Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

"The foreclosure crisis is having a significant impact on mental health as well as on a wide range of preventable conditions that are susceptible to stress," said Princeton University economist Janet Currie. "Our findings prove yet again that economic well-being and physical well-being are connected."

The National Bureau of Economic Research recently published a study, co-authorized by Janet Currie, that analyzed the affect foreclosures are having on peoples health in the states who have the greatest number of foreclosures--Florida, California, Arizona, and New York. Foreclosure rates were linked to reports of emergency-room and hospital visits for stress-related issues. The study also included those who are stressed by making payments on a home that is worth significantly less than what they owe.

The report found that for every 100 foreclosed properties in an area, emergency-room and hospital admittances increased 7.2% for hypertension and 8.1% for diabetes for adults 20 to 49. Anxiety admissions saw a 12% increase, and malaise (stomach upset and nausea) increased by 7.5%. In addition, an increase in attempts of suicide was reported.

Being under financial anxiety causes changes in mood, hypertension, and diabetes that take a toll on your overall health. Families forced to move in together experience more friction.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today. The initial consultation is complimentary.

RealtyTrac and the Palm Beach County Clerk of Court simultaneously reported the month of October saw an increase in new foreclosures filed. The Palm Beach County Clerk also reported that October is the 3rd month in a row where foreclosure filings have increased, with September seeing a 7% increase.

Since the beginning of 2011, new foreclosure filings have slowed down greatly, in part due to accusations of robo-signing among law firms through out Florida who were hired to pursue foreclosures on defaulted mortgages.

Florida currently stands 3rd among the 50 states for the amount of time it takes for a home to be repossessed. Above Florida, in a close race for 1st and 2nd place, are New York with an average of 986 days and New Jersey which averages 974 days.

According to the newest report from RealtyTrac, it takes an average of 749 days, slightly over 2 years, for a home to be foreclosed on and repossessed in the state of Florida. This is a 10% increase from the 3rd quarter of 2011 in the amount of time is takes for a residential property to wind its way through the foreclosure system.

Facing a foreclosure can be an extremely stressful and confusing time. Do not face it alone. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary case review and to begin planning for you future.

When Chase Bank threatened to sell Mardee Jerde's home in foreclosure, Ms. Jerde's was determined to do all she could to save her home of 16 years. Sure, Ms. Jerde was having trouble making her mortgage payments, but there is a very personal and understandable account of how Jerde got to that point. An explanation Chase is unwilling to consider in granting Jerde a permanent loan modification.

In March of 2008, Marde was involved in a car accident that left her injured and unable to work. She could no longer afford her greater than $1,700 mortgage payment, so she immediately made contacted with her bank. Chase agreed to a trial loan modification, but it wasn't until July 2009 that she was able to make another payment. She made modified mortgage payments of nearly $900 until June of 2010, when Chase came knocking. They sent a letter seeking almost $50,000 in overdue payments and past due amounts.

The craziest part of all of it all is that Jerde upheld her responsibility, and sent Chase the money! She used the settlement money she received from being in the car accident to do make the payment. Chase ultimately denied her the permanent loan modification, leaving Ms. Jerde broke and with few options.

Stories like this make it appear that Chase and other banks will offer a helping hand and then immediately turn their back without upholding their end of the bargain. If you are in foreclosure talks with a bank, don't just send them money because they say it will increase the likelihood of getting a loan modification. If you are exploring the possibility of a mortgage modification with your bank, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to review the modification paperwork in order to ensure the deal is right for your individual circumstances.

A local Bank of America branch faced an interest conundrum last week: write a check for $2,534 in attorney's fees for a wrongful foreclosure they filed last year or have the furniture in the branch removed and sold at auction to satisfy the debt. The decision stemmed from a foreclosure the bank filed in 2010 against a Collier County couple. The bank alleged that the couple had fallen behind on their mortgage payments and began foreclosure proceedings; but there was a problem, the couple paid cash for the home they bought in 2009!

The case, filed by notorious foreclosure mills the Law Offices of David J. Stern, was dropped two months after it was filed, but the judge entered an order requiring Bank of America to pay the homeowners' attorney's fees. Multiple attempts to get the bank to pay the debt went unacknowledged, so the homeowners' attorney obtained a writ of enforcement, which gave permission to seize Bank of America's assets to satisfy the debt obligation. After an hour of negotiations, the local Bank of America manager wrote a check to satisfy the debt, rather than have the furniture of his branch seized.

While these stories are rare, these apparently are the types of actions that get the banks' attention. 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 defense options may be available to you.

Recently, Florida Courts of Appeal have begun handing down decisions showing their disapproval of the unscrupulous actions of many of the foreclosing banks. A Florida Appellate Review Lawyer recently published a great blog detailing one such decision. The full text of the blog can be found here.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit or if you have already fought the banks and received a ruling not in your favor, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary case review.

Provest is at it again...according to a report from the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, Provest just did the impossible, it served a foreclosure suit to a homeowner who was already dead! According to the lawyer representing the deceased defendant, a Provest representative served the homeowner on April 21, 2011, the only problem being that the homeowner died on August 4, 2010. Provest introduced the falsified proof of service document to the court, showing that the company properly served the defendant.

The processor server in the case has stated that when she attempted to serve the deceased homeowner, a person came to the door and when she asked if he was the person she was looking for, he said yes. The process server said the law does not require her to check a person's ID, so she served the papers and left. In a foreclosure proceeding where a homeowner is deceased, a lender must ask the court to appoint an administrator to the case and serve the suit to the administrator.

This is just the latest in a long line of fraudulent service complaints against Provest. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and you were a victim of fraudulent service of process, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to see what service related foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

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

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.

The Department of Treasury Comptroller of Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Housing Finance Agency have entered into a consent order with MERS, wherein MERS is being forced to correct the errors that have plagued foreclosure processes nationwide. In a just released 9 page document, the federal regulators found that MERS has committed serious errors and have experience multiple failures of its operations.

The consent order states that MERS employed unsafe and unsound business practices and exposed MERS members to "unacceptable operational, compliance, legal and reputational risks." Also included in the order are two findings related to MERS tracking and registering mortgage loans along with initiating foreclosures. Regulators found: 1) MERS failed to exercise appropriate oversight, management supervision and corporate governance, and have failed to devote adequate financial, staffing, training and legal resources to ensure proper administration and delivery of services to Examined Members.
2) MERS sailed to establish and maintain adequate internal controls, policies, and procedures, compliance risk management, and internal audit and reporting requirements with respect to the administration and delivery of services to Examined Members.

The Consent Order also lays out detailed requirements for MERS to clean-up its operational practices to prevent any future break-downs going forward. This is the first major finding that MERS foreclosure processes were flawed. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and you had a MERS loan, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

A statewide review of foreclosure cases recently completed by the Palm Beach Post shows evidence that foreclosure judges across the state are growing tired of the practices and tactics utilized by plaintiffs and are starting to put forth allegations of fraud on the court. The numbers of foreclosure complaints being dismissed by judges for questionable paperwork with some judges going so far as to award homeowners their home free and clear as a result of plaintiffs errors.

The Florida Bar Association, the Florida Attorney General's Office and Federal authorities have investigated eight of the Florida "foreclosure mills" amidst widespread allegations of both signature and document fraud. The Palm Beach Post report highlights several instances where Florida circuit court judges have heavily criticized plaintiff's attorneys, in open court, regarding their "shoddy" practices.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and you believe that you have been a victim of fraud, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to have your case reviewed and see what foreclosure defense options may be available to help save your home.

To read the full Palm Beach Post article, click here.

An Ohio jury has awarded a Fort Benning solider $20 million in damages over mortgage account errors made by his mortgage servicer, PHH Mortgage Corp. Jurors took a little over 6 hours before coming back with a verdict ordering the mortgage company to pay $1 million in compensatory damages, $575 for out of pocket expenses, $350,000 in attorney's fees and an additional $20 million in punitive damages. The plaintiff's attorney called the verdict and the award "necessary to get the company's attention."

The U.S. Army sergeant bought a home in November 2007 and set up automatic monthly payments through his mortgage servicer to avoid any payment mistakes while he was on active duty. No complications occurred during the first 18 months of payments but the sergeant started getting repeated phone calls telling him that he had been missing payments and that his account was being reported as "seriously delinquent" to the credit bureaus. The sergeant made numerous phone calls to PHH, which the jury was allowed to hear, where he would hold for up to 55 minutes before actually talking to a representative, in or to try to clear up the mistakes.

He would always be told that the errors were being corrected but nothing was ever done to correct the mistakes. At trial, PHH mortgage accused the sergeant of lying and intentionally filing out forms incorrectly. Apparently the jury was not swayed by PHH's claims. While members of the military are given additional mortgage protections when they are on active duty, this case stems from the errors that can be made in any homeowner's mortgage.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit where you believe errors were made by your mortgage company, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to see what options may be available to you.

The Obama administration is solidly backing the mortgage modification aspect of the settlement proposal made 50 state Attorneys General to the "big 5" mortgage companies. In what has been described as a "shock and awe approach", the Administration is said to be seeking to force those mortgage servicers to reduce the monthly mortgage payments for roughly 3 million struggling homeowners and is seeking that remedy within the next 6 months!

Industry insiders have estimated that such a proposal could cost the companies as much as $30 billion. The effects of a settlement like this could be extremely far-reaching, with an estimated 4.7 million delinquent homeowners nationwide who have not been served with a foreclosure. The five largest mortgage companies handle 3 out of every 5 U.S. mortgage loans. The Obama administration remains in support of mortgage modifications where a reduction in principle is present, a method that experts believe is the most effective way to modify a loan.

While this is good news, any deal on a potential settlement of "robo-signing" and other mortgage abuse claims is still far down the line. If you are facing or will be facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

A Philadelphia man has taken one of the tools a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer uses in the foreclosure fight and used it to "foreclose" on his local Wells Fargo Mortgage Office. When the Philadelphia man got a notice in his monthly mortgage statement that his insurance premiums were increasing by $500 per month because Wells Fargo was forcing him to insure his home for $1 million, a home he purchased for $180,000 in 2002 and had been paying faithfully since, he used one of the legal tools available to all homeowners...he sent Wells Fargo a Qualified Written Request asking for a detailed explanation of the reasons behind his premium increase.

Under Federal Law, lenders must acknowledge a Qualified Written Request within 20 days and respond with an explanation or fix the issue within 60 days. If lenders do not respond within the allotted time, they can be sued for $1000 and all fees and costs by the homeowner. That is exactly what happened in this case. The homeowner got a $1173 judgment against Wells Fargo, who failed to even show up at the hearing, and then failed the pay the homeowner to satisfy the judgment. Eventually the homeowner decided to file for a sheriff's levy, which instructs the sheriff to seize and sell the debtors property to satisfy the judgment. The local sheriff took the levy to the local Wells Fargo Mortgage office in order to notify them of the levy and sale date, inventory all the contents of the office, and post a notice preventing anything from being removed from the office! Wells Fargo has since sent the homeowner a check for the judgment but has refused to talk to him about the insurance premiums or correct the situation.

This is one of the most humorous examples of homeowners fighting back against the large banks. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to learn about Qualified Written Requests and many other foreclosure tools that may be available to you.

According to the Florida Attorney General's website, the Economic Crimes Division of the AG's office is now investigating notorious "foreclosure mill" Ben-Ezra & Katz. The website lists the subjects of the investigation as "Ben-Ezra & Katz, P.A. and Marc A. Ben-Ezra, individually and Marvin Katz, individually." The website also lists the allegations or issues being investigated as "violation of Florida Statute 501 Part II, appears to be fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases. These documents have been presented in court before judges as actual assignments of mortgages and properly prepared affidavits that have later been shown to be legally inadequate and/or insufficient. Presenting and preparing faulty paperwork to use to foreclose; to collect attorney fees and to create affidavits of indebtedness."

The "foreclosure mill" is just a few weeks removed from being fired by Fannie Mae and has been forced to lay-off almost half of its lawyers and support staff. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit where Ben-Ezra & Katz is opposing counsel, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to explore what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

To view the Florida Attorney General Website announcing the investigation click here.

Beginning on January 30, 2011, lenders will be required to provide more detailed, easier-to-read disclosures for interest rates, monthly payments, and details for adjustable-rate mortgages. These disclosures will appear in a spreadsheet format that is supposed to make the consumer understand what kind of loan they are signing on for. Lenders will need to provide estimates of amounts to be put in escrow for property taxes or property insurance due on the loans. These new federal guidelines will also apply to negative-amortization loans, interest-only loans, balloon payment loans, and other variable rate loans for mortgages. These types of loans are examples of subprime mortgages that are still available in the current market.

Thomas, Martin, president of America's Watchdog, a national consumer advocacy group stated, "the additional clarity included in the new documentation will illustrate when a borrower's payment will change, as well as the maximum amount of a future payment after a defined period." However, Mr. Martin is also concerned that borrowers might be "further confused" and "awash in spreadsheets." The new disclosures appear to help the consumer understand what kind of mortgage loan they are signing up for, however in the long run a general consumer will still not be able to interpret what the various numbers on this new spreadsheet means.

Hopefully this is another step in the right direction in protecting homeowners from unscrupulous practices of some mortgage lenders. If you are a Florida homeowner facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit due to the practices of your lender, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.