Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog

Bank of America has agreed to pay $108 million to settle federal charges involving excessive fees charged to borrowers facing foreclosure, the Associated Press reported. The allegations were levied against Countrywide Financial Corp., which Bank of America purchased nearly two years ago.

This is yet another case where banks have been caught taking advantage of borrowers. Hiring a trial lawyer is your best option to stop foreclosure in Miami. Borrowers should seek legal help to protect their rights as a homeowner. We offer foreclosure help in Miami and throughout South Florida. Other tactics banks use include sloppy paperwork and missing promissory notes. In a foreclosure proceeding, a bank has the burden of proof. A comprehensive discovery investigation conducted by an experienced Miami foreclosure attorney is the best way to stop a foreclosure.

Countrywide's misconduct has reached near legendary status. Last year, the top three executives of the company were charged with civil fraud and insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In this case, the $108 million settlement seeks to refund money to about 200,000 borrowers. It is the largest mortgage industry settlement ever obtained by the Federal Trade Commission.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz accused Countrywide of "callous conduct, which took advantage of consumers already at the end of their financial rope."

Countrywide slapped borrowers who were behind in their mortgages with several thousand dollars worth of fees at a time. The fees included charges for property inspections and landscaping that were far above market rates; the company created subsidies to hire vendors and marked up the prices of the services.

"Countrywide profited from making risky loans to homeowners during the boom years, and then they profited again when the loans failed," Leibowitz said. It could take months to contact affected borrowers; authorities describe Countrywide's record keeping as "beyond abysmal."

Consumer advocates allege banks have not done enough to prevent foreclosures precisely because of the profits involved in collecting such fees -- Countrywide even identified it as "part of our diversification strategy" as foreclosures soared.

Countrywide is also accused of making false claims to borrowers in bankruptcy about the amount owed on their loans and failing to tell borrowers about fees and other charges. The settlement requires Bank of America to notify bankrupt borrowers about what they owe on a monthly basis.

Continue reading "Mortgage foreclosure help in Miami can prevent banks from taking advantage of struggling homeowners" »

Skyrocketing foreclosures continue to push people to extremes. Recent cases include the suspect in the attempted bombing of Times Square and an Ohio man who refused to leave his home when the sheriff arrived with an eviction notice.

As South Florida homeowners continue to struggle with foreclosure, underwater mortgages and eviction, hiring an experienced Miami foreclosure defense attorney is the best course of action to protecting your rights and the financial well-being of you and your family. While the New York case is being linked to a possible terrorist attempt, cases of homeowners locking themselves in their homes, and even sheriffs who are refusing to serve foreclosure and eviction notices, continue to surface.

Such cases illustrate the need to be proactive early in the process and to seek the guidance of a qualified Miami real estate lawyer to protect your rights before the situation gets out of control.

The suspect in the attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City was dealing with a foreclosure action, MSNBC reported.

Pakistani-born Faisal Shahzad, 30, and his wife, were facing foreclosure on their Shelton Connecticut home and had abandoned it months ago. The lawn was being mowed on behalf of J.P. Morgan Case & Co., which issued the mortgage when the home was purchased in 2004. Chase Home Financial filed the foreclosure action against the couple last September; court documents indicate neither Shahzad nor his wife showed up to defend themselves. The most recent documents in the case were dated April 23.

Meanwhile, the Miami Herald reports that an Ohio man facing eviction locked himself inside and vowed to stay until a moratorium has been declared on foreclosures.

The man began his crusade on Sunday, along with five members of a group calling themselves the Toledo Foreclosure Defense League. The homeowner said he has attempted to work with the bank and done everything possible to save his home. He said he fell behind on the mortgage last year, after having surgery and losing his job. He said he has lived in the home for 20 years. The sheriff said he'd given the man extra time but had no choice but to evict him.

Continue reading "Extreme foreclosure cases illustrate need for early intervention of a Miami foreclosure defense attorney" »

The number of homeowners who defaulted on their home mortgage loans, even after getting cheaper terms through the government's home loan modification program, doubled in March according to an article this month in the New York Times.

This is another example of why loan modifications are not always the best answer for South Florida homeowners struggling with underwater mortgages, foreclosure or bankruptcy in the Miami area. As one of the nation's hardest-hit real estate markets, homeowners need an experienced Miami foreclosure defense attorney to push for a reduction in principal or assist you and your family in seeking other alternatives.

As we reported last month on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer blog, more than half of all homeowners continue to struggle even after loan modification.

The latest data, released Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury Department, shows the number of terminations in the program has skyrocketed to 2,879 in March, up from 1,499 in February and 1,005 in January. Almost all terminations were apparently the result of a borrower being unable to make new payments.

While the government's stated goal is to assist 4 million homeowners through modification, only 227,922 modifications had been made through the end of March.

Continue reading "Defaults in home-loan modification program increase; consulting an attorney the best option" »

South Florida homeowners have been devastated by the foreclosure crisis, with Miami and the Fort Myers/Cape Coral areas among the hardest-hit areas in the nation in terms of foreclosures, underwater mortgages and homeowner's seeking loan modification or facing bankruptcy.

During the boom years, many of the nation's high-dollar mortgage loans were made in South Florida. For homeowners facing the loss of million-dollar properties, hiring an aggressive Miami foreclosure defense attorney is vital step toward protecting your rights.

As the Wall Street Journal reported recently, banks are moving aggressively to recoup loses for mortgages on valuable property, from estates in Westchester County, New York to Nicolas Cage's Bel-Air mansion. In February alone, banks scheduled 352 multi-million dollar homes for foreclosure action.

While the numbers remain small compared to foreclosures at other income levels, the recent spike suggests banks continue to move aggressively when high-dollar mortgages are on the line. And statistics show that big borrowers are more likely to default than ordinary homeowners. Studies suggest as many as 14.8 percent of such loans were more than 90 days late as of the end of January. In Miami-Dade, three large foreclosures in the last six months include a 4,655-square-foot home in Sunset Islands; a 8,443-square-foot house in Coral Gables; and a condo in Miami Beach. All three were valued at between $3.5 million and $4 million.

Continue reading "South Florida's million-dollar homeowners need tough foreclosure defense representation" »

Banks are picking up the pace when it comes to approving short sales in the Miami area and across the country, a trend expected to continue in the coming months as the government pays lenders to close the deals, CNN Money reported.

However, loan modifications are still voluntary and many banks still refuse to offer any assistance to struggling home owners. A Miami foreclosure defense attorney can best assist you in exploring your options for dealing with an underwater mortgage, short sale or foreclosure in the Miami area.

As we reported last month on our Miami Foreclose Lawyer blog, the government's latest plan would seek to get mortgage companies to reduce payments to no more than 31 percent of a homeowner's income, suspend payments for the unemployed and reduce the total balance to no more than 115 percent of a home's value. The effort is aimed at assisting underwater homeowners and those struggling to pay their mortgages amid the economy downturn and real estate collapse in South Florida and elsewhere in the country.

Homeowners who are underwater on their mortgage owe more than their home is worth, largely due to plummeting resale values. A short sale is an agreement between a bank and a borrower to permit a home to be sold for less than it's worth, allowing the borrower to walk away.

However, a qualified Miami real estate attorney should always be consulted when considering a short sale, which can have tax consequences and other disadvantages best explained by a legal professional hired to protect your interests.

CNN reports that short sales accounted for 17 percent of all residential real estate sales in February, up from 13 percent in November. The new government program will pay borrowers up to $3,000 in relocation expenses and pay mortgage companies $1,500 for completing a short sale.

Continue reading "South Florida short sales an option best discussed with a Miami Foreclosure Attorney" »

More than half of borrowers who received loan modifications on delinquent mortgages default again within nine months, according to a new federal report published by Bloomberg News.

South Florida homeowners facing default or foreclosure should contact an experienced Miami foreclosure defense attorney to discuss their options. Government and private mortgage assistance programs, short sales, strategic default, foreclosure and bankruptcy are all options best discussed with a qualified South Florida real estate lawyer.

The re-default rate for modified loans in the first quarter of 2009 was 51.5 percent by the end of the year. Payments at least 30 days late climbed to 57.9 percent when measured during the previous 12 months.

One in four homeowners are struggling with underwater mortgages -- meaning they owe more on their home than it's worth. Florida has been among the hardest hit areas in the nation as property values have plummeted and unemployment continues to linger in the double digits.

The median price of a U.S. home was $165,100 in February, down 28 percent from the height of the market in July 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. In Florida, values have fallen 45.7 percent, the third-worst in the nation behind Nevada and Arizona.

The number of homeowners more than 60 days late on their mortgage payments climbed 49.6 percent year-over-year -- leading to an estimate of 4.5 million foreclosure filings this year, according to RealyTrac.

As of the end of February, the government home-loan modification program, had assisted 168,708 homeowners with permanent modifications.

Continue reading "South Florida homeowners continue to struggle even after loan modification" »

The Obama Administration moved on Friday to provide long-awaited assistance to homeowners struggling with underwater mortgages, even as new data suggests Florida is the hardest hit area in the nation amid the lingering foreclosure crisis.

While help will not be available for everyone, an experienced Miami foreclosure attorney should be called to assist struggling South Florida homeowners determine the best course of action, including loan modification, short sales, foreclosures, principal reductions and bankruptcy.

The government reported this week that 16 of the top locations in the nation for troubled FHA mortgages are in Florida -- including Miami where 18 percent, or nearly 1 in 5 federally-insured mortgages, were in trouble.

CNN reported Friday that the new effort would require mortgage companies to reduce monthly payments to no more than 31 percent of a borrower's income and mandate suspension of payments for 3 to 6 months for some borrowers, including the unemployed. Additionally, those in the government's loan-modification program, known as the Home Affordable Modification Program, would be able to get a reduction in principal if their outstanding loan balance is greater than 115 percent of their home's value.

The Washington Post provides a good Q & A for struggling homeowners, which answers questions for unemployed borrowers, those struggling with underwater mortgages, program restrictions, second mortgages, FHA loan options, impact on credit scores, delinquent payments, reductions for owners already in a loan-modification program, and taxpayer implications.

QA Will foreclosure-prevention measures affect me.pdf

Continue reading "Help may be coming for South Florida homeowners struggling with unemployment, underwater mortgages " »

The Obama Administration is proposing a program that would pay some homeowners to sell at a loss, according to an article in the New York Times.

The announcement is the latest in a string of government and state programs designed to assist residents facing foreclosure. An experienced Miami foreclosure attorney can help you determine the program that is right for you and fight to keep you in your home.

This latest program, which will provide underwater homeowners with cash in an effort to induce them to sell for less, is the latest attempt to deal with the estimated 5 million households who are behind in their mortgage and in danger of foreclosure. South Florida is among the hardest hit areas in the nation.

The government's $75 million mortgage modification plan is another program available to Miami homeowners, though it has helped just a small percentage of eligible homeowners.

An estimated 1 in 6 U.S. borrowers owe more on their home than it is worth after the nation's real estate bust erased more than $3.3 trillion in home equity during 2008, according to the real estate site Zillow.

The new program takes effect April 5 and will encourage hundreds of thousands of borrowers to sell their homes through short sales, a process where the bank permits a house to be sold for less than the amount owed.

Continue reading "Underwater homeowners in South Florida can seek assistance through new government short sale program" »

There is still hope on the bankruptcy horizon for Miami and South Florida homeowners facing foreclosures and striking out on loan modifications. Senator Dick Durbin and other Democrats in the U.S. Senate are not giving up on legislation to permit federal bankruptcy judges to alter mortgages and keep families in their homes.

This legislation was struck down earlier this year. However, the Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts agree that current foreclosure relief efforts are disappointing so far. Both Senators and Experts agree that voluntary loan modification and short sale programs by loan servicers are not helping enough. The door remains open to new leverage that can force Lenders to the table.

The newly revived legislation calls for a bankruptcy judge to modify primary mortgages by a "cramdown" in a Chapter 13 case. In Miami and South Florida, where almost half of the homes are underwater or upside-down, cram down means the bankruptcy judge reduces the principal loan balance to the current value of the home. The legislation also permits Judges to reduce interest rates and extend repayment terms up to 40 years. Chapter 13 currently permits cram downs of almost any loan except the first mortgage on primary residence.

Back in April of 2009, the Senate voted against an amendment to the housing bill that would allow the mortgage cramdown to become law. The vote was only 45-51. Opposition to the bill argues that a bankruptcy cram-down would mean fewer lenders making loans and higher mortgage rates. There is also a strong belief that Lenders should not shoulder the burden of bad investments.

Those in favor of the bill argue these past two years of voluntary loan modifications have not stemmed the crisis. They believe the threat of bankruptcy judges forcing lenders to make realistic modifications is enough to bring them to the table. This would have an immediate effect at no additional taxpayers' expense. The new bankruptcy law would guarantee lenders recover as much as they would by foreclosure.

So far, no lawmaker has reintroduced cramdown legislation since the April 30 defeat. However, Senator Dick Durbin has promised to do so at the first available opportunity.