Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

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.

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.

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.

A 63 year-old California woman has finally received her wish after a nearly a year and a half of fighting, a meaningful mortgage modification on her home of 27 years. The woman was evicted from her home by Alameda county Sheriff's Deputies in 2010 but on January 19, 2011 she took a bold step in an effort to get her home back...she hired a locksmith to change the locks on her home and she began to "squat" in the home.

Since re-entering her home, the woman has launched a crusade to get her mortgage modified. She sued Wells Fargo in federal court and when her case was dismissed she appealed the decision without the help of a lawyer. She has had California state legislators write to Wells Fargo on her behalf, had community organizers "blast" Wells Fargo's offices with emails and phone calls, confronted Wells Fargo Regional Vice President at a meeting arranged by the Oakland teachers' union and even been lead away in handcuffs after interrupting Wells Fargo's annual shareholders meeting.

A Wells Fargo spokesman has stated the deal reduces the principle amount of the woman's loan from $484,000 to $365,000, but said the company modified the loan "because we want to keep homeowners in their homes", not as a result of any of the antics of the homeowners. The principle reduction reduces the homeowner's payment by about $500 per month.

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer does not recommend taking such extreme actions when trying to prevent foreclosure of your home. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today for a free case review to determine what foreclosure defense options may be available in your case.

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.

Courts in Florida cleared greater than 200,000 of the backlogged foreclosure cases that were plaguing the system in 2010. These numbers represent a nearly 43% decline in outstanding foreclosure cases. The $6 million allocated by the Florida Legislature to establish the foreclosure "rocket docket" courts and clear the backlog but the effectiveness of the special courts have been called into question and the 2010 numbers evidence they may not have been as effective as the total number of disposed cases initially leads Floridians to believe.

Almost half of the disposed cases due disposed of due to dismissals by Plaintiff banks. Dismissals can occur for several reasons, ranging from a mutual agreement via mediation to voluntary dismissals on the part of bank. A total of 104,126 were dismissed in this fashion in 2010. Many foreclosure observers are pointing to two primary reasons for the high number of dismissals: 1) the voluntary dismissals on the part of banks due to errors or fraud in the creation of foreclosure related documents and 2) the closing of giant "foreclosure mill" the Law Offices of David J. Stern without officially withdrawing from its cases, which put thousands of cases in limbo.

The unfortunate thing that is hidden by this seeming relief from the foreclosure backlog is that most of the dismissed cases will be refiled. if you are currently facing, or will be facing in the near future, a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a St. Augustine Foreclosure Lawyer today for a free consultation to determine what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

Wells Fargo, which purchased Wachovia in 2008, has reached a settlement with investors which claimed Wachovia misled investors on the sale of securities between 2006 and 2008. Investors have accused Wachovia of intentionally misrepresenting the "quality of assets linked to the mortgage portfolio of Golden West Financial." The marketing material in question emanates from the marketing of 30 bond and security sales which totaled more than $35 billion, much of which came from "pick-a-pay" loans or option adjustable rate mortgages.

Mary Eshet, a spokesman for the bank, agreed to the $590 million settlement "in order to avoid the distraction, risk and expense of on-going litigation" and "does not constitute an admission of Wells Fargo of liability or any violation of law by Wachovia." Attorney's representing the investors stated "these settlements reflect an outstanding result for bond and preferred security purchases who were damaged as a result of false and misleading offering materials."

As many investors take to the courts to try to undo the damage done to them by the unscrupulous lending activities by many banks, where is the justice for the homeowners. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to determine what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

Wells Fargo, the fourth largest U.S. bank by assets, has announced it may be forced to buy back an additional $1.8 billion in failed mortgages, on top of the already billions of repurchase calls it has already received. The latest call for buybacks comes from investors outside the initial investors which requested buybacks. A Wells Fargo representative stated that in a worst case scenario mortgage repurchase claims could potentially exceed the reserves the bank set aside to deal with repurchase requests.

The repurchase requests come from the origination and securitization of sub-prime loans that have defaulted and in turn become toxic. Investors in mortgage backed securities can require a bank to buy back loans if the underlying mortgages do not comply with the representations and/or warranties made by the bank at the time the securities were purchased. Wells Fargo is the largest U.S. Bank to project its worst case scenario, but Wells Fargo repurchase claims have declined for the four quarters since the second quarter of 2010.

Wells Fargo is just one of the national banking giants that is facing and will continue to face billions of dollars in mortgage repurchase requests stemming from its actions in originating mortgages it knew would go bad. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit from Wells Fargo, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

In the great majority of foreclosure cases, the first mortgage holder is usually the one that brings the foreclosure action. But what about when there is a second mortgage involved? The second mortgage may file a foreclosure just to protect interest in the property, but this is a rare occurrence for several reasons.

While a second lien holder can file for foreclosure, due to the dramatic decline in home prices, only the first mortgage holder will usually get paid via any sale or auction that takes place. Since these home sales usually involve interested buyers looking for relatively cheap homes, the house usually sells for much more than is owed on the mortgage. Since there is likely not enough money to even pay off the property taxes, and potential homeowners association arrearages and first mortgage after the sale, it just doesn't usually make financial sense for the second mortgage company to initiate the foreclosure proceeding. But of course, that doesn't mean that second mortgage holders cannot or will not file a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit from the holder of the second mortgage on your home, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to determine what options are available in your particular case.

What is going on in with all of the Foreclosure craziness? This has been the question for millions of homeowners dealing with the potential loss of a home right now. People have heard the horror stories of predatory lending, and the other stories of unqualified homeowners working with brokers to deceive lenders to get financed. But many mortgages fall somewhere in between, leaving big question marks in place of answers the housing market desperately needs.

As a greater number of questions are pouring in, however, searching for answers has become a daunting task. MIllions of homeowners are in a struggle to hold onto their loans while batting off multiple lenders. The problem is many of the original brokers and lending companies have since gone out of business or been the subject of criminal charges stemming from their faulty practices. Often times, the loans in question have been securitized into a mortgage-backed trust. The issue underlying this confusion is that no one knows whom the owner of the note and mortgage actually is. This is largely because of one four-letter acronym, MERS.

MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration System), a service created to track mortgage transfers, was created in 1994. MERS replaced the old system of "walking" every important mortgage document to the County Clerk's office. With this shortcut in place, lenders were able to save millions of dollars in local recording fees and started transferring mortgages at a pace that, we would later learn, was far too much to handle. So grueling, in fact, MERS failed to properly follow state and local laws in documenting these transfers. Now when it comes time to foreclose instead of documenting each transfer, MERS allegedly signs the mortgage from the original lender to the most recent owner.Many courts are now deciding whether MERS has actual standing to foreclose.

There are things you can do to be prepared for or stave off a potential foreclosure. One of the most important is to communicate with your lender. If you are facing the prospect of foreclosure, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to determine what foreclosure defenses may be available in your specific case.

At least one state Supreme Court decision shows what many home becomes a trend, requiring strict compliance with foreclosure laws. The Supreme Court in Nevada handed down three decisions the week of July 11th denying foreclosure and passing along sanctions to lenders who didn't provide accurate documentation or an individual with settlement authority at State mandated foreclosure mediations.

One Nevada District court allowed a foreclosure to go forward even after the mediator found the loans beneficiary representative negotiated in bad faith and failed to bring required documents or presented incomplete paperwork. The name of the assignee was missing from the mortgage assignment, as well!

In another instance, the court said Wells Fargo could not proceed with a foreclosure because it brought inadequate documentation at foreclosure mediation. The record of the case shows Wells Fargo tried to prove ownership through a certified copy of the original deed of trust and note, each listing MortgageIT Inc. as the lender, and a notarized statement from a Wells Fargo employee claiming Wells was the rightful possessor of the deed of trust and mortgage and any later assignments. Each of these cases has been remanded to the District Court to determine appropriate sanctions against the lenders.

Although similar decisions have not yet been handed down in Florida, another state's determinations against lenders could potentially be persuasive. Since reports broke last week that banks continue to employ shoddy foreclosure practices, it seems that more states are choosing punishment over praise for lenders. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.