Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

J.P. Morgan Chase, one of the nation's leading banks, announced Wednesday that it will freeze foreclosures in about half the country because of flawed paperwork, a move that Wall Street analysts said will pressure the rest of the industry to follow suit.

The Washington post has reported that J.P. Morgan declined to address the matter until Wednesday. But in a sworn deposition, one of the bank's employees, Beth Ann Cottrell, admitted that she and her team signed off on about 18,000 foreclosures a month without checking whether they were justified.

Most states have statutes that create a cause of action for wrongful foreclosure. In addition, many states have extensive common law in the area of wrongful foreclosure. Sometimes there are enough instances of misconduct on the part of the lender to give rise to a claim of wrongful foreclosure. Some instances of misconduct include:

-The lender will not negotiate with the borrower for a loan modification or another solution;
-The lender fails to satisfy all of the conditions precedent to foreclosure established in the mortgage contract. Some examples include giving proper notice, and/or failure to follow through with the pre-foreclosure negotiation required under Florida law.
-The lender adds excessive late fees, interest charges, inspection fees and/or appraisal charges.

The press has been going crazy about GMAC's bad affidavits. Not it appears that CNBC just reported that problem also.

If you have lost your home to a foreclosure by JP Morgan Chase or GMAC, contact Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to see if you have any right.

In an attempt to adhere to the mandate for Florida circuit courts to clear the backlog of foreclosure cases that have been choking Florida courts, the Miami-Dade Circuit Court is implementing a new strategy that could potentially be harmful to Florida homeowners. In July the Miami-Dade circuit received $862,053 from the state of Florida with the mandate that it must clear of 52,000 of its 79,000 foreclosure cases by June 30, 2011. The circuit has created a process where foreclosure cases filed before January 1, 2009 are now heard by senior judges whose sole job is to consider motions for summary judgment.

This new system is a concerted effort to lessen the load on current circuit court judges whose caseload has grown to 6,000 cases at a time, far more than the usual 1,800 that were handled before the foreclosure crisis began in 2007. Many foreclosure defense lawyers are fearful that the new system will morph into a "rocket docket" where lenders are granted summary judgment improperly just to erase the backlog of foreclosure cases, which runs counter to the ideals of the law and harms Florida homeowners.

"Rocket Dockets" and other similar court programs are popping up all over Florida in response to the mandate from Florida lawmakers to alleviate the pressure that the number of foreclosure cases has had on Florida circuit courts. While these courts will rid the system of foreclosure cases there is the potential for unnecessary harm to Florida homeowners. If you have been served with Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer for a free consultation and to review your case.

The Washington Post reported on the 27th that the Attorneys general in Connecticut and California ordered Ally Financial's GMAC mortgage unit to freeze all foreclosures within their States.

They also reported that Iowa, NC, and Texas have opened investigations on GMAC's practices

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal now has a case before it that addresses and new and troubling trend that is emerging in Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits , namely the lenders switching plaintiffs' in the middle of the foreclosure case. The process, called substituting the party plaintiff, is typically only allowed on very rare occasions but lenders have begun to petition Florida courts to allow them to change plaintiffs when they cannot prove they are the actual owner of the mortgage in question.

The trend of substituting plaintiffs based on confusion as to who owns the mortgage is a result of the number of sales or transfers of mortgages due to the process of securitizing mortgage loans. According to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure if a plaintiff cannot prove that it is the true owner of the mortgage then its foreclosure case must be dismissed and the true owner of the note must bring another action fore foreclosure. The trend of allowing the lenders to change and substitute plaintiffs runs counter to this rule but many courts are allowing the substitutions in the interest of time based on the shear number of foreclosure cases on the docket.

If you are facing a Foreclosure Lawsuit in Duval or North Florida it is in your best interest to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer for a free consultation to review your case. In many instances there are defenses that may be raised that could keep you in your home or provide you alternatives to what the bank is offering

In North Florida (Clay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns County), lenders and homeowners are required to attend mandatory mediation prior to the case proceeding to trial with homes are their primary residence. Many homeowners are appearing pro se, without a lawyer, to these mediation sessions. Going to any legal proceeding without an attorney, especially one involving your most valuable asset, can be a big mistake.

There have been an increasing number of reports that pro se homeowners are not obtaining any relief through mediation because they are being bullied by the lenders representatives who appear via telephone and who refuse to comply with Florida's Supreme Court order requiring certain disclosures. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer can review the materials and make sure that prior to your chance at a meaningful mediation, the lenders comply with the Florida Supreme Court Orders. These required disclosures include but are not limited to, a current appraisal, proof of ownership of the note and mortgage and life of the loan transaction history setting forth all payments and charges on the loan. The outcome when a lender does not fulfill their duty to provide this information prior to the mediation varies. Some mediators will not proceed any further with the mediation until the information is provided and some mediators continue with the mediation even though the homeowner does not have the necessary information. Hopefully we will get a judicial order that provides uniformity in this context in the near future. In the meantime, you must protect yourself against lender bullying.

Make sure you understand what is required, and do not loose your right to a future mediation by participating in one where the lender has not complied with the court requirements. It is best to have someone who understands these requirements and will interpret the offers of the lenders so that you understand what you would be agreeing to. For a free consultation regarding any north Florida foreclosure, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your circumstances.

If you are facing foreclosure, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer prior to attending your mandatory mediation. Even though having a Foreclosure Defense Lawyer is not mandatory in foreclosure mediations, it is undoubtedly in your best interest.

US Rep. Alan Grayson, asked the Chief Justice Charles T. Canady. of the Florida Supreme court to halt all foreclosures being handled by the law office of David J. Stern, Marshall C. Watson, and Shapiro & Fishman.

Here is a copy of his letter:

September 20, 2010

Chief Justice Charles T. Canady
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1900

Dear Chief Justice Canady,

I am disturbed by the increasing reports of predatory 'foreclosure mills' in Florida. The New York Times and Mother Jones have both recently reported on the rampant and widespread practices of document fraud and forgery involved in mortgage assignments. My staff has spoken with multiple foreclosure specialists and attorneys in Florida who confirm these reports.

Three foreclosure mills - the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, Shapiro & Fishman, and the Law Offices of David J. Stern - constitute roughly 80% of all foreclosure proceedings in the state of Florida. All are under investigation by Attorney General Bill McCollum. If the reports I am hearing are true, the illegal foreclosures taking place represent the largest seizure of private property ever attempted by banks and government entities. This is lawlessness.

I respectfully request that you abate all foreclosures involving these firms until the Attorney General of the state of Florida has finished his investigations of those firms for document fraud.

I have included a court order, in which Chase, WAMU, and Shapiro and Fishman are excoriated by a judge for document fraud on the court. In this case, Chase attempted to foreclose on a home, when the mortgage note was actually owned by Fannie Mae.

Taking someone's home should not be done lightly. And it should certainly be done in accordance with the law.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Alan Grayson
Member of Congress

According to Davidson County Sheriff David Grice, a Denton, NC man facing foreclosure hired a Virginia man to burn his house in order to collect the insurance money. The fire occurred on August 16 and fire investigators became suspicious of foul play when they learned that a flammable liquid had been used to start the fire. During the course of their investigation, police and fire officials were able to determine that the homeowner hired the other man to burn his home down before the bank repossessed it.

Police have arrested and charged the Virginia man with second-degree arson and homeowner has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. The homeowner's mother, who drove the Virginia man to the home in order to start the fire, has also been charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud for her role in the episode.

This is not the most effective way for homeowners to avoid a foreclosure lawsuit. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit it is in your best interest to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer for a free consultation to determine which foreclosure alternatives that may be available to you.

Duval County Foreclosure Auction info

Property Appraiser St. Johns County
St. Johns County Tax Collector
St. Johns County Foreclosure sale info
4th Circuit Foreclosure Mediation Information
7th Circuit Foreclosure Mediation Information
Jax Mediation Center
HAMP Frequently Asked Questions
HAMP Info
HAMPlogix
Free Hamp Report
Freddie Mac loan Information
Fannie Mae loan Information
Fannie Mae Servicing Guide
Freddie Mac Servicing Guide
FDIC failed bank information
FDIC Institution Directory
FDIC loan mod info
FHA Servicing Regs
HAMP Participating Servicers contracts
HAMP Participating Servicers contact-info
HUD Mortgagee Letters
MERS Servicer ID
MERS Member search
MERS Terms and Conditions
National Bank Operational Subsidiary list
SEC info
Realty Trac
Zillow

Here are links to check public records and the status of your case.

Duval County Court Records
Duval County Public Records
Clay County Court Records
Clay County Public Records
St. Johns County Clerk of Court
St. Johns County Public Records
Flagler County Clerk of Court
Putnam County Court Records
Volusia County Clerk of Court
Nassau County Clerk of Court
Florida Statewide Official Records

Foreclosure Lawyer in Jacksonville Update on From the housing market analysis firm RealtyTrac recently announced that August foreclosure numbers were the highest since the current real estate crisis began in 2007. Banks foreclosed on 95,364 U.S. homeowners in August, 2 percentage points higher than the 93,777 recorded in May 2010. The August numbers also mark a 3 percent increase over the July 2010 statistics.

In addition to the increase in overall foreclosures in August, 96,469 new notices of default were served, an increase 1 percent since July. While the August numbers do constitute an increase over July, they are down 30 percent from this time last year. For the 44th consecutive month Nevada remained the number one in terms of foreclosure rate with 1 in every 84 homes having received a foreclosure filings, followed by Florida, Arizona and California.

While there are encouraging signs that the U.S. may be climbing out of the current real estate crisis, thousands of homeowners are still facing foreclosure. If you are facing a Jacksonville Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what options may be available to you.

In late 2009 the Florida Supreme Court issued an administrative order requiring that all new Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits go through a formal mediation process before summary judgment or a foreclosure sale date can be entered. The Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog has blogged about this topic here. Recently Fannie Mae has updated its policy regarding the mandatory mediations.

Fannie Mae is now requiring all companies that service Fannie Mae owned loans or Fannie Mae loans that have been pledged to mortgage-backed securities, to assign delinquent loans to an attorney from the Retained Attorney Network approved by Fannie Mae. The servicers must provide Fannie Mae with contact information for the primary attorney who will be attending each mandatory mediation. Fannie Mae has stated that the intent of the new guidelines is to open up communication among the servicers and the distressed homeowners in an effort to quell the tide of Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits.

If you are one of the thousands of homeowners who are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit , contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to explore your foreclosure alternatives. The Florida Supreme Court's mandatory mediation program is just one such foreclosure alternative that may be able to keep you in your home.

The department of Housing and Urban Development has announced that it has awarded $1 billion to state and county governments to assist those communities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. The intent of the program, formally called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, is for hard-hit communities to acquire, redevelop, or demolish foreclosed properties. Communities can use the funds to acquire land and property; to demolish or rehabilitate abandoned homes; and to assist to low- to moderate-income homebuyers with their down-payments and closing costs.

This is the third such round of funding offered under the NSP, following $4 billion awarded in 2008 and $2 billion in 2009. Every state, along with Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, are eligible to receive NSP funds. This newest round of NSP funds was made available via the Dodd-Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

This is the latest in a line of federal funding intended to help distressed homeowners and quell the tide of foreclosures. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to review your case and determine what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

Fannie Mae, the nations largest mortgage company, recently issues written warning to all companies servicing Fannie Mae loans that it is now monitoring all delinquent loans in its portfolio in order to guarantee that foreclosures and potential foreclosures are being handled in a timely manner. This new monitoring initiative does two things: 1) ensure that delinquent homeowners are not placed into a perpetual state of limbo when facing foreclosure, and 2) it ensures that nonperforming loans will be dealt with and removed from Fannie Mae's balance sheets as quickly as possible.

Fannie Mae stated that it will potentially assess penalties for poor performance or non-performance when dealing with foreclosure time lines. Any delays will cause Fannie Mae to notify the servicer of its performance issues and all the servicer to will be allowed to explain any potential mitigating circumstances that have caused its poor performance. If Fannie Mae is not satisfied with the servicers response, Fannie may then assess a compensatory fee. Fannie Mae also updated the its time-frame for foreclosures for four states: Florida - 185 days; Maryland - 90 days; Nevada - 150 days; New York (upstate) - 300 days; and New York (downstate) - 420 days.

This is the latest step that lenders have taken to attempt to see the light at the end of the housing crisis tunnel. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit , contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to explore any potential defenses that may be available to you to save your home.

Yesterday, GMAC said in a Press Release has been no interruption in their usual practice of filing residential foreclosures.

Apparently, they are just adjusting the way they do them to attempt to comply with state laws and are instituting a new process that they already developed.

This may have something to do with the recent depositions by GMAC representatives where they were signing false affidavits.

Denise Pellegrini at Bloomberg.com is reporting that Brokers were told to stop evictions, cash-for-key transactions and lockouts, regardless of occupant type, with immediate effect, according to the document, addressed to GMAC preferred agents.

GMAC Mortgage may "need to take corrective action in connection with some foreclosures" in the affected states, according to a two-page memo dated Sept. 17 and obtained by Bloomberg News.

If you are being foreclosed on by GMAC, do not reply on this to ignore your suit or other legal responsibilities. We have all seen the banks say something but their lawyers continue to march ahead. We have many cases involving GMAC and will soon know what effect this will have on the foreclosures are in the pipeline.

GMAC is reported to have stopped foreclosures in 23 states including Florida and
Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin

Deficiency Judgments, as outlined in a earlier Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer blog, are in the news again, this time in Florida. The Naples Daily News is reporting a significant rise in deficiency judgments being granted in Lee County. In Lee County alone there were 51 deficiency judgments granted in August, the highest so far in 2010. That number is in addition to the hundreds already granted in that county this year.

Jeff Tumbarello, director of the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association predicts that these numbers will continue to increase and that "a lot of people think it's not coming." In most cases the banks pursue a deficiency judgment when there are no bidders at a foreclosure auction and the bank ends up buying the property. A lender has one year after a foreclosure sale to file a motion for a deficiency judgment but they must be able to justify the amount sought with a valid appraisal, which may prevent another problem for the former homeowner. The best alternative to prevent a deficiency judgment is to negotiate a short sale with your lender whereby they are prevented from pursuing a deficiency judgment against you.

If you are a facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are exploring your foreclosure alternative options, it is in your best interests to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer > today. Lenders are becoming more aggressive in their pursuit of deficiency judgments and a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer could potentially prevent this from happening.

According to recently released numbers, it seems that some banks have finally realized that foreclosing on homes is not in anyone's best interests, least of all theirs! Banks have been completing nearly twice as many mortgage modifications as the Treasury's HAMP program. Mortgage Servicers have approved almost 644,000 of what they call "proprietary permanent modifications" in the first half of 2010, compared to 332,000 permanent modifications completed under HAMP.

Federal statistics have shown that roughly half of the borrowers who are not given permanent HAMP modifications are given some form of bank mortgage modification. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage co-president even stated to the House of Representatives "the vast majority of modifications getting home are happening outside of HAMP." While this sounds like great news for embattled homeowners, there is one caveat; many of the bank modifications may not contain terms as favorable if their mortgage was modified under HAMP, which requires a payment reduction to 31% of a homeowner's income.

If you have applied for and been approved for either a mortgage modification from either HAMP or a lender provided modification it is in your best interests to have it reviewed. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer can review your loan modification to see if it is beneficial to you or there are hidden terms that will cause you problems in the future.

The new Congressional initiative to protect American consumers, the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act, imposes stricter rules for appraisal management and has harsher penalties, up to $20,000 per person per day, for lenders who fail to comply with the new rules. Lenders must implement the new appraisal management system by October and lenders are moving quickly to evaluate their needs versus the requirements of the Act.

The Act gives lenders three ways to supervise their appraisal process:

1) they can outsource their appraisal process to one or more appraisal companies,
2) choose to manage the appraisal process themselves by strictly monitoring the appraisal process from "ordering to delivery of appraisals" or
3) a combination of the two.

This is just the latest step that the Federal government has taken in its effort to protect consumers from unscrupulous lending practices of various lenders. If you are facing a Foreclosure Lawsuit in Jacksonville or north Florida contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to discuss your options.

One of the hottest topics in Florida Foreclosure Defense is the securitization of mortgages, the trusts they are held in and the documents that govern them, namely "pooling and servicing agreements" or "PSA's". One of the major questions in this area is why are the pooling and servicing agreements so important?

First, the pooling and servicing agreement is the formal document that specifically states all of the parties to the securitization process including the trustee and mortgage servicer. The pooling and servicing agreement will also detail the requirements that must be met before a loan can be pledged to the trust or assigned from one party to another This is extremely important information to have to ensure that the party bringing the Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit is the actually party who has the right to do so.

Second, in many cases the pooling and servicing agreement will often contain the foreclosure avoidance measures and loss mitigation procedures, including short sale authorizations or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, that the mortgage servicer must follow before a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit can be brought. It also gives the detailed procedures of how the mortgage servicer may foreclose on the property including who must give authorization before a foreclosure can be brought and whose name the foreclosure must be brought in.

Understanding the intricacies and complexities of the mortgage securitization process, specifically pooling and servicing agreement, are just one of the roles that a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer fills. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer is trained to identify the defenses that may be able to save your home from a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit.

The Federal Reserve Board just announced a new set of rules aimed at protecting borrowers from abusing mortgage-lending practices. The rules ban lenders from paying incentive money to mortgage originators for placing borrowers into more expensive mortgage loans, a practice commonly known as a yield spread premium. The new rules also required lenders to disclose potential payments changes, including potential maximum payment amounts, under an adjustable rate loans, and lenders will be required to disclose any balloon payments at the end of the mortgage loan term.

This is just the most recent step in the Federal Reserve has taken in an effort to tighten lending regulation. While these rules won't go into effect until April 1, 2011, the ban on these long-standing lending practices is causing consumer advocates to hail the new rules as a victory for consumers.

The identification and implementation of rules like these is evidence that the federal government is listening to the cries of abuse from homeowners. Ideally, the federal reserve will see the large, overarching problems that currently exist and create a solution that will not only help future homeowners, but will effectively help homeowners who are facing financial difficulties now. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to take what may be the first step toward saving your home.

Being that it is September 15th, it is important to remember that quarterly tax payments are due. If you have participated in a short sale, or are not making your payments on a property that is personally owned, you may have to increase your tax estimates. Be sure to advise your tax advisor of these facts so that you do not get penalized for an improper payment of taxes.

If you were not served properly, your case may be able to be dismissed. The plaintiff (Bank) only has 120 days from the filing of the lawsuit to serve you the lawsuit. In addition there are technical requirements on who can be served, what days, what time, and how you must be served. If these procedures are not followed, then the service can be determined to be invalid as long as you have not submitted to the jurisdiction of the court.

It is important to review the facts and circumstances of how you received notice of the lawsuit with a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to determine if the lawsuit can proceed. In some cases everything that happens after an improper service can be undone by a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

If you file an answer or submit to the jurisdiction of the court, you may waive your right to object to the service. If you have been or expect to be served in reference to a Jacksonville, Duval, Clay, St. Johns, or Nassau county foreclosure suit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your circumstances and discuss your options.

The Texas Attorney General's office has charged national mortgage servicer, American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. (AHMSI), with violating the Texas Debt Collection Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. AHMSI has offices in Irvine, CA; Jacksonville, FL; and Pune, IN.

Attorney General Greg Abott's investigators claim AHMSI did not credit customers for payments that were made and failed to properly credit payments that were made in order to rationalize late fee or escrow accounts, both of which are profitable for AHMSI. The investigators claim that AHMSI's actions contributed to some homeowners defaulting on their loans, which inevitably caused foreclosure proceedings. The penalty under Texas law is a fine of up to $20,000 per violation.

If you have a mortgage serviced by American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. and are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit , contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your case to see if similar practices happened to you.

Jacksonville homes underwater. This is a question that we hear often as Florida Foreclosure Lawyers. In short, a deficiency judgment is a judgment for a debt that is owed after a foreclosure, i.e. the amount of money the bank was not able to recover after it forecloses on a home. Lenders are even allowed to add interest, fees and other expenses to that amount as long as their is an outstanding deficiency. While some states have laws that prevent lenders from seeking deficiency judgments, Florida is one of the states that does allow deficiency judgments to be pursued.

It is possible that there may not be a monetary shortfall after a lender has taken and sold a home through foreclosure but that is becoming less and less likely as national home prices have continued to decline. This may seem like a no-win situation for a homeowner but there are alternatives that homeowners can pursue to avoid a deficiency judgment. Foreclosure alternatives such as short sales, deeds-in-lieu, and loan modifications are just a few of the ways a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer may use to help homeowners avoid deficiency judgments.

If you are one of the thousands of Florida homeowners who are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and potentially a deficiency judgment, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore your potential foreclosure alternatives.

One of the new issues that is becoming more and more common when defending a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit is the potential for fraudulent home appraisals. The parties involved in buying and valuing homes, namely the lender and the builder, are very familiar with one another and it is obvious that there is pressure to hit the "right number." For the past several years the main method of appraising homes is finding similar or comparable homes (comps) and setting the value based on the value of those comps.

One of the major factors that may have contributed to potentially fraudulent home appraisals was the willingness of homebuyers to pay higher and higher prices just prior to the housing price collapse. With home prices rising higher and higher and an abundance of buyers willing and able to borrower money from lenders, who could easily find inflated values on comparable properties, the cycle eventually and predictably spun out of control.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and feel that you have been the victim of a fraudulent appraisal you should contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today. A < Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer is experienced with these specific issues and can help you spot potential defenses that may be able to keep you in your home.

Manatee County circuit judge Janette Dunnigan has had enough of the unethical and potentially illegal practices of the foreclosure mills and imposed a $49,000 fine on Smith, Hiatt and Diaz for its handling of a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits. In handling the case, originally filed in 2007, Smith, Hiatt, and Diaz has set seven different hearing and either not showing up for them or canceling them at the last minute and not notifying the homeowners or their attorney's.

Judge Dunnigan called the behavior "willful, deliberate and flagrant and (it) violates oaths of professional practice for lawyers." This is believed to be the first major penalty from a state court judge attacking how the foreclosure mills handle their practice. Judge Dunnigan also imposed an additional $7,000 per day fine until Smith, Hiatt and Diaz provides her with a description of a few policy to clean up their practice of setting hearings without having all their documents prepared accordingly.

Hopefully, this is the first major step toward stopping how the foreclosure mills deal with Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits. Their practices clog the courts with unnecessary cases and most of all hurt Florida homeowners. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case and see what defenses may be available to help save your home.

The consumer lending arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Chase, recently announced several new initiatives aimed at speeding up the mortgage modification process for troubled homeowners. In its release Chase announced it has hired 8,000 new staffers who are charged with working directly with homeowners who are going through the HAMP mortgage modification process. In addition to the new staffers, Chase has opened up 51 counseling centers in the hardest hit areas of the country, which have helped 100,000 homeowners so far.

Several new initiatives, aimed at reducing the amount of time to completing a modification application package to 30 days, were also announced. The bank will assign a dedicated counselor for each homeowner who will serve as the homeowner's main point of contact and guide them through the modification process. Chase has also set up a centralized location where all modification related documents will be held and digitally imaged which, according to Chase, will eliminate the need for homeowners to resend documents over and over.

This announcement marks a step in the right direction for one of the nations top five mortgage lenders and servicers. If you exploring your foreclosure alternatives or have had problems with a HAMP mortgage modification, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your circumstances.

The term "foreclosure mills" refers to a group of 10 law offices in Florida that are responsible for filing almost all of the foreclosure lawsuits in the state. A January 2009 article points to a survey done in Hillsborough County examining which law firms were the source of most of the foreclosure cases. Of the approximately 1,700 foreclosures filed in Hillsborough County, over 1,200 came from a group of just 10 law firms!

These "foreclosure mills" are allowed by Florida law to charge 3% of the principle balance as a fee in a foreclosure lawsuit, but in most cases these firms charge a flat fee of $1200-$1500, no matter how large the loan. The reason the "foreclosure mills" can charge such a low fee is the large number of foreclosure lawsuits they file and the fact that many homeowners do not actually answer the complaint.

Even though these "foreclosure mills" file most of the foreclosure lawsuits in Florida, in most instances they do sub-par work that allows many homeowners to save their homes. If you have been served a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit from one of the "foreclosure mills" contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to discuss the potential defenses which can save your home.

The Florida Default Law Group has come up with a new way to scam homeowners out of their right to mandatory mediation in a foreclosure proceeding. The Florida Supreme Court has mandated that homeowners and lenders attend mediation prior to going to court unless the mediation is waived. These mandatory mediation sessions cost the lenders $750 in each foreclosure proceeding. As a way around this, the Florida Default Law Group has begun to get homeowners to unknowingly waive their right to mediation and agree to conciliation.

Conciliation is a process where the two sides get together and "negotiate" a settlement but there is no mediator involved in the process. Be wary because the Florida Default Law Group is sending e-mails and letters to people that state, "Per your request, conciliation will be scheduled ..." The Group is then using these documents as proof that the homeowner wanted conciliation and waived their right to mediation. The reason that they have been doing this is because conciliation does not cost the Plaintiff anything (but it does not produce any results either).

If your home is in foreclosure and you receive any communications from the Florida Default Law Group, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today. Do not allow a foreclosure mill to take your legal right to mediate the matter away from you.

Today the Obama administration announced a broader mortgage relief program aimed at helping homeowners who are both current on their mortgage payments yet are at risk of default because they are "underwater" in their home values. The program, initially dubbed the "short refinance" program, lenders will write-down mortgage balances to 115% of the current market value of the home, then transfer the loans to the Federal Housing Authority. Official preliminary estimates are that 500,000 to 1.5 million homeowners could be benefited by the new program

According to the latest numbers from housing analysis firm CoreLogic, 23% of American homes, approximately 11 million, are "underwater" and at risk of default. One of the most persistent problems that has mired others modification programs is what do lenders do with second mortgages. The new program mandates that second liens be reduced so that the total mortgage debt is less than 115% of the home's current value. The government will make partial payments for banks to reduce those loans, but lenders have been unwilling to write down second mortgages that remain current.

Another potential stumbling block for the "short refinance" program is that lenders and mortgage servicers are still the ones in charge of the process and must be willing to write-down the values. Many mortgage servicers are already overwhelmed and an influx of new request for mortgage help, this time from homeowners who are current on their loans, may only exacerbate that problem.

If you are a Florida homeowner facing default or are considering a strategic default due to your home being underwater, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to discuss your options.

Buoyed by a dramatic jump in mortgage refinance applications, overall mortgage application rose for the fourth straight week. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association overall mortgage applications rose 4.9% during the week of August 20
with refinance applications making up 82.4% of those applications. That percentage is the highest since January 2009 and the refinance index is at a 15 month high.

Michael Fratantoni of Mortgage Bankers Association attributes the application growth to the historically low mortgage rates, 4.55% on a 30 year fixed mortgage as of last week. "With rates this low, many borrowers who refinanced in the past two years may well have an incentive to refinance again, and this is likely increasing refi application activity."

This upturn in overall mortgage applications may be a sign of improvement in the U.S. housing market. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and want to explore your options, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a free consultation.

In July, existing home sales plummeted to the lowest level in the past 15 years. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales were down 27% from June and down 25% from July of last year. This puts the entire country on pace to sell around 3.83 million preexisting units this year. The country's average over the past three years has been 5.2 million units.

This news is even worse when you take into account the fact that mortgage rates are at an all-time low. This is the "double dip" in the housing market that many economists have been predicting. The "double dip" can at least partially be attributed to new stricter lending guidelines and the fact that many homeowners are underwater on their mortgages and, therefore, have no equity in the home.

The United States government has passed many new foreclosure laws over the past few years. Most of these laws are designed to help homeowners stay in their homes. Many of the laws have not been very successful in meeting this goal. Foreclosures continue to be at an all-time high in many states around the country.

The main problem in this area is not that the new laws are ineffective, but rather that homeowners usually do not file an answer to the foreclosure complaint. If you are served with a foreclosure complaint and you do not file an answer with the court, you are waiving numerous defenses and legal rights. Simply because you are behind on your mortgage does not mean that there is no way to stop the foreclosure.

The most important thing that a homeowner must do if they have been served with a foreclosure complaint is to file a legal answer. If you have been served with a foreclosure complaint, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to discuss any legal rights and defenses that may be available to you.

Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyers and Attorneys often find that their client have waited too long to file bankruptcy because they tend to "stick their heads in the sand" and hope their circumstances take a turn for the better. Certainly, bankruptcy in Jacksonville has often been viewed as a "last resort" for those in financial trouble. However, waiting until the last minute can often lead to consequences which even a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyers may not be able to reverse. If you are facing any of the following, you may have waited too long to file bankruptcy in Florida:

1. Your paycheck or bank account is being garnished;
2. You are being served with lawsuits for debts you owe;
3. The IRS has filed a tax lien on your property;
4. You owe money to payday advance companies;
5. You are withdrawing money from your retirement account to pay unsecured creditors;
6. Your car just got repossessed;
7. Your home is about to be sold at foreclosure auction.

A new cooperative study from state attorneys general and lending insiders from across the country has found that greater than 60% of homeowners who are seriously delinquent on their mortgage payments are not involved in any foreclosure alternative with their lender. On its face this news is disturbing, but coupled with the other findings of the study, that loan modifications are leading to few re-defaults, shows just how misplaced many lenders focus is.

The study, conducted by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, found that loans modified in 2009 were 40 to 50 percent less likely to be seriously delinquent after six months than loans modified during the same period in 2008. The group also found that mortgage modifications that lower the amount of principle have significantly lower default rates than overall mortgage modifications. The federal HAMP program recently announced a principle reduction alternative for lenders but the group says it has been very slow to find favor with lenders with only 1 in 5 modifications including a principle reduction.

If you are one of the thousands of Florida homeowners who is delinquent on your mortgage and you are considering a foreclosure alternative, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your circumstances to determine the best course of action for you.

For more information see the complete State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group report.

The just announced Mortgage Bankers Association's mortgage foreclosure numbers show a slight improvement but the numbers fall far below the expectations of federal officials when the Making Home Affordable program was implemented. The June 30 numbers, released just last week, show that 9.9 percent of homeowners have missed at least one mortgage payment. These numbers are a slight improvement over the record high of over 10 percent as of April 30. Last week the Treasury announced that almost half of homeowners who applied for a mortgage modification have fallen out of the HAMP program.

The number of homeowners who are beginning to fall behind on their mortgage payments increased during the first half of 2010, reversing the negative trend from 2009. The numbers reinforce the correlation between the foreclosure crisis and unemployment, with a slight increase in the unemployment numbers being announced last week.

These numbers show a mixed bag of information for the U.S. Housing Market. While there are still thousands of homeowners who are facing foreclosure, there are foreclosure alternative options available. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to explore foreclosure alternative options that may be available to you.

In federal court filings filed last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission accuses former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo of approving loans outside of the companies lending policies. In the "VIP" or "Friends of Angelo" program, as it has been described by former employees, Countrywide made thousands of loans that were sometimes far outside of the companies proscribed lending practices.

The SEC lawsuit focuses on the claims that Mozilo defrauded investors by not disclosing the company's growing risks and problems with the loan portfolio. The SEC is also investigation whether the "VIP" program was used to influence public officials into creating policies beneficial to the company. The "VIP" program gave preferential loan terms to famous or influential people, as well as friends and family of Countrywide employees. This "culture of exceptions" is what many believe led to the company's financial downfall.

As a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer, we see a great deal of homeowners who have Countrywide mortgage loans. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and your original mortgage was with Countrywide or where Countrywide is the plaintiff, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to see what defenses may be available to you.

If you have been victimized by Global Equity Solutions or Hope Financial Services, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation wants you to give them a call.

Both companies are prohibited from doing further business because they of violating state laws by charing an upfront fee for a mortgage modification. Only Lawyers licensed in Florida can charge an upfront fee.

The Sheriff executed search warrants because they allege that the two companies, Global Equity Solutions and Hope Financial Services - have been conducting unlawful loan modification services through unlicensed loan modification companies with unlicensed personnel. Charges against owners and/or employees of the two companies are pending further investigation. Global Equity Solutions is located at 3332 Old Jennings Road, Middleburg and Hope Financial Services is located at 251 College Drive, Orange Park. Investigators from the involved agencies remain on scene at both locations.

For more information on this see KOKV.com

The national foreclosure crisis continues to expand and now even some high-end hotels can't elude the current tide of foreclosures. Three well-known Palm Beach County properties; the former 1515 condominium, the Omphoy Ocean Resort and the Gulfstream Hotel, are all facing foreclosure if their owners cannot negotiate deals with their lenders to avoid foreclosure.

While each of the hotels have different reasons for their economic woes, the common theme among each of the hotels stories is timing. The former 1515 Condominium, a 30 story high-rise, was demolished with plans to replace the old structure with a 24 story luxury condo complex, that is until the market for ultra-expensive condos almost completely evaporated. A similar fate befell the $100 million dollar Omphoy retreat and spa and the Gulfstream hotel as both were completed just before the economic collapse but consumer spending decreases have caused bookings to fall far short of expectations.

These stories just go to show that no one is immune from the current economic crisis and even the people who own "high-end" properties must pursue foreclosure alternatives. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit you should contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer as soon as possible to review your case and determine the best course of action in order to save your home.

The full report can be found in the Palm Beach Post.

A client recently came to us after being served with a foreclosure suit by her Condominium Owner's Association. She was $2,200.00 in arrears on her Owner's Association dues and couldn't believe that the Association would pursue such a drastic remedy for such a small amount of money. "Can they do that???" she asked incredulously. "And why would they, since my first and second mortgage holder would get paid first anyway?"

Normally this would be true, as the general rule on lien priority is "first in time, first in right." As it turns out, however, Condominium Owners Associations are an exception to this rule and, in fact, are entitled to a "super priority" status on their liens. Under Florida statute 718.116 ("the Condominium Act"), the Condo Association lien beats all but the purchase money mortgage on the unit. This lien even dates back to the recording date of the original declaration of condominium, regardless of when it is recorded. In plain language, this means that a Condo Association's lien "leapfrogs" second mortgages, construction liens and all other judgment liens. As a whole, Condo Owner's Associations fare far better than Homeowners Associations in terms of getting their liens for dues paid.

Even in the context of a bank foreclosure the Condo Association generally gets paid. If the unit sells at auction, the (possibly unsuspecting) buyer becomes responsible for ALL past due assessments on the unit at the time of purchase. In the event that the unit becomes bank owned, the bank is liable for the unpaid assessments for as long as twelve months back from the date of title transfer (or 1% of the original mortgage debt, whichever figure is lower).

Moral of the story: the Condo Association gets paid, one way or the other! If you are facing a foreclosure in or around Jacksonville, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your options.

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.