Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

Eight years ago, the Borchers paid their mortgage in full when they sold their house. They hired a title company to take care of the title transaction and moved on with their lives. Now, however, a completely different lender is suing them - along with everyone who has owned the house in the last eight years -- because of a typo on that old sale.

The typo describes the home as "Bloomingdale Section H" instead of "Bloomingdale Section R," a description for a house down the road. There have been three sales since the Borchers sold the home, and nobody caught the mistake until now. Because of that old mistake, the current owners are at risk of defaulting. Bank of America has filed suit against everyone, alleging it is up to the Borchers to resolve the problem. The Borchers are arguing that they are not responsible for the mistake and should not be responsible for correcting it.

Usually, the Borchers could go to the title company they used when they sold the home and who made the mistake, and have them fix the error. The problem here is that the title company no longer exists. This leaves the Borchers with little recourse and it will probably be up to the court to decide how to handle the situation.

Typos are rare occurrences, but they do happen. They are just one of the many ways a faulty foreclosure can be filed against you. If you are facing a foreclosure, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Attorney and see how an attorney can help you.

One possible upside to the number of foreclosed homes across the country is the rising rate of donated homes to non-profit businesses. According to USA Today, Bank of America donated 150 homes in 2011 with plans to donate many more in 2012. Wells Fargo also donated about four times as many homes in 2011 as it had in the previous year. As for Habitat for Humanity, they nearly doubled the number of homes they rehabilitated.

And donations are not just for big banks. Donating might be an attractive option, especially for low-valued homes, as it allows the owner to be free of the mortgage debt and earn charitable tax breaks. The homes are not always re-sold to a new dweller; instead, they might be torn down or at least heavily modified. Note, however, that many charities turn down offers of donated homes, as the homes are often in prohibitively dangerous shape.

Donating a home is not an option for very many people, as many would rather remain in their homes even if facing foreclosure. The options available to you differ depending on your situation. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Attorney to discuss what options you should consider.

The Occupy Wall Street movement that has rapidly spread across the nation has seemingly found a few new streets to occupy, all streets that have foreclosed residences or residences facing imminent foreclosure. All across the US, Occupy protestors have been "reclaiming" foreclosed homes and boarded up properties in what some are calling a "tactical shift" in the movement which has targeted the inequality in the distribution of wealth in the US.

Occupy protestors have held rallies on behalf of homeowners facing foreclosure evictions in more than 25 cities within the last month. Some observers are saying the shift of the Occupy movement has resulted out of necessity, as many Occupy groups are finding it increasingly difficult to camp in public spaces.

Jeff Ordower, one of the organizers of the "Occupy Homes" movement has stated "it is clear the fight is against the banks...so occupying space that should belong to homeowners but belongs to the banks seems like the next logical step for the Occupy movement." The events have been boisterous and echo the frustrations of the national housing crisis. Signs have popped up stating things such as "foreclose on banks, not people" and in Atlanta protestors used whistles and sirens to disrupt the auctions of foreclosed homes at the count courthouse.

If you are one of the thousands of Floridians facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary case review in order to determine what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

On December 1,the Attorney General for the State of Massachusetts, Martha Coakley, filed a lawsuit against the five largest U.S. lending banks, Bank of America, Wells Fargo JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and GMAC, for their roles in the foreclosure crisis which has plagued the country for the last several years. This suit marks the first major legal action that has been taken against major mortgage lenders since settlement negotiations began between the nation's biggest banks and the 50 state attorneys generals in Spring 2011.

The lawsuit disappointed most of the lenders named, who have pledged to continue working towards reaching a settlement agreement with the 50 states attorneys general.. Spokesman Lawrence Grayson of Bank of America stated, "We continue to believe that the collaborative resolution rather than continued litigation will most quickly heal the housing market and help drive economic recovery." GMAC on the other hand has vowed to fight the suit in court stating, "GMAC Mortgage believes it has strong legal and factual defenses against these claims and will vigorously defend its position in court."

Nevertheless, Ms. Coakley states she had no choice but to file the lawsuit as negotiations have reached a standstill. She, and many others contend the banks have not offered any meaningful compensation while continuously insisting on extensive protection from liability for the foreclosure crises.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a complimentary case review to determine what potential foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

Distressed homeowners are seemingly getting a Christmas gift from their banks this year...many of the nations largest banks are reportedly halting foreclosures from December 16, 2011 to January 2, 2012.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and other banks have announced they will not foreclose on delinquent homeowners during the holidays. They are hoping this will give homeowners the much-needed time they need to get back on their feet. However, it is very important to know that the foreclosure process will continue to move forward, but homeowners WILL NOT be evicted from their homes during the holiday season. While banks are lauding themselves for their selfless act, in reality, very few homeowners may be affected by the foreclosure holiday.

According to a certified financial planner, Carolyn McClanahan, this is the "humane thing to do...People should't be kicked out of their homes during the holidays." If you are a struggling homeowner facing foreclosure, it is important for you to use this standstill to your advantage. Use it to create a plan to save your home, or look for different avenues that are more affordable.

It is important to remember that banks will still be prosecuting foreclosures during the foreclosure holiday to be vigilant for any foreclosure related pleadings you may receive during that time. If you are currently facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a J Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer for complimentary consultation to determine what foreclosure options may be available to you.

Recently a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer read a story about a California doctor who has gotten to see the Bank of America modification and foreclosure processes up close and personal. In a story not unlike ones that many struggling homeowners have faced, the homeowner applied for and was granted a three month trial modification. After making his three scheduled modification payments, Bank of America then denied the homeowner a permanent modification and the homeowner resigned himself to losing his house to foreclosure.

However, just a few weeks later, the homeowner received a notice from Bank of American encouraging him to apply for a second mortgage modification. The homeowner again applied and was approved for a modification. This time he hired a foreclosure attorney to aid him in convincing Bank of America to make his modification permanent. After completing his second trial modification, he was finally sent a permanent modification packet from Bank of America with one arbitrary caveat, the packet must be signed and notarized by a California notary within 10 days.

This presented a problem for the homeowner as he was temporarily teaching at a university in Louisiana and therefore could not get a California notary to notarize his signature. When he called Bank of America to inquire into whether or not a Louisiana notary could notarize his signature he was told "no" and was instructed to send the paperwork in un-notarized. After Bank of America received and reviewed the paperwork, the homeowner was informed his permanent modification was denied because his paperwork was incomplete because his signature was not notarized, which is precisely what Bank of America told him to do!!

The lawyer for the homeowner contacted Bank of America and urged them to change their decision and the bank relented...but he still had to have his signature notarized by a California notary. So, the homeowner had to jump on a plane, fly back to California, have his signature notarized and submit the paperwork to Bank of America. After all that what does Bank of America do...deny his permanent modification again, this time for submitted the complete paperwork six days late...after the 10 day time limit for submitting the original paperwork.

While this is an extreme example of some of the issues with mortgage modifications, many people who have attempted to get their mortgage modified have experienced at least some of the issue this homeowner faced. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary consultation to determine what foreclosure options may be available to you.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, whose members are protesting a variety of issues stemming from the current economic climate including foreclosures and high unemployment, tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, October 1, 2011, afternoon in protest. Over 700 protestors were arrested when they left the walkway and began using the roadway.

There is a lot of controversy regarding whether or not the arrests were legitimate. Protestors believe the police tricked them and caused the arrests. Protestors are blaming the police for the arrests by allowing protestors to enter the roadway and escorting them part of the way across the bridge before trapping them in orange netting. One protestor, Etan Ben-Ami was quoted as saying, "It seemed completely permitted....There wasn't a single policeman saying 'don't do this'...We thought they were escorting us because they wanted us to be safe."

However, police are saying it was the protestors' choice of action that led to the arrests. Those who used the walkway were not arrested while those who took to the roadway and hindered vehicle travel were arrested. Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the New York Police Department, has said "This was not a trap...They were warned not to proceed."

In connected demonstrations in other parts of the country, 25 people were arrested in Boston for trespassing while protesting Bank of America's foreclosure practices, according to the spokesman for the Boston Police Department Eddy Chrispin. The protesters were on the property and obstructing the entrance to the building.

The Occupy Wall Street movement seems to be gathering steam and drawing more media coverage with each passing day. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to determine what foreclosure alternatives may be available to you.

After the Florida Bar News published an article about robo-signing in the mortgage industry in the September 15th edition, State Attorney Dennis Ward of the 16th Judicial Circuit in Florida has decided to take a closer look. For those of you not yet familiar with the term robo-signing, it is a practice where banks and their counsel create documents relating to foreclosures that are often questionable in nature and have low level employees sign them without verifying their contents or correctness. Since robo-signing has caught the attention of the media in late 2010, there has been a temporary decrease in foreclosure filings throughout the state of Florida.

Mr. Ward stated his ultimate concern is protecting the integrity of the legal system and land title records. He believes when a home owner is not paying their mortgage, the bank should be able to foreclose on the property as soon as possible; provided that banks do so with valid paper work and with regard to due process.

The continued abuses in foreclosure paperwork, which banks said were ended last year after they were put under great scrutiny, is what has grabbed Mr. Ward's attention. He also recognizes that his agency does not have the resources to address this issue fully and that it is better suited for Attorney General Pam Bondi. Nevertheless, it is time for State Attorneys' to address the issue however they can. Looking into the individuals who actually sign or file these questionable documents who know them to be false of intentionally deceptive is going to be State Attorney Ward's focus.

If you are facing foreclosure, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free case review in order to determine what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

A new report released by the Inspector General shows evidence of poor management of a $2.87 billion dollar mortgage sale from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Bank of America. The focus of the report is the role of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulatory arm tasked with overseeing government mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Late last year, the agency's head decided to sell back a large number of bad mortgages and mortgage backed securities to Bank of America. In theory, forcing a lender to buy back the bad loans it originated seems like a great idea, but in this instance it may have been a sweetheart deal.

In the buyback agreement, Bank of America paid $1.35 million to Freddie Mac and $1.52 billion to Fannie Mae. While $2.87 billion seems like a lot of money, but when you do some simple math, it amounts to only $3,679 per mortgage! Critics of the deal state that both Fannie and Freddie could potentially face billions of dollars of losses from the sale of these loans. The Federal Housing Finance Agency called the buyback and the amounts of the buyback "appropriate and reasonable."

Instead of giving Bank of America the underperforming loans at an extremely cheap price, how about giving the homeowners associated with those loans the right of first refusal to buy their home for the amounts their loans were sold to Bank of America. How many homeowners would have jumped at that opportunity. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to explore what foreclosure options may be available to you.

The Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, a potential bill which could potentially remove many foreclosure proceedings from state courts, may have more consequences for ordinary Floridians other than its intended effect of speeding up the foreclosure process. Florida has one of the longest average foreclosure processes in the U.S., with an average foreclosure taking 638 days in contrast to an average of under 400 days for those states which do not utilize judicial foreclosure processes.

Proponents of the Act justify their support of the bill citing the need to speed up the foreclosure process in order to strengthen the overall economy by getting foreclosed homes back onto the market more quickly. Foreclosure defense advocates point to lenders and mortgage servicers as the primary reasons the judicial foreclosure process is slow. Practices such as "robo-signing" foreclosure documents, bring suit without proof of ownership of the loan are just a few of the acts perpetrated by banks which have caused much of the delay.

If the Act is passed, it may have a significant negative fiscal impact on the state court system. In the last fiscal year, over 60% of the operating budget was derived from foreclosure filing fees. Non-judicial foreclosure systems shift the costs of initiating litigation to already financially burdened homeowners, a move which could cost homeowners and the state court system dearly.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free consultation to determine what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

Bank of America has just announced a new pilot program in Florida to test whether extra monetary incentives will be enough to get troubled homeowners to agree to and successfully close short sales. The incentives will range from $5,000 to $20,000 and are only offered on investor-approved, pre-offer short sales. In order to be eligible for the short sale program, the short sale must be initiated between September 26 and November 30, 2011 and be completed prior to August 31, 2012.

A Bank of America spokesman stated that the bank chose Florida because the state is experiencing higher than average foreclosure rates and is a "viable market to gauge incremental short sale response and completion rates when presenting homeowners with relocation assistance at closing." This is not the first time Bank of America has offered incentives for completed short sales but it is the first time the mortgage giant has offered incentives this large.

Homeowners eligible for the "Test-and-Learn" program will receive a solicitation letter directly from Bank of America or may call the bank directly at 877-459-2852 to determine their eligibility. A Bank of America spokesman has stated that if the pilot program is deemed a success, it may be spread to other parts of the country.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and have been denied the opportunity to short sale your home, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to determine what foreclosure alternatives may be available to you.

State and federal officials have been engaging in negotiation settlement talks with the United States' largest banks regarding the shoddy foreclosure practices of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS). The pending settlement with the banks involves a potentially multibillion-dollar settlement and is centered around the "robosigned" documents and court filings that have plagued the foreclosure courts across the nation. The primary reason for the MERS investigation is that considerable amount of this robosigned paperwork came through the MERS system. Officials are referring to the present predicament as the "MERS morass," with its approximate 65 million mortgage registry.

At the same time, the MERS system facilitated the boom of mortgage-backed securities by permitting banks to rapidly and inexpensively transfer the ownership of loans. MERS is so intertwined into all aspects of the mortgage and foreclosure process that officials are beginning to think they may be unable to address one part of the MERS problem while leaving other aspects for future investigations. Additionally, the contradictory laws and court decisions throughout the United States make a one-size-fits-all solution extremely unlikely.

The banks are pressuring officials to leave the MERS issue alone during these negotiations as the banks are already facing billions of dollars in penalties without the MERS problem. However, those close to the negotiations say that officials have no intention of releasing MERS from liability.

If you think your mortgage loan involves MERS and you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lasuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today for a complimentary case review and to see what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

Bank of America was fined yet again, when it was found liable for the firing of an employee responsible for discovering fraud at Countrywide. The employee was fired in direct violation of whistleblower protection laws, said the U.S. Department of Labor. The employee will receive now $930,000 in damages and will also be reinstated.

Countrywide was the biggest subprime loan provider in the U.S. which essentially means they were lending money to substantially unqualified homebuyers with the weakest credit. This fine should send a message to the Banks - one that lets them know loud and clear that they cannot break the rules, and if they do punishment will be swift.

The Florida Foreclosure Defense attorneys have always been dedicated to keeping Banks honest. When faced with Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer.

According to the latest numbers from mortgage industry tracking company RealtyTrac Inc., the number of households that received an initial default notice, which is the first step that must be taken to begin the foreclosure process, jumped an incredible 33% from July to August. The spike represents the largest percentage increase in four years and constitutes a 9 month high.

RealtyTrac senior VP, Rick Sharga, has stated that this is the first time they have seen such a increase in default notices. While it may be an aberration, Sharga said "I think its much more likely we're seeing the beginning of a trend here." New foreclosure actions were slowed down last fall as allegations of shoddy foreclosure processes by the nations largest lenders came to light.

All to,ld, 78,880 properties received a default notice in August. While August's numbers are up, they are down 18% from the August 2010 numbers. While the foreclosure numbers are on the rise, RealtyTrac says it may be beneficial for housing recovery, as overall home prices are not likely to rebound while there are still potentially thousands of unaddressed foreclosures "hovering over the market."

If you are one of the thousands of new homeowners who have received a default notice from your mortgage company, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free consultation in order to determine what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

In the year 2073, courts in New York will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief: that's the year they will finally be rid of all of the foreclosure cases currently on their dockets. That is, at their current pace, it will take another 62 years for lenders to finally be rid of their current foreclosure cases!! This is the longest waiting period in the country.

Other states facing long waiting periods are New Jersey, which will take 49 years, and Florida, Massachusetts, and Illinois, all of which would take nearly a decade. This is in contrast to states that don't use their courts for foreclosure proceedings. For example, California has a 3-year waiting list, while Nevada and Colorado have 2-year lists.

Some legal authorities in Florida have suggested that banks aren't even doing anything to clear their cases. One South Florida attorney currently has 1,275 foreclosure clients; last year he had only 350. All but 75 of his current cases remain pending. J. Thomas McGrady, Sixth Circuit Chief Judge, says banks are largely to blame for the backlog. "We're here to do what we're asked ... [But] the banks aren't asking."

Banks claim the delay is due to the legal hoops and regulations in the law they have to jump through. However, this does not excuse banks from using illegal methods such as "robo-signers" to mass-produce documents. We've written before about the robo-signing scandal and how it does not seem to be completely over. If you are facing foreclosure, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney to discuss the best legal and financial options which may be available for you.