Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog

It is not an exaggeration at this point to call the nation's foreclosure crisis the largest consumer products catastrophe in our nation's history. If you are dealing with a foreclosure in Miami, or are seeking a home loan modification, short sale or defense of a deficiency judgment, we implore you to seek the advice of a qualified attorney.

Our foreclosure defense attorneys note the recent report in the St. Petersburg Times, which outlines why consumers could be on the hook for deficiency judgments for up to 20 years.

We have reported on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog that the government is moving to kill the mortgage assistance program meant to help struggling homeowners. Banks refused to cooperate -- only $1 billion of the $50 billion was ever allocated for mortgage relief. In some cases, banks approved trial modification, only to later reject the agreement and use the arrears as a reason to foreclose.

In March, we reported why irresponsible lending caused the foreclosure crisis. Still, banks have been given a pass. Even with criminal investigations in all 50 states over allegations that banks forged mortgage documents, it's business as usual.

It is a virtual certainty that, just as soon as they can turn their attention to it (that means when they are done reaping billions from homeowners through foreclosure), they will begin pursuing deficiency judgments against those who lost their homes.

The worst of it is that these deficiency judgments will come back to haunt people who thought their problems were over. If you owed $200,000 on your home and the bank foreclosed and sold it for $100,000, it could seek to recoup the additional $100,000 from you.

The deficiency action can be brought by a primary or secondary mortgage holder, or by a mortgage insurance company or government entity like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In Florida, a deficiency can be filed for up to 5 years -- and, once granted, a creditor has up to 20 years to collect.

Many of the deficiency judgments come in the mail. A borrower who fails to update his or her address could miss the notice and lose the chance to challenge the motion. Wages can be garnished. Even cases of short sale may result in a deficiency judgment unless a homeowner negotiates a waiver of the right as part of the agreement with the bank.

Continue reading "Deficiency judgments a second nightmare for those fighting foreclosure in Miami " »

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has voted to kill the Home Assistance Modification Program, which has been resoundingly panned as an ineffective tool to prevent foreclosure in Miami and elsewhere, according to a report in the New York Times.

As our South Florida foreclosure attorneys have reported on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, the banks have made a mockery of the assistance program. Their reward is now a move by big-business Republicans to kill it altogether. Recently we wrote about HAMP problems in Miami and elsewhere, including banks that refused to modify mortgages, banks that offered temporary modifications and then used the arrears to foreclose, and banks that reached an agreement with a homeowner, only to sell the loan to a new processor that would not honor the agreement.

Tens of billions of dollars of program funds remain unspent; we previously reported that the federal government determined it had the authority to punish banks only if they dished out too much assistance -- which has hardly been a problem. Banks, meanwhile, have determined there is more money to be made by foreclosing on homes.

While the Democrat-controlled Senate may try to rescue the program, even most of them admit it has been an abysmal failure -- largely because of the unwillingness of banks to work with homeowners. Still banks have been left off the hook -- despite investigations in all 50 states that accuse lenders and/or their attorneys of forging court documents to prove ownership of properties.

Meanwhile, home prices have declined for six straight months -- dangerously close to the official definition of a double dip after rising slightly as the overall economy began to improve.

RealtyTrac reports there were 225,000 foreclosure filings in February alone -- which could put 2011 ahead of 2010 when it comes to the total number of foreclosures nationwide. Only about 145,000 homeowners were helped through HAMP.

-Only about $1 billion of the $50 billion set aside for the program has been used to help homeowners.

-The treasury has not fined a single servicer, despite the continued loss of paperwork and other shenanigans banks are pulling to take homes from struggling families.

-Banks continue to deny many who should qualify for mortgage relief.

Don't put up with it. If you are struggling with mortgage problems in South Florida, contact and experienced attorney today. Negotiate from Strength!

Continue reading "Politicians seek to shut down "help" for homeowner's program - Attorneys offer Miami foreclosure assistance" »

As we continue to fight to provide help for Miami homeowners, we are seeing more and more problems for homeowners who have sought mortgage loan modifications. The Florida-Times Union recently reported on the case of Edward Rukab, who sought help from Bank of America through HAMP, the Home Affordable Modification Program sponsored by the federal government.

As our Miami foreclosure defense attorneys reported recently on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, fewer than 500,000 homeowners have received permanent modification through the program -- millions have applied. What has happened with increasing regularity is banks have offered temporary modification, only to reject an application and initiate foreclosure actions on those who cannot pay the resulting mortgage arrears.

Bank of America is just one of the banks that have faced persistent complaints about changing rules, losing paperwork and dragging out the application process for months. Rukab reported his credit rating took a dive as we waited more than a year for an answer. He ultimately signed off on a permanent modification agreement program, only to get a letter from the bank the following month saying he had withdrawn from the program. The Time-Union reports that Bank of America accused the couple of failing to return the paperwork.

This despite the fact that a Bank of America notary witnessed the signing and took the paperwork with him.

The newspaper reports that the bank changed Rukab's status after calls from the media. It sent him new paperwork to sign. Meanwhile, the emotional experience has taken a heavy toll. While he initially applied to the government program thinking it might help reduce the stress of dealing with an underwater mortgage (largely the result of the banks making billions by handing out bad loans to anyone who asked for one during the boom), he is now left shaking every time he gets off the phone with Bank of America.

His credit score has dropped from 790 to 626. This despite the fact that he says he has never missed a mortgage payment. The couple bought their townhouse for $143,500 in 2005 and still owe $121,000. The Duval County Property Appraiser lists the home at $99,000. HAMP is designed to reduce mortgage payments to 31 percent of a homeowner's income -- the loan balance may also be reduced by $5,000 if they make on-time payments for five years.

Upon applying in September 2009, he expected to enter a four-month trial period, in which his payments would be reduced from about $1,040 to $642 a month. What followed was a 17-month nightmare. Nine months later he got a letter saying he was approved for a three-month trial period at $775 a month. In November they said he'd been approved for permanent modification in the amount of $884. After a year of hassle, he had to accept the modification, which amounted to a savings of only about $100 a month, or face a bill for $6,000 in arrears.

Two months later he got the letter saying he was no longer in the program.

If you are facing foreclosure or problems with a mortgage in Miami, hire a lawyer. Negotiate from Strength.

Continue reading "HAMP Problems Abound - Struggling Miami Homeowners need an Attorney to Deal with Mortgage Foreclosure, Loan Modifications" »

Another major investigative piece -- this time by NBC 13 in Indianapolis -- has found that banks continue to play devastating games with homeowners, in some cases approving mortgage-loan modification only to use the arrears that result as a reason to foreclose.

In all seriousness, we implore those seeking to stop mortgage foreclosure in Miami-Dade or Broward counties to consult with an experienced and aggressive Miami foreclosure defense lawyer to help ensure a family's rights are protected throughout the process. Criminal investigations into the acts of banks and mortgage companies have been opened in all 50 states and it is long past the time where a homeowner can expect reasonable treatment in dealing with their bank -- if such a time ever existed.

Our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog reported on a similar case recently -- where a homeowner had an agreement from the bank -- at least twice -- only to have the bank go back on its promise or sell the loan to a third party that then refused to honor the deal. If you don't believe us, believe Rolling Stone, which, in reporting on the foreclosure crisis in Miami and elsewhere, said: "Everything is fuc$ed up and nobody goes to jail."

In the Indianapolis report, the $50 billion government modification program (HAMP), has done little more than provide banks with another avenue to make a profit at the expense of homeowners. One mother, raising a son with significant medical issues, sought a modification to lower their monthly payments. After three months of complying with paperwork requirements, the bank lowered the family's payments from $1,500 a month to $900.

After a "trial period," the bank rejected them and told the couple they had to pay $5,000 in arrears or face foreclosure. They used money from their 401(k) only to have the payment rejected by Wells Fargo, according to the report. The couple was told to pay an extra $100 a month for the rest of the year and then a balloon payment of $19,000 or face losing their home.

Unfortunately, this is NOT an uncommon story. A government review of the program shows just 466,000 had received modifications of the millions who have applied.

Hire an attorney. Negotiate from Strength.

Continue reading " Mortgage Modifications Continue to Lead to Foreclosure in Miami and elsewhere as Banks Renege " »

A small Reston, Virginia company -- the MERS Corporation -- claims to hold title to about half of the nation's mortgages -- roughly 60 million loans, according to The New York Times. For those looking to stop foreclosure in Miami, hiring an attorney who understands how the system works -- and who knows proving who owns your bank loan may no longer even be possible -- is a critical step to protecting your rights and the financial well-being of you and your family.

Our Miami foreclosure defense attorneys know the system is broken. But more importantly, we know how and why the system is broken and we put that knowledge to work for our clients. As we reported recently on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, MERS is the electronic mortgage tracking system, which was instituted so that banks and mortgage companies could package and sell mortgages as Wall Street investments.

However, many of the safeguards originally conceived as part of the system were either never instituted or are no longer utilized. For example, a vault or central clearing house for the original loan documents does not exist -- consequently, most of those documents have been lost or destroyed.

And then there is MERs, the company, which employs just 45 people despite its responsibility for tracking 67 million mortgages.

Many in the banking industry would prefer that struggling homeowners never hear of MERS, as judges, lawmakers and foreclosure defense lawyers continue to raise critical questions.

-How can this company, without a single dollar invested, and without a single shred of paperwork, claim title to millions of homes?

-And given that these loans have been packaged, sold, and resold, and that corners have been cut and the original paperwork no longer exists, can anyone prove anyone owns anything anymore? Let alone the title to your home and the right to foreclose.

In Arkansas, the Supreme Court has forbid MERS from filing foreclosure proceedings. In Utah, a judge allowed a homeowner to rip up his mortgage and walk away debt-free after the court refused to recognize MERS' legal standing. And on Long Island, a bankruptcy judge ruled the company could no longer act as an agent for the owners of mortgage notes.

The issues and court rulings surrounding the company strike at the very heart of the mortgage industry in the United States. Under fire for the way the company does business, the CEO since its founding resigned earlier this year. Finding a foreclosure defense lawyer in Miami who understands the issues is vital to protecting your rights.

MERS was formed 16 years ago by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and a number of big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. The system cut out the county clerks and became the owner of record, no matter how many times a mortgage was sold and resold. The paper trail disappeared. Consequently, until and unless MERS can prove ownership of your mortgage and the right to foreclose, it's unlikely that ownership can be proven at all.

The industry violated common-sense; concrete proof of ownership was forsaken; everything was sacrificed for speed, convenience and economics. Never was a meltdown like what we are dealing with foreseen. And the system is incapable of handling it.

Nor was it a secret: County officials began petitioning Congress in the 1990s, arguing MERS was questionable from a legal standpoint. But the same deregulation, the same big-business mentality, and the same inert politicians that caused the meltdown reacted in the same old predictable fashion: They did nothing.

Don't let your family pay the price to clean up the mess. Consult an attorney today and Negotiate from Strength.

Continue reading "Struggle Miami Homeowners: Proof of who owns your mortgage may not exist -- consult an experienced attorney " »

When it comes to the top reasons why the real estate market and the economy imploded, irresponsible borrowing by homeowners does not even make the list. As our Miami mortgage foreclosure defense lawyers frequently report, the blame rests with Wall Street and the greed of those running the nation's largest banks and mortgage companies.

It is the same greed that those looking to prevent foreclosure in Miami are now battling. To save their homes. Their credit ratings. And the future financial well-being of their families. If you are dealing with foreclosure in South Florida, please consult with an experienced attorney to protect your rights. You cannot count on being treated fairly by the very same banks responsible for the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.

The Top 5 Reasons for the Economic Implosion, according to the "Chain of Blame":

-Wall Street's insatiable demand for loans led to lax underwriting standards. As Wall Street packaged more and more loans during the boom, they needed more and more to continue to impress stockholders. In an industry where every player was driven by ever-increasing bonuses, this led to pressure on loan processors to approve suspect loans.

-Any due-diligence was poorly performed and done by those who had incentives to approve loans no matter what.

-Everyone relied on flawed delinquency projections and past performance. This point is rather charitable to those in charge. In reality, we aren't sure they cared much about delinquency. They figured to make it up in volume. And they were getting paid regardless. The outcome of this scenario is as old and foregone as putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen house.

-Ratings agency fees were paid by the issuer. What this means is the agencies in charge of certifying the risk of a particular batch of securities was being paid by the seller. And guess who got the most business? You guessed it: The agencies known for handing out the most favorable ratings.

-Housing prices tanked: Ultimately, they had nowhere to go but down as a result of the relentless onslaught of greed.

And who paid? The homeowners. Both those who are still paying underwater mortgages in Miami and those who have been forced to throw in the towel. The homeowner is footing the bill and will be for years to come. But please don't say it is the result of irresponsible borrowing.

If you are dealing with bad real estate debt in Miami, don't trust your bank. Talk to an experienced attorney and negotiate from strength.

Continue reading "Irresponsible lending responsible for Miami's foreclosure crisis -- NOT irresponsible borrowing" »

Not even when Wall Street greed finally caused the economy to implode did the fraud stop. Bloomberg News reports that the former treasurer of one of the nation's largest mortgage companies has admitted to assisting in a $1.9 billion fraud scheme targeting the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was designed to bail the country out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Foreclosure attorneys in Miami are generally beyond surprise when it comes to bank antics these days. But this case is as blatant an illustration of brazen Wall Street greed as you will ever find. The actions at Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. contributed to the failure of Colonial Bank, which had numerous branches in South Florida. At the time, many South Florida homeowners were fighting to prevent foreclosure by Colonial or other lending institutions.

The 45-year-old executive pleaded guilty in federal court in Virginia to conspiring to commit wire fraud, securities fraud an bank fraud, and is working with prosecutors to bring the former chairman to trial next month. The 58-year-old chairman is accused of a massive scheme to deceive TARP and other financial firms by covering up losses at the company. He has been indicted on 16 counts and faces up to life in prison if convicted.

The treasurer, who is a resident of Hernando, Florida, faces up to 30 years in prison and has been ordered to pay restitution to 250 victims.

Colonial BancGroup Inc. was one of the nation's 50 largest when it imploded. The crime involved transferring money back and forth between the bank and Taylor Bean, in order to hide overdrafts. The treasurer admitted that from 2003 to 2009 she and others conspired to defraud Colonial Bank, its shareholders, the government and other investors.

The group is also accused of selling Colonial Bank more than $400 million in fake assets. They allegedly diverted more than $1 billion and when they again ran out of money they attempted to obtain $533 million through TARP. Federal regulators detected the fraud and Colonial filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

If banks have the gall to attempt to defraud the government, how do you think homeowners are being treated? If you are facing foreclosure in Miami or are dealing with bad real estate debt, please speak to an experienced real estate attorney.

Negotiate from Strength!

Continue reading "Feds alleged South Florida's Colonial Bank attempted fraud to hide foreclosure losses " »

Leave it to Rolling Stone to tell it like it is. In an article that spells out what so few government officials want to talk about, the magazine sets out what foreclosure attorneys in Miami already know: Wall Street and the greed of large banks brought the economy to its knees and yet government intervention has concentrated primarily on protecting those very same institutions.

Those looking to stop foreclosure in Miami need to seek out experienced and aggressive legal help. Banks and mortgage companies have treated no one fairly throughout the process and are not about to start now.

Rolling Stone reported in no uncertain terms what anyone dealing with foreclosure in South Florida knows all too well: "Everything is Fuc$ed up and nobody goes to jail. This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major financial company on Wall Street embroiled in obscene criminal scandals that impoverished millions and collective destroyed billions, in fact trillions of dollars of the world's wealth."

AIG, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Countrywide Financial and Morgan Stanley. To name a few. Billions in bonuses were paid for handing out bad mortgages and now those same institutions -- the ones that survived, anyway -- are now trying to take your home.

Some of the companies have been forced to settle with the government over alleged wrongdoings. As one judge put it, "If the allegations in these settlements are true, it's management buying its way off cheap from the pockets of their victims."

And not one of the alphabet soup of government agencies in place to protect the public- the FBI, FDIC, SEC to name a few -- have done anything but protect the Wall Street banks. In fact a former chief accountant with the SEC went so far as to say "I think you've got a wrong assumption -- that we even have a law enforcement agency when it comes to Wall Street."

Perhaps never has there been a time in American history when the nation's largest corporations were permitted as much leeway when it comes to raping and pillaging that hardworking middle class. If you are dealing with a foreclosure, you had best find an experienced lawyer to fight for your rights and the financial well-being of you and your family.

If you want to know just how bad the nightmare can get, read out HAMP story on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, which tells the story of a homeowner who had twice worked out a modification with his bank, only to have the bank file a default notice and/or sell his note to a different bank where the process started all over again.

Seek representation and negotiate from strength.

Continue reading "Wall Street operating like the Wild West: Miami homeowners facing foreclosure should fight back" »