Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Blog

There is no doubt that foreclosure is stressful. As soon as you receive a foreclosure notice, you should contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Attorney to help you through the process and defend your rights. Remember, the bank cannot take your house until the court gives them the right to do so. This means the bank must prove to a judge they have the right to foreclose.

Once you meet with a Foreclosure Defense attorney, it is important to cooperate with the attorney in whatever ways you can. Respond to phone calls. Send requested documents. If you decide to abandon your home, you should discuss this with your attorney to understand the potential consequences of your actions.

Nevertheless, even with an attorney, foreclosure can be stressful. There is no guarantee that the bank will not foreclose on your home. This fact sometimes leaves people worrying if they will soon have to find a new home. Indeed, with the average foreclosure taking 806 days in Florida, this is an understandable feeling. Many homeowners have a hard time dealing with the stress. They may want to move out of their home and start over.

But where do you go and what will be the consequences of abandoning your home? A Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Attorney can aid you in devising a strategy that can allow you to begin saving money and planning for your future.

Probably. U.S. courts follow the "American Rule" regarding attorney's fees; i.e. each side customarily pays their own attorney's fees. However, this can be altered, and is often done so through various legislative statutes or even by contract. Florida recently passed a law requiring homeowners who do not contest a foreclosure action to pay the mortgage company's attorney fees. In addition, your note and mortgage most likely contain language making you responsible for the legal fees associated with collection of past due amounts.

Florida Statute 702.065 allows banks to recover attorney's fees in certain foreclosure actions. It applies only when the note or mortgage contains a provision that entitles the bank to "reasonable attorney's fees" when the Borrower defaults on their payments and a default judgment is entered. If this is the case, the bank or mortgage company can receive up to 3 percent of the principal amount owed at the time the bank filed their foreclosure complaint without a hearing.

This might not sound like a big deal, but this new rule is actually quite different from the old law. Lawyers for banks used to be required to have a hearing with the court to ensure their fees were "reasonable." Now, however, a bank's attorney can receive $30,000 on a million-dollar home simply for obtaining a default judgment, without proving to the court that the attorney actually performed $30,000 worth of work.

Laws like these suggest the banks are trying to make their proceedings a little more efficient, which can only makes sense in light of the substantial backlog foreclosure cases have caused in Florida. Having a Jacksonville Foreclosure Attorney on your side, can help prevent the bank from obtaining such a default judgment against you. Don't face foreclosure alone. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Attorney.

There is a single fundamental action that must be done when faced with a foreclosure. Once served with a Summons and Complaint, you must file a response or an Answer to the Summons and Complaint within 20 days. The Complaint will and must state with specificity the nature of the action and what the Plaintiff (bank) is requesting.

Determining what to file and when to File an Answer in a foreclosure lawsuit is probably the most crucial step in a foreclosure lawsuit. There are several major benefits you cannot afford to miss out on. Once a response to your lawsuit is filed you will receive future notices of all future actions in the case. A properly written response can help to even the playing ground between the bank and yourself.

A lender bringing the foreclosure action certainly has multiple attorneys fighting for their interest and you should have an attorney reviewing your case and helping you fight to defend your rights and educate you on your options.

Contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to review your case and see that your foreclosure Summons and Complaint is properly answered and well drafted. A Florida Foreclosure Lawyer will also make sure that all other aspects of your foreclosure case is properly handled, giving you the best chance of coming out of the foreclosure with your head high above water. Complimentary initial consultation.

The city of Detroit, Michigan has spent nearly $20 million dollars since 2009 to demolish around 4,000 homes. CBS's news show 60 Minutes recently had a report in Cleveland, where that city is also bulldozing homes in order to save home values. The report also highlighted the fact that foreclosures are on the rise in the suburbs. As values remain low, more and more homeowners are having trouble paying a mortgage that is worth more than the house itself. Some people stop paying because they can no longer afford to, while others simply don't see the point in continuing to pay, even though they might be financially able.

No matter what your situation, if you are in Florida you should contact a Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Attorney Attorney to explain how a foreclosure suit, and a foreclosure judgment, can affect your personal situation. Nobody should have to face a foreclosure action alone, and an attorney can be a powerful ally if the bank decides to foreclose.

If a bank cancels or forgives debt from a mortgage, a Form 1099 is automatically sent to you to report the Cancellation of Debt as income. For those not familiar with a Form 1099, it is used to report income that is not earned from wages, salaries or tips. There are multiple versions of the 1099. The Form 1099-C is used to report the Cancellation of Debt. Unfortunately, the Cancellation of Debt reported on a 1099 must be included on a tax return as income on which you must pay taxes.

Since 2007, the Mortgage Forgiveness Act of 2007 (which will expire at the end of 2012) has allowed cancelled debt from a foreclosure to be excluded as income if your primary residence secured the mortgage. However, banks often do not allow the debt left over from a foreclosure to be simple written off in this manner. Instead, the bank chooses to pursue the borrower personally, after the foreclosure has ended and the home sold, for the remaining balance of the mortgage.

It is important to discuss this possibility with an attorney to make sure this does not happen to you. A Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney can help protect you from being pursued for the remaining balance of your mortgage as well as help you prepare for the future. Contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Attorney for a complimentary initial review of your situation before its too late.

The answer is "It Depends." Time is the determining factor that will decide when you will no longer have access to your home and the property within. As we all have come to know, there is no way to influence time.

Technically once a property is sold at a foreclosure sale, a Certificate of Title must be issued to the successful bidder. Before then, the successful bidder of your home has no right to the property. You remain the owner of the property until the Certificate of Title is issued. Generally, it takes at least a few days for the Certificate of Title to be issued. However, if the property is not properly established as homestead, you may lose access to your home even earlier due to the locks being changed. If your locks are changed while you are still the owner, you can change them back.

If you find yourself in this position, pay close attention to the court docket for your foreclosure case. It is easy to tell when the Certificate of Title has been issued. It will appear on the court docket.

Don't find yourself in the position where you are not only losing your home but also your possessions in your home. Consult a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer to discuss the options available to you before its too late.

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.

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.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is part of the seven attorney general primary team consulting with banks concerning a nationwide settlement agreement to redress banks' foreclosure wrongdoings. While Pam Bonding initially rejected allowing principal reductions of mortgage debt, she now appear to be willing to consider it "so long as it remedies harm to consumers and stays consistent with the law enforcement role of the state attorneys general," she announced October 18, 2011. Nonetheless, Bondi's office reported she has not changed her position on reducing overall mortgage balances, which has become a central issue in the overall settlement discussions.

There has been speculation that Bondi is beginning to soften her stance as the crumbling coalition of state attorneys general continue their bargaining with our largest banks. California Attorney General Kamala Harris left the group this month because she believes proposals were not going far enough to help homeowners or punish leaders, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was dismissed because he was reportedly undermining settlement efforts.

While the negotiations are largely kept secret, a few details have gotten out. Discussions now include allowing principle reductions and permitting current underwater homeowners to refinance if a bank owns their mortgage. However, allowing underwater homeowners to refinance may be an attempt to entice California Attorney General back into the negotiations. California currently has 2 million mortgages with negative equity. Bondi is reported as saying it is extremely important to get the states that have left back into the negotiations.

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 to determine what foreclosure defense options may be available to you.

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.

On Monday, December 19th, Charles Canady, the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court signed administrative order AOSC11-44 which put an end to the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation (RMFM) program. The RMFM program was established in late 2009 and referred all mortgage foreclosure actions on residential homestead properties to a court supervised mediation process with the goal of resolving mortgage foreclosures before judicial disposition of foreclosure cases

The Court does not give specific reasons for ending the RMFM program but states in administrative order AOSC11-44 "the Court has reviewed the reports on on the program and determined it cannot justify continuation of the program." As of the date of the Order, December 19, 2011, "no new cases may be referred to mediation pursuant to the statewide managed mediation program."

Those cases that are already referred to the RMFM program or are pending in a mediation program as of the date of the order will remain in the program and will continue until the mediation process is completed. Immediately ending the RMFM program seems to be the easy way out for the courts. Instead of tweaking the program to make it more effective and meet its goal of helping to dispose of cases that benefits both banks and struggling homeowners the Court has just decided to end the program entirely.

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

To read the full text of Florida Supreme Court Administrative Order AOSC11-44 click here.

Chief Justice Charles Canady requested, and Governor Rick Scott has approved a $45.6 million loan to help the Florida Court system continue to operate through March 2012. This is in addition to the already granted $54 million loan to the courts to begin the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The initial loan was granted after realizing the decline in foreclosure filings would be continuing, but with the understanding the decrease would soon come to an end and the loan would be repaid. The courts have not exceeded their budgets. Instead, there has been a shortfall in revenue due to the increase in foreclosure filings.

Currently, the Revenue Stabilization Workgroup is working towards returning the majority of the court system's funding to the general revenue source. The additional loan is just supposed to sustain the court system until this can be accomplished. Governor Rick Scott commented, "[t]he transfers should only be made as needed to cover cash deficiencies, and the loan must be repaid as soon as practical, but no later than June 30, 2012."

Contact a Florida Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today if you are facing foreclosure for a complimentary case review and to begin planning your recovery.

I have a 1st and 2nd Mortgage on my home. The 1st Mortgage is currently being foreclosed on by the 1st Mortgage Lender. However, my 2nd Mortgage Lender has now filed a completely separate action against me for the amount I owe them, but they are not foreclosing. Instead they are suing solely on the Promissory Note and did not respond in the foreclosure action on my 1st Mortgage. Can the 2nd Mortgage seek a Judgment against me before the 1st Mortgage finishes their foreclosure action?

Generally speaking, the 1st Mortgage (the mortgage used to purchase the property) has priority over all other mortgages on the same property executed around the same time or later. In Florida, the mortgage that is recorded first takes priority. In other words, for a 2nd mortgage, one not used to buy the property, to take priority over a 1st Mortgage, the mortgage must have been executed and recorded without notice of the 1st Mortgage.

When a 1st Mortgage successfully forecloses, all junior interests in the property, including the 2nd Mortgage, are eliminated. However, this is not the case where a 2nd Mortgage or other junior interest forecloses. When a 2nd Mortgage forecloses, all senior interests remain in place and the buyer takes the property subject to the 1st Mortgage. However, in order for junior interests to be eliminated with the foreclosure of a 1st Mortgage, the 2nd Mortgage must be made a party to the foreclosure action.

After a foreclosure and the property is sold, the proceeds from the sale are dispersed in this order:
1. Foreclosure costs are paid; then
2. The Mortgage foreclosed on is paid; if any money is left over, then
3. Junior Mortgage interests are paid in their order of priority.

Today, the proceeds from a foreclosure sale generally never are enough to pay off the mortgage foreclosed upon (usually the 1st Mortgage). Therefore, 2nd Mortgage holders do not receive any proceeds from the foreclosure sale of a 1st Mortgage and loose there interest in the property entirely.

Therefore, in an attempt to collect what is owed on a 2nd Mortgage and if the 2nd Mortgage holder thinks there is enough money available from the borrower, the 2nd Mortgage can file their own independent action against you directly based on the balance due on the Note instead of waiting for the 1st Mortgage to complete a foreclosure action and hoping there will be excess proceeds. This can be done irrespective of what the 1st Mortgage does.

When filing their own action, a 2nd Mortgage holder has two options. They can choose to file a foreclosure action, or sue based on the Note to collect the balance owed, which the 2nd Mortgage holder chose to do in this scenario.

If you are facing foreclosure, contact a Florida Defense Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today for a complimentary review!

Townhome and condo prices in Jacksonville, Florida have fallen far quicker than prices for single family homes. According to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, townhomes and condos are currently selling for a median price of $67,000. That is 63% below the peak in July 2006 of $182,500. Compared to a current median price of $135,000 for single family homes which has only dropped 35% from the August 2006 peak of $210,000.

The dramatic difference in the drops of townhomes and condos compared to the drop of single family homes can be explained by the large amount of townhomes and condos built during the past decade and how quickly those prices increased, followed by a huge amount of foreclosures filed on them that put too many on the market at the same time. The problem gets worst with how difficult townhomes and condos are to sell. Many cannot be bought with a FHA mortgage or even a conventional loan. Since banks will not approve a loan in complexes with 50% percent renters, or associations fees not being paid on 15% of the units, most must be bought with cash. Buying with cash means even more renters because cash buyers are usually investors whom have excessive cash who buy the units with the intention of renting them out.

Prime examples are:
• A condo on Old Kings Road recently sold for $30,000. Four years ago it sold for $141,000.
• Off Southside on Belle Rive Blvd., a condo that sold for $165,000 five years ago went for less than $30,000.
• Two condos sold for 1/3 of what they were bought for a few years ago in the downtown Berkman Plaza.

This is just more bad news for some Jacksonville Homeowners, but there are alternatives to being "upside down." If you are currently "upside down" in your home, contact a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer or a Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyer today to see what options may be available to you.