Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

Most likely if you are facing a Foreclosure, it is because of an unforeseen financial hardship. It is also likely that falling behind on your mortgage payments is not the only financial hardship you are facing. It might have also become difficult to pay your other monthly expenses and debts as well.

A Florida bankruptcy may be helpful in defending your foreclosure since there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to every foreclosure defense. Taking into account your personal and family goals, and your overall financial situation is important and key to successful Foreclosure Defense. No matter what course you choose, it is important to put your plan into action quickly.

A Foreclosure lawyer can offer certain options while a Bankruptcy lawyer can offer others. For example, foreclosure defense can offer a loan modification, allow you to walk away from a bad investment, protect you from future liabilities, save you from hours of paperwork, stop harassing collectors from calling you, and protect your credit rating from dropping further. On the other hand, Bankruptcy can allow you to end creditors' reports of delinquency, protect assets, clear away other debt, stall a foreclosure sale, strip away other mortgages, and in some cases help rebuild your credit faster.

Depending on your personal situation, a bankruptcy may be used in conjunction to foreclosure defense. In Florida, Foreclosure Defense and bankruptcy are two tools that can be used to avoid Foreclosure and create a long-term plan for you and your family. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to determine if one or the other or both of these strategies can help you meet your long-term goals.

In today's mortgage industry, the long-standing simple concept of the transfer of mortgages still exists. However, times have changed and the concept of transferring mortgages has become extremely complex.

Originally, when a Note and Mortgage were transferred to a new owner, the new owner would take possession of the original Note and Mortgage, and the original Note would be endorsed specifically to the new owner, much like a check. This process is reflected in Florida Statute § 673.2031(1) (2010) which states: "[a]n instrument is transferred when it is delivered by a person other than its issuer for the purpose of giving to the person receiving delivery the right to enforce the instrument." The Supreme Court of Florida held that a mortgage can be transferred without a written assignment simply by delivering the note with intent to assign it. Hence the well-known expression, the Mortgage follows the Note.

With the extreme demand of finance today, the simple concept of just endorsing and physically delivering the note and mortgage from one lender to another no longer exists. Today, the path most likely seen is:
➢ The Mortgage originator (Lender) originates hundreds of loans; THEN
➢ The Mortgage originator uses the borrowed money in order to create more mortgages; THEN
➢ When the Mortgage originator has a sizeable number of mortgages, the originator partners with one of the major investment banks to pool the mortgages and create securities of out them. This process is called "securitization."

Securitization occurs when the Mortgage originator assigns a pool of mortgages to a newly formed trust. The trust in turn issues securities for the mortgages, which are sold to investors. The trust becomes the owner of all the mortgages in the pool and the investors receive payments on the securities based upon collection of mortgage payments from the pool. Packaging mortgages as securities makes trading mortgages much easier, rather than trading each mortgage separately.

This brings me back to the transfer of individual mortgages. As described, mortgages and notes are assigned by the hundreds and even thousands; making it extremely alluring to skip entirely the preparation and recording of a proper chain of title for each mortgage in a pool. Since mortgages are transferred multiple times within the life of a loan, each transfer is generally only temporary. To streamline the process, transfer generally only takes the form of a pledge of the mortgages in bulk together with delivery of the original Note to the bank. The mortgages may be transferred in bulk, unrecorded, many times without ever physically moving the notes.

If you are facing foreclosure and believe your Note and Mortgage were securitized, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

If you are represented by a lawyer in a foreclosure action, and that lawyer failed to appear at a hearing that resulted in a foreclosure judgment being entered against you and a sale date set, you may be able to file an Emergency Motion to Set Aside the judgement based on your lawyer failing to appear in court. It is best to have an attorney assist you with this Motion and hearing.

The basis for such an emergency motion comes from Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, Relief From Judgment, Decrees, or Orders, and states: '

(b) Mistakes; Inadvertence; Excusable Neglect; Newly Discovered Evidence; Fraud; etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party's legal representative from a final judgment, decree, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect;

However, please note that simply filing this type of motion does not affect the judgment or suspend the holder from moving forward. A hearing must be set, held and the motion must be granted before it can have any affect. While these types of things hopefully have extremely rarely, they do sometimes happen.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and you have had a foreclosure judgment entered against you, you may have options. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free case review to determine what options may be available to you.

After about a year of decreased foreclosure filings due to the "robo-signing" scandal, where banks allegedly took property without properly reviewing the loan documents, the number of foreclosure filings are reportedly set to increase after lenders have supposedly taken the time to ensure that all their paperwork is in order. During that time off the number of foreclosures to be filed have mounted.

Over the last year, housing prices have maintained a slight yet steady increase. House prices in 20 U.S. cities rose 0.9% in July, making 4 consecutive months of increases, according to the S&P Case-Shiller index of home values. Nonetheless, that is still 4.1% below where values were a year ago. If foreclosed properties flood the market again, housing prices will most likely decrease again because banks price foreclosed homes towards selling quickly.

An increase in foreclosure filings has already been reported in this year's third quarter. A 0.3% increase was seen which reverses the decrease experienced in the last 3 consecutive quarters. Foreclosure filings reported include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

Unfortunately, "increased foreclosure filings will continue to erode house prices....the questions is, at what point do you reach the bottom of the market?" said Ed Delgado, a former Wells Fargo senior vice president and CEO of the Five Star Institute, a mortgage-education provider. Delgado does not see any recovery in the foreseeable future and is concerned bottom may not be until the third quarter of 2012.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, you may need help navigating the foreclosure process and today's housing market. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free review of your situation.

After about a year of decreased foreclosure filings due to the "robo-signing" scandal, where banks allegedly took property without properly reviewing the loan documents, the number of foreclosure filings are reportedly set to increase after lenders have supposedly taken the time to ensure that all their paperwork is in order. During that time off the number of foreclosures to be filed have mounted.

Over the last year, housing prices have maintained a slight yet steady increase. House prices in 20 U.S. cities rose 0.9% in July, making 4 consecutive months of increases, according to the S&P Case-Shiller index of home values. Nonetheless, that is still 4.1% below where values were a year ago. If foreclosed properties flood the market again, housing prices will most likely decrease again because banks price foreclosed homes towards selling quickly.

An increase in foreclosure filings has already been reported in this year's third quarter. A 0.3% increase was seen which reverses the decrease experienced in the last 3 consecutive quarters. Foreclosure filings reported include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

Unfortunately, "increased foreclosure filings will continue to erode house prices....the questions is, at what point do you reach the bottom of the market?" said Ed Delgado, a former Wells Fargo senior vice president and CEO of the Five Star Institute, a mortgage-education provider. Delgado does not see any recovery in the foreseeable future and is concerned bottom may not be until the third quarter of 2012.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, you may need help navigating the foreclosure process and today's housing market. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free review of your situation.

A potentially key witness in a Nevada case against two title officers who have been accused of "robo-signing" thousands of documents was found dead in her home earlier in the month. Authorities were altered when the witness missed her scheduled court date on a related misdemeanor charge and the subsequent hearing where she was to testify against the two title officers.

Law Vegas police have stated that they do not suspect foul play and are not treating the death as a homicide. A preliminary investigation has yielded evidence that she took her own life. The witness was facing up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine for her role in the robo-signing scheme where she estimated she had notarized more than 30,000 documents of people not in her presence during the course of her employment with Lender Processing Services Inc. between 2005 and 2008. In November, the witness plead guilty to a single count of notarizing the signature of a person not in her presence.

The developments in Nevada are unfortunate for several reasons, most obviously the loss of life. Hopefully the case against the two title officers and the role Lender Processing Services, Inc. played in subject robo-signing scandal can go forward without this key witness. if you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and believe you have been a victim of robo-signing, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

Plaintiff's seem to have sunk to a new low when trying to avoid responsibility for the contents of their mortgage foreclosure complaint...some plaintiff's believe that "verifying" complaint causes them to purger themselves! Now this particular issue is now before Florida Second District Court of Appeals.

The controversy arises from an order from a Pinellas County Florida court which dismissed Plaintiff's, U.S. Bank as trustee for a securitized mortgage trust, foreclosure complaint and order Plaintiff to file an amended complaint and instructed U.S. Bank to verify the complaint itself. Instead of merely reviewing the statements contained in the documents and verifying its complaint pursuant to Florida law, on December 12, U.S. Bank filed an appeal of the lower court's ruling asking to be exempted from the verification rule.

In its petition for writ of certiorari U.S. Bank states "in order for U.S. Bank to comply with the trial court order, it would be forced to commit perjury or altogether forego its right to pursue" its foreclosure case. We will have to see if the courts believe the argument that even though a foreclosure complaint can be brought in the name of an interested party, another party is the party with the actual knowledge of the issues and should verify a complaint.

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

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.

Following the housing crisis of 2008, congress and President Bush created the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which is an independent agency that oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Federal Home Loan Banks. At a recent meeting with congress, the FHFA's Director, Edward DeMarco, promised to review a new plan that will help homeowners who file Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

The plan would allow homeowners who file Chapter 13 to pay down loan principal, instead of interest, for a five-year period. This allows homeowners to reduce -- or even eliminate -- negative equity in their homes. In other words, the plan helps people get out of the situation of being "upside down" or "underwater" on their loans. To qualify, homeowners would have to settle claims against loan servicers. This would reduce litigation and will hopefully reduce the number of homeowners facing foreclosure or filing bankruptcy.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and are at risk of losing your home or are considering filing bankruptcy, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney today for a complimentary consultation to discuss your options.

The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act, commonly known as HOEPA, is a section within the Truth In Lending Act (TILA) that requires additional rules when a home refinance loan is considered high cost. A refinance loan is considered high cost if the initial home loan amount was below $120,000, or if the interest rate was above 10% at closing. Additionally, there may be a HOEPA violation where credit life insurance was sold as part of the loan transaction.

In addition to the disclosures required by TILA, the following additional disclosures are required when the loan is subject to HOEPA: "You are not required to complete this agreement merely because you have received these disclosures or have signed a loan application." "If you obtain this loan, the lender will have a mortgage on you home. You cold lose you home, and any money you have put into it, if you do not meet your obligations under the loan." These additional disclosures must also be provided THREE DAYS before closing along with the Annual Percentage Rate: In the case of a credit transaction with a fixed rate of interest, the annual percentage rate and the amount of the regular monthly payment; or In the case of any other credit transaction, the annual percentage rate of the loan, the amount of the regular monthly payment, a statement that the interest rate and monthly payment may increase, and the amount of the maximum monthly payment, based on the maximum interest rate allowed pursuant to section 3806 of title 12.

HOEPA allows the borrower to rescind the mortgage transaction up to 3-years after the closing of the loan if used as a defense to a foreclosure action (1-year if brought as an independent action outside of foreclosure), and was a refinance transaction of the borrower's principal residence. If the loan is subject to HOEPA and the lender did not provide the required notices 3 days before closing, then rescission of the loan may be available and all of the following MAY come into affect:
• A right to immediately rescind the transaction,
• A refund of all principal and interest payment made to the lender,
• A refund of all closing costs paid at the time of closing,
• A refund of any down payment made in connection with the loan,
• Termination of the mortgage,
• Keep the property if it is already paid off, and
Possible statutory damages in an amount equal to the sum of:
• Any actual damage sustained by such a person as a result of the failure to comply;
• Not less than $200 or greater than $2,000 if the home loan is not a home equity loan;
• Costs of the action, together with reasonable attorney's fees; and
• An amount equal to the sum of all finance charges and fees paid by the consumer, unless the creditor demonstrates the failure to comply is not material. An assignee of the mortgage is liable for all claims that could be brought against the original lender.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, especially if your loan was a "high cost" loan, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a free consultation to see what potential foreclosure defenses , including potential HOEPA violations, are 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.

After discovering an array of misconduct and negligence involving deficient practices in servicing mortgage loans and processing foreclosures, the Federal Reserve Boards has announced it will be taking formal enforcement actions against the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Goldman Sachs Bank USA. The misconduct and negligence involved stem from Goldman Sachs' former subsidiary, Litton Loan Servicing, LP, which was sold to Ocwen Financial Corporation on September 1, 2011 and is no longer servicing mortgage loans.

Goldman Sachs has been ordered to retain a neutral consultant who is to review all foreclosures that were filed at any time in 2009 and 2010. The goal is to provide re-mediation to homeowners who experienced financial harm because of the unlawful foreclosures or other insufficiencies that may be found in the review.

Goldman Sachs has also been ordered not to re-enter the mortgage serving industry while the review is taking place. If Goldman Sacks does, it will have to implement enhanced corporate governance, risk-management, compliance, borrower communication, etc. The Federal Reserve believes monetary sanctions will be appropriate and plans to announce the imposed monetary penalties sometime in the future

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, 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.

Most people do not realize that when they borrow money to buy a home, they are in actuality signing the biggest check of their life! The promissory note you sign for your home loan is just like a check. A note and a check are both promises, signed by you, to pay a particular named party a specific amount of money. The only person who can cash a check is the person who has signed the back of it, also known as an endorsement.

The promissory note you signed for your home loan goes through the same exact process as if you endorsed your check in blank, it can be passed from person to person. However, foreclosure plaintiffs are trying to cash promissory notes (foreclose on property) with blank endorsements on them. The loan originator endorses the note in blank, thereby allowing it to be transferred among parties without any real evidence of the transfer. This is just one of the many foreclosure defenses that can arise from the transfer of a note or mortgage.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to determine there are any defenses which arise from the transfer and endorsement of your promissory note. The first consultation is free.

The Octomom was recently in the news for facing foreclosure on her home. She failed to make payments on her Orange County home for the past three years. The home has also been "let go" and is currently "in shambles".

Octomon did nothing to create a potential foreclosure defense in all this time. She has not done any research or investigation on the property or Bank who allegedly holds the mortgage to uncover potential defenses that could help her keep the property and stay in her home. Octomon has done nothing to try to keep the property and seems content to let it go back to the bank.

Had Octomon done some simple research and investigation, a solid foreclosure defense could have been formed. Now that 85% of U.S. mortgages are securitized into trusts and may not be recorded properly, many homes have disputable chains of title; which may make it very difficult for any Bank to prove they can foreclose on someone's home. Also very common today, is widespread foreclosure fraud with "robo-singers," missing and/or fabricated mortgage assignments, and invalid dates and notaries just to name a few.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, do not make the same mistakes the Octomon has. Contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today for a free case review to begin discoverying potential defense to your foreclosure.