JPMorgan Chase (Chase) announced that the company earned $4.4 billion in the third quarter. This is a 23% increase from the third quarter of 2009.

This enormous profit comes despite the company announcing last month that it had mishandled the documentation in many of its foreclosure cases. Chase is currently reviewing the documents that it used, or is planning to use, in over 56,000 foreclosure cases in the 23 judicial foreclosure states. The review has also recently expanded to include a few of the non-judicial foreclosure states.

If Chase is foreclosing on your home, it is imperative that you contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

As many people undoubtedly know, on September 20 GMAC suspended its foreclosure actions in 23 states with judicial foreclosure processes amid claims of document fraud in their foreclosure procedures. In a statement released last week, GMAC announced that it "has found no evidence of any inappropriate foreclosures" but it is expanding its review to include its foreclosure filings in all 50 states. The company announced that it has hired several outside legal and accounting firms to conduct the expanded review.

Within the same statement, GMAC also stated that once a foreclosure file is reviewed for the accuracy of its documents the foreclosure process is renewed and progresses forward. Don't be fooled by announcements from mortgage lenders that they are halting their foreclosure processes in Florida, as detailed by a previous St. Johns Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, many are progressing as if no such announcement was ever made.

We will see what they do to "correct the problem" and what new documents or processes they create to try to foreclose on Florida residents properly.

If you are facing a St. John Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a consultation.

It is very important that if you have not been served properly, you do not file an answer or make an appearance with the court as you can waive your right to object to the improper service.

If you are not properly served within 120 days of the filing of the complaint, your case can be dismissed. If you suspect that you have not been served properly, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your situation and circumstances to see what defenses and options you have with your case.

Several recent news reports have indicated that a new type of fraud is being used to line the pockets of some of the nations largest banks, Short Sale fraud. As the housing prices have fallen as a result of the depressed housing market, millions of Americans find themselves "upside-down" in their home values, namely they owe more on their home that it is currently worth. This has been an especially troubling trend because many homeowners had "taken out" the equity in their homes via second mortgages and once that equity vanished homeowners across the nation were left with nothing to pay the bills.

One of the ways many banks and homeowners have used as solution to this problem is to negotiate a short sale. In a typical short sale, a lender agrees to allow the homeowner to sell the home for less than the value of the loan without the homeowner being liable for any monetary discrepancy. The current impediment to many short sale agreements is the presence of these second mortgages. In order for a short sale to go through the bank holding the second mortgage must agree to waive their rights and often get nothing in return. Many homeowners are now reporting that the banks who hold the second mortgages are asking them for off the record cash payments in order to release their interests, which is illegal! In most instances the banks will request a cashiers check prior to any closing and once they have received their money, the short sale is allowed to close.

If you have been a victim of short sale fraud or have had difficulties negotiating a short sale with your lender, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore your options.

According to new data produced by Lender Processing Services (LPS), more than 7 million homes are in either delinquency or under foreclosure. Of that 7 million approximately 2 million are in foreclosure. LPS has stated that Florida is amongst the states with the highest percent of mortgages in delinquency. Some of the lowest states being, North and South Dakota.

If your mortgage is in risk foreclosure or you would like a lawyer to review for loan paperwork, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

A mortgage-servicing unit owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Litton Loan Servicing LP, is suspending many of its foreclosure proceedings as it reviews of they are handled. A spokesman for Litton Loan said in an email statement to the associated press "Litton Loan Servicing has suspended foreclosure proceedings in certain cases while it complete a review of its procedures."

Litton Loan Servicing, founded and headquartered in Houston, Texas, services thousands of loans nationwide including in Florida. Litton Loan is just the latest servicer to suspend its mortgage foreclosure operations in what is becoming an emerging trend for major mortgage lenders and servicers amid complaints from homeowners of mortgage fraud.

If you have a mortgage serviced by Litton Loan and are facing a foreclosure lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to discuss what options may be available to you.

Last week the Chief Executive Officers of MERS, R. K. Arnold, issued a statement to the Kansas City Star defending the organization's practices and clarifying its role in the current mortgage crisis. This statement comes as many people have begun to point a finger at MERS for further complicating the trail of ownership of mortgage loans. Mr. Arnold defends MERS practices by stating that MERS is just one cog in the complicated, overall housing finance process and that MERS efficiency in "technology designed to reduce paperwork" saves both money and time for the American homeowner and "keeps mortgage funds flowing to the consumers who need it."

When addressing the current problems in the foreclosure process, he states that the foreclosure process was simply not designed to handle the volume of foreclosures it is now seeing. Mr. Arnold also confidently states "MERS helps the mortgage finance process work better. The MERS process of tracking mortgages and holding title provides clarity, transparency and efficiency to the housing finance system. We are committed to continually ensuring that everyone who has responsibilities in the mortgage and foreclosure process follows local and state laws, as well as our own training and rules."

With more than 64 million loans registered in the MERS system and thousands of allegations of lost mortgage documents, purposeful circumvention of state and local mortgage recording statutes and even document fraud, MERS and its CEO appear to take no responsibility for the role it has played and continues to play in the nationwide foreclosure crisis. If you have a loan that purports to be owned by MERS and are facing foreclosure, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to schedule a no-cost review of your case.

With many state Attorneys General investigating mortgage lenders foreclosure paperwork, three of the nations largest mortgage lenders suspending some or all of their foreclosure activities and millions of American homeowners pleading for help, advisors within the Obama administration are indicating that President Obama is opposed to a national foreclosure moratorium. Senior advisor to President Obama, David Axelrod, stated on Face the Nation that while the administration acknowledges that the allegations of fraud in foreclosure documentation are a "serious problem," the administration does not support a national moratorium because "there are, in fact, valid foreclosures that probably should go forward and where the documentation and paperwork is proper."

Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, David Stevens, agreed with the White House stance stating he believed that a foreclosure moratorium "is simply not the prudent step to take in this fragile housing market." The prevailing fear that most opponents of a national foreclosure moratorium have is that a moratorium will not change the result of many foreclosure lawsuits but it will more than likely stifle any hope of a swift recovery of the national housing market.

To date, five companies have suspended some aspect of their foreclosure litigation but most have stated that the suspensions will only last a few weeks while they clear up any "procedural errors." If you are facing a Fernandina Beach foreclosure lawsuit, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore what defenses could be available to you.

Fannie Mae is an enormous mortgage holding company that purchases mortgages from a number of commercial lenders. Fannie Mae is waiving the sale of any home that may have been foreclosed upon with the use of an invalid document. Recently, GMAC Mortgage, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase recommended that Fannie Mae halt the sale of any home that involved a loan sold to Fannie Mae by those companies

This has added a new problem to the foreclosure crisis. Buyers around the country have been finalizing the paperwork on their new homes, when all of a sudden the home is no longer on the market. Many people have already sold their homes or terminated their leases only to find out that the home that they were going to buy is suddenly no longer for sale.

How long will these home buyers be kept in limbo? Unfortunately, right now the only individuals that know, the people running the financial institutions, are remaining tight lipped about the duration of the indefinite freeze.

A new trend is arising in regard to the implementation of the foreclosure "rocket dockets", cases being set for summary judgment that contain some form of procedural or paperwork issue. While the problems with fraudulent and improper paperwork in Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits has been detailed by many news outlets and the Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer blog, the Florida Bar has just released some of their recent findings about this problem.

According to a Florida Bar News article, 20% or more of the cases set for summary judgment in "rocket docket" circuits do contain an issue regarding the paperwork or the procedure. 116 of the 534 hearings scheduled between late August and early September on the 12th Circuit's foreclosure docket contained these sorts of errors. Many attorney's and foreclosure experts agree that the first step toward combating paperwork and procedural problems is for homeowners to hire a competent attorney to review their cases in order to detect any of these issues. These errors can cause delays in the foreclosure process, prolonging recovery from the current foreclosure crisis.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer you may be one of the thousands of Florida homeowners with cases that contain some form of error. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case and determine what defenses are available that may save your home.

Palm Beach Circuit judge, Jack Cox, has again rejected a subpoena for the investigation of Shapiro & Fishman law firm. As detail in a previous Florida Foreclosure Lawyer's blog, The Attorney General Bill McCollum wants to investigate the foreclosure practices of Shapiro & Fishman law firm and three others who have handle thousands of Foreclosures. Judge Cox rejected the Subpoena on the grounds that the Attorney General cannot investigate law firms through Florida's deceptive and unfair trade laws.

For more breaking news click here.

Amidst thousands of allegations of foreclosure fraud from homeowners, an investigation into its foreclosure practices from Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and explosive testimony about its legal practices from a former paralegal, at least one mortgage lender has decided to step away from the Law Offices of David J. Stern. The nations third largest bank, Citigroup Inc., has stated, "pending the outcome of the AG's investigation, Citi is not referring new matters to this firm." Citigroup did not address whether or not it would withdraw any current foreclosure actions from the beleaguered law firm.

At this time, Citigroup is not one of the growing numbers of mortgage lenders that are suspending their foreclosure practices to ensure paperwork has been handled properly. When addressing why it hasn't suspended its foreclosure proceedings Citigroup officials have said "at this point, we have no reason to believe our employees haven't been following our procedures, so we do not believe a suspension is necessary."

It seems as if the big five Florida "foreclosure mills" are coming under increasing scrutiny with each passing day, which may be good news for Florida homeowners. If one of the "foreclosure mills" has filed a Florida foreclosure lawsuit against you, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a consultation.

The founder and former chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial, Angelo Mozilo, has reached a settlement agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Mr. Mozilo agreed to pay the SEC $67.5 million to settle the civil fraud case filed against him by the SEC last year. Additionally, former Countrywide president David Sambol has agreed to pay $5.52 million and former chief financial officer Eric Sieracki will pay $130,000.

The complaint filed by the SEC accused the three Countrywide executives of failing to disclose to investors the mounting risk associated with Countrywide's financial practices. The complaint also alleges that Mr. Mozilo and Mr. Sambol improperly profited from insider trading of Countrywide stock. Under the settlement agreement, none of the executives had to admit any wrongdoing.

Bank of America has just announced that it plans to resume it foreclosure cases in the 23 states that have judicial foreclosure processes. Beginning Monday, Bank of America will begin refilling documents in 102,000 foreclosure cases in judicial foreclosure states but will continue to delay roughly 30,000 cases in the remaining 27 states.

This announcement comes just two weeks after the nations largest mortgage lender announced it was suspending its foreclosure processes amid concerns of fraudulent documents being filed in foreclosure cases. Pretty amazing that Bank of America could find and correct 102,000 documents in two short weeks! If you are facing a foreclosure lawsuit where Bank of America is the plaintiff contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a no cost consultation.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has expanded the investigation into document fraud in the foreclosure process by subpoenaing two document-processing companies, Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) and DocX. While the subpoenas are civil and not criminal, there is no silver lining for LPS which is already facing two class-action lawsuits stemming from their foreclosure paperwork processes.

The companies are accused of fabricating documents that hasten the foreclosure process. At the heart of the inquiry are the allegations of fraudulent assignments of mortgages, which provide mortgage lenders the right to foreclose on homes that they did not have the documents essential to prove ownership of the loan. Among the documents under subpoena are: all policies and procedures manuals or training materials, including those relating to drafting and/or execution of mortgage or foreclosure related documents, any price list given to prospective customers, ledgers of all financial transactions between LPS and any title company, and copies of all communications and contracts between the two companies and the four "foreclosure mills" already being investigated by the Attorney Generals' office.

With this news and the announcement of an investigation by Attorneys General from all 50 states, it seems as though the Attorney Generals are finally hearing the voices of beleaguered homeowners and are dedicated to getting to the bottom of the foreclosure mess. If you are facing a Fernandina Beach Local Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

MSNBC reports on Foreclosure Fraud and what some are doing about it.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray filed suit last week against GMAC mortgage and its parent company, Ally Financial Inc. for their role in Ohio's foreclosure crisis. The suit charges GMAC and its representatives with filing thousands of fraudulent affidavits in their efforts to repossess homes via foreclosure. The Attorney General is asking the court to impose civil penalties of $25,000 per fraud violation and to grant an injunction preventing GMAC from pursuing current or instituting new foreclosure proceedings, as well as putting a stop to any scheduled foreclosure sales.

The allegations of fraud stem from statements made by a GMAC employee in a Main foreclosure case that he signed thousands of affidavits per month without verifying the information contained in them. In late September GMAC suspended all foreclosure actions and sales in 23 states, as a result of this testimony and thousands of consumer complaints. GMAC maintains that there have been no improper foreclosures in Ohio or any other state and its suspension of foreclosure activities was purely voluntary and done to take time to fix its internal procedures.

The Ohio Attorney General joins a chorus of several Attorneys General from across the nation, including Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who have asked state courts to suspend all foreclosure actions in their state until an effective investigation into potential wrongdoing can be conducted. If you have received a Jacksonville Beach foreclosure lawsuit contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case and determine what defenses may be available to save your home.

According to the numbers released last week by the HOPE NOW Alliance, mortgage servicers completed 149,000 loan modifications for U.S. homeowners in August. Broken down the numbers show that 33,000 modifications were completed through the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) while 116,000 homeowners were given a modification through proprietary loan modification programs. One of the most positive statistics from these numbers is the fact that 91% of the modification in August, 105,000, contained a decrease in monthly principle and interest payments for borrowers.

In the year to date 1.3 million homeowners have received some form of mortgage modification, bringing the total to 3.7 million modifications since the housing crisis began in 2007. In addition to the mortgage modification numbers, HOPE NOW released data that showed mortgages behind by 60 days or more fell by almost 43,000 mortgage, from 3,298,236 in July to 3.256,682 in August.

If you are one of the thousands of Floridians facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are interested potentially getting a loan modification, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

Contrary to published accounts that it has put a moratorium on foreclosures in 23 states, including those by a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer, and its own statements, Bank of America is still pursuing foreclosure actions! A Bank of America recording says that Bank of America has only halted foreclosure sales and final judgment hearings but it is still bringing new foreclosure actions and aggressively pursuing foreclosures it has already filed.

If you have a pending foreclosure action with Bank of America be aware of there tactics and protect yourself. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to have your case reviewed for potential defenses.

To hear the full Bank of America voice recording click here.

The Sarasota Herald Tribune recently published a story detailing the new depths that banks are stooping in order to retake Florida homes. Allegations of breaking an entering and changing the locks, plundering personal possessions and theft are just a few of the allegations many homeowners are making regarding the banks behavior.

In one instance, a family of Canadian tourists returned to their rented beach house only to find their keys no longer worked, a half empty beer bottle sitting on the kitchen counter and their laptop computer, MP3 player and 6 bottles of wine were missing. The tourists were so alarmed by the turn of events they believed the home had been broken into by burglars and called the police. As it happened, the lender hired a Sarasota company to break in and change the locks in an effort to retake the property. Under Florida law it is illegal for a bank representative to enter a home if the bank has not yet taken the property through a foreclosure sale, especially if that property appears to be occupied.

In this case, the tourists decided that they no longer felt safe in their rental home and the homeowner was forced to return a portion of their money and pay for some of the missing property. This presents a problem for the homeowner because most police investigators categorize the break-ins at civil disputes because the banks and their hired contractors do not display the necessary criminal intent, making monetary recovery for the homeowner almost impossible.

Many foreclosure experts predict that as instances like this become more commonplace, law enforcement officials will be less and less inclined to help homeowners. If you have had an instance where you believe your mortgage company has broken into your home, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer and Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

Wells Fargo last week agreed to a settlement with attorneys general of eight states, including Florida, in response to claims of deceptive marketing practices surrounding payment option adjustable rate mortgage originated by a Wells Fargo Bank subsidiary bank. The mortgages, marketed as "pick-a-pay" loans, granted homeowners the option to pay less than their monthly interest payments, letting the balance of the mortgage increase until the loan reset, causing the homeowner to pay the full monthly principle and interest payments. In most cases, the full principle and interest payments were much higher than the payments that the homeowners had been "picking." A statement contained in a release from Attorney General Bill McCollum said that the marketing materials of the loans "did not fully explain to borrowers that the minimum payments in the first years of the loans wouldn't fully cover the interest and cause the balance of the loan to grow."

The settlement includes a payment of $10.2 million dollars to Florida to help with foreclosure relief and a loan modification plan for 4,000 Florida borrowers. The loan modification plan begins December 1, 2010 and runs through June 2013. Eligible borrowers are ones who are 60 days behind or are facing "imminent default", though the first step in the process is attempting to qualify those borrowers into the federal Home Affordable Modification Program before they enter the alternative Wells Fargo program. Each of the eight states Attorneys General will receive quarterly reports to monitor the bank's compliance with the settlement terms.

To read the terms of the settlement click here.

Yesterday, Attorneys General from all 50 states announces the largest investigation into the foreclosure practices of the nations largest banks and mortgage firms to date. The organizational push was led by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller who will continue to head the group, now called the Mortgage Foreclosure Multistate Group.

The first order of business for the new investigative body is to look further into allegations of "robo-signers" at several of the nations largest mortgage lenders and servicers. Many legal experts have predicted that if the practice of "robo-signing" was as prevalent as alleged, heavy civil and criminal penalties could be imposed. Prior to the group forming, seven states Attorneys General have announced probes based on recent allegations of "robo-signers" at many of the nations largest mortgage lenders and the Senate Banking Committee is set to hold hearings on November 16 to investigate these foreclosure practices.

A record 95,364 homes were repossessed by mortgage lenders in August and this investigation is the latest in a rising tide of bad news for those lenders pursuing foreclosures. If you are facing a foreclosure claim, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a consultation

As reported by a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer in a previous blog, on August 10, 2010 Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum launched an investigation into whether three Florida "foreclosure mills" were employing unfair and deceptive trade practices when filing and pursuing foreclosure actions against Florida homeowners.

On Monday October 4, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jack Cox ruled that the investigation into "foreclosure mill" Shapiro and Fishman, which focuses on whether or not fraudulent documents were used to speed up the foreclosure process, as overbroad and invasive and voided the Attorney General's subpoena. Judge Cox also stated that he believed that "the Florida Bar is best suited to handle questions about law firm legal tactics." This ruling comes on the heels of announcements by three major lenders that they were suspending foreclosure proceedings in 22 states due to similar complaints by both homeowners and lawmakers.

If you or anyone you know has received a foreclosure notice from any law firm, it is in your best interest to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case for these types of potentially unfair and fraudulent practices.

Lender Processing Services Inc's (LPS) stock price has continued to drop since Friday as reports of widespread use of fraudulent documents in foreclosure cases continue to emerge. LPS is a Jacksonville-based company that works hand-in-hand with the foreclosure mills that foreclose on a home when a homeowner is delinquent on their mortgage.

Investors are beginning to be skeptical of LPS for a number of reasons. First, the recent foreclosure freeze will reduce the company's business. Second, concerns have been raised that Docx, a subsidiary of LPS, may have improperly created documents when the lenders that they were working for did not have the documents required to foreclose on a home. Finally, last week a lawsuit filed in Mississippi alleges that LPS was involved in a fee splitting arrangement with the law firms that they work with.

With announcements from three of the nations largest mortgage lenders that they will halt foreclosure proceedings and sale in 23 states as a result of allegations of document fraud comes a new wrinkle: those seeking to buy foreclosed homes are having increasing difficulty doing so. In states with extremely an extremely high volume of foreclosed homes, such as Florida, consumers are finding that home purchase contracts, some already approved and on the verge of completion, are being suspended anywhere from 30-90 days to ensure that the homes were foreclosed and repossessed properly. This has left many of those potential homebuyers virtually homeless and scrambling for some place to stay.

Most of the homes that are being withdrawn from the market are owned and held by mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Many commercial mortgage lenders, such as Bank of American and Wells Fargo, sell their repossessed homes and accompanying mortgages back to Fannie Mae once the house has been repossessed and Fannie Maw has been busy in recent weeks sending emails to real estate agents to remove Fannie Mae properties from their listing and to freeze deals on existing Fannie Mae homes. In one instance, a South Florida realtor stated that half of his sale inventory has been wiped away by the freeze.

This is the latest in a series of unintended consequences of the foreclosure fraud fallout that continues to harm U.S. consumers. If you live in Ponte Vedra Beach or Jacksonville and you are facing a Florida Foreclosure lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a no cost consultation to review your case.

PNC Bank is the latest lender to freeze its foreclosures. PNC becomes the fourth major lender to temporarily freeze foreclosures, joining Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and GMAC Mortgage.

PNC will suspend the sale of any home that was foreclosed upon by the bank. The freeze will last for an initial period of one month. PNC announced that the foreclosure sale suspension is to allow the bank to review the process it uses when foreclosing on a home and to determine the validity of its documents.

In yet another case of foreclosure error, Bank of America foreclosed on a South Florida homeowner who didn't even have a mortgage on his home! The homeowner purchased his Fort Lauderdale home with cash through a short sale in December 2009. Much to his surprise, he learned in July 2010 that Bank of America had foreclosed on his house, put it up for foreclosure auction, and transferred title to his home to government backed lender Fannie Mae.

The homeowner says that he has spent the last several months asking questions to Bank of America and their attorney's, Florida Default Law Group, about how this happened, but his questions have yet to be answered. The court records indicate that Countrywide Bank, now a part of Bank of America, began foreclosure proceedings against the former homeowner in 2008 but failed to dismiss the case or acknowledge that the home had been sold until the foreclosure process was complete. Although Bank of America has failed to answer the homeowner's questions; it has stated that it will correct the error at its own expense.

This case is just another instance of the banks and their attorney's rushing through foreclosure cases without taking the proper steps to ensure the process is completed correctly. If you are one of the thousands of Florida homeowners facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit it is in your best interest to contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to ensure that you do not become a victim of an improper foreclosure proceeding.

Yesterday, President Obama stated he would not sign and sent back to Congress the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act or H.R. 3808, which would require both federal and state courts to "recognize any notarization made by a notary public" licensed in any of the 50 U.S. States as a valid signature, including electronic signatures. By sending the bill back to Congress, President Obama utilized a maneuver called a pocket veto, which in effect squashes the bill without it being directly vetoed.

The bill, passed by the House through a voice vote in April and was approved unanimously by the Senate on September 27, would potentially make it much easier for banks and loan servicers to pursue foreclosure proceedings. President Obama's pocket veto comes on the heels of the suspension of foreclosure filings by several major banks involving potential "robo-signers" of foreclosure documents. White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer stated that while the Obama administration believes that though the bill was designed to remove a potential barrier to interstate commerce, they believe it is important to look into the "intended and unintended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, before this bill can be finalized."

This is yet another step in a growing wave of federal recognition that mortgage lenders and servicers have been abusing their power when pursuing Florida legal foreclosure actions. If you have a Florida legal foreclosure action, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review the circumstances of your case.

The Tampa Tribune is reporting in its Thursday edition that a former employee of the Law Offices of David J. Stern has testified to the unscrupulous business activities practiced by the notorious "foreclosure mill" in a deposition with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's Office. In the deposition, conducted under oath with the former employee's attorney present, the employee describes in detail the passing around of notary stamps, setting up "signing tables" where employee's would sign up to 250 documents per day per floor, stacks of blank notarized documents to be used when needed, and that "two or three employees sat around practicing the signature of Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Samons, at Samons' direction."

The former employee also describes that she heard attorney's employed by David J. Stern say they were concerned about being disbarred or breaking the law but were more concerned with losing their jobs. The former employee says in her deposition that she was dismissed from her position with the firm because she inquired as to the legality of the assignments she was given. The deposition stems from the Florida Attorney General's investigation into the practices of five Florida law firms, the Law Offices of David J. Stern, Florida Default Law Group, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson and Shapiro and Fishman, the so-called "foreclosure mills" which represent 80% of foreclosure proceedings in the state of Florida. Attorney's for Stern refute the allegations set forth in the deposition.

This is the just the latest in a series of bombshell dropped on the mortgage lenders, mortgage servicers and their attorney's in the last two weeks. The tide against these foreclosure giants may be rising. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case.

To read the entirety of the deposition click here. Thanks to Matt Weidner for the transcript.

Early last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with several fellow Senate Democrats, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to engage the U.S. Justice Department in an investigation into the banks' actions when pursuing mortgage foreclosure legal actions. On Wednesday, the Justice Department said it is launching an investigation into the foreclosure legal activities of banks, stemming from reports from homeowners that mortgage lenders are improperly removing homeowners from their homes without completing the proper course of action.

Three major mortgage lenders; Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Co. and Ally Financial, have halted their foreclosure proceedings in 23 states including Florida and Senator Richard Shelby, lead Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, stated that a congressional investigation should be begun to review the foreclosure practices of the largest banks. Several media outlets have reported that many loan servicers have employed "robo-signers", employees who sign thousands of documents stating that they are familiar with specific foreclosure cases.

This is the latest step in a growing tide aiming to correct the unfair and often illegal practices of the largest mortgage lenders. These improper actions have and continue affected millions of homeowners across the U.S. If you are one of the homeowners facing the effects of a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your case.

Bank of America announced today that it is stopping foreclosure sales in all 50 states as is investigates allegations of "robo-signers" in its foreclosure processes. This news comes barely a week after it announced that it was halting foreclosure related activities in 23 states, including Florida.

While the foreclosure process will not stop against delinquent homeowners in the 27 other states, Bank of America said that it will not proceed to final judgment or conduct foreclosure sales until its investigation is complete. This move marks a second, larger step toward Bank of America's review of its potential foreclosure problems.

If you have been served a foreclosure lawsuit by Bank of America, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to for a free review of your case.

Homeowners and Ponte Vedra Beach Foreclosure Defense Lawyers have been complaining about fraudulent documents in Ponte Vedra Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits for years. Within the last two weeks, GMAC Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have all admitted that a few of their employees signed and verified thousands of documents a month that were not even read.

Now that three major banks have admitted wrongdoing we will finally see more significant action from judges. Judges are taking a much closer look at the paperwork that has been submitted to them on behalf of foreclosing lenders. As a result, judges are increasingly throwing out the paperwork that has been filed in foreclosure cases. Some judges are going so far as to dismiss pending cases and re-examine old cases that involved improper documents. In Florida, some companies have requested that judges withdraw documents that were improperly verified.

If you live in Ponte Vedra Beach or Jacksonville and would like your situation reviewed by a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer contact us for a no cost foreclosure case evaluation.

Old Republic National Title Insurance announced on Friday that it would no longer insure homes that were foreclosed upon by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (Chase). This comes on the heels of an announcement last week that Old Republic would no longer issue title insurance policies for homes foreclosed on by GMAC Mortgage.

Old Republic is one of the nation's largest title insurance companies. The company released a memo stating that it will not write title insurance for properties foreclosed upon by Chase until the "objectionable issues have been resolved."

Thousands of homeowners across the nation have been victimized by loan modification scams over the last few years. Here are a few tips to avoid becoming a victim

-Be wary of any individual or company that requires you to pay an upfront fee in exchange for assistance modifying your loan.
-Do not let any company force you into immediately signing any papers. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to review any loan modification documents.
-Do not sign your deed over to anyone without the prior written approval of your mortgage holder.
-Do not direct your mortgage payments to any entity other than your mortgage company without getting the prior written approval of your mortgage holder.
-Do not pay an application fee for the Making Homes Affordable Program (HAMP). There is no application fee to apply to HAMP.

If you are considering a loan modification or have been contacted by someone claiming that they can help you with a loan modification, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer can help to identify the scams and protect you from becoming a victim.

The nation's largest mortgage lender, Bank of America, announced on Friday that it would put a freeze on all of their foreclosure cases in the 23 judicial foreclosure states. Bank of America followed the lead of JP Morgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage who both have put a freeze on their pending foreclosure cases within the past two weeks.

Bank of America is promising to do more than the other two lenders that have put a freeze on their foreclosure cases. JP Morgan Chase and GMAC will amend its paperwork only in cases that the paperwork was done improperly, while Bank of America said in a statement that it would amend all affidavits in foreclosure cases if the case has not gone to judgment.

This freeze will only be effective in the 23 judicial foreclosure states, including Florida. This means that thousands of Bank of America's foreclosure cases could be in an indeterminate state for the next few months while Bank of America tries to correct the flaws with their documents.

"Defective documentation has created millions of blighted titles that will plague the nation for the next decade," said Richard Kessler, an attorney in Sarasota, Florida, who conducted a study that found errors in about three-fourths of court Florida Cases.

From our research and the cases we have, this number appears to be low.

Bloomberg is reporting on this issue and it appears to be a much bigger problem than many anticipated.

The New York Times is reporting that many of the country's biggest home lenders are having to review their methods of foreclosing on homeowners because of recent disclosures of the practices of creating invalid affidavits and other document procedures.

We have know about this problem for years, and been dealing with these issues on a regular basis. The banks and their lawyers knew what was going on and their attempt to pretend that they did not is unfounded.

It's about time, banks and their lawyers start doing things the right way and stop creating fraudulent document and misrepresenting facts to the court.

STOP THE PRESS

Without title insurance, the home is not able to be sold except to a cash buyer who would not be able to sell it later where financing would be required.

This means the foreclosed home is essentially worthless.

If you recently purchased a foreclosed home, you should check your title policy for exclusions which could limit your ability to sell your home in the future. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your situation.

The Washington Post is reporting that John Walsh, acting director of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, told lawmakers that some lenders "clearly had deficiencies" in their system for foreclosures.

The banks contacted by regulators include J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, HSBC, PNC Bank, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

Walsh said, "We both want to see that they fix the processing problems but also to look to see whether there is specific harm [that has been caused] in individual cases."

Of the 142 major metropolitan area in America, Jacksonville ranks 112th for average credit scores, according to the statistics released by the credit agency Experian. Lenders use an individual's credit score to determine whether or not they should make a loan to that person, and, if so, what rates they should give to that borrower. Credit scores are based on factors that include, outstanding balances, paying bills on time and the amount that consumer may borrow before they hit their credit limit. The higher an individual's credit score, the better chance that borrower may receive favorable terms on a loan.

This report puts Jacksonville, as a whole, in the high risk loan category. This makes it much more expensive for Jacksonville area residents with low credit scores to borrow. This is due in large part to the foreclosure crisis that has hit the Jacksonville area so hard. Having your home foreclosed upon negatively impacts your credit score. In addition, many homeowners that have their homes foreclosed upon file for some type of bankruptcy protection.

If your home is in foreclosure, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to help defend against the foreclosure and the negative effects that foreclosure may have on your credit score.