Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

A recent Eleventh Circuit case, Oppenheim v. I.C. System, Inc., just ruled that in a limited factual situation a seller of good could also be a "consumer" and therefore protected under FDCPA and FCCPA. In this case, Barry Oppenheim sold his personal computer on craigslist and the buyer made the payment through Paypal. Unfortunately, the payment was fraudulent and therefore, Paypal requested Oppenheim to refund the money to paypal, as required under its terms and conditions agreement. After Oppenhiem refusal to repay the amount, Paypal hired I.C. System, Inc. to recover the money. For the next three months, I.C. System made several calls to Oppenhiem to the degree of harassment and containing false and misleading information.

In Order to be protected under FDCPA and FCCPA, Oppenhiem's obligation to pay must constitute a "debt." The court ruled that Oppenhiem was protected under FDCPA and FCCPA. He is a "consumer" form the transaction between Paypal and him when Paypal took the funds and deposited them into his account, thereby making him a consumer of Paypal. As for "transaction" Oppenhiem's obligation to pay did arise from his agreement to the Terms of Paypal's services. And finally, this transaction was for a "personal purpose" in how it was the selling of his personal computer and the money was deposited in his personal account. Therefore, Oppenhiem met all of the requirements to be given the protection provided for in both FDCPA and FCCPA.

New RealtyTrac national foreclosure data shows that new foreclosure filings for the month of November were the lowest they have been in over two years. New foreclosure filings dropped 21 percent from October and are down 14 percent from November 2009. There were 262,339 total foreclosures filed nationwide, the first time since 2009 that filings have dipped below 300,000 for a one month period.

One of the major factors contributing to the precipitous drop is the fallout from the "robo-signing" controversy which caused many lenders and servicers to suspend foreclosure filings while looking into those allegations, according to foreclosure experts. For the 47th straight month Nevada lead the nation in foreclosure filings, followed by Utah, Arizona, Florida, California and Michigan.

Even though this trend may be temporary as bank re-start many of the suspended foreclosure filings, it is still good news for thousands of Florida homeowners. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to discover what defenses may be available to save your home.

Since the recession beginnings of the financial crisis more than three years ago, banks have been reluctant to extend credit to what they termed "risky borrowers," but recently the banks have started to make credit offers to this group again in order to recoup some losses they have experienced during the recession. However, these new offers come with high interest rates and large annual fees. For instance, Capital One offers a credit card with an average interest rate of 18% with an annual fee up to $50!

These new offers were sparked by the impact credit cards have on Lender's profits, and since the recession this income have drastically dropped. So, in response, Lenders have started to offer credit on a secured basis. Meaning that the customer has to either link a checking, savings, or other type of account to the credit card so as to allow the Lender to withdrawal money if a payment is missed. Bank of America and Wells Fargo have began to issue these Secured credit cards by requiring the customer to make a deposit that they cannot touch in order to be approved for the card.

If you have debt that is becoming overdue or that is causing financial distress that is leading you down the road to foreclosure, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

Ever since the Florida Attorney General's Office announced its investigation into the foreclosure practices of the Law Offices of David J. Stern, along with four other Florida "foreclosure mills, mortgage giants such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac have pulled their cases from the firm and are now scrambling to find new law firms to take over those cases and this is causing additional delays for foreclosure courts.

At its peak the firm was handling more than 70,000 foreclosure cases and now that it no longer handles many of those cases, no one is showing up for the hearings from the lenders. Some foreclosure defense lawyers are having trouble setting hearings or even finding someone from the other side to even speak to about the cases! In those instances where other law firms have picked up Stern's old cases the firms are typically asking for continuances so that they can get up to speed, further delaying the foreclosure process.

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer hopes now that some of the thousands of foreclosure cases handled by the Law Offices of David J. Stern have shifted away from the firm, some of the sloppiness and problems that plagued those cases will be cleaned up. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to have your case reviewed.

California company, Home Lease Exchange, LLC, has launched a new FREE service to families facing foreclosure by enabling them to enter into long term leases with other families near by. The idea behind this plan is that Lenders would be faced with either becoming landlords or modifying mortgages. This is because buyers at trustee sales will not buy homes that are under long-term leases, therefore the bank would have to buy the home if it was not sold and become a landlord.

This program gives the homeowners leverage against the lender because of President Obama's Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which allows tenants to stay in their home through the term of their lease. Alternatively, if the bank still elects to foreclose, the program allows the homeowner to move from their current home and lease another house close by that has also been foreclosed. All that is required is first months rent to move into the property, NO credit check or security deposits!

To read more about the Home Lease Exchange program click here.

In yet another blow to a notorious Florida "foreclosure mill," former employees of the Law Office of David J. Stern and a associated company have filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the firm of firing them without the required 60 days notice. The suit states that hundreds of employees were fired with the advanced notice required under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The Act requires that employees be given at least 60 days' warning, plus pay and benefits, before a mass layoff.

The law firms trouble began when Fannie Mae, one of its largest clients announced that it would no longer be referring cases to the firm, then announcing a few weeks later that it was pulling all its cases. The layoffs began in October and to date the firm has laid off more than 700 people. According to reports, during one round of layoffs employees were notified by email and instructed to be out of their offices within an hour! The fired employees are seeking back pay, benefits, vacation time and access to continuation of the health insurance vie the federal COBRA program.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan has announced that the company if moving or has recently moved "a couple thousand more sales people from our sales side, our centralized sales group, over to our servicing areas," move that that the CEO says will help struggling homeowners get mortgage modifications more quickly. Moynihan also stated that the mortgage giant will continue to hire new external associates to fill its servicing needs. To date, Bank of America employs more than 26,000 people dedicated to "helping customer who are delinquent."

According to a Bank of America release, the company completed about 25,000 mortgage modifications in October, a 52 percent increase from the September figures. Moynihan said the Bank of America is "completing permanent modifications at a rate of no one else in the industry" but that when homeowners do not qualify for either a private or government modification the bank forecloses.

It appears as though at least one major mortgage company is ramping up its efforts to help struggling homeowners. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a complimentary case review.

Just days after a letter signed by the ACLU, the Florida Association of Broadcasters, the Florida Society of News Editors, the Florida Press Association, the Florida Times Union and the First Amendment Foundation spurred the Florida Supreme Courts to declare that all foreclosure courts be open to the public, the ACLU has filed an appeal asking the Second District Court of Appeal to reverse its injunction preventing a video deposition of "robo-signors" to be posted on YoutTube.

The depositions of three employees of National Title Company, taken by the Forest Law Firm in connection with one of its foreclosure defense cases, was put under gag order by Sarasota Judge Rick DeFuria. Addressing the importance of the videotaped depositions, Howard Siman, ACLU of Florida Executive Director stated "putting the videotaped depositions of "robo-signors" on YouTube gives the world an opportunity to see how the practices of banks and title companies are affecting homeowners facing serious financial problems."

The fight to get the word out on the dept of the "robo-signor" scandal is heating up. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to review the circumstances surrounding your case.

With almost 25% of U.S. mortgage borrowers having negative equity, or being "underwater," on their homes and growing evidence that negative equity is one of the major factors that leads homeowners to walk away from their homes, federal officials are pressuring mortgage giant Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to write-down principle balances for those borrowers. In March, Treasury officials announced a principle write-down options for homeowners who qualified for the HAMP program, but borrowers whose loans were owned by Fannie and Freddie were not eligible. Combined, Fannie and Freddie either own or guarantee 50% of U.S. home mortgages but to-date the two companies have been unwilling to forgive principle balances for underwater borrowers.

Federal officials, including the White House, have met with representatives of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac asking them to participate in the government's new foreclosure prevention initiative to reduce loan balances for those homeowners who are underwater. Industry insiders have stated that without Fannie and Freddie participation in the program, other mortgage lenders will be reluctant to join and the impact of the program will be minimal.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are considering applying for a loan modification or any other type of foreclosure alternative, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a complimentary review of your circumstances.

As a result of fund allocated through the Department of Treasury's Hardest Hit Fund, the state of North Carolina has created a new Foreclosure Prevention Fund to assist struggling homeowners. The fund, administered by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, is designed to aid struggling homeowners who cannot make their mortgage payments due to a job loss or other temporary financial hardship. The fund will make mortgage payments for borrowers for up to 24 months and if the homeowner continues to live in the home for ten years the money paid on behalf of the homeowner will be forgiven.

Director of the North Carolina Housing Finance agency Robert Kucab stated that the goal of the program is to help "21,000 North Carolina unemployed workers to keep their homes." In order to qualify for help from the fund, the eligible homeowners must have good payment histories before the job loss or financial hardship and the ability to resume payments once the assistance ends. Mr. Kucab also stated that another potential benefit of the program is that "by reducing the number of foreclosure sales, the effort will also help stabilize property values in communities across the state."

This is evidence that both Federal and State governments are hearing the cries of homeowners that they need help. 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.

In many cases the answer to this question is yes. Often times homeowners find themselves "underwater" in the home and are afraid that if they surrender their home in satisfaction of their first mortgage their second mortgage lender will pursue a deficiency against them or they will file a form 1099(c) creating tax liabilities for the amount of the second mortgage.

One of the most effective ways a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer has found to prevent that from happening is for a homeowner to file a chapter 13 bankruptcy surrendering the house in full satisfaction of the first and second mortgage before the house if foreclosed on. By doing this, the homeowner prevents the holder of a second mortgage company from filing a deficiency claims because the house has not yet been sold and the funds dispersed. This method is especially effective for those homeowners who have little other debt and are looking to protect assets.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are considering your foreclosure alternatives, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a review of your case and explore what alternatives may be available to you.

Lately, federal regulators along with members of Congress have begun to question the "dual track" practices of banks where they consider homeowners for mortgage modifications while pursuing a foreclosure at the same time. Many banks have stated that unless regulators want to increase the average length of time it takes to foreclose on a home the "dual track" is a necessity. Don't tell that to a Boca Raton couple who, at the urging of their lender, applied for a loan modification only the see their home foreclosed on less than a year later.

The couple fell on hard times in early 2009 when their mortgage rate adjusted just as their flooring business, and major source of income, began to struggle. They applied for a mortgage modification through their lender but their home was foreclosed in on and they were evicted in May 2010. But in August 2010 they received a letter from their lender congratulating them on being approved for a trial modification and alerting them that their first modified payment was due September 1! The couple has been able to get the court to vacate the foreclosure sale but now they feel that they are in limbo. They are still living in the apartment they rented after their eviction and in late November they received a letter from the bank saying they needed to pay for fire insurance.

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer is afraid that the practices of "dual track" foreclosure practices will lead to more and more stories like this one. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

Many of the servicing banks continue to tell homeowners that they will not foreclose on the home while they are in the process of doing a loan modification, but we often see that foreclosure proceedings are started prior to or simultaneously with the loan modification This is just another example of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a brief question and answer with business reporter Nick Timiraos addressing that question and others like it. The answer to this general question is that yes is does affect your credit and surprisingly has almost the same affect on a consumers credit that actually having your home foreclosed on does!

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are considering some sort of foreclosure alternative, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review what options may be available to you.

To read the full Q & A with Nick Timiraos click here.

A 71-year old Florida woman bought her 2 story house in a middle class neighborhood in 1978 but what makes her different from other people is that she hasn't made a mortgage October 1985. That time has spanned two marriages, seven great-grandchildren, three recessions and even four presidents. She says that now, no one owns her mortgage due to the amount of paperwork fraud that occurred between 1985 and now.

The basis for her fight is that her mortgage, which has been sold six times, was transferred improperly between banks and federal agencies and that now no one can rightfully determine who actually owns the note and mortgage. In the beginning the woman was able to have several courts acknowledge that several of her issues had merit but recently the court has dismissed all but two of her defenses. The woman has now become so adept at handling each foreclosure pleading and is now handling her case on her own.

While this homeowner has been relatively successful in fighting her foreclosure case, this is not a course of action a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer recommends. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary case review.

We have had 5 cases with bad service by ProVest.  Many of these have been reported in the local and National news.  Now it looks like someone is beginning to pay attention to people loosing their homes based on invalid service of process.

First is was the Robo-signers and now the AG is lookign at bad service of process. We will have to wait and see which of the many problems with foreclosures the Florida AG decides to investigate next.

Florida Attorney General began an investigation into fraudulent and improper business practices of Provest of Tampa, one of the nations largest process servers, and Gissen & Zawyer Process Service, one of the largest in Florida and located in Miami. This investigation began after "numerous complaints" have arisen. Some of the allegations include, back-dating documents, questionable billings, and filing false statements with the court.

The investigation stemmed from multiple complaints about inconsistencies in the service of process from foreclosure defense attorneys across the state as well as the State Attorney Generals Office investigation into "foreclosure mill" law firms, Law offices of David J. Stern, just to name one. Both process servicing companies have made statements denying the allegations.

This is just one more step the government is taking to try and get a handle on all the "questionable" Foreclosure procedures that have plagued this state and the nation. Foreclosure is a complicated legal process and the system favors the bank in most cases. So, if you risk Foreclosure or have been served with a Complaint, or seem to be involved in a lawsuit but were never served, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to see what options are available to you.

An elderly New York is breathing a little easier this week after Bank of America admitted they improperly foreclosed on her home by failing to properly service her loan and denied her a mortgage modification. The woman, who purchased her home in 1988 and has raised her children and several of her grandchildren there, fell behind in her mortgage payments after being forced to refinance her home after her longtime tenant moved out and applied for a mortgage modification through her mortgage servicer.

In a story that is strikingly similar to stories that a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer has heard from its clients, the woman was asked to provided a hardship letter and financial documents multiple times and each time she provided them nothing would come of it. She was put on three short term modification plans, two of which required her to pay $7,000 in upfront money, with the promise of a long term modification after the short term plans expired, to no avail. Unbeknownst to the homeowner, as she was complying with the mortgage modification plans Bank of America was proceeding with its foreclosure action against her. In late august the woman received a notice on her front door that her home had been foreclosed on and turned over to Fannie Mae.

Thanks to the efforts of her attorney after the home had been foreclosed on, the woman has had her case reopened, the foreclosure sale rescinded and Bank of America has agreed to modify her loan.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to have your case reviewed for defenses that may be available to you.

To read the full New York Times account click here.

Due to the bank ordered freezes of foreclosure sales due to nationwide allegations of foreclosure fraud and robo-signors the year-over-year sales of homes and condominiums fell 25% in November. This stands in contrast to the month-over-month sale in the Jacksonville area, which increased 3%.

Pending sales rose by 22% in November but closings fell by a little over 24%. This trend had little affect on the prices of traditional sales which rose by 8.9%. The prices for non-traditional sales, those sales completed due to foreclosure or short-sale, fell by 3.2% in November.

Last week, Federal Reserve Governer Dan Tarullo told the Senate Banking Committee last week that it has found "extensive deficiencies in the servicing and foreclosure processes" in the nations largest mortgage lenders as a result of its investigation into allegations of robo-signing. Mr. Tarullo said that it "has become clear that the industry will need to make substantial investments to fix the problems and should consider fundamental changes to the current mortgage system."

During its investigations the Federal Reserve found weaknesses in risk management and quality control as well as deficiencies in staff training, communication between loan modification and foreclosure staff and management of third-party servicers. These problems are compounded by the fact that the real property laws which govern foreclosure practices can vary from state to state. Senator Chris Dodd, outgoing chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, stated that he "would like to submit very specific ideas and language [addressing national foreclosure standards] that could be part of this committee's consideration over the next months."

This development will hopefully have a positive impact on the national foreclosure climate going forward. National foreclosure standards would go a long way to ensuring that homeowners who are facing foreclosure get the full benefit of the law. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to have your case reviewed and determine what defenses may be available to you.

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer has recently received several calls from clients stating that someone, supposedly from the bank foreclosing on their home, has come to their home with a piece of paper or work order stating that they need to inspect the interior of their home. While there are provisions in many mortgages that allow representatives of the lenders to periodically inspect the exterior of a residence, there is no reason for a lender to demand to inspect the interior of your home.

So what advice does a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer offer? Do not let them in your home. As a safety concern, the person purporting to be from the lender could be someone trying to invade your home illegally. If you are approached by someone saying they have permission from your lender to inspect the interior of your home, tell them that if it is absolutely necessary to inspect the interior have the lenders law firm contact your attorney directly, if you are represented, or to call you to set up proper arrangements.

If you are 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 you.

Circuit Judge Susan Gardner of Pasco County has recently undertaken a much more thorough review of the pending foreclosure cases in her courtroom. This comes after many foreclosure mills have been accused of over-billing homeowners for serving notice of the foreclosure lawsuits. These fees for service of process are typically between $50 and $200. However, judges are regularly seeing charges from the foreclosure mills of more than $1,000. In some cases these charges are being attributed to service on a person that does not even exist.

As part of her examination, Judge Gardner randomly selected twelve cases for review. Of the twelve cases, eleven of them had what appeared to be inflated charges for service of process. Additionally, she has begun to see a trend that the lawyers signing the affidavits attesting to the reasonableness of the fees are signing their names and bar numbers in a manner which make them impossible to decipher.

She has ordered five lawyers from various foreclosure mills appear before her in court to explain the fees and their illegible signatures. Judge Gardner recently made the following statement, "I don't want to throw anybody in jail, but I'm getting really angry, and I'm not going to tolerate it anymore. I want some answers. This stuff isn't going through on my watch."

Last week the Board of Governors of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), the FDIC, the National Credit Union Administration, Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Reserve System released guidelines for financial institutions regarding sound practices for real estate appraisals and evaluations. The guidelines will replace the existing set, written in 1994.

Appraisals are extremely important in evaluating the value of collateral for mortgage loans and many experts have pointed to the inflated prices of homes as one factor that caused the current housing crisis. The guidelines set forth the "minimum standards for appraisals and incorporate the agencies' recent supervisory issuances on appraisal practices." Even though the guidelines set forth new standards to for appraisals, the onus remains on the lenders to hire competent appraisers and evaluators who can and will implement these standards.

These new guidelines are an important step in fixing what is currently a broken housing system. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

For a complete look at the new appraisal guidelines click here.

A recent study completed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that once lenders initiate a foreclosure action, they almost always complete the process even if the cost of pursuing the foreclosure outweighs the projected proceeds from the sale of the property. The GAO found that there were between 14,500 and 34,600 abandoned foreclosures from January 2008 and March 2010, a number that represents less than one percent of the total vacant homes as a result of foreclosure.

Typically lender "walk away's" occur in areas where foreclosure proceedings are very concentrated. In fact, 61% of lender "walk away's" occurred in various cities in Michigan, Ohio and Florida, three of the states affected the most by the foreclosure crisis. Vacant homes due to foreclosures have been associated with increased crime rates, decreased property values and increase municipal costs for those communities who attempt to maintain abandoned homes. Lenders are not required to notify homeowners when they have "walked away" from foreclosure cases, leading many borrowers to vacate their homes even though they still own the home and are responsible for taxes and maintenance.

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

While thousands of troubled homeowners have pursued short sales as a potential solution to their mortgage troubles, many are now finding it almost impossible to complete the sales. The reason for the difficulty in complete short sales is because numerous banks are reluctant to release the second mortgages unless they are monetarily compensated. This creates a problem because the holders of the first mortgage, usually guaranteed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are already agreeing to accept less than the amount owed on the mortgage and compensating the holders of second mortgages increases this gap.

June statistics from real-estate research firm Corelogic indicate that 11 million U.S. homeowners are "underwater" on their homes and 2.5 million homeowners have just 5% equity. Many lenders and policy makers have indicated that short sales may be the best way to stimulate the housing market while helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. These hurdles can increase the time that it takes to get short sales approved, a process that already can take several months.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are exploring the potential for a short sale or other foreclosure alternatives, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your circumstances

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America and other major mortgage lenders have announced that they will suspend foreclosure evictions during the holiday season. The suspension of evictions will run from December 20th to January 3rd and the banks are encouraging mortgage servicers to do the same. Although evictions of occupied homes will be suspended during this time, foreclosures of unoccupied homes will still continue during that time.

In recent weeks bankruptcy courts and the associated United States Trustee Program have begun to increase the scrutiny with which they are looking at requests to proceed with foreclosures and requiring the foreclosing lender to prove that they are the proper party to foreclose on the property. Bankruptcy courts in New Jersey and Georgia have denied to remove the automatic foreclosure stays that are put in place when a court confirms a debtor's bankruptcy repayment plan because banks have been unable to satisfactorily prove they were the parties that actually owned the mortgages.

In order for the lenders to foreclose on a home once the homeowner has an approved repayment plan, the lender must file a motion to remove to stay and prove they are entitled to foreclose. Spokeswoman for the U.S. Trustee Program Jane Limprecht verified the Program's increased scrutiny by stating it "is engaged in an enhanced review of mortgage servicer filings in bankruptcy cases to help ensure the accuracy of the claim to repayment."

This is a positive step for those homeowners facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are considering bankruptcy. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore your foreclosure alternative options.

The California law firm of Harwood Feffer, LLP has announced that it has filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo and its mortgage servicer America's Servicing Company (ASC) for inducing homeowners into defaulting on the mortgages by telling them they would not be eligible for a mortgage modification while they were current on their payments. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, claims that when borrowers who were current on their mortgages inquired about the possibility of the mortgage modification, they were told that they must be several months behind on their payments before their mortgage could be reviewed for a modification!

A statement issued by the firm explained the underlying reasons they believe servicers have committed these frauds, "as a loan servicer, ASC generates a significant portion of its revenue from fees, penalties, and interest collected on non-performing loans it servicers...it is in ASC's financial interest to avoid, delay, and deny loan modifications and to pursue foreclosures because doing to will lead to increased revenue." The HAMP guidelines clearly set out that borrowers who are not in default but are in distressed are eligible if they can demonstrate a financial hardship.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit or have experienced circumstances similar to those described above, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to have your case reviewed.

A Miami Gardens woman is facing the loss of her home of 15 years through foreclosure due to a startling amount of mortgage fraud and it seems as though the foreclosing entity doesn't care. Despite a mountain of evidence of mortgage fraud including the mortgage broker who handled the homeowners refinance has been convicted of, and is serving a 11-year sentence for, grand theft and has an additional 16 counts of mortgage fraud pending; the closing agent operated an illegal title company believed to have stolen $1.5 million from South Florida homeowners from 2005-2007; Florida Default Law Group, one of the "foreclosure mills" being investigated by the Florida Attorney General, is the firm prosecuting the foreclosure action, law enforcement officers are scheduled to evict the family next week.

This whole ordeal started when the mortgage broker, an associate of BlueKap Financial Group, paid an unsolicited visit to the homeowner telling her that he could give her a hassle-free refinance, allowing her to take $50,000 of equity out of her home to help her during the period of time she was looking for a nursing job. The mortgage broker, using a fraud scheme he and his associates employed many times, used an inflated appraisal and a "straw buyer" to take $230,000 of false equity out of the house before giving the promised $50,000 to the unknowing homeowner. Now the homeowner is on the hook to Deutsche Bank for the full amount of the mortgage, $303,000, though the home is currently appraised at $98,310.

In July, the case was transferred to the new Miami-Dade "rocket docket" from the civil division, where it had spent the previous three years. In August the case was transferred to a Section 50 court, where cases open longer than two years are placed, and the new judge granted Deutsche Bank summary judgment effectively ending the case. The homeowner stated that during the 15-minute summary judgment hears that the judge did not allow her or her attorney to get in a word of defense.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and you feel that you may have been a victim of mortgage fraud, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to have your case reviewed.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Friday that foreclosure rescue companies and loan modification firms will no longer be able to legally charge up-front fees for their services. The FTC has received thousands of complaints against companies who charge thousands of dollars in up-front fees by promising to get their mortgage loans modified, only to turn around and do nothing. To date, the FTC has already brought more than 30 cases against these types of companies.

To evidence the scope of the problem when announcing the new law FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz stated "at a time when many Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages, peddlers of so called mortgage relief services have taken hundreds of millions of dollars from homeowners without ever delivering result."

The new law prevents companies from collecting any fee until homeowners receive a written offer from a lender or other mortgage servicer that they decide to accept. The law also requires companies to inform potential clients that their services are not affiliated with any government entity or that their company's services are not approved by any lender as well as preventing companies from telling homeowners to stop communicating with their lenders or servicers.