Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

Despite its claims that is foreclosure processes are "sound," Citigroup officials have told lawmakers that the company will re-file 14,000 affidavits in pending foreclosure cases due to errors it uncovered during a review of its foreclosure cases. While this is a staggering number of affidavit errors, it pales in comparison to the 102,000 affidavits re-filed by Bank of America and 55,000 affidavits being re-filed by Wells Fargo.

Citimortgage managing director Harold Lewis explained that Citi has been able to avoid the depths of robo-signing experienced by some other large banks via restructuring efforts wherein it "consolidated its mortgage operations, added staff and improved its internal training program to ensure foreclosures were being processed correctly." The company has also stopped referring new cases to embattled foreclosure mill the Law Offices of David J. Stern. The 8,500 active foreclosure cases Citigroup already had with the Stern office are now being referred to new counsel.

This is just the latest in a long line of mistakes that lenders have now admitted to committing when pursuing foreclosure cases. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a complimentary case review.

A local Boca Raton, FL foreclosure defense lawyer can tell his clients that he knows exactly how they feel, because he too is facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit. The attorney began having financial trouble in 2006 which caused him to fall behind on his mortgage payments and led to Deutsche Bank filing a foreclosure complaint against him in 2007. Florida foreclosure mill, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, are representing Deutsche Bank in the case.

The attorney says he is confident he and his attorney can defend the foreclosure case because of the customary paperwork issues. When served he was served his foreclosure complaint the attorney filed a Motion for a More Definite Statement because, as in thousands of other Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits, Deutsche Bank did not have the mortgage note, which is necessary to prosecute a foreclosure case. While the attorney says he is embarrassed by the fact that he is facing foreclosure but now he feels as if he understands the troubles of his clients much better.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case to determine whether paperwork errors were made and what defenses may be available to you.

To read the full story from the Sun-Sentinel click here.

Last week, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed into law an emergency act aimed at slowing the dramatic rate at which homes in the District of Columbia are being foreclosed upon. The Act, titled "Saving DC Homes From Foreclosure Emergency Act of 2010" puts into place several key processes that lenders and homeowners must complete before a foreclosing on a home and proceeding to a foreclosure sale.

One such process the Act creates is a mandatory foreclosure mediation program, much like the one created in Florida, whereby lenders and homeowners must meet before the lender can proceed with the foreclosure action. Delinquent borrowers have 30 days from the initial notification to opt into the mediation program and pay the $50 fee. If a borrower elects to not participate in the program the foreclosure and accompanying foreclosure sale can proceed but it a completed foreclosure or a foreclosure sale is completed before the entire process is complete it will be considered null and void.

With this new law Washington, DC joins an ever-growing group of states that are requiring processes where lenders and willing homeowners to explore foreclosure alternatives before a house can be foreclosed on and sold. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and wanted to find out what foreclosure alternative options may be available to save your home, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

While the goal of the investigation launched by Attorney's General from all 50 states was to scrutinize the foreclosure document robo-signing practices of major mortgage lenders, the group appears to have a new goal; making loan modifications more effective and more accessible. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, the head of the Attorney's General group, is about more than robo-signors and has stated that the "biggest issue is fixing the loan modification system."

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs have had hearings involving executives from many of nations largest mortgage lenders but have come up with no real answers as to why the current system isn't working. Senator Michael Bennet noted near the end of one such hearing that he is "still completely unclear" why it is so hard for mortgage lenders and servicers to carry out mortgage modifications. Mr. Miller has also stated "he wants to change the paradigm within the current system so it functions."

With the Home Affordable Modification Program falling far short of the expectation that it would help 3 to 4 million struggling homeowners this may be a silver lining on an otherwise dark cloud. If you have been denied a HAMP modification, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to see what modification options may be available to you.

With scores of complaints from Florida homeowners, foreclosure defense lawyers and investigations by both the Florida Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Congress, the Florida Bar says they are not getting formal complaints against attorneys who commit foreclosure fraud. While the Florida Bar has suspended or disbarred over 200 attorneys so far this year none have been a result of complaints of foreclosure fraud. But by taking several proactive steps, the Florida Bar thinks this trend will quickly change.

The head of the Florida Bar, Mayanne Downs, is now asking judges statewide to report any and all instances of foreclosure fraud or fraud on the court, including sending copies of orders judges write where they mention some form of misconduct. While judges will now be on the lookout for foreclosure fraud it is up to Florida homeowners and their attorneys to challenge the fraudulent behavior in front of the court so judges are aware that the fraud is happening. To deal with the anticipated increase in foreclosure fraud complaints the Bar has instituted a new category solely dedicated to tracking foreclosure fraud complaints. In the month of November, the Bar is already investigating 43 reports of foreclosure fraud.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and you feel that a foreclosure fraud has been perpetrated against you, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary case review.

Recently a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer had a client call in with what many would consider an uncommon problem but one that a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer has seen before: our client home was damaged in a small fire for which our client made a claim through their homeowners insurance. Knowing that the claim had been made the client hired a contractor to complete the necessary repairs. Now the servicer of their mortgage is withholding the proceeds of the insurance funds from the homeowner and is refusing the pay the contractor! This is a major no-no for mortgage companies and a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer can help get the money to get the contractor paid and your home repaired.

If you have encountered a similar situation with your mortgage lender or servicer contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review the situation.

Reston, Virginia based Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, otherwise known as MERS, is now being investigated by Federal bank regulators Comptroller of Currency John Walsh recently announced. The probe will "assess MERS' corporate governance, control systems and accuracy and timeliness of information" that the company uses.

MERS was designed to enable lender package and sell mortgages without recording those transactions in county property offices, which results in massive monetary savings for lenders. In recent months MERS has come under fire for its role in allowing banks to cut corners when processing foreclosure cases, sometimes even prosecuting foreclosures in its own name. Many of MERS critics say it doesn't have the standing to act on behalf of the real mortgage owners in foreclosure cases.

This is potentially another blow to the already beleaguered company. MERS is currently facing a lawsuit from the state of California for unpaid land recording fees, detailed by a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer here. If you have a Florida foreclosure lawsuit where MERS is involved, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore what defenses may be available to you.

The "cash for keys" program is an incentive compensation program associated with the Treasury's Making Homes Affordable Program's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) arm, wherein struggling homeowners are given a one-time incentive payment of $3000 to assist homeowners with relocation expenses. In order to be considered for HAFA a homeowner must first be considered for a HAMP modification. Those borrowers that do meet the eligibility for a HAMP modification but are not offered a trial plan, who do not successfully complete a trial plan or who default on a HAMP modification are usually eligible for entry into the HAFA program.

HAFA typically utilizes either a deed-in-lieu or a short sale in order to help struggling homeowners get out of homes that they can no longer afford. In most instances lenders require borrowers to list their homes in a short sale, for a period not to exceed 12 months, before the lender will consider granting a deed-in-lieu request. While this may not be a very rapid process for homeowners, lenders are prohibited from conducting a foreclosure sale during that time so it may be in many homeowners best interest.

If you have applied for and been denied a HAMP modification, or simply fallen out of your modification plan, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore your foreclosure alternative options today.

The mortgage service industry has commenced an aggressive campaign to bolster the legality of securitized mortgages. When a mortgage is securitized it is bundled and sold to investors on the stock markets. Securitized mortgages are currently a grey area of the law because there is much confusion as to who is actually the holder of the mortgage with the right to foreclose on a homeowner in default.

The main focus of this increased lobbying effort in Washington is Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS). MERS is a private database used by almost every lender to map out the chain of ownership of mortgages as the mortgages are securitized and traded around the world. This allows the industry to buy and sell mortgages as often as they wish without having to spend the money to record the mortgages or file the necessary paper work.

However, MERS is not merely a mortgage tracking service. MERS is listed as the holder of the mortgage in many of the foreclosure cases currently pending in Florida and around the country. Recently, there have been many legal challenges to MERS serving in this capacity because MERS is only a database and, therefore, theoretically, cannot be the holder of the mortgage.

Lobbyists for the lending industry are seeking legislation that would validate the legality of MERS. If the lobbyists were successful, all of the suits in which MERS is a defendant would immediately become moot. This would effectively end the lawsuit pending in California against MERS in which the State of California is seeking between $60 billion and $120 billion from MERS for unpaid recording fees. This legislation would also prohibit any other state from filing a similar suit. Additionally, the lobbyists are also encouraging a proposal that would make MERS a national registry to track the transfer of mortgages nationally.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Brian Lozito's loan modification company was shut down after an investigation discovered that they were operating without a license and taking upfront fees, both of which are against Florida law. Lozito's company, Global Equity Solutions, which shut down and all assets seized by the state of Florida, has taken his business just over the state line to Kingsland, Ga. Now named Peachtree Consultants Inc. Lozito has resumed business as he just got shutdown for in Florida!

This is only possible because anyone can rent office space, create a website, and obtain a business license. Florida Office of Financial Regulation only investigates Fraud after a customer complains about the company, additionally, there is nothing stopping a company caught in one state from moving to another and doing the same fraudulent activity there. This is due to the fact that "there is no standardization of mortgage-related consumer protection" between the states, says Florida and Georgia Officials. One woman in Jacksonville, who put her trust in Lozito's company starting back in Janurary 2009, when she was current on her loan, soon found out that her house was foreclosed on and was being told to vacate the premises!

A fraudulent loan modification company's worst client is an educated client. So, before you pay and upfront fee or enter into a loan modification with a company, call your local Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer to review your mortgage and review a modification or potential solution that may be part of a scam.

Many homeowners who use foreclosure alternatives such as short sales or mortgage modifications in order to have a portion of their mortgage debt forgiven face the question "am I going to have to pay taxes on the amount of mortgage debt forgiven." In most instances that answer is no! The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 was enacted to help homeowners who were trying to escape toxic mortgages and the accompanying debt by not taxing the amounts forgiven as taxable income.

Homeowners who intend to claim the exemption must fill out Form 982 and attach it to their individual tax return in order to be eligible for the relief. Types of eligible debt are debts forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, debt forgiven due to a short sale as well as debt forgiven through a mortgage restructuring such as a HAMP modification. The Act was originally intended to only affect mortgage debt forgiven in 2007, 2008 and 2009 but was recently extended to include all forgiven mortgage debt through 2012!

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and want to explore foreclosure alternatives that may reduce your mortgage debt and take advantage of the extension of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

The Florida Office of State Courts Administration just released the statewide stats from the first three months of rocket docket operations and the numbers are startling. From the period of July 1 through September 30, Florida courts disposed of 65,830 foreclosure cases with almost 71% of those cases being decided in "rocket docket" hearings where cases are decided in a matter of minutes. Palm Beach County was the most prolific at getting rid of foreclosure cases, ridding the county of 9.846 foreclosure cases. In that same time period only 23 foreclosure cases went to trial, less than 1% of the disposed of cases.

The "rocket docket" courts were created to stimulate the Florida housing market by ridding the state of the mass of foreclosure cases and getting homes back onto the housing market quickly. While the numbers of cases being cleared is astonishing, there are 396,509 foreclosure cases still active in Florida courts. Most of the cases being cleared by "rocket docket" courts are those where the homeowner doesn't respond to the foreclosure suit or where they are not represented by an attorney. In most cases, to defeat the "rocket docket" hearing all a homeowner needs is one issue of legal fact!

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit in one of the "rocket docket" courts, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your case and determine what defenses may be available to you.

Chicago's Sheriff, Tom Dart, will suspend all foreclosure evictions by GMAC, JPMorgan, and Bank of America. This decision, which goes into effect on October 25, will affect almost 1,500 foreclosure cases that are pending in Cook County.

In a press conference, Dart stated that this would be an indefinite halt on foreclosure evictions. The evictions will resume only after these three lenders can assure the Sheriff's Department that the foreclosure cases and the evictions are in fact legal. He is demanding valid affidavits from the banks that support their foreclosure cases against the homeowners that he must evict.

A South Florida man was in the process of a loan modification with JP Morgan Chase; while unknown to him the bank was continuing the process of foreclosing on his home at the same time! On Tuesday, the Court vacated the judgment after the sale of the home and therefore the title must be placed back in the hands of the original owner.

This is a new method most banks seem to be taking: proceeding with loan modifications while beginning to process the foreclosure in case the modification does not workout.

This technique is added to Chase's current approach of asking homeowners to sign waivers stating they will not sue the lender if the home is auctioned off while in negotiations for modification.

Although things worked out for this homeowner, we have seen many cases where the home is sold while the homeowner believe they are in negotiations with the bank. Often the banks will tell the homewowner that nothing will happen while they are working on a loan modification.

Because of this it is suggested that if you are in foreclosure you should contact a local Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your foreclosure documents today.

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady ordered the chief justices of all of the state's trial courts to ensure that foreclosure courts, a.k.a. "rocket dockets", are open to the public. Over the last several weeks many media outlets began reporting on the closed nature of the proceedings, including some citizens being told by court officials that proceedings are closed to the public, something foreclosure defense attorneys have been pointing to for months.

In his statement, Chief Justice Canady instructed judges to make sure the "rocket dockets" are "entirely consistent with the constitutional, statutory, procedural rule, and case law requirements of this state regarding the presumption that state court proceedings are open to the public." Addressing the "goal" of eliminating 62% of foreclosure cases currently residing on each docket, Chief Justice Canady stated that the 62% was never a quota and that the percentage was actually a reflection of the amount of money actually given, $6 million, versus what the courts requested to clear the backlog. Canady also emphasized that "each case must be adjudicated in accordance with the law."

This order marks another small victory for Florida homeowners who are facing foreclosure lawsuits. Maybe now "rocket docket" judges will take the hint and judge cases on their individual merits. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your case.

To read the full text of Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Canady's memorandum click here.

Even if you and your spouse are separated and living in your own homes, your joint income will be used to determine if you qualify for a HAMP modification. While many banks will attempt to get you a modification, you should do a quick calculation to see if you will qualify before being assessed late fees and penalties associated with the incomplete payments that result from trial payments.

Gross income of you and your spouse x 0.31= HAMP mod payment
If the HAMP mod payment is more than your current Principal & Interest payment, you will not qualify for a HAMP modification.

Note: Some banks will offer their own loan modifications and you may be eligible for the cash for keys program is you were denied a HAMP modification under certain circumstances.

On the heels of allegations of "robo-signing", an investigation by the Florida Attorney General's Office, sworn statements from former employees about the unscrupulous internal system designed to speed up foreclosures and an announcement by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that they were no longer referring cases to them, the Law Offices of David J. Stern has been forced to substantially reduce its staff, with some estimates being that over half of the firm's employees have been laid off!

In a statement from Jeffery Tew, a lawyer representing the firm, Tew stated "there's been a substantial reduction in staff, it started happening over the past few weeks and many employees received notice today (November 4th)." Before the allegations of improper foreclosure processes arose and the subsequent layoffs, the Florida foreclosure mill was one of the largest foreclosure firms in the nation. While there are no public figures available, firm was believed to have employed 1,000 people, including attorneys and support staff.

While the Law Offices of David J. Stern is losing casework and reducing staff, those cases are being referred to other Florida Foreclosure Mills. If you were facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit from the Law Offices of David J. Stern it is in your best interest to contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a consultation.

The Miami Herold has reported that the Law office of David J. Stern, at one time, the largest foreclosure mill is entering into a forbearance agreement with Bank of America to pay its 12 million dollar credit line. The law office has recently terminated more than 1/2 of its employees after loosing major contacts with three major banks, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac because of the "foreclosure fraud" that has been reported on recently.

Stern's public company DJSP has dropped more than 95% and is now trading at only $0.48

Citing complaints from Florida homeowners, a suggestion from one of the "rocket docket" judges that the foreclosure court was "being held in disrepute" and a directive from the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, the Duval county foreclosure court is now taking "corrective actions" to remedy the closed nature of the foreclosure court. Letters from the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, the Florida Press Association, the Florida Society of News Editors, the Florida Association of Broadcasters, the First Amendment Foundation and the Florida Times Union detailing evidence of the restricted access of the court were mailed to Chief Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Donald Moran and Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court Charles Canady on Monday.

The "rocket docket" foreclosure courts, staffed by retired judges, began operation this summer with the purpose of eliminating some of the thousands of backlogged foreclosure cases that are stifling the court system. A recent Rolling Stone article chronicling the limited public access to a hearing session being held by retired judge A.C. Soud and Judge Soud's email threat to hold the attorney who brought the Rolling Stone reporter to the hearing in contempt appears to have become the tipping point of the controversy even though complaints of "rocket docket" courts being closed to the public have been heard state-wide. Beginning next week, the court will move from the small chambers room it is currently held in to a much larger courtroom which will allow public access to all foreclosure hearings.

While this is good news for Florida homeowners there are still many issues with the "rocket docket" that homeowners must overcome. To ensure that your rights are protected when facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

To read the letter the letter to Chief Judge of the Florida Supreme Court click here.

With daily developments in the fight to stop foreclosures and almost every local and national news outlet using acronyms like HAMP, HARP, HAFA, Fannie and Freddie in their reporting one major name is emerging at the center of the foreclosure mess: MERS.

MERS, short for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, was created as a way to save money on mortgage recording fees and pass those savings onto homeowners. Instead what MERS has done is cloud the ownership interests in millions of homes nationwide. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer found a great synopsis of the origination and operation of MERS. For full text of the MERS article click here.

Thanks to Foreclosureblues for the content.

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CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida and a coalition of journalistic and First Amendment organizations today delivered letters to two top judicial officials in Florida urging them to ensure that foreclosure court proceedings in the state are open to the public.

The letters, sent to Chief Justice Charles P. Canady of the Florida Supreme Court and Chief Judge Donald R. Moran of Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit, highlight a number of reports from around that state that, taken together, point to a troubling pattern of foreclosure courts operating behind closed doors rather than openly as mandated by Florida law.

"Our organizations have received numerous reports that extraordinary barriers to access are preventing members of the general public, as well as representatives of the news media, from observing foreclosure proceedings in judicial circuits around the state," the letter to Chief Justice Canady reads. "We believe these barriers undercut the transparency of the judicial process; they also violate the strong presumption of open access to judicial proceedings under Florida law."

Continue reading "ACLU Calls On Jacksonville and Florida Judges To Ensure State Foreclosure Court Proceedings Are Open To Public " »

CNN will air this story on the Situation Room Tonight.

Judge Soud states he is not there to check every exhibit presented to him

Effective immediately, mortgage servicers who service Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans must work closely with state housing finance agencies in order to assist homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure due to a job loss. Recently the Treasury Department granted $7.6 billion to various state housing agencies in order for those agencies to develop programs aimed at giving unemployed homeowners temporary relief. Mortgage servicers have been instructed to accept all payments made by state housing finance agencies on behalf of unemployed borrowers.

Although each state housing finance agency has its own individual plan, there are two prevailing types of payment assistance. The first is where the assistance program pays a portion of the monthly mortgage payment so that the borrower can make their whole payment each month. The second type of aid is referred to as a "reinstatement program" wherein the program provides a one-time, lump sum payment designed to restore a delinquent mortgage by bringing it to current status. Homeowners may not participate in any of the state housing agency programs while also participating any other housing program, such as the Home Affordable Modification Program.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and the loss mitigation programs have failed to help your circumstances, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a consultation.

On November 10, 2010, the Fourth District Court of Appeals found that allegations of fraud are not enough to reverse a foreclosure. The entire ruling can be found here.

In this case the Appellant, the homeowner, moved for relief from the judgment pursuant to Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b). She based this claim on a deposition that her attorneys took of Bailey in connection with a different mortgage foreclosure involving a different bank. Freemon alleged that Ms. Bailey relies upon attorneys to draft the form affidavits in foreclosure cases, fails to understand most of the language in the affidavits she signs, and routinely signs these affidavits without personal knowledge of the facts stated therein.

The court based its ruling on the following:

To entitle a movant to an evidentiary hearing on a motion for relief from judgment, a rule 1.540(b)(3) motion must specify the fraud with particularity and explain why the fraud, if it exists, would entitle the movant to have the judgment set aside. If a motion does not set forth a basis for relief on its face, then an evidentiary hearing is unnecessary, the time and expense of needless litigation is avoided, and the policy of preserving the finality of judgments is enhanced. The matter alleged must affect the outcome of the case and not merely be "de minimis." Thus, to obtain a hearing on a rule 1.540(b)(3) motion, the law requires a movant "to demonstrate a prima facie case of fraud, not just nibble at the edges of the concept.

In doing so the court reasoned that home owner's motion does not demonstrate fraud or show why any of the alleged facts would entitle her to relief sufficient to set aside a default judgment. She nowhere contends that she did not default on her mortgage, nor does she allege that the amounts due and owing, set forth in the affidavit and incorporated in the final judgment, are incorrect. The homeowner has not specifically alleged any fraud in connection with the Robo Signor's statements in this affidavit regarding the amount due. The homeowner merely alleges that the Robo Signor claimed personal knowledge of the matters in the affidavit, even though the Robo Signor admitted in her deposition in different case that she did not know who inputted information into the computer regarding the loan in question in that case.

Because of this the court disagreed with the characterization of the Affidavit and testimony.

While the homeowner contends that the affidavit was insufficient to satisfy the requirements for admissibility under the business records. The court found that this argument was not preserved for appellate review so the appellate court could not consider the argument.

It is important to properly lay the foundation for appeal so that a higher court can consider the legal argument if necessary.

To review your foreclosure case contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer.

Dechert has written an article on a recent ruling by the IRS that may help many homeowners receive a true loan modification. The IRS has released Revenue Procedure 2010-30 which changes certain REMIC requirements relating to a property release and provides for a safe harbor for some releases on real property form mortgages for what they define as Grandfathers Transactions of Qualified Pay-Down Transactions.

The IRS defines a grandfathers transaction as one which the lien release is effected pursuant to a borrower's unilateral option under the mortgage loan and the documents are executed prior to December 6, 2010. NOTE a lien release understaken pursuant to a modification of a mortgage loan will not qualify as a Grandfathered Transaction because the lien release must be accompished pursuant to the existing terms and provisions of the mortgage and if it is contained within the terms, it must be done before December 6th, 2010,

A Qualified Pay Down Transaction occurs when a borrower makes a principal repayment simultaneously with a Lien Release. The amount must be greater than one of the following

• The sum of the net proceeds from an arms length sale, the net proceeds from a condemnation award, and the net procees from the receipt of an insurance or litigation settlement with respect to the property;
• The Release Price set forth in a mortgage loan documents provided certain conditions are met;
• The fair market value on the date the Lien Release occurs plus the amount of any litigation or insurance settlement recieved with respect to the real property); or
• An amount sufficient to cause the loan-to-value ratio of the mortgage loan to be no greater than the loan to value ratio existing immediately prior to the Lien release.

The last provision seems to lay the best foundation for many foreclosure defense clients.  This seems to say the IRS will issue a safe harbor exception to the REMIC as long as something is paid in conjunction with a release of the property or the loan to value is better after the modification than it was before.

Remember just because the lender may now be able to modify your loan does not mean they will do so.  Before this they were not able to modify the loan with out the risk of substantial harm which was often far in excess of your loan value. 

What is not clear at this time is if these provisions will be available after December 2010 which is just around the corner.

Most applicants who apply for HAMP are denied. Many could have been told in advance that they would not qualify. For those, a Trial HAMP modification can actually put them in a worse position than if they had not applied. Many banks will allow individuals a second chance to apply for a HAMP modification but the end result will probably be the same as the first.

New HAMP guidelines require a lender to provide a secondary option to a borrower such as a short sale or deed-in-lieu. Unfortunately, they do not require that the bank be willing to relinquish their ability to come after you at a later time for a deficiency judgment or to sell the remaining debt to someone else who will come after you.

Before applying for a HAMP modification, check to see if you will be disqualified because your income is to high. Take your families income and multiply by 0.31 and see if that number is higher than your current payment for your home (less any escrow or PMI). If the number is higher, you will not qualify and going into the bank's "Loan Modification" program can actually hurt you.

In reality, your next step often depends on your personal circumstances. Some bring there home current and resume making payments while others continue with the trial payments or stop making payments at all. The decision you make could have reproductions so you should discuss it with a local Florida Foreclosure Lawyer to determine what makes sense given your individual set of circumstances and abilities.

San Francisco based mortgage giant Wells Fargo announced last week that it made mistakes in 55,000 foreclosure cases and outlined a timetable for fixing them. The bank stated that it plans to re-submit incorrect documents by mid-November. In a statement from Wells Fargo spokesman Teri Schrettenbrunner the bank stated that the mistakes were technical in nature and "we don't believe that there are instances in which the foreclosures would not have occurred otherwise."

In recent months, two Wells Fargo employees have given sworn statements in depositions that they signed hundreds of documents per day without verifying the statements in them were correct. Even though Wells Fargo has admitted to problems in their foreclosure processes they declined to join other mortgage giants Bank of America and Ally Financial Inc. in suspending foreclosures pending an investigation into and a correction of their practices.

If you Wells Fargo is foreclosing on your home, it is vital that you contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

New data from foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac reveals that foreclosure activity rose in 133 of the 206 largest U.S. metro areas in the third quarter 2010, including 11 of the 20 largest metro markets. That means that foreclosure activity rose an astonishing 65% over the July to August time period. The four most foreclosure plagued states; Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona, claimed 19 of the 20 metro's with the most foreclosure activity with Boise City-Nampa, Idaho coming in at number 14.

The U.S. metro area with the largest percentage increase in foreclosure activity was Seatle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington, an alarming 71% increase in foreclosure activity, followed by Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Illinois, a 35% increase, and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas with 26% increase. James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, stated that until the problems of unemployment, underemployment, negative equity and toxic loans are solved "these historically high foreclosure rates will continue." Cape Coral-Fort Meyers, Florida holds the distinction of having the nations second highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 35 homes receiving a foreclosure complaint in the third quarter alone.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss your situation and circumstances to see what defenses and options you have with your case.

The Florida Homestead Exemption is an exemption designed to help homeowners by reducing the amount of Ad Valorem property taxes charged. It does this by "exempting" qualifying homeowners from having to pay taxes on the first $25,000 of assessed value on your home. In order to qualify for the Florida Homestead Exemption you must meet certain qualifications:

1) you must be a Florida Resident,
2) you must own your home,
3) your home must be your primary residence as of December 31 of the year before you apply for the Homestead Exemption (no second or vacation homes), and
4) you can only have the Homestead Exemption on one home per year.

In order to be able to claim your homestead exemption you must personally take a copy of your original recorded deed along with your driver's license or other form of identification to your local Property Appraiser's Office before March 1st of the year you intend to file for the exemption. As long as nothing has changed and you still live in the home as your primary residence, your Homestead Exemption will be automatically renewed each year. You will receive a notice in January of each year that your Homestead Exemption has been automatically renewed, if you don't contact your local Property Appraiser's Office.

Along with being a good means of saving money on property taxes, many mortgage companies compute your monthly escrow payments and they may not know about your lower property taxes due the Homestead Exemption, potentially causing your monthly payment to be higher.

The Homestead Exemption is also important for the new mandatory mediation if you are facing a foreclosure lawsuit. According to the mediation rules, only those homeowners who have applied for and have been granted a Homestead Exemption are automatically given notice of their right to participate in the mandatory mediation program. If you haven't applied for a homestead exemption you may still participate in the mediation program but you must apply to the court for entry into the program. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer if you have been denied the option to participate in the mandatory mediation program due to a lack of Homestead Exemption.

Addresses of local Property Appraiser's Offices:

Duval County Property Appraiser: 231 E. Forsyth Street (904) 630-2037

Clay County Property Appraiser: Orange Park Branch: 1518 Park Avenue (904) 278-0803; Green Cove Springs Main Branch 477 Houston Street, U.S. Highway 17 (904) 284-6305

In yet another potential blow to mortgage companies, a federal task force has been given the job of investigating whether mortgage companies violated federal laws or committed fraud by fabricating documents used in home foreclosures. The investigation by Financial Fraud Task Force is reported to be centered on whether or not mortgage lenders violated mail or wire fraud laws by submitting fraudulent foreclosure documentation.

Foreclosures are normally governed by state law but the involvement of federal agencies such as the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bring the potentially fraudulent practices into the reach of federal law enforcement. The "robo-signor" controversy caused several of the nations largest lenders to temporarily suspend their foreclosure activities but two of those lenders, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, have already reinstituted their foreclosure practices. The lenders maintain that there practices were "materially sound" and that not one homeowner was evicted improperly.

The investigations into the fraudulent signing practices of mortgage lenders continue to grow! If you are being sued for a Florida Foreclosure, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complementary case review.

Recently individuals that used to work for the Law Offices of David J. Stern testified under oath in front of state regulators sent by the Florida Attorney General's office. Regulators have uncovered substantial egregious activity by Stern's law firm. Some of these former employees described an atmosphere where speed was much more important than accuracy. In certain instances, supervisors ordered the workers to disregard legal rules in order to get the foreclosures filed as quickly as possible.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both confirmed that the companies have stopped referring foreclosure work to the Law Offices of David J. Stern. The two companies took this action after a legal assistant for Stern's office testified that the staff would improperly prepare a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac foreclosure file and then change the code and hide the file so auditors could not review the file when they visited the law office.

According to data just released by financial ratings agency Weiss Ratings, the nations three largest mortgage lenders are all holding massive amounts mortgages that have either been foreclosed or are in the foreclosure process. JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all hold over $20 billion worth homes that have been foreclosed or in foreclosure! JP Morgan Chase has the largest dollar total of troubled loans with $21.7 billion followed by Wells Fargo, $20.5 billion, and Bank of America with $20.3 billion.

The study also found that for "every dollar these banks held in mortgages in foreclosure, there were an additional $2 in loan in the pipeline that were 30 days or more past due. With regard to mortgages 30 or more days past due Bank of America is on top with $54.6 billion in mortgages 30 or more days past due, Wells Fargo holds $48 billion and JP Morgan Chase is third with $43.4 billion.

These statistics are just a snapshot of how large the national foreclosure problem is a it puts a real dollar amount on how much money the banks stand to lose if something isn't done to solve the foreclosure problem. If you mortgage lender is suing you for foreclosure, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or an Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to explore your foreclosure prevention options.

A new, emergency rule targeted to detect and eliminate irregularities with mortgage foreclosure documents has been approved by Maryland's highest court. The rule allows court to appoint independent lawyers to review filed foreclosure documents for inconsistencies and if a problem is identified, the lender has 30 days to show why its foreclosure case should not be dismissed. Any costs or fees incurred as a result of any discovered inconsistencies must be covered at the lenders own expense!

Maryland courts have seen a rise in the number of foreclosure cases that contain potentially fraudulent documents. By enacting this new rule, which goes into effect immediately, the court stated "passing the rule will put the high court's imprimatur on it and make clear to litigants, lawyers and the public that foreclosure documents will be scrutinized."

The Maryland rule, if implemented and used effectively, has to potential to be a powerful tool in the fight to stop foreclosure fraud. If you are facing a foreclosure lawsuit and you feel that you may be a victim of foreclosure fraud, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

Just as mortgage lenders Bank of American and GMAC are resuming their foreclosure activities, new examples of documentation problems are popping up around the nation. Some consumer attorney's are saying that the speed with which the mortgage lenders "conducted their document reviews" could not have been sufficient enough to actually review the volume of documents necessary to assess and cure the problems. A Bank of America spokesman said that the company did not review all the documents but instead "conducted a scientific sampling of 102,000 foreclosures affected by the moratorium imposed earlier this month."

In two separate Florida Foreclosure Cases newly filed affidavits from GMAC lacked the necessary supporting documentation, as required by Florida Law. Employees lacking knowledge about the documents they are signing is the root of the "robo-signor" problem and it doesn't appear as if mortgage lenders have taken the necessary steps to correct the problem.

It appears as though the "robo-signor" phenomenon may not go away as quick as we initially hoped. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your case for potential "robo-signors."

The latest round of depositions of former employees of the Law Offices of David J. Stern have brought forth new information about the day-to-day practices of the notorious Florida "foreclosure mill." Kelly Scott, the former legal assistant to Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Samons, described the long tables "where employees would sign as a witness and notarize documents with actually witnessing them" and stated that twice each day, Samons would go into her office and sign 500 documents without actually reading them.

Ms. Scott also described the benefits Ms. Samons received for her efforts; receiving a new BMW SUV each year, the office paying her personal mortgage and any associated bills and periodic gifts of jewelry. Also contained in Ms. Scott's sworn testimony is a statement that the officers were alerted as to when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac auditors were coming to the office so that employees could "alter client codes and hide files" that were being handled improperly. Once the auditors left the premises the files were brought back out and work continued unabated.

It seems that each passing week brings forth new details of the unscrupulous legal practices of the Law Offices of David J. Stern. If you have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit where the Law Offices of David J. Stern is the plaintiff's attorney, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review your case to determine what defenses may be available to you.

MERS is a holding company with the sole purpose of keeping track of mortgages that are securitized and sold. MERS does not have a board of directors and is not capitalized. This unusual structure makes it difficult for a plaintiff to sue MERS.

Many class actions against MERS have recently been filed across the country. The biggest lawsuit currently facing MERS was filed by the State of California, claiming that MERS owes the state between $60-$120 billion in unpaid land recording fees. The results of this lawsuit will be felt around the country. If California is successful with its action you can bet that many other states will follow suit.

Mark Harmon has resigned from his position as a director at DJSP Enterprises, Inc. (DJSP). DJSP is one of America's largest foreclosure servicers. The company was created when David J. Stern sold all of his non-legal operations to DJSP. Harmon is the president of the Boston-based Harmon Law Offices, P.C., which handles foreclosure related legal services for major lenders in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Attorney General is currently investigating whether Harmon's law firm illegally evicted tenants from repossessed homes in the state.

Harmon's resignation comes on the heels of Stern stepping down as the chairman of DJSP. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chief Operating Officer Richard Powers and Chief Financial Officer Howard Burnston resigned from DJSP at the same time that Stern stepped down as chairman. Stern has retained his position as the CEO of the company. The Law Offices of David J. Stern is the only major client of DJSP.

With news reports of "robo-signing" of sworn affidavits from many of the nations largest mortgage lenders, some South Florida judges are now forcing banks to follow the Florida rules of civil procedure! Rule 1.510(e) requires lenders who file a motion for summary judgment that contains a supporting affidavit to attach the paperwork on which the sworn statements are based, to the affidavit. Palm Beach County chief judge Peter Blanc stated, "if the foreclosure affidavits are accurate, and they are based on person knowledge, it shouldn't be too time consuming for the evidence to be printed and attached."

Not attaching the paperwork to the affidavits is a problem mainly for those homeowners that do not contest the foreclosures, but the rule applies foreclosures across the board. In Palm Beach County alone about 80% of foreclosures are uncontested, meaning thousands of homeowners have been foreclosed without the lender having to follow this critical rule. This issue is usually not a problem for homeowners who are represented by a competent attorney because their attorney will object to this practice.

It seems as though at least one Florida Judicial Circuit is catching on to the practices of mortgage lenders and their "foreclosure mill" attorneys, Florida homeowners can only hope that this knowledge spreads statewide. If you are facing an Orange Park foreclosure lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

California foreclosure defense attorney Michael Pines has started to gain a national reputation for the lengths he has gone through to help his clients retake their homes. As detailed in a previous Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer's blog, Mr. Pines has been encouraging his clients to break-in to their foreclosed homes and begin living in them again. Now Mr. Pines and one of his clients have been arrested and are facing criminal breaking and entering charges for their extreme actions.

Mr. Pines, who has been practicing law for more than 20 years, believes that those who have been evicted from their homes during the current foreclosure crisis should be able to get their homes back "because they were illegally stolen from them." A J.P. Morgan spokesman, who purchased the home that caused Mr. Pines and his client to be arrested, stated that in this case there were "two illegal break-ins and squatting in a two-week period last November" which prompted the police presence and subsequent arrests.

It remains to be seen if being arrested will curb the actions of Mr. Pines or his evicted clients. If you are facing a Florida foreclosure legal action, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore defenses that may be available to you.

Robo-Signors are not the experts many believe they are. In recent depositions of several former employees of the nations largest banks, it has come to light that financial institutions hired wholly unqualified individuals and called them "experts." Among those deposed were former hairstylists, Walmart floor workers and assembly line workers and in their sworn testimony many stated they barely knew what a mortgage was and other "robo-signors" couldn't even define affidavit, even though that is what they are putting their sworn statements on! What is even worse is the fact that some of the signors KNEW that they were lying when they signed the foreclosure documents.

Now Bank of America and GMAC have put a moratorium in all 50 states. This is along with JP Morgan Chase, PNC Financial, and Litton Loan Servicing who have stopped foreclosures in 23 states. JP Morgan, Bank of America, Litton Loan Servicing, and more have launched investigations into their foreclosure procedures

Until the full extent of "robo-signors" affects are know, every mortgage, especially if in foreclosure should be reviewed by your local foreclosure lawyer. If you have a pending foreclosure or would like your mortgage reviewed for legal sufficiency, contact your local Ponte Vedra Foreclosure Attorney today.

The U.S. Treasure department just released the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) numbers for September 2010 and they paint a less than flattering picture of the current state of the foreclosure prevention program. Completed permanent HAMP modifications were down 16% over the August 2010 numbers, with servicers completing just 28,000 permanent modifications during September.

The primary problem with the program is that more than half of the homeowners who entered into some form of modification have voluntarily dropped out of the program. The Obama administrations' flagship foreclosure prevention program was initially intended to help three to four million borrowers save their homes, but through September 2010 there are only 466,708 active, permanent mortgage modifications.

If you are one of the thousands of Florida homeowners who attempted to save your home through the HAMP program and are now facing a Florida foreclosure lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case to determine what defenses may be available to save your home.

For the full September HAMP report, click here.

Foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac has released the foreclosure stats for the third quarter of 2010 and lenders seized a record 288,345 homes during that period. This is an increase of 18,000 homes over the previous homes of 270,000, set in the second quarter of 2010.

Banks have now repossessed 816,000 homes in 2010 with projections for total homes being reposed to 1.2 million by the end of the year. These numbers, coupled with the nearly 600,000 bank repossessed homes that are not yet listed for sale and
announcement that mortgage giant Fannie Mae is removing its current foreclosed home stock from the market, threatens to drag national home values down even more, further depressing an already struggling housing market. Some estimates have foreclosed home sales comprising as much as 30% of total sales and removing that percentage could prove disastrous.

If you are one of the thousands of Florida residents that is facing foreclosure, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today for a consultation to review your case.

A Southern California family has reclaimed the home they lost to foreclosure; with the help of a locksmith and their attorney. The homeowners, along with their nine children, were evicted after they were forced into foreclosure when home value dropped several hundred thousand dollars. Since their eviction in July the family had been staying at several short-term rental properties but those properties have been hard to find due to the size of the family.

The six-bedroom, five-bath home was sold via a courthouse auction in February and the new owners, an investor group, spent $40,000 updating and remodeling the home. Once remodeled, the home was put under contract with a new buyer. Before the new buyer could take possession of the home, the previous owners reclaimed the home on the advice of their attorney. The family's attorney alleges that there was significant foreclosure fraud and wrote in the court petition "the bank used the usual fabricated and forged documents to foreclose" and that there are significant questions as to who actually owns the loan and had the right to foreclose.

This is an extreme example of homeowners fighting back against the banks. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer does not recommend this extreme course of action. Instead, to find possible defenses to your Duval Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a review of your case.