Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

When you are served with a foreclosure lawsuit in Florida, you only have 20 days to file a legal response with the court. You are required to admit or deny all of the allegations, raise any defenses, as well as file any counterclaims you may have against the lender. Often we see people who send letters into the bank in an attempt to explain what is going on. This is non-responsive and is often the same as doing nothing. It is highly recommended that you hire a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer for any response. Failing to properly complete this process may result in you losing the right to fight the foreclosure action.

The Florida Attorney General's Office has announced it has filed suit against three loan modification companies for charging upfront fees to homeowners while not providing the services they were hired for. Loan modifications have become extremely popular in Florida, as struggling homeowners have sought help to lower monthly mortgage payments. Charging upfront fees for loan modifications is illegal under Florida law. The companies allegedly told homeowners their mortgage debt would reduced and would be able to successfully prevent foreclosure.

The mortgage modification companies: Home Owner Protection Economics, Inc., DC Financial Group and Deleverage America, Inc., have been order to cease their operations by the court handling the case. In addition, the financial assets of the owners of the companies have been frozen by the court. The companies charged fees varying between $495 and $2000, most of which was for work that was never completed.

This is just one of what should be many suits brought against mortgage modification companies. Unscrupulous mortgage modification companies are one of the fastest growing areas of mortgage fraud and homeowners should be beware. If you are facing a potential Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure alternatives are available to you.

You should review your goals with a lawyer to determine if it is in your best interest to hire a Florida Foreclosure Defense attorney to fight a foreclosure action. You can represent yourself in court; however, a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer is trained in the complex area of foreclosure defense and the rules of evidence. While a judge may appear sympathetic to your story, there are strict rules on what the court can actually listen to and act upon. While you may have great reasons and evidence, if it is not presented correctly and the proper foundation is not laid, the court can not consider it when making their decision. Attorneys trained in foreclosure defense have knowledge of affirmative defenses and counterclaims against the lender that that you may be unaware of. Therefore, it is important to hire a Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney with the training and knowledge to effectively fight back against your lender and protect your rights.

For more information on Florida Foreclosures Contact us and request the Florida Foreclosure Guide

Due to demand and the current state of the foreclosure crisis a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer has decided to host a FREE webinar for anyone interested in learning how to save their home from foreclosure.

By attending one of our webinars, struggling homeowners will learn:

1. That doing nothing can be the most dangerous tactic you can take...
2. Relying on conversations with the bank is not always the best idea...
3. How to steer clear of foreclosure rescue scams...
4. The secrets that foreclosing lenders don't want you to know...
Plus many more!!

To enroll in one of our upcoming Foreclosure Webinars, register online using the links below:

All Attendees will also receive a Free Copy of the Florida Foreclosure Handbook

The vacancy rate for homes in the United States fell 2.6% in the first quarter of 2011 as compared to the last quarter of last year. These numbers are based on the 2 million vacant properties that are for sale out of the 74.5 million houses in America, according to the Census Bureau.

The decrease can mostly be attributed to the fact that the processing of paper work decreased significantly immediately after the fraud was uncovered associated with the robo-signing of documents. Additionally, foreclosure filings decreased 27% in the first quarter of this year when compared to the first quarter of last year, according to RealtyTrac, Inc.

Ben-Ezra & Katz and Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) have been sued in the Northern District of Florida. The lawsuit alleges that LPS used its relationship with certain mortgage servicers to to refer foreclosure related business to particular law firms. The law firms, including Ben-Ezra & Katz, would then pay an illegal kick back to LPS. The kick back fee would then be re-categorized as "administrative fees" and passed on to the homeowner in foreclosure. The lawsuit alleges that when LPS created these kick back agreements they illegally split attorney's fees in violation of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Additional claims in the lawsuit include fraud on the court, breach of the uniform mortgage covenant, unauthorized practice of law and civil conspiracy. The lawyer that filed the lawsuit, Alabama-based Nick Wooten, is seeking class action status for the case.

Lisa Myers has a Video Series on Foreclosures and this segment discusses Jacksonville and some of the problems we face daily. We were interviewed for this segment of the series.

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

You can view/read the main text article for the special report here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42881365/ns/business-personal_finance/

You can watch the four Lisa Myers reports here:

Foreclosure Crisis: The Mortgage Loan Modification Trap

Foreclosure Crisis: The Whistleblowers

Foreclosure Crisis: Manufactured Loan Documents

Foreclosure Crisis: The Face of Foreclosure: One Family's Story

Liz Miller claims that she learned that she was a robo-signer when a friend of her's suggested that she do an online search of her name. After completing the search, the process server saw that there were numerous foreclosure blogs and a newspaper article that pointed out the many different types of signatures that had been used in her her name. As a process server, Ms. Mills was responsible to sign summons that documented her efforts to locate homeowners after the initiation of a foreclosure action.

Ms. Mills has come forward with three affidavits filed in foreclosure cases that she alleges were forged without her knowledge. She claims that she did not sign the affidavits in any of the three cases and has no knowledge of who actually signed them. Additionally, she claims that one of her alleged signatures on a return of non-service was for service in a town where she never been.

A lawyer defending one of the process service companies that Ms. Mills worked for, Gissen & Zawyer Process Service Inc., predictably stated that the documents in question bear her actual signature.

Prior to the onset of the foreclosure crisis, Washington Mutual (WaMu) rewarded its employees for pushing high risk loans on homeowners who were getting mortgages from the company. The company created a bonus package which rewarded employees for giving homeowners pick-a-payment loans or non-prime loans instead of a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage. Some of the bonuses included $1,000 gift cards which were payed for at the expense of the home buyers. The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report detailing the incentive campaign which contributed to the downfall of America's sixth largest bank. Florida is discussed in detail throughout the report because WaMu had a high concentration of its loans in Florida.

Fair Issac Corporation (FICO) is a company that provides analytical services that assist financial companies in lending decisions. FICO has created a profile of individuals that strategically default on their residential mortgages. The mortgage industry has seen a large increase in homeowners that are walking away from their mortgage obligations although they have the ability to continue making payments. FICO says that it has developed a method, based on consumer behavior, that allows lenders to identify those borrowers that are strategic default risks. FICO claims that it has identified specific characteristics that make a borrower over 100 times more likely to strategically default.

Former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, Lee Farkas, has been found guilty of 14 counts of fraud. All of the charges stem from a multi-billion dollar fraud orchestrated by Farkas. The fraud brought on the demise of the Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and Colonial Bank. Taylor, Bean & Whitaker was the largest non-bank mortgage lender in the United States in 2009. Government housing agencies quit doing business with Farkas after improper bookkeeping practices were uncovered. Additionally, Farkas was convicted of attempting to fraudulently obtain $550 million in TARP funds for his primary lender Colonial Bank. Colonial Bank did not receive any TARP funds. Farkas has yet to be sentenced.

Florida homeowners that are unemployed or underemployed and having difficulty paying their mortgages can apply for assistance from the "Florida Hardest-Hit Fund" beginning on April 18. This program has been expanded after initially being launched in October for Lee County homeowners only. The program will now be available in all 67 counties in Florida.

The program is run by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and is designed to give homeowners temporary relief so they can focus on getting re-employed or finding more meaningful employment. The Fund provides struggling homeowners with zero percent, deferred-payment loans. In some instances, the loans may be forgiven over a 5-year period at a rate of 20 percent each year. For more information about eligibility for the program or the program itself visit www.FLHardestHitHelp.org.

A federal bankruptcy judge in New Orleans has imposed sanctions on the mortgage servicer Lender Processing Services (LPS). Federal judge Elizabeth Magner imposed the sanctions after she concluded that LPS deliberately committed fraud on the court when it submitted a "sham" affidavit and gave false testimony in a foreclosure action in her court.

LPS has been under an increasing level of scrutiny after allegations arose that LPS falsified documents in some of their foreclosure cases. Additionally, LPS has been accused of misrepresenting the amounts that homeowners actually owed on their mortgages.

If your home is in foreclosure and LPS is the servicer of your mortgage, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer. Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers know how to combat these types of fraud and will fight for your legal rights.

Today the U.S. government filed a $1 billion suit against Deutsche Bank AG alleging that the bank knowingly lied to federal officials in order to obtain federal insurance guarantees on mortgage debt. In its complaint, the U.S. accuses Deutsche Bank and its MortgageIT Inc. unit of misleading officials into believing that Deutsche Bank mortgages qualified for federal mortgage insurance programs, a step toward making the mortgages much more attractive to potential investors in order for the bank to reap "substantial profits" when the loan were subsequently sold. In a ten year span, 1999-2009, Deutsche Bank and MortgegIT approved more than $5 billion in mortgages for Federal Housing Administration Issurance.

Deutsche Bank is accused of violating program rules by choosing mortgage "in blatant disregard" of whether borrower could make payments. According to the complaint, the quality of the loans was so poor that one in three mortgages defaulted, resulting in $386 million dollars in claims already paid by the FHA with hundreds of millions of dollars more expected. The suit was brought under the federal False Claims Act and is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind targeting a major bank.

Some industry insiders believe that this may be the first of many future lawsuit of its kind brought against some of the nations largest banks. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit from Deutsche Bank, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free consultation in order to determine what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

Below is a copy of the U.S. Government's Complaint

United State of America vs Deutsche Bank and Mortgage It, Inc

A panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeals (2nd DCA) is requiring that the Lee Circuit Court file a response to the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) challenge to the legality of that court's foreclosure proceedings. The 2nd DCA issued the order just weeks after a petition seeking an intervention was filed by the ACLU on behalf of a Cape Coral homeowner, Georgi Merrigan, facing foreclosure. The order requires Lee Circuit Court to address allegations that judges on the court's "rocket docket" have been giving preferential treatment to lenders as they move foreclosure cases through the system at an extremely rapid pace.

Federal mortgage giant Fannie Mae has announced that it is opening two new facilities in Florida to provide mortgage counseling services and free homeownership education classes for struggling homeowners. The locations of the offices have been announced as Tampa, FL and Jacksonville, FL and each Mortgage Help Center will assist struggling homeowners in their respective metro areas. The Mortgage Help Centers are intended to help homeowners in the areas hardest hit by the mortgage crisis.

The Tampa and Jacksonville Mortgage Help Centers mark the seventh and eighth Fannie Mae help centers opened across the country. When speaking about the opening of the newest mortgage centers, Senior Vice President of Fannie Mae's National Servicing Organization Jeff Hayward stated "Fannie Mae is committed to doing everything we can to make sure homeowners facing hardships know the options available to them and have access to the help they need."

The centers offer one-on-one consultations with housing counselors and services will be available in both Spanish and English. While the opening of two new mortgage centers to help struggling homeowners, what help will these centers offer the thousands of homeowners how are already facing foreclosure? 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 alternative options may be available to you.

Simply stated, you cannot be "pre-approved" for a mortgage and being "pre-approved" does not ensure that you will be able to obtain a mortgage. Mortgage brokers and financial institutions use "pre-approval" as a marketing device.

Typical, pre-approval comes into play when a potential homebuyer visits a financial institution to see if they can qualify to purchase a home. The potential homebuyer is told they have been pre-approved, then enters into a contract to buy a home. The financial institution then looks at the potential buyer's credit history and employment; then endorses the loan.

However, the financial intuition can still turn the potential buyer down for a mortgage. Financial institutions use various reasons to turn down a mortgage where the potential buyers were pre-approved; such as the potential buyers failed to fulfill their obligations of the underwriting process or by simply stating the pre-approval was for a limited period of time.

In other words, a mortgage is not guaranteed until sitting at closing and the check from the financial intuition is given to the seller. Schemes such as being told you are "pre-approved" for a mortgage may be a sign of predatory lending, so be aware. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and you feel that you have been the victim of predatory lending, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.