important to review your agreement with a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer before you end up with a surprised deficiency judgement.

If you are confused as to whether Bank of America owns your loan or is just a servicer of your loan contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer will find out this information for you. A Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer will also determine your eligibility for a waiver of a deficiency judgment and find out whether or not your lender participates in Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) and is willing to waive your deficiency judgment.

New statistics published by the Obama administrations' Making Home Affordable Program shows an increasing trend toward permanent loan modification agreements between homeowners and their mortgage lenders. Permanent modifications begun since April 2010 are up over 47,000 increasing the total active permanent modifications to over 340,000. The median savings for those borrowers in a permanent modification is $514 or a reduction of 36% over the previous mortgage payment. The Obama administration points out the lower monthly mortgage payments has resulted in a reduction of more that $3.1 billion to homeowners!

While these statistics are very positive there are underlying problems with the HAMP program. Over a third of the 1.24 million homeowners who started the program have since dropped out. In May, 155,000 homeowners left the program bringing the total number to 436,000, more than the number of homeowners who have actually received permanent modifications under the program. Problems such as banks losing documents homeowners send in order to try to qualify for the program and the continuing extremely high debt load some households carry are a few of the reasons homeowners drop out of the program. The major reason so many homeowners have dropped out of the HAMP program is that in the initial stages of the program banks signed up borrowers without requiring a proof of income. When the banks later attempted to collect income information, in the form of two pay stubs, many homeowners were disqualified or dropped out voluntarily.

Many individuals are rejected for the HAMP loans and end up in private label loan modifications that can actually be worse for the homeowner than the original loan.
Before entering into any loan modification, you should contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss the actual terms and conditions of any modification agreement before signing it.

Since May, the blog 4closureFraud.org, a project of the Law Offices of Carol C. Asbury, has done a very good job of chronicling the circumstances surrounding the Florida Attorney General's Office investigation of an assistant attorney general, Erin Collins Cullaro, and her relationship to one of Florida's largest foreclosure mills, Florida Default Law Group.

The investigation stems from the AG's investigation into Florida Default Law Group and its practice of "fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases" and the apparent inconsistencies in purported signatures of Erin Cullaro on various affidavits and Notary affirmations.

These are just a few of the examples of the types of brazen fraud that those who are attempting to foreclose on Florida homes are providing to the courts everyday. Banks and Mortgage companies have lawyers working for them to evict you from your home, it is in your best interest to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to fight your Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and save your home.

The 4closureFraud.org Blog has a comprehensive article on the Fraud.

To have your Florida Foreclosure reviewed for potential fraud by a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer by contacting us.

Circuit Judge J. Michael Traynor dismissed a St. John's foreclosure case filed by Florida Default Law Group (FDLG) because the bank that they named as owner of the note, U.S. Bank, did not own the note. FDLG then amended their complaint to name the correct mortgage holder, HSBC Bank, but falsely claimed that HSBC was a successor to U.S. Bank. Both of these claims were obviously false because U.S. Bank was never the holder of the note.

This may be a simple clerical error made by the FDLG, or it may not seeing that FDLG is currently being investigated by the economic crimes unit of the Florida Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General's website claims that FDLG "appears to be fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases." If your home is in foreclosure and Florida Default Law Group is involved in any way, protect yourself by contacting a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer

In the first quarter of 2010, 31% of all nationwide home sales, a total of 232,959 homes, were in some stage of foreclosure. This total represents a drop of 14% from the fourth quarter of 2010 and may signify a step toward the overall U.S. housing market recovery. Homes in foreclosure accounted for 38.6%, or 35,410, of the total Florida homes sold in the first quarter. Nevada had the highest rate of foreclosure home sales with 64% of all homes sold being in some stage of foreclosure.

The high percentage of homes in foreclosure being sold cab be a benefit to people looking to buy homes. According to RealtyTrac the average selling price of homes sold while in some state of foreclosure was 28% below those sold which were not in foreclosure.

These numbers are proof that there are alternatives to losing your home to foreclosure. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore the numerous foreclosure alternative options available to you.

According to the Orlando Business Journal, Orlando ranked #12 in foreclosure filings in May. But there is some good news. Foreclosure filings were actually down in Orlando from April (6,480) to May (6,323). With 6,323 foreclosure filings in May that means that one in every 142 homes in the Orlando area were foreclosed on in May.

Orlando, like many other counties in Central Florida, reported a decline in foreclosure filings from this same time last year. Lake County's foreclosure filings are down 36.3% from May 2009. Orange County's foreclosure filings are down 33.4% from May 2009. Osceola County's foreclosure filings are down 21.5% from May 2009. The entire state of Florida is down 14% from May 2009. Even though this does not mean that the foreclosure crisis in Florida is ending, at least there is finally some positive news on the foreclosure front.

The recently announced federal crackdown on mortgage fraud, Operation Stolen Dreams, has resulted in the arrest of four Jacksonville area men on charges of mortgage fraud. Operation Stolen Dreams is a nationwide effort by the FBI and the Justice Department to identify, arrest and prosecute individuals who used various schemes to inflate home values in order to skim the excess cash when the home was subsequently sold.

So far the Jacksonville men, two mortgage brokers, a homebuilder, and an investor are just four of the nearly 500 arrests that Operation Stolen Dreams has netted nationwide. If you fear that you have been a victim of a Mortgage Fraud scheme contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to review the circumstances surrounding your mortgage.

Story was reported by The Florida Times Union.

The 4th DCA recently overturned a trial court ruling granting Aurora Loan Services, LLC a default judgment and a final judgment on foreclosure against a Florida couple. The homeowners were served with the foreclosure complaint in March 2008 instructing them to contact their lender if they had a desire to save their home. The homeowners contacted Aurora and began a workout agreement that resulted in a "special forbearance agreement" being entered into in July 2008. In the meantime Aurora moved for a default judgment which was entered on May 21, 2008.

When the homeowners learned of the default on August 27, 2008 they quickly filed a Motion to Vacate Default. The Motion to Vacate was filed on September 3, 2008, just 6 days later! In Florida, courts have ruled that "public policy favors the setting aside of defaults so that controversies may be decided by the merits" and the 4th DCA stated that the homeowners demonstrated the elements necessary to set aside the default so the default judgment and the final judgment on foreclosure were overturned.

If you have had a default judgment entered against you or if you are facing a Florida Foreclosure lawsuit it is important that you contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer as soon as possible. In Florida you only have 20 days before a default judgment may be entered against you. In most cases there are defenses available to you that will allow you to save your home.

Up until very recently the foreclosure tidal wave that is sweeping across the Jacksonville area was mostly concentrated in the areas that house lower income families. That trend appears to be changing. In May, middle class and upper-middle class neighborhoods in the southeastern part of Jacksonville had the highest increase in foreclosures of any area of the city. Right now it is still impossible to determine whether or not this increase will continue, but if it does it will be damaging to any attempts at resurrecting Jacksonville's real estate market.

For the latest on how foreclosure is affecting different areas across the nation take a look at the following articles:
"ATL foreclosure, delinquency rates up" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/05/31/daily36.html
"Middle Tennessee foreclosure rates rise" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2010/05/31/daily27.html
"NC home foreclosures up" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2010/06/07/daily42.html
"Maryland foreclosures up 51% in April" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2010/05/10/daily27.html
"Pace of foreclosures eases in May" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/06/07/daily27.html
"NM foreclosure rates continue to climb" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2010/05/31/daily41.html
"More homeowners skip payments in Sacramento region" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2010/05/24/story1.html
"Kansas City-area foreclosures jump 6.6 percent in May" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2010/06/07/daily31.html
"Austin foreclosures down 14% from April, up year over year" http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/06/07/daily42.html

In an effort to alleviate the backlog of foreclosure cases plaguing its courts, Manatee County will implement a "rocket docket" program in July, much like the one that has run for the last year in neighboring Sarasota County. One in every nineteen homeowners in Manatee County was served with a foreclosure complaint in 2009 and the county expects thousands more in 2010 and 2011. In the "rocket docket" program a judge will hold up to 250 hearing in one day, mostly for those cases where the homeowner is not contesting the foreclosure. By ridding the court system of so many uncontested foreclosure cases it allows the circuit court judges to focus on the cases where the defendants are defending the foreclosures. Shortening the foreclosure process may also increase Manatee County property values by getting distressed properties into new owners hands more quickly meaning the likelihood of homes falling into disrepair is lessened.

While the "rocket docket" may sound like a good idea for homeowners facing foreclosure, there are unintended consequences. One of the major drawbacks is that homeowners may "fall through the cracks" or lose a home that they may be entitled to keep due to the speed of the system. In some instances, those who are in the "rocket docket" should not have been entered as quickly as it was due to the homeowners actually having valid defenses to their foreclosure. One of the most surefire ways to stay off the "rocket docket" is to hire an attorney who can raise certain defenses and file documents that will keep your case in regular circuit court.

In most cases it is in your best interest to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer when facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer is trained to recognize legal defenses when reviewing your Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and raising these defenses when fighting your Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit can keep you in your home.

The Florida 3rd DCA dismissed a mortgage foreclosure complaint filed by HSBC when it learned that a second mortgage company, American Home Mortgage, also had a foreclosure lawsuit pending against the same condo. Occurrences like this are becoming all to common in the current foreclosure climate as lenders continue to bring foreclosure lawsuits without having the proper documentation showing they own the loans they are attempting to foreclose on. HSBC was represented by Boca Raton "foreclosure mill" Shapiro and Fishman who actually filed the foreclosure action 2 months before HSBC actually stated they owned the mortgage!

The Florida couple received a letter from HSBC alerting them of their foreclosure lawsuit. The couple had received a letter just days before alerting them to a foreclosure lawsuit on the property, brought by American Home Mortgage, so the couple assumed the HSBC letter was about the same lawsuit. The homeowners didn't even bring the HSBC letter to the attention of the attorney they hired to fight the America Home Mortgage foreclosure. Their attorney learned of the HSBC foreclosure lawsuit only during a check of the public records altered her that HSBC asked the court for permission to sell the condo.

These types of abuses can happen to homeowners who are unfamiliar with the legal system. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure lawsuit it is always in your best interest to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to review the issues in your case. Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyers can prevent these types of abuses from happening and in many instances can raise defenses that can help to save your home.

This week a California jury ordered two Fidelity National Finance Inc. subsidiaries to pay $5.7 million in damages in punitive damages, finding the companies played a major role in a mortgage fraud scheme. The jury also stated that the two companies should also pay a portion of the $1.1 million in compensatory damages to three investors defrauded under the scheme.

The lawsuits claimed that the two companies, Chicago Title Corp. and Chicago Title Insurance, played a major role in helping Rollo Norton, a Southern California financial planner, fraudulently obtain loan funding for a condo project. Norton, who has plead guilty to mail fraud, testified against the two companies. He stated that and escrow officer and a local office supervisor "knew what they were doing was wrong" and willingly went forward with the actions.

This is yet another example of how banks and other lending institutions have defrauded homeowners and other investors out of substantial sums of money. Courts are finally beginning to understand the scams some of the institutions perpetrated on the American people are they are not being held accountable for their actions.

The Florida Attorney General has announced that he has launched an investigation regarding the use of falsified assignment documents produced by Lender Processing Services, Inc. and its former parent company, Fidelity National Finance, Inc. In addition to that pending investigation, a judge in St. John's County has ordered a hearing to determine whether or not M&T Bank should be charged with committing a fraud upon the court for changing the assignment of a mortgage three times in one case. (For further reading regarding the M&T Bank fraud case read the blog article titled "St. John's County Judge Dismisses Foreclosure Case for Fraud Upon the Court" dated June 22). Allegedly these mortgage processors are simply creating assignments to use in court during foreclosure proceedings. Some reports have the processors ordering stamps from the stamp makers and using those stamps to endorse their fake assignments.

The Courts and the Federal Government seem to have finally had enough. Judges and government agencies are finally beginning to hold these mortgage processors liable for the fraud that they commit upon the court. If this trend continues homeowners may finally begin to get fair trials in residential foreclosure cases.

A South Florida homeowner who has ridden the Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit rollercoaster final received good news when a 12 Circuit Judge entered an order setting aside the final judgment and foreclosure sale and granting the homeowner the time necessary to respond to the foreclosure complaint. When the homeowner was initially served with the complaint he fell victim to a foreclosure rescue scam where the group took $1,000 from the homeowner and led him to believe they were representing him in the foreclosure action. After realizing he had been duped, the homeowner contacted his lender and entered into and began performing under a mortgage modification. The homeowner believed that he had saved him home until he was served with a notice of final judgment and notice of sale on his home.

Stories such as this one are becoming a common occurrence nationwide. Banks and lenders often do not have the homeowners best interests at heart. If you are currently, or will be in the future, facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your options and what makes sense given your individual goals.