Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

Now that the Law Offices of David J. Stern and Ben-Ezra & Katz are no longer Florida's foreclosure kings, law firms from other states are opening offices in Florida to seize some of Florida's foreclosure business that is now up for grabs. New foreclosure filings slowed significantly last year while foreclosure processing procedures were reconstructed by Fannie Mae and Feddie Mac.

The largest of the new firms, McCalla Raymer, based in Atlanta, GA, has opened four offices in Florida housing 21 attorneys in the last year. Other out-of-state firms include Brock & Scott from North Carolina, Ablitt Scofield from Massachusetts, Mark J. Udren & Associates from New Jersey,; and from Atlanta Aldridge Connors, Pendergast & Associates, and Phelan Hallinan & Schmieg. Most have chosen Fort Lauderdale as their base in South Florida.

Now that Fannie and Freddie have taken necessary steps to ensure all of its foreclosure paperwork is in order, they are now ready to begin filing foreclosures again. In addition to restricting their foreclosure processes, the mortgage giants have also changed the matter in which their hire law firms in Florida to file their foreclosures. This time around, in an attempt to not create another David Stern or Ben -Ezra, they plan to spread out the work among many firms and are even sitting in on attorney interviews. They are taking a more active role to make sure these firms follow proper procedures. Now included in Fannie Mae's contracts with loan servicers, the servicers will be responsible for monitoring and managing the conduct of foreclosure proceedings.

Facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, can be a very stressful and confusing period. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today. A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer may be able to help you navigate through this difficult time and put you in the best financial position possible for your future. The initial consultation is free.

40% of foreclosure cases backlogged in the Florida Court System has been cut over the last year. A combination of increased efforts by the courts and cases being dropped or dismissed by banks are responsible for much of the relief. The Office of the State Courts Administrator shows that 201,524 foreclosures were disposed of last year (96,630 disposed of by summary and final judgments, 104,126 were dismissed). However, if a foreclosure case was disposed of through a dismissal, it can most likely be refilled. The question is will they be re-filed and when?

Foreclosure cases can be voluntarily dismissed by banks for a number of reasons but most are dismissed due to paperwork irregularities. Numerous news stories have emerged revealing that bank employees signed foreclosure paperwork without first personally verifying information contained in the documents (commonly referred to as "robosigning"). Other paperwork irregularities have included issues regarding proper notarization, erroneous or forged assignments, and missing or erroneously prepared mortgage documents.

The majority of foreclosure actions that were voluntarily dismissed by banks throughout the last year for one or more paperwork issue, will most likely be filed again. But, foreclosure filings have remained at a decreased rate as banks have increasingly been using other means rather than foreclosure to deal with struggling homeowner, including permitting more homeowners to short sale their property, approving more loan modifications, and allowing homeowners to stay in properties until after the final foreclosure sale.

At the end of the 2010-2011 fiscal court year, 260,815 of foreclosure cases that were pending at the beginning of the year (460,000) remained. 117,000 new cases were filed within the year (which is lower than what was expected). As of June 30, 2011, the number of foreclosure cases pending in the court system is 378,000.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit or have had your Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit voluntarily dismissed by your bank, contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case in order to determine what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

Jeff Barnes, a California attorney who also has an office in Boca Raton, has filed a unique Florida lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase. The filing cites Florida RICO statutes in an effort to pin Chase with a widespread pattern of misconduct. Barnes is making a claim of "nationalized fraud" by Chase because they used false and fraudulent documents to foreclose on homes, and also claimed it had the right to foreclose on Washington Mutual loans, which Chase took over in 2008.

Barnes is using the Florida Civil Remedies for Criminal Practices Act, which is the civil version of the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act. The suit has drawn much attention and Mr. Barnes is considering adding more plaintiffs, although he does not plan to solicit for any more. However, some Florida lawyer's are skeptical as to whether this statute will actually work in fighting against the banks.

Perhaps the best thing that could come from this filing is that the suit requests Chase be barred from processing foreclosures until the case ends, which could buy time for many homeowners facing Chase foreclosures. If you are currently facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit or are simply having difficulty paying a mortgage, contact < Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to explore your potential legal options.

After a Reuters report and county officials in more than three states on Monday reported thousands of documents showed evidence that banks have continued the illegal practice of robo-signing, lawmakers and law enforcement agencies are demanding investigations of mortgage lenders. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chair of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, plans to hold a hearing regarding the issue.

The Essex County Massachusetts property deed office reported 1,300 document filings since October with the signature of Linda Green appearing in 22 different handwriting styles and multiple titles. The Massachusetts Attorney General's office is now scheduling meetings with many of the state's deed registers' to investigate. In Guilford County, North Carolina, the county recording office reported nearly 500 documents with suspected robo-signatures. More examples are surfacing as reports of the robo-signed documents spread.

Brown's supporters are mostly of a similar mindset: if regulations are too relaxed, the housing market will face the same issues that left it crippled in the past. After the robo-signing issue arose last fall, Lenders were left to police themselves after they promised to cease the practice. But the continuing robo-signing issue is a testament that self-regulation cannot solve this problem.

This news is another potentially significant blow to mortgage lenders. Let's hope that this time, something material comes from these news allegations. Often times, finding the discrepancies in loan documentation takes extensive discovery. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit and want to explore your potential foreclosure defense options, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today.

Many who read this blog or follow financial news are familiar with the promises from top Banks in the US to stop the filing of fraudulent and faulty foreclosure documentation. A recent Reuter's investigation proved that many of the same companies are still utilizing the same lackadaisical practices that stifled America's housing market and plunged thousands of homeowners into foreclosure.

The article mentions 87-year-old resident of Immokalee Florida, a town at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis in Collier County. OneWest Bank filed foreclosure paperwork in that was peppered with problems, namely in the assignment of mortgage. But this key document was not signed and recorded with Collier County until some months after OneWest filed the foreclosure!

The Reuters investigation also identified at least six robo-signers which appear on thousands of mortgage assignments filed by banks in recent months. Some of the individuals have even appeared at depositions only to claim that they never read or checked the assignments, and one, when asked what an assignment of mortgage is, replied: "I'm really not sure."

It's fairly easy to see that the recent settlements between Banks and investors have done little to stop these questionable practices. The banks seem to be saying that providing proper documentation doesn't matter, because many of these homeowners are in fact delinquent on their mortgages. Although that might be the case, it doesn't give the bank carte blanche authority to just take people's homes while not following the legal requirements to do so.

For now, Courts tend to disagree with this analysis, for whatever reason. Until Banks are held more accountable and made an example of, the fight for homeowners is still an uphill battle. Florida Foreclosure Defense attorney's are working to help turn the tides. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary consultation to determine what potential foreclosure defenses are available to you.

A quarterly study recently released shows Florida toward the top of the list for risks of mortgage fraud. Florida was topped only by Nevada (at number one) and Arizona (number two). Northeast Florida, including Jacksonville, was rated a "high" risk while Southern Florida, including Miami and Orlando, was ranked a "very high" risk. North Western Florida, on the other hand, was given a "low" risk rating.

In making its conclusions, the report looks primarily at four types of mortgage scams: property valuation fraud, identity fraud, occupancy fraud, and phony income reports.

Property valuation fraud typically involves manipulating property values to create a profit margin. It's similar to "flipping", which was very popular before the market crash, in that the buyer purchases a home intending to sell it at a higher value. Unlike flipping, however, the buyer doesn't add any actual value to the home -- instead, the buyer uses shady numbers and other tactics to artificially raise the price of the home and then sells it to an unsuspecting buyer.

Identity fraud is a relatively well-known problem. In the mortgage market, identity fraud generally means a buyer pretends to be someone else. This enables him or her to obtain a better credit rating and attain a loan that he or she otherwise might not have received.

Occupancy fraud involves buyers who falsely claim they will live in the house full time. A full-time residency generally means lower down payments and lower interest rates. Similarly, phony income reports involve buyers who falsify income documents to appear to have more assets than they really do.

All of these types of fraud have a negative impact on the mortgage industry and only increase paperwork for already backed-up banks and courts. Hopefully the fraud and unscrupulous behavior surrounding Florida's foreclosures market subsides in the coming months and years.

According to the latest numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association "problem loans" in the mortgage system are down from 2010 levels, foreclosures remain at extremely high levels and mortgage delinquencies have barely changed since the first quarter of the year. So what does this mean? While some states seem to have figured out a way to "fix" their foreclosure and mortgage systems, other, like Florida, continues to be mired in the middle of the foreclosure mess.

The Mortgage Bankers Association statistics show that Florida's percentage share of the foreclosures nationally is 23.7%, nearly one quarter of all foreclosures across the U.S.! In fact, Florida's 466,454 foreclosures is greater than the total number of loans in 22 states. As many people familiar with foreclosure processes understand, states with non-judicial foreclosure process get from beginning to end much more quickly than states with judicial foreclosure processes. Eight of the ten states with the highest percentage of mortgages in foreclosure are judicial foreclosure states.

While some industry experts say that judicial foreclosure processes are bad and just temporarily prevent the inevitable, a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer believes the benefit far outweighs the costs. After proof of corners being cut by the banks, including thousands of "robo-signed" documents, all precautions to prevent those sort of actions should be taken. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

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

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

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

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

You can watch the four Lisa Myers reports here:

Foreclosure Crisis: The Mortgage Loan Modification Trap

Foreclosure Crisis: The Whistleblowers

Foreclosure Crisis: Manufactured Loan Documents

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

The percentage of Homes in the Jacksonville, Florida metro area that received foreclosure-related notices in March was lower that those who received such notices in February. A 11 percent drop was recorded between March and February and a 57 percent drop was recorded from March 2010, according to RealtyTrac.

This is the lowest it has been in the Jacksonville area for the month of March since March 2008. In the first quarter of 2011, foreclosure activity dropped by 25 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 and by 50 percent from the first quarter 2010 to 3,900 in the Jacksonville metropolitan area. Nationwide, foreclosure-related notice mailings were down 15 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 and by 27 percent from the first quarter of 2010.

While these latest foreclosure numbers are seem to show a significant improvement in the overall housing market, many industry experts believe that this is only temporary slowdown and that filings will pick up as 2011 continues. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary case review.

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.

In another turn in the settlement talks going on between federal regulators and the five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses including allegations of "robo-signing", the two sides are negotiating a potential "cash for keys" program for delinquent borrowers. The program would pay homeowners who are at least 90 days behind on their mortgage payments $1,000 to seek independent financial advice and up to $20,000 as a fresh start payment toward the costs of a new home.

The program would require homeowners to vacate their homes quickly and to leave them in good condition. Along with the "big 5" mortgage servicers, there has been talk that federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be included as a part of the new "cash for keys" program. Rumors coming out of the meeting stated that the proposal was "rejected strongly" by bank officials.

A federally mandated and servicer approved cash for keys program would be a major help for thousands if not millions of struggling homeowners. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today to see what foreclosure alternatives may be available for you.

The fourteen top U.S. mortgage lenders are reportedly near an agreement with federal regulators which would call for an servicers to completely revamp their foreclosure practices and handling of delinquent borrowers. The investigation and impending agreement stems from numerous allegations of foreclosure abuses, most notably rampant "robo-signing" that has plagued the foreclosure process. Insiders have stated that the regulators, which include the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Reserve, could potentially announce the agreements as early as next week.

This round of agreements will likely come before any agreements made arising from the investigations being carried out by the 50 state attorney's general into the foreclosure practices of mortgage lenders. Any deal agreed to upon by the two sides will likely include new, mandatory minimum default servicing requirements as well as monetary penalties. Head of the Office of Comptroller of Currency John Walsh has stated that the banks emphasized "timeliness and cost efficiency over quality and accuracy" when pursuing foreclosures and they banks did not promote an environment "is consistent with conducting foreclosure process in a safe and sound manner."

Hopefully this settlement will be good news for the millions of struggling borrowers nationwide. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today.

President of the Florida Bar, Mayane Downs, says that the Bar has seen an increase large increase in the number of complaints and investigations of attorney misconduct as a result of foreclosure fraud and some may pay the ultimate professional price, disbarment. The Florida Bar, the body responsible for monitoring and investigation attorney conduct, has seen the number of fraud cases and the number of attorney's under investigation rise from 28 investigations on 23 attorneys in 2010 to 222 investigations on 157 attorneys open so far in 2011.

The substance of the investigations are not made public but complaints normally range from forged signatures on court documents, forged notarizations on documents and other illegal and unscrupulous activities designed to speed up the foreclosure process. These investigations do not include the wide-ranging investigations into the 8 Florida "foreclosure mills" including the now defunct Law Offices of David J. Stern. Many foreclosure defense attorneys question why no one from any of the "foreclosure mills" has yet to be suspended or face professional sanctions as a result of the investigations.

Many attorneys didn't believe that the media allegations of foreclosure abuses would result in official investigations by the Florida Bar but that appears to not be the case. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit where one of the 8 "foreclosure mills" is opposing counsel, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

South Florida "foreclosure mill" Ben-Ezra & Katz have announced that it has been forced to lay off almost half of its 568 employees after Fannie Mae "fired" the firm last week. In a memo released by a Ben-Ezra & Katz company spokesman said the firm was "forced to take this action after Fannie Mae surprisingly terminated its relationship with the firm."

Fannie Mae terminated its relationship with the firm in early February citing "document execution issues" and it informed the servicers of Fannie Mae loans to stop all payments to Ben-Ezra and Katz and to find new law firms to handle former Ben-Ezra & Katz cases immediately. it is estimated that Ben-Ezra & Katz handled at least 18,000 foreclosure cases in Florida alone.

If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit where Ben-Ezra & Katz is plaintiff's counsel, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what foreclosure defenses may be available to you.

In an unexpected announcement, which coincides with the offering of a free continuing legal education seminar aimed at improving the foreclosure processes in Florida, the Florida Bar is now requiring all attorney's to notify foreclosure judges about potential fraud in their cases, including those cases that are closed and the home sold. With 1.2 million foreclosures being filed in the state of Florida since 2007 and countless accusations of fraud from the five Florida "foreclosure mills" no one can accurately estimate the impact on foreclosure cases in the state. This announcement represents the largest step toward preventing fraud the Florida Bar has ever taken.

Attorneys are now instructed to report the fraud to the court, but are instructed not to do so in a public court hearing. Instead, attorneys are instructed to ask for a private, "in camera", hearing with the judge in order to determine whether any fraud was perpetrated. Many foreclosure defense lawyers have bristled at the idea of more, private hearings and point to the fact that foreclosure hearings are civil matters and are, and should be, open to the public. It remains to be seen what judges will do once they are alerted to fraud, as the consequences range from doing nothing to dismissing the action.

A Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer hopes that this latest step to prevent fraud has a profound effect on foreclosure courts and Florida homeowners facing foreclosure. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer today.