Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

In recent weeks a curious trend has been developing in several South Florida counties, lenders are voluntarily dropping their foreclosure suits instead to facing the homeowners in court. While this trend seems to be a good sign for those homeowners facing foreclosure, it sends a mixed bag of signals to all parties involved; are the banks just taking a break from the flawed suits with the intention of refilling them at a later date or have the banks and their lawyers simply thrown up their hands and said enough. At this point no one knows.

Lee County Clerk of Court Charlie Green says his office expects the banks to come back and refile the case, which can be expensive for the banks as filing fees in foreclosure cases can run into the thousands of dollars. Many of the foreclosures being dismissed contain mortgages which were bundled into mortgage-backed securities and sold to Wall Street investors. Many industry insiders point to the recent Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that two foreclosures were invalid because the foreclosing banks could not prove they owned the mortgages because the mortgages were improperly transferred into mortgage-backed securities as a potential reason that banks are dismissing these foreclosure cases.

As a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer, I hope this trend continues and banks realize their cases are too flawed to be litigated. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

In a trend a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer hopes becomes much more common, a South Florida couple recently received news that they prevailed in their mortgage foreclosure suit because the bank suing them could not prove that they owned their mortgage loan. The couple, who defaulted on their loan in May 2008 and went all the way to a bench trial ending in December 2010, were being sued initially by Chase Home Finance then by U.S. Bank which claimed the mortgage note, the document securing payment and evidencing ownership of the loan, was "inadvertently lost or destroyed."

The affidavit of an official at U.S. Bank stated that the original promissory note had been delivered to Florida Foreclosure Mill Marshall C. Watson via Federal Express, the "placed in a secured and locked vault" but now it appears that the note cannot be located. This is a commonplace occurrence but is seldom brought up in cases because so many homeowners fail to defend their foreclosures. Now that the court has ruled that U.S. Bank doesn't have the ability to foreclose on the home, the couple can live in the home and not make a mortgage payment, although if they sell the home they will have to pay off the mortgage.

This is a victory not only for the homeowners but also hopefully for all Florida homeowners. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

An elderly California woman has been the victim of a scam that led her into foreclosure and almost into having her home auctioned off at the courthouse steps. Fortunately the 89 year old woman, who faced multiple foreclosures on her property, will be able to stay in the home she has lived in since 1951 due to the work of her local legal aid office. The elderly woman was tricked into signing loan documents obligating her to hundreds of thousands of dollars of payments with several banks, including GMAC Mortgage, Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems or MERS.

Court officials have announced that all sides have reached a settlement on the cases which cancel the sale of the woman's home and dismissal of all the foreclosure cases without obligating the woman under any of the loan transactions. The woman was duped into signing these documents by a handyman who was hired to do some repairs around her home but who she developed a very close fiduciary relationship with over the course of several years. Reports indicate that the handyman has fled the U.S. and if caught faces up to 8 years in prison for his actions.

The elderly are especially vulnerable to these types of scheme and are usually within the group that does not answer any sort of foreclosure filing they receive due to a lack of understanding. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer is glad that in this instance, everything worked out to allow the elderly woman to stay in her home. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

Chairman of the FDIC Shelia Blair is made an interesting proposal during her speech at the Mortgage Bankers Association meeting in Washington, D.C. last week; setting up a commission to pay monetary settlements to those homeowner who have been damaged by the national foreclosure mess. Mrs. Blair proposal includes setting up a "foreclosure claims commission", in much the same style as those commissions set up after 9/11 and the BP oil spill, in order to address and deal with the complaints of homeowners who suffered a harm at the hands of mortgage lenders and servicers. Mrs. Blair also proposed a "broad settlement" for those homeowners that have been improperly foreclosed on by the lenders.

The commission, which would "provide remedies for borrowers harmed by past practices", would be directly funded by mortgage servicers who have been widely accused of moving to slowly to prevent foreclosures and driving the foreclosures through the use of fraudulent and careless paperwork. Mrs. Blair said she believes that her proposal will be met with strong resistance from the mortgage servicing industry as it will "impose much of the immediate financial cost of the major servicers themselves."

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer hopes that Mrs. Blair's proposal gets put into place and those homeowners who have been damaged by the actions of mortgage servicers and lender get some sort of compensation. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

On the heels of the its announcement that Citigroup, Inc. has achieved its first full-year profit since 2007, comes other news that does not paint such a rosy picture for the company. According to reports from Bloomberg, a review of mortgages by government mortgage giant Freddie Mac show the bank is still selling mortgages that "violate quality standards" with 15% of those mortgages Citigroup sold being labeled as non-conforming. The target acceptable percentage for mortgage that contain defects, such as missing appraisals, incorrect income calculations, of missing insurance documents, is 5%.

In recent months many banks, including Citigroup, Inc., have pointed to their newer, more stringent lending practices and the fact that the majority of the mortgages that lead to the current foreclosure crisis were originated in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. Citigroup has reported fourth quarter 2010 income as $1.31 billion, compared with a $7.58 billion loss in the last quarter of 2009. Even though Citigroup, Inc. appears to be pulling out of the depths that caused it to receive a multi-billion dollar government bailout, it potentially faces another round of billion dollar mortgage repurchase requests from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with other investors that bought mortgage backed securities that contained non-performing mortgages.

It is shocking that with claims that it has cleaned up its mortgage lending practices after the mistakes of a few years ago that Citigroup is still originating and peddling these types of mortgages. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure alternative options may be available to you.

lawmakers in the state of Virginia begin their new session, they will potentially have three new proposals designed to help Virginia homeowners who are facing foreclosure. Virginia is a non-judicial foreclosure state and has one of the fastest foreclosure processes in the country. The first of the proposed laws will give homeowners more time to raise potential, the second would necessitate lenders getting the approval of a judge before seizing and auctioning off a home, and the third would give homeowners a eleventh-hour opportunity to catch up their payments in order to avoid foreclosure. Some lawmakers and groups such as the Virginia Bankers Association are opposed to the proposed laws saying that any of the proposed changes would handicap the process and cause needless delays.

One of the most drastic changes proposed to the requirement that banks and other lenders would be required to record all transfers of ownership of mortgages in the county land records. While this would make it much easier for homeowners to find out who owns their debt, it runs counter to the current system used by many lenders who employ Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems or MERS database to record these transfers. MERS has been one of the most criticized entities during the foreclosure crisis, as its opponents say the lack of suitable transfer of ownership records lies at the heart of the current crisis.

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer can only hope that Virginia lawmakers pass some from of change to help struggling homeowners protect their homes. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

In a potentially huge development for homeowners facing foreclosure nationwide, a partnership of non-profit defense attorneys and consumer protection advocates managed to get over 10,000 foreclosure cases thrown out due to the activities of a single "robo-signor" on the part of the plaintiff, GMAC. The "robo-signor" in question, Jeffrey Stephan, has confirming the authenticity of foreclosure documents without any knowledge of them.

A class-action case was brought against GMAC for the activities of Mr. Stephan alleging that his signatures were illegitimate and that the cases should be dismissed. GMAC has agreed to dismiss all cases where Mr. Stephan was a signor and must re-file all of those cases. GMAC had hoped they would be allowed to put the cases on hold, review the documents, and file new affidavits but the agreement specifically prevents GMAC from doing that. In addition to the added costs of re-filing each foreclosure case, GMAC must now adhere to Maryland court rules which require the lender and the homeowner attend a mandatory mediation before pursuing foreclosure.

It is a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer hope that this tend of lenders dismissing their cases due to errors spreads across the nation. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to see what defenses may be available to you to save your home.

An 85 year-old New Jersey widow who became sick and was unable to make the final payment on her 30-year mortgage now faces foreclosure on her home and an additional $5800 in fees, including roughly $2400 in attorney's fees. The woman borrowed took out a $40,000 mortgage in 1976 and failed to make her last mortgage payment, $432 total, because she was in the hospital when the payment was due.

The elderly woman has now brought suit against the lenders, LaSalle Bank and Cenlar Federal Savings Banks, in federal court for fraudulently inflating charges far beyond the levels allowed under federal debt collection laws. Many homeowners are not aware of the federal and state laws regulating debt collection, especially when a lender is trying to collect unpaid mortgage debt. In this instance the elderly woman was lucky she was knowledgeable enough to hire a lawyer to protect her rights.

If you are currently facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, or will be in near future, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

The City of Chicago is facing the possibility that it will be forced to spend millions of dollars to deal with the accumulation of abandoned homes within the city. According to reports, there are more than 18,000 properties on the city's vacant building rolls and of those 18,000 properties, 69%, or almost 13,000, properties can be associated with a foreclosure filing between the beginning of 2006 and July 2010. Of the number of homes linked to foreclosure filings, 10,778 have some sort of foreclosure outcome, which leaves 1.896 homes that do not have an outcome.

In instances like this, a lender has filed a foreclosure lawsuit, the homeowner abandoned the property and the lender decides that it is less expensive to not complete the foreclosure process and it will charge off the mortgage on the property. When this happens the lender is not responsible for the home, which means the cost of maintaining the home or demolishing the home falls to the city.

Cities across the U.S. now face similar problems due to the numbers of people who abandon their homes when they are facing foreclosure. Along with the costs of maintaining or demolishing homes, abandoned homes have long been associated with increases in crime and blight to their areas, which in turn further drives down area home values.

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

With news from RealtyTrac that lenders repossessed more the 1million homes in 2010 many homeowners may believe that the worst of the housing crisis is over, but industry experts say it will get even worse. Statistics from the fourth quarter of 2010 showed a significant drop in the number of foreclosure filings, most of which has been attributed to the foreclosure freeze due to the robo-signing scandal.

Many industry analysts believe that the delay from the foreclosure freeze will be over by the end of the first quarter of 2011 and clearing up those delayed foreclosures will cause 2011 to be another record year. Some figures show that 250,000 foreclosures were delay by the foreclosure freeze and this may cause a significant spike in the number of foreclosures in early 2011. This will only add to the overall number of bank-owned properties, which some industry insiders already estimate to be worth to close to $31 billion.

If you are currently facing or fear that you will be facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit in the immediate future, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to see what defenses may be available to you.

According to the year-end statistics from housing analysis company RealtyTrac, mortgage lenders seized a record 1,050,500 homes in 2010. Those numbers represent a 14 percent jump from the previous record of 918,376 seizures sent in 2009. The number of lender-seized homes has increased every year since 2006 and over that time the number of annual seizures has risen almost 400 percent.

All-in-all, there were a total of 3,825,637 foreclosure filings were reported in 2010. That number represents a more modest 2 percent jump in overall filings from the 2009 numbers. As expected, Nevada maintained its position as the state with the highest foreclosure rate, with one in eleven homes receiving a foreclosure filing in 2010. Nevada was followed by Arizona, Florida, California and Utah as the top five states with the highest foreclosure rates. Overall, five states accounts for 51 percent of the total national foreclosure filings in 2010.

Both the Florida and the National foreclosure numbers rose in the year 2010. If you are one of the thousands of Floridians facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure alternatives may be available to you.

Recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Court overturned two foreclosure seizures on appeal. One of the foreclosure cases involved Wells Fargo and the other case involved U.S. Bancorp. The cases were not related, but both cases involved the bank foreclosing upon and seizing a home.

In both of the cases, the homeowners appealed the foreclosure seizures claiming that neither of the banks could prove that they owned the respective home when they initiated legal action. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts agreed with the homeowners and ruled that the banks must return the seized homes.

These cases give homeowners in Massachusetts something that many homeowners around the country including Florida are fighting for. Before you should be asked to leave your home, a bank should have to prove that they have the right to collect the debt they claim is due.

This is a great precedent from Massachusetts Supreme Court and should help many Massachusetts residents stay in their homes.

News outlets are reporting that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is considering implementing stricter requirements for those mortgage-servicing companies who also own the second mortgage on the homes they service. As state and federal regulators have tried in vein to create mortgage modification or foreclosure alternative options that will create the necessary relief for struggling homeowners they have consistently encountered obstacles for those who have second mortgages on their homes. The potential new guidelines are intended to alleviate the complications when modifying those loans.

Many mortgage industry insiders have speculated that many mortgage-servicing companies are hesitant to modify first mortgages because the servicing company owns the second mortgage and they are unwilling to modify their loans. This represents a dangerous conflict of interest for servicing companies and may be damaging those homeowners in need of a mortgage modification. One option being discussed is requiring servicers to make meaning principle reductions of second mortgages if the first mortgage is modified or is sold through a short sale.

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

New Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is expanding the investigation into the foreclosure mess begun by her predecessor beyond the initial allegations of the falsification of court documents and widespread "robo-signing." The Attorney General's office did not give specifics as to which firms are facing allegations and nor did it indicate a timetable for the investigation to be finalized.

The investigation has now been expanded to include allegations of misconduct by attorneys and other staff who worked at the large Florida law firms many are now calling "foreclosure mills." In addition to the allegations of attorney misconduct, the investigation will include: law firms padding their bills in order to obtain higher final judgments for mortgage lenders during the foreclosure process, law firms filing foreclosure lawsuits before the lender or servicer actually shows it has an interest in the mortgage, lawyers and law firms routing business to title companies owned by other attorneys in their law firm, and lawyers presenting blank bills to the court that do not show the actual cost of their services.

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer is glad that the new Attorney General has continued, and even widened, the investigation into the practices of the notorious Florida "foreclosure mills." If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and want to see what defenses may be available to you, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.

Martha Kunkle passed away in 1995. Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc., one of America's largest debt collectors, has used her signature on thousands of affidavits since her death. Debt collection companies use affidavits to verify the debts of their borrowers.

In 2008, a lawsuit for fraud was filed against Portfolio Recovery Associates. After that lawsuit was filed, a company spokeswoman for Portfolio stated that documents bearing Ms. Kunkle's signature were defective and would no longer be used by the company. However, in July 2010, Portfolio submitted an affidavit with Kunkle's signature on an affidavit to collect a credit card debt in Seattle. Portfolio later dropped the case after the company recognized the "error". This is one of the most obvious examples of the mass-produced, fraudulent documents that have become prevalent in the debt collection industry.

NBC News exclusive: JPMorgan Chase also improperly foreclosed on homes

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

One of the nation's biggest banks -- JP Morgan Chase -- admits it has overcharged several thousand military families for their mortgages, including families of troops fighting in Afghanistan. The bank also tells NBC News that it improperly foreclosed on more than a dozen military families.

Homeowners in Indiana have received some encouraging news from the Indiana Court of Appeals. In Lacy-McKinney v. Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., 937 N.E. 2d 853, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that compliance with federal servicing requirements is a condition precedent to residential foreclosure on an FHA-insured mortgage, and, therefore, can be raised as an affirmative defense.

Homeowners have met resistance across the country when bringing suits alleging a private cause of action under federal servicing guidelines. Hopefully judges across the country will agree with this decision and begin holding companies that service FHA loans and lenders that make those loans responsible for their federal servicing requirements prior to filing a residential foreclosure action.

In yet another horror story about mistakes made by notorious Florida Foreclosure Mill, the Law Offices of David J. Stern, has caused two different people to purchase the same house within one week of each other. One South Florida real estate investor initially thought she had made a good deal when she purchased a foreclosed home at a courthouse auction but when she drove by the home the next day and saw a lawn-care and pool cleaning crew working at the house she knew something wasn't right.

What happened is that the house she purchased at the auction was actually sold to an individual in a short sale the previous week. The law firm handling the foreclosure case, the Law Offices of David J. Stern, mishandled the paperwork and didn't cancel the foreclosure auction. Even after the foreclosure auction sale was vacated, the real estate investor could not contact Stern's office and was fearful that she would never get her money back!

This is just another story about inappropriate handling of cases from the Law Offices of David J. Stern coming out of the foreclosure crisis. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

This interview is informative and interesting to those who have followed the mortgage crisis closely as well as to those to whom it is new. Discussing banks trying to minimize the problems.

In yet another potential blow for mortgage giant Bank of America, it is now being sued by Allstate for $700 million in "significant losses" it incurred as a result of its investments in Countrywide mortgage backed securities. Allstate maintains that it was misled into believing that the Countrywide securities were safe and that the quality of the home loans that the securities were based on was high.

In its complaint, Allstate alleges that Countrywide "decided to boost its market share and ignore its own underwriting standards by approving any mortgage product that a competitor was willing to offer, in a proverbial race to the bottom." Allstate asserts that Countrywide then passes their risks onto those investors who purchased the securities. Bank of America representatives stated that "this unfortunately appears to be a situation where a sophisticated investor is looking for someone to blame for a downturn in the economy and losses on an investment it made."

Another day, another company going after Bank of America for the actions of Countrywide in creating mortgage backed securities. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer is sure this is just another step in a long line of problems Bank of America will face as a result of Countrywide's practices/ If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

Following the recent announcement that Ally Financial has reached a settlement with Fannie Mae on mortgage buybacks, mortgage giant Bank of America has announced that it too will settle with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with regard to the requests of the two companies to buy-back the non-performing mortgages. Bank of America will pay $3 billion to cover the bad mortgages, most of which were purchased by Fannie and Freddie from Countrywide Financial.

When mortgage purchasers realize that loans are faulty and are not performing they invoke the contract clauses that force lenders to buy back those loans and pressure for Bank of America to repurchase those loans has been mounting for some time. While this settlement puts to rest the requests of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buyback the nonperforming loans, Bank of America still faces many buyback requests from private investors and other groups who purchased Countrywide and Bank of America loans. All in all, Bank of America has more buyback requests that any other major bank.

It remains to be seen how this second, much larger, settlement regarding mortgage buybacks will affect the overall U.S. economy and housing market.. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

The Wall Street Journal has published the findings of real-estate information company First American Home CoreLogic showing the states that have the highest percentage of homeowners with negative equity relative to the amount of mortgages in that state. The Walls Street Journal put together an interesting visual to go with those findings, a national map showing how each state has fared during the housing crisis.

To view the statics and accompanying Wall Street Journal Map click here.

After refinancing their home in 2006 in order to take cash out to start a business which subsequently failed, a Minnesota couple has been able to use one of the most common foreclosure arguments to stave off foreclosure for 3 years! The couple is simply asking who owns their mortgage? Though they are being sued by one of the trusts that is made up of investors who purchased mortgage-backed-securities, the Trust has been unable to establish a proper record of the note and mortgage being transferred to the trust. This all means that unless the trust can show that it actually owns the loan it does not have the right to foreclose.

Not being able to establish a proper chain of ownership is an all too common occurrence in foreclosure cases and a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer sees this issue regularly. There are even cases where two banks try to foreclose on a home at the same time with both of them claiming to own the mortgage. Fortunately, many judges are now understanding these issues and becoming more receptive to the argument. Though the Minnesota couple says they realize they will not get their home for free, they hope their efforts will persuade the bank to modify their loan, but in the mean time they have been able to save money for another home should a modification not happen.

This is just one of the many defenses a homeowner may have when facing a foreclosure. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to determine what defenses may be available to you.

The latest numbers from the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index indicated that housing prices fell across 20 major metropolitan areas in October. Overall homes prices fell 1.3% which constitutes the third straight month-over-month drop. Economists were optimistic for an overall economic recovery in early 2010 as rising home prices indicated a recovery in the housing market but these latest numbers appear to be on path for double-dip. Now many experts are saying that the declines will continue until at least the spring of 2011.

One of the major contributors to this current drop in home prices is the glut of foreclosed homes already on the market which tend to drive down prices due to their often bottom line prices. Six major metro-areas; Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Tampa, Charlotte, and Portland, saw their lowest home values since the housing market collapse began in 2007. Only four metros saw increases in home prices over 2009 levels; Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Many housing analysts are expecting markets in Florida, Arizona and Nevada, which have been most affected by the foreclosure crisis, to experience even more declines in home values.

The Florida Supreme Court has rejected the request of Florida based U.S. Rep Alan Grayson to halt all Florida foreclosures being pursued by 3 south Florida foreclosure mills while those firms are being investigated by the Florida Attorney General's Office. The Court stated that it does not have the authority under the Florida Constitution and the rules of the court to stop pending foreclosure cases due to allegations of fraud and/or attorney misconduct.

Rep. Grayson asked the court to take action in a September 20 letter to Chief Justice Charles T. Canady .The court said the cases must first be adjudicated fully by the trial courts before the Supreme Court can get involved and suggested that Rep. Grayson request The Florida Bar take action. In response to the Florida Supreme Court's letter, Rep. Grayson said "we appreciate the guidance of the Florida Supreme Court...we have to put an end to this epidemic of fraud on the courts, which is robbing people of their homes." Grayson also stated that his staff is preparing the paperwork to request the Florida Bar's cooperation.

This is another step in the fight to help Florida homeowners facing foreclosure. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to explore the defenses that may be available to you.

Ally Financial Inc., formerly know as GMAC, just announced that it has reached a settlement agreement to resolve mortgage repurchase claims made by government owned mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Ally will pay $462 million to offset the $2929 billion in home loans it packaged and sold to Fannie Mae before June 30 of this year. When mortgage purchasers realize that loans are faulty and are not performing they invoke the contract clauses that force lenders to buy back those loans.

In July, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae, subpoenaed documents concerning mortgage-backed securities which were purchased by Fannie Mae. As a result of this settlement those subpoenas will be withdrawn said the statement from Ally. Ally reached a similar deal with Freddie Mac in March.

This may be the first in a long line of banks that are forced to lay-out large sums of money for non-performing mortgages that they rolled into mortgage-backed securities and sold as Fannie has stepped up demands that banks buy-back these loans. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

With 11 law schools located within Florida there is no shortage of new, young attorneys looking for work. Now many of those attorneys may face Florida Bar investigations as a result of their role in the foreclosure crisis that has gripped the state. More than 260 attorneys work at Florida's four largest "foreclosure mills" and 48 percent of those have been practicing for less than three years. Homeowners advocates are now beginning to place blame on these inexperienced attorneys by calling into questions whether the foreclosure crisis would have reached these levels if "novice lawyers" had not been doing the legal work.

After being laid-off from their positions at the Law Office of David J. Stern, many of the new attorneys have had little trouble finding work. The attorneys, many who had been employed by the firm for less than one year, have been scooped up by other existing "foreclosure mills" and other firms who are looking to create foreclosure practices.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit brought by one of the notorious Florida "foreclosure mils," contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to have your case reviewed to determine what defenses may be available to save your home.

Foreclosures.com founder Alexis McGee, whose website has helped investors identify and purchased distressed properties since 1995, is now facing a foreclosure sale on her Fair Oaks, California home early next month. McGee says she began having financial trouble more than two years ago and has since had the state of California and the IRS file liens against her property for unpaid taxes.

She says she did not want to sell the home and attempted to work out a loan modification with her lender but "there's just not a lot of interest in working with high-end homes." McGee, who has offered seminars on and written books about the foreclosure process, says she is fortunate that she has knowledge about the foreclosure system and is currently working on securing a short sale agreement to prevent the home from being sold at auction.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and have tried and failed to get a mortgage modification, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure options may be available to you.

In Florida, the lender will give a notice of default, with terms to cure the default. This is typically paying the outstanding balance.

Typically the homeowner is not paying the note, taxes, homeowners association fees, or does not maintain their insurance and is given notice that the lender is going seek recovery of the amounts due by foreclosure proceedings.

In looking back on the year that was 2010, a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer wondered what 2011 has in store for those homeowners struggling with foreclosure and the overall housing market. Wall Street Journal real estate reporter Nick Timiraos has just released his "Four Housing Issues to Watch in 2011." A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer thinks that of the many issues to watch in the coming year, these are definitely some of the most important. To read the full text of Mr. Timiaros' Wall Street Journal story click here.

Foreclosure is the process by which the owner of a mortgage takes back the property that was put up as collateral for the mortgage loan and sells the property to pay itself back for the loan that was not paid.

The procedure is based on the state where the property is located. Florida is a judicial foreclosure state so a law suit is necessary to take back the property.

Judge J. Rich Leonard recently fined Bank of America $126,000 for contempt of court after Countrywide Home Loans flagrantly violated the terms of a court order. The fines included $63,000 in punitive damages. The Kirkbride family filed for bankruptcy and signed a consent order with Countrywide Home Loans in which Countrywide would foreclose on two of their properties. In the consent order, Countrywide agreed to release the family from the mortgage debts on both properties.

Only three days after the order was entered in court, Countrywide began violating the order. The Judge found it "particularly frustrating [that Countrywide] actively negotiated the terms of the consent order with the debtors, signed the order, and later, through its agents, repeatedly acted as if the order did not exist." Fines were levied for over 400 phone calls from Countrywide to the family, improper written demands, wrongfully causing homeowner association bills and tax problems for the family. Bank of America is responsible for these fines because it acquired Countrywide Home Loans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delivered another round of subpoenas to the major banks and mortgage servicers. Subpoenas have been sent to Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

This latest round of subpoenas has been centered on the securitization of mortgages and whether or not the mortgages and notes were ever legally conveyed to the trusts. The subpoenas are primarily focused on the failure of the trustees to properly transfer loans to the trusts. In effect, this would mean that the "mortgage-backed securities" that the securitized trusts were selling were financially backed by nothing at all. If true, this would open up the trustee to liability for securities fraud.