Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog

CNNMoney recently reported on the troubles that three separate families are going through with foreclosure, but because of paperwork problems and mortgage servicers going bankrupt that have forced the families to relocate, consider strategic default and lose their house to foreclosure.

Being saddled with a Miami foreclosure can be a heart-breaking experience, especially for families with children who get caught up in the stress of the situation. Credit scores can be hit hard and people must consider all options.

Perhaps the best option is fighting back against the banks with an experienced Miami foreclosure lawyer. Foreclosure defense lawyers have spent years watching the banks and the tactics they use against homeowners. Many of these plans are fraught with less-than-ethical moves and with money in mind.

Banks have filed faulty paperwork in foreclosure cases, used robo-signing practices in order to speed up a foreclosure when documents that were supposed to be verified weren't, created documentation to support a foreclosure that was never in the file and other misdeeds.

Homeowners can use these to their advantage because documentation problems can often be used to show that the bank doesn't know who actually owns the house. This can lead to a victory for homeowners, or sometimes a delay that can benefit them. Illegal bank moves can also lead to judges tossing out the case against banks altogether if a lawyer can show that the homeowners' rights were violated in the process.

In one case, a family chose a strategic default after a battle that went on for more than four years, following a routine refinancing of their mortgage. The couple decided to leave their house, purchased in 2007.

In 2009, the mortgage servicer ceased operations, so when the couple refinanced their loan to get a better rate, they received word from their bank that they were behind on the old loan. When the mortgage servicer went bankrupt, the government froze its assets, including customer payments.

Adding even more complication to the case for this family was that Quicken, the company that refinanced their loan, sold the servicing rights to the new loan to the bank, so the couple was sending checks to the bank and at the same time receiving notices from the same bank saying they were behind on payments. They started getting barraged with notices and ended up moving. They are now suing the bank for violations of debt collection abuse laws.

Another couple in the article lived in their house for two years before being told they didn't technically own the home. Right after they bought their home, the title company went bankrupt and the company never transferred the money the couple paid or the title to the bank.

The couple's money ended up being sent to the state, which was handling the title company's accounts. The bank then put a lien on the house and followed that up with a foreclosure notice. After clearing up the issue, the bank agreed to drop the lien, but not after they first asked the couple for an additional $40,000. Now, they are expected to stay in their house at the current price.

A third example of problems with foreclosures lead the author of the article to New Port Richey, Florida, where an older couple was forced into default on their home loan because of medical bills. The couple qualified for a trial modification through HAMP, making the payments smaller. But the government program kicked them out a few months in.

The notice from the bank said they were disqualified for not making payments in the month they were due. They made payments for January in December -- essentially making payments too soon. The bank finally recognized the problem eight months later and rectified it.

Continue reading "Three Families Fight Miami Foreclosures Because of Bank Problems" »

Banks are now coming under fire not only for their mishandling of many Miami foreclosure cases, which has led to people considering strategic default on their underwater mortgages, but now officials are being questioned about whether they forced people into buying insurance through companies with which they have ties.

As we wrote on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog recently, this issue isn't going away any time soon. Our Miami foreclosure lawyers believe this is just another example of banks using their power to exploit the powerless as they hold hostage the one asset that really means most to people -- their homes.

A recent article in American Banker reports that a recent New York Times article on the issue brought national attention to the issue of force-placed insurance. Now, a group of state attorneys general are adding force-placed insurance to its mortgage servicing settlement that has been in the works for months.

This is the large-scale settlement that most attorneys general throughout the country are working on settling so they can make money off the banks without fully investigating all their wrongful acts. Florida, unfortunately, is one of the states that is going along with this settlement, which would ban states from bringing certain legal actions against banks for their crimes in the future. There are a handful of states, including New York, that have vowed not to settle, but would rather investigate, let the truth come out and hold these banks accountable.

Force-placed insurance is when banks buy insurance on behalf of uninsured borrowers and then add the cost to their mortgage debts. In many cases, homeowners don't realize a portion of their monthly mortgage payments are going toward that insurance and not toward their mortgage debt.

Allegations of wrongdoing were nearly nonexistent even as recently as two years ago, but now there are allegations that kickbacks were involved. In some cases, The New York Times article pointed out, banks owned or were connected to the insurance companies they were paying to write up policies for distressed homeowners.

The American Banker article reports that government authorities may be the people's best chance at this point of exposing the issue of force-placed insurance, given their abilities to request documents and bring criminal or civil actions.

The article also suggests that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could enter the fray and look at the issue. Last year, HUD transferred its authority to enforce the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act to that bureau.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Miami foreclosure defense lawyers are waiting on the government to act. There have already been civil lawsuits filed on behalf of homeowners by lawyers in Minnesota as well as Florida. Some mortgage servicers have already succumbed to pressure and altered their practices, the article states.

This is certainly an issue to keep an eye on because it is another example of ways the largest banks in this country have attempted to game the system and profit off the American people.

Continue reading "Newest Bank Problem: Force-Placed Insurance on Miami Foreclosures" »

Bank officials have managed to skirt prosecution from government officials, despite obvious robo-signing, falsifying documents and other unlawful practices that have thrust homeowners into foreclosure, short sales and strategic default.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers hope that even though prosecutors traditionally haven't put much pressure on bank officials, perhaps industry officials will use the court system to hold the banks' feet to the fire for their transgressions.

If the government isn't going to stand up to help homeowners who are struggling with Miami foreclosure, then who will? Our lawyers are fighting for Miami homeowners, but we do so on an individual case basis. Someone must step in and offer some real punishment for these tactics.

According to a recent story in The New York Times, a New York financial services agency is investigating banks to determine if they fraudulently steered homeowners into overpriced insurance policies. It's already been reported that banks encouraged minority borrowers into subprime loans when they qualified for regular loans because the higher interest rates were more attractive to investors.

Now, it appears from the investigation, bank officials encouraged distressed homeowners who were falling behind on insurance payments to sign up for insurance policies that were up to 10 times as expensive as their original plans. In some cases, the banks offered policies that were in-house and controlled by the banks themselves, bringing up conflict of interest questions and suspicions of kickbacks as well.

Among those being investigated were JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. The state office doing the investigation sent out 31 subpoenas and other legal notices in October as part of its investigation.

This brings up an important issue, however. Because many states are in negotiations with banks to come to a large-scale settlement for the banks' misdeeds, would something like home insurance be covered? Since New York is one of a handful of states not participating in this get-out-of-jail-(relatively) free negotiation, it's likely it could continue its investigation in the home insurance issue, despite the agreement with the other states and the banks.

It appears this is just another scheme devised by banks to keep a grip on their borrowers. The Times article suggests that when homeowners get behind on home insurance payments, the banks attempted to get homeowners to take out even more expensive policies. This has also hurt the real estate market, as homeowners have found it difficult to refinance their loans after banks tied this insurance coverage to their houses.

In general, mortgage servicers are allowed to take out insurance policies on homes when borrowers allow coverage to lapse. But homeowners end up picking up the cost in their mortgage payments, sometimes without knowing it. While some increase is expected because insuring people who have fallen behind on payments is risky, the investigators say some of the increases are exorbitant.

This is just another sneaky attempt for banks to make more money off borrowers. It is the reason many Miami homeowners are struggling with foreclosure and forced to make difficult financial decisions that affect their future. Let's hope more of these investigations pop up so the truth about what banks have been doing for years comes out.

Continue reading "Big Banks Slammed With Miami Home Insurance Inquiry" »

It has been slow coming and our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have been begging the question for years -- why aren't banks being criminally prosecuted for their illegal acts in foreclosures? Acts that have sent the nation into an economic tailspin, as mortgages are underwater and people are considering walking away from their homes?

It's a valid question now in 2011, years removed from when the bottom fell out of the real estate market and Miami foreclosures began popping up all over the city. Speculative buyers were leaving and the rest of us were left to pick up the pieces. But then, prices of our homes began dropping, unemployment spiked and many people who call Miami home were left trying to fight for their homes after missed mortgage payments.

And the banks have been at the center of all the problems. They were more than happy to hand out billions of dollars in loans and then neatly package them and sell them to investors as securitized mortgages, in many cases even though bank officials knew the loans were bad. But after the bubble burst, they were far from prepared to brace for the wave of foreclosures that would soon hit.

A recent Politico article looks at the fact that state prosecutors are now just beginning to treat foreclosures as crime scenes and not just a civil issue. That's because banks have consistently broken laws in how they handled the foreclosure crisis.

There are examples of workers who were ordered to maliciously falsify foreclosure documentation so they could steal away a person's home. Others deliberately authorized robo-signing practices, where outside companies were signing documents on behalf of bank officials who should have been checking them for accuracy. Bankers have been accused of selling mortgage loans to investors they knew to be bad.

Yet, in the last three years, all we have seen as American citizens is the Federal Reserve lending out $7 trillion of taxpayer money to make sure those same bankers survived the financial crisis -- a process by which they made $13 million -- and the government's weak-willed attempts to put aside money to help homeowners, which has been rarely used by banks, who had no obligation to play ball.

But in recent months, several attorneys general have stepped up and begun bringing criminal charges against bankers, even as the rest of the country's attorneys general -- including Florida's -- have been more than happy to negotiate a weak settlement with banks, allowing them to write a check to pay for these injustices with little help going to the people who were victimized by their actions.

While the Obama administration has pushed these state prosecutors and others to lie down and settle with the banks, some are rejecting that notion and refused to sign up as part of the negotiating. Rather, they are fighting back on behalf of their constituents.

In Massachusetts, a civil lawsuit was filed against five major banks and the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems alleging foreclosure fraud. The lawsuit alleges mortgage servicers as a matter of practice backdated and falsified documents in order to move foreclosures along more quickly.

In Delaware, Attorney General Beau Biden -- son of Vice President Joseph Biden -- is also suing MERS, Politico reports, alleging unfair and deceptive practices. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has stepped in and stopped a settlement of Countrywide's fraud in selling mortgage-backed securities it knew were bad.

On our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, we will continue looking at how the actions of these aggressive attorneys general have changed the legal landscape and the relationship between banks and the states where they have caused so much pain and stress.

Continue reading "A Miami Foreclosure Is Not Only a Tragedy, But a Crime Scene: Part 1" »

Many were thrilled to hear that all 50 state attorneys general and federal authorities were negotiating with the large U.S. banks to punish them for their robo-signing misdeeds, fabricated documents and stepping on some homeowners' rights.

This came after every U.S. state filed lawsuits against the banks, claiming these actions were a violation of homeowner rights and were illegal. But, according to The New York Times, it appears the settlement will do little to punish the corporate banks that ran fast and loose, causing the Great Recession that affected nearly everyone in the country.

According to a recent article, the newspaper reports that sources have said the settlement will cost about $25 billion, which seems big on the surface. But under the agreement, banks would only pay about $3.5 to $5 billion, paid by about a dozen financial institutions.

The majority of the difference would be in the form of credits to banks that consent to lower the amount owed on mortgages owned or serviced for private investors. It's unclear, the newspaper reports, how many credits, but negotiators would come up with a formula. It is amazing that banks, who made record profits, would be let off the hook by the government despite their actions.

While Miami foreclosure defense lawyers didn't hold out great hope that these settlements would make a large impact, many others did. One would expect that the 50 attorneys general would have done more to help the many homeowners struggling with foreclosure in Miami and elsewhere in South Florida.

While $5 billion is a lot of money, spread over several companies it won't exactly sting. In comparison to the damage done to our economy, the world's economy and the many homeowners who lost their jobs and homes, it's merely a slap on the wrist.

It is hoped that bank officials will care enough about the penalty to stop the practice in the future. But there is also concern that there are documented incidents in recent months that robo-signing still exists, even as banks held off on filing mortgage foreclosures for a number of months.

The article also states that government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans will be excluded from the settlement. Only loans on the banks' books are involved. Banks are expected to dole out $1,500 to homeowners whose homes were lost to foreclosure. For those cases where there was no fraud alleged, it's free money for nothing. For those who were rolled over in the process, it means nothing.

The rest would be split between the federal government, state bank regulators and other support systems. Sensing this is a sham of a deal, officials from Delaware, New York, Massachusetts and Nevada have dropped out of the talks, coming to the conclusion, rightly it appears, that this isn't going to do anything to help their constituents.

Continue reading "Banks Look to Get Away With Misdeeds in Home Foreclosure Cases" »

Sadly, scammers are everywhere: After a disaster strikes, preying upon the elderly and when homeowners are at their most vulnerable.

Mortgage loan modification scams and other ways to help distressed homeowners have been popping up for years. But they've been much more frequent as the economy has collapsed and people have lost their jobs and grown desperate.

Make sure you know who to trust if you're fighting foreclosure in Miami. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Companies have been set up by schemers to try to get people's money up front while offering a false promise of helping them get a loan modification or getting the bank to reduce the amount the borrower owes on the house.

In reality, these people have little chance at getting a bank to do anything. They are powerless. But an experienced and aggressive Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyer can fight a bank with the law, in the courtroom and by challenging the lending institution to prove ownership and conduct a foreclosure in accordance with the law.

In a case out of West Kendall, four people are accused of stealing more than $750,000 from more than 500 homeowners. Four people have been arrested and are charged with running a phony loan modification company. They are charged with conspiracy under teh Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.

The company, called Best Value Homes, allegedly promised to help struggling homeowners modify loans between 2008 and 2009. They charged homeowners upfront fees and after taking the money, did nothing to help these people, the Florida Attorney General's Office alleges.

It's too bad that it usually takes a few years of investigation before scams like these are broken up. Homeowners must report the problem to authorities and after compiling complaints, the state must then conduct an investigation. It all takes time. And in the mean time, a homeowner who threw away a mortgage payment on a false promise is now stuck in foreclosure.

But it's not all bad news. There are ways to fight back. And the first step is finding an experienced and aggressive Miami Foreclosure Defense Attorney who has taught other attorneys how to help struggling homeowners.

Not all lawyers have the experience and aggressive approach to take on the banks head-on. Banks have a lot of money on their side, but they also have a lot of problems. Robo-signed documents, shady paperwork dealings and the use of poorly run companies to process paperwork are just a few of the most common problems.

These have been revolutionary times. There are millions of foreclosed homes on the market and experts believe many more may be coming. The rise and fall of the real estate market, especially in Florida, has been historical. And in this time, there have been seemingly unreal problems with the foreclosure process.

Even if a homeowner has missed mortgage payments, they still have rights and they still must be treated fairly. And that simply can't be done on their own. An experienced foreclosure defense attorney will stand by your side and fight the banks.

Continue reading "Four From West Kendall Arrested in Loan Modification Scam Affecting Miami Homeowners" »

According to a recent CNN report, one West Palm Beach couple has lived in their five-bedroom home for five years and millions of others have lived mortgage payment-free because of lender errors and the long foreclosure process.

Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyers have made it a priority to help homeowners fight back against greedy banks and lending institutions and help people stay in their homes. Problems with mortgage servicers, robo-signed documents and other errors have helped homeowners overcome the questionable practices of banks throughout Miami. Our firm believes in fighting foreclosure in Miami and negotiating from a position of strength against the banks.

According to the article, there are nearly 4.2 million mortgage borrowers who are either delinquent or had their cases referred to lawyers to pursue foreclosure auctions. Of those, nearly 66 percent have made no payments at all for at least a year and nearly 33 percent have gone more than two years without payments.

On average, a foreclosure takes 565 days from their first missed payment for a lender to foreclose on borrowers in default. In New York, the average is 800 days and in Florida, where the robo-signing issue has been most combative, the average is 807 days. That's more than two years that a person can live in their house as the foreclosure process goes on.

Potentially losing one's home can be a terrifying prospect, but because of the glut of foreclosure cases filed in Miami-Dade County and throughout Florida, the time it takes for these cases to finish up is staggering. Our law firm works to help homeowners stay in their houses, even as the foreclosure process is ongoing.

The truth is, financial institutions have fallen short in their efforts to properly foreclose on many houses in South Florida. They have used mortgage servicers that have been investigated by all 50 states' attorneys general. Those companies have falsely signed documents, alleged that documents were true when bank officials never even looked at them and filed with the court paperwork that is completely inaccurate.

The government imposes strict regulations on banks and our firm will investigate your loan for the many possible errors, such as:

1. Lost Promissory Note or Assignment defenses
2. Bad loan origination
3. Inaccurate loan servicing
4. Truth In Lending Act Violations (TILA)
5. Home Owner's Equity Protection Act (HOEPA)
6. Real Estate Settlement Practices Act (RESPA)

All of these areas and more allow homeowners to gain an advantage and the upper hand when dealing with greedy and unprepared financial institutions that try to storm into court and take away a person's house.

If you have experienced a job loss or other of income event in your life and don't believe you are able to make payments on your house or if you are one of the many homeowners who is "upside down" in your mortgage and don't want to ruin your life savings, call our firm. We can advise you on the best avenue to either help you stay in your home or successfully walk away.

Continue reading "4.2 Million Homeowners Live Years Without a Mortgage Payment Due to Miami Bank Errors" »

Please join Miami Foreclosure Defense Attorney Bruce Jacobs this Sunday, May 1 at 7 p.m. for a 90 minute Webinar: "Strategies for an Underwater Mortgage."

Attorney Jacobs and his staff have been working with homeowners since the start of the recession. Whether you are looking to stop foreclosure in Miami, or are thinking about a home-loan modification, short sale or strategic default, this webinar will be packed full of free and useful legal advice meant to protect your rights and the financial well-being of you and your family.

Attorney Jacobs is a former Miami County Prosecutor who spent years representing banks in foreclosures all over Florida. He is part of "Max Gardener's Army," a group of attorneys trained in cutting-edge strategies who are sharing information and legal strategies in real time. His goal is to bring meaningful relief to homeowners struggling with foreclosure issues.

Visit www.didyourbanklie.com/webinar to register. Cost of the seminar is $36, payable via credit card or PayPal. Act now and receive 50 percent off using promo code: VIP (case sensitive).

Topics up for discussion include:

-Why isn't the loan modification process working?

-Do I want a loan modification anyway?

-What is securitization and how can it help?

-Are there meaningful defenses to foreclosure?

-What happens if I stop paying my mortgage?

-What about the condo or homeowners association?

-Should I pay my property taxes and insurance?

-How does the foreclosure process work?

-What is a deficiency judgment?

-Does my credit score matter if I owe so much?

-Can I get a principal balance reduction?

Knowledge is Power - Negotiate from Strength!

For more information or for media inquiry, contact Barbara Ferenczi at BNE Marketing at Barbara@BNEMarketing.com.

Continue reading "Miami Foreclosure Defense Firm Offers Webinar on Homeowner Defense " »

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 Sun-Sentinel is reporting more trouble for the Law Offices of David J. Stern amid questions regarding the firm's handling of thousands of foreclosure cases in South Florida.

As the investigators look at whether banks and their law firms have acted unethically or illegally in seizing thousands of South Florida properties, seeking the advice of a Miami foreclosure defense lawyer is the best course of action for either stopping foreclosure in Miami or protecting your rights in the wake of a foreclosure action. Homeowners who have already lost their homes could seek to fight a deficiency judgment or obtain a cash settlement. In at least one case, a homeowner is seeking the return of his property, despite the fact that it has already been sold at foreclosure auction.

Banks and law firms under fire in South Florida include the Law Offices of David J. Stern, Law office of Marshall Watson, Shapiro & Fishman, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and GMAC.

In the latest case, Stern's law office is accused of failing to cancel a foreclosure auction on a property that had been sold in Cutler Bay, resulting in the same property being sold twice. The resulting hassle prompted CitiMortgage to pull the case from Stern's office and give it to Shapiro and Fishman -- which was like moving out the frying pan and into the fire.

Both law firms are under investigation by the Florida Attorney General, accused of slopping practices, including fabricating loan documents. At one point, Stern's office was processing 20 percent of the state's foreclosures through a staff of more than 1,000 employees.

Meanwhile, attorney general offices in all 50 states continue to investigate banks and foreclosure firms for signing thousands of foreclosure cases without reviewing them for accuracy or proper ownership.

This case also illustrates the importance of using an attorney when completing a short sale or foreclosure sale in South Florida. In this case, the second purchaser of the house has thus far been unable to get her money back despite repeated calls to Stern's law office.

Continue reading "Miami homeowners may have claim in foreclosure cases filed by Law Offices of David J. Stern" »

Desde Miami hasta Beverly Hills, los mas adinerados estan abandonando sus propiedades en foreclosure y simplemente se retiran de lo que consideran una mala inversion, segun reporta el New York Times.

Segun continuan reportando nuestros abogados defensores de Miami, los propietarios del sur de la Florida que buscan ayuda para sus foreclosures, tienen un gran numero de opciones. Pero el sopesar los riesgos y las ventajas de una modificacion de prestamo, una llamada venta corta o un incumplimiento estrategico, debe ser hecho con el asesoramiento experto de un abogado que se especialice e bienes raices. Los bancos, y aun el gobierno, tratan de hacer sentir culpables a los duenos de casa, personas trabajadoras, para que se mantengan en propiedades que valen mucho menos de lo que ellos deben. Mientras tanto, los ricos, y sus abogados, simplemente abandonan esas propiedades y se marchan a enfrentar los retos que les ofrece un nuevo dia.

Ya sea su residencia principal, una segunda casa o una propiedad de inversion, los propietarios mas adinerados han dejado de pagar sus hipotecas a un ritmo mucho mayor que el resto de la poblacion. El Times reporta que mas de 1 de cada 7 duenos de casa, con prestamos de un millon de dolares o mas estan seriamente atrasados en sus pagos de hipoteca. Este reporte sugiere que los acaudalados estan abandonando esas propiedades a proposito, como harian con cualquier otra mala inversion.

Tal y como reportaramos en nuestro Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, el incumplimiento estrategico ( decidir abandonar la propiedad), y las ventas cortas ( venderla por menos de lo que se debe por ella) presentan sus propios riesgos para los duenos. Si el banco decide procurar una sentencia por deficiencia, el propietario puede encontrarse debiendole al banco la diferencia entre el balance de la hipoteca y lo que se obtuvo por la venta de la propiedad subastada .Buscar el asesoramiento de un abogado en Miami con experiencia en foreclosures es la mejor opcion para proteger sus derechos y su bienestar financiero a corto y largo plazo, para usted y su famiia.

NYT Los que mas incumplen sus obligaciones hipotecarias son los mas adinerados - Negocios - Bienes raices - msnbc.com.pdf

Categorias:

* Riesgos del Foreclosure
* Incumplimiento estrategico

Continue reading "Propietarios adinerados en Miami optan por los foreclosures; la mejor opcion es consultar a un abogado." »

Failure to stop foreclosure in Miami is one of the many ways in which consumers are seeing their credit scores take a big hit. MSNBC reports a reputable credit repair firm may charge $600 or more to assist you in getting your credit back on track.

But there are few secrets to a good credit score. Low credit card balances and on-time payments will do more for your score than all the counseling in the world. Unfortunately, if you are dealing with an underwater mortgage in South Florida or a short sale or other bad mortgage debt, little can be done to help your credit without addressing the real problem.

A Miami foreclosure defense attorney can assist you in determining the best course of action. Without proper assistance, a short sale or strategic default could result in a delinquency judgment and additional blows to your long-term financial well-being and credit worthiness.

Once you have dealt with your mortgage debt, you can begin to comb your credit report for errors or other problems that are needlessly dragging down your score. Too often, consumers continue to go on struggling with unmanageable debt out of misplaced fear of harming their credit score. In reality, your score has likely already taken a major hit from over utilization of available credit, missed payments, late payments and other issues. Getting back on strong financial footing may well allow you to repair your score faster than continuing to struggle with bad debt.

A free credit report is available at www.annualcreditreport.com. In general, scores in the 700 are good, high 600s are decent, low 600s are marginal and those with scores lower than 600 will find it difficult or impossible to get credit in the current environment. Rebuilding your credit requires paying your bills on time and using one-third or less of available credit.

Continue reading "Stopping foreclosure in Miami often the first step to repairing credit score" »

From Miami to Beverly Hills, the rich are surrendering homes to foreclosure and simply walking away from what they view as a bad investment, the New York Times reported.

As our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers continue to report, South Florida homeowners looking for foreclosure help have a number of options. But weighing the risks and rewards of a home-loan modification, short sale or strategic default is best done with help of an experienced real estate attorney. Banks, and even the government, are attempting to guilt-trip hardworking homeowners into keeping homes worth far less than what is owed. Meanwhile the wealthy, and their lawyers, are simply walking away and living to fight another day.

Whether it's a primary residence, second home or an investment property, the rich have stopped paying mortgages at a far greater pace than the rest of the population. The Times reports that more than 1 in 7 homeowners with loans of a million dollars or more are seriously delinquent. The report suggests that the wealthy are purposefully dumping properties just as they would a bad investment.

As we reported on our Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog, strategic defaults (choosing to walk away) and short sales (selling for less than what is owed) present their own risks. If the bank chooses to pursue a deficiency judgment, a homeowner could be left owing the difference between the mortgage balance and what a home sold for at auction. Seeking the advice of an experienced Miami foreclosure attorney is the best option to protect your rights and the long-term financial well-being of you and your family.

Continue reading "Wealthy homeowners in Miami choose foreclosure; consulting an attorney the best option" »

The Miami Herald reports about a thriving private industry that is buying debt from banks and chasing homeowners for mortgage balances owed in the wake of a short sale or foreclosure.

This is another example of why it is critical to consult an experienced Miami foreclosure attorney for those seeking mortgage foreclosure help or for homeowners trying to stop a foreclosure sale in South Florida. Companies are waiting to go after homeowners who close short sales without a waiver of deficiency.

The New York-based Deficiency Judgment Recovery Network is one such company. Formed in late 2009, the company reports it is attempting to collect from "hundreds, maybe thousands" of Florida homeowners who though completing a short sale would put their housing nightmare behind them. The company is either hired by lenders to collect deficiencies or buys the debt for pennies on the dollar. A deficiency is the difference between a homeowner's mortgage balance and what a home brought through short sale or foreclosure.

"People are under the assumption that the banks are so busy modifying home loans that they don't have the bandwidth or stomach to go after those who are walking away. That's a bad assumption," said Joshua Rand, whose company motto is "We turn shortfalls into windfalls."

Before the downturn in the real estate market, such deficiencies were rare. Now, as many as half of homeowners owe more on their property than it's worth in the current market -- particularly in hard-hit states like California, Florida and Arizona.

As one industry watcher put it: "It's going to be a blood bath."

Florida courts handled 398,825 foreclosures last year -- not including short-sales, which account for more than one-third of all real estate transactions in some areas of South Florida. By the end of this year, Realty Trac predicts a total of 3.5 million more foreclosures nationwide.

In Florida, lenders have up to five years to file a deficiency judgment and up to 20 years to collect.

Continue reading "Waiver of deficiency critical for Miami homeowners facing foreclosure or short sale" »

Lenders dealing with foreclosures and short sales in South Florida and across the nation are expected to file a barrage of lawsuits seeking to recoup losses from homeowners, the Miami Herald reported.

An experienced Miami foreclosure defense attorney should assist buyers dealing with a short sale or foreclosure. Without a written agreement from your lender, you are exposing yourself to the possibility of being slapped with a huge judgment for outstanding mortgage debt -- the difference between what your house is worth now, and what you owe on the mortgage. Get an experienced Miami real estate attorney and make sure you protect your financial well-being by seeking a waiver of such deficiency judgments. Otherwise, a short sale may help the bank, but won't help you.

"It will be a dramatic problem because the borrowers will not know it's coming," Frank Alexander, a law professor at Emory University in Atlanta, told the Sun-Sentinel. Florida law gives banks five years from the date of a sale to file a deficiency judgment and up to 20 years to collect. Lenders can garnish wages, make claims against a borrower's assets and use other means of collection.

While such deficiency judgments were rare before the housing meltdown, so were foreclosures and short sales and borrowers frequently had few assets worth chasing in an attempt to collect. But, with the advent of strategic default, banks are finding borrowers often walked away with significant assets and the bill collectors are suiting up for action.

A recent survey found more than 4 in 10 homeowners said they would consider walking away from a property with an underwater mortgage -- meaning more is owed on the home than it is worth in the current real estate market.

Other homeowners at high risk of collection action include those who ransacked or damages properties in foreclosure, either out of spite or for a profit.

Mortgage companies typically won't pursue homeowners who negotiate in good faith, or those who default because of job loss, health problems or other unforeseen circumstances, according to the Herald's report. But don't take the lender's word for it; work with a qualified and experienced attorney to get it in writing.

Even if the mortgage companies don't pursue collection action, they can sell the debt to a collection agency at a steep discount, and the debt collectors will come calling with all of the aggressive and disruptive tactics that they employ.

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