Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog

As we have come to learn, banks have attempted to take away people's homes, even when they had no legal right. They robo-signed documents and created paperwork to try to show that they had legal standing to take a person's house away.

But judges nationwide have been persuaded by Miami foreclosure lawyers and others throughout the state and country to not award a home in foreclosure to the bank without proper documentation. Because bundles of home mortgages are bought and sold on Wall Street constantly, the banks have to be able to prove that they own a person's Miami foreclosure.

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A recent The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.com addressed this issue. New York Attorney General Eric Schneidermann -- one of the chief opponents of a large-scale settlement between states and banks -- has been tapped as the head of a new Obama administration committee through the U.S. Attorney General to look at Miami foreclosures as criminal acts.

Schneiderman called the crashing of the country's economy a "man-made disaster" and the committee now has the authority to look into bank acts and "figure out exactly what happened and hold anyone who was responsible accountable."

He said that many of the bundled mortgages were deposited into New York and Delaware trusts, which is why attorneys general there have been at the forefront of the prosecution of bank officials.

The new task force now has federal jurisdiction and resources, which gives officials more time and money to look closely at bank actions and violations of law. Statutes of limitations and laws are different for the federal government than for certain states, which also gives this panel more power.

Our Miami foreclosure lawyers would only question why it has taken so long for an action like this to take place. The nation's economy has been trending downward for years, and the government's initial foreclosure solution plans obviously didn't work. So, why did we have to wait until 2012 to put together a group of people who want to look into the crimes that banks committed?

Lawyers nationwide are thankful at least that it has finally happened. Owners of Miami foreclosures should take comfort in the fact that finally there is a dedicated group that plans on holding bank officials criminally accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, as news reports have indicated, banks are willing to stoop as low as shredding documents and altering paperwork to get away with what they've done, so it will be interesting to see how much information these investigators are able to find.

Meanwhile, Miami foreclosure lawyers will continue doing the same thing -- bombarding banks for documents and fighting back on behalf of homeowners, who are being forced to act as squatters in their own homes. Negotiating from a position of strength is critical to showing these banks that the homeowner won't back down and let their family's home be snatched away based on unlawful actions and violated rights.

Continue reading "Some Officials Are Trying to Show That Miami Foreclosures Are Criminal" »

The Obama administration continues twisting the arm of every attorney general in the nation to settle with banks over robo-signing and other offenses during the housing burst, which caused strategic defaults, short sales and millions of foreclosures in Miami and elsewhere.

As San Francisco Bay View points out, the settlement with banks that the government is pushing for would essentially be a slap on the wrist and would prohibit states from bringing lawsuits against them.

Robo-signing is where employees signed other people's names under titles they didn't own to confirm facts they didn't know were true. The practice dates to the turn of the century and could have invalidated tens of thousands of housing titles.

Miami foreclosure lawyers have fought many foreclosure cases where robo-signing was used because it is such an unethical practice. When a person's home is at stake, the last thing that should happen is a bank using improper techniques to try to steal it away.

According to the news article, the settlement would let bank officials get away with criminal acts that the average person would be convicted for committing. They include fraud, tax evasion, securities violations and forgery. The author questions whether banks did this for so long because of the volume of cases or because it was profitable.

Some analysts believe that robo-signing was done in support of the shadow banking system, which some say is bigger than the traditional banking system. Securitized mortgages, as one theory goes, are pawns used in the "repo market." Repos are quick-moving sales and collateral repurchases that require mortgage notes to be free. So, they are not assigned until a loan defaults, at which time they are robo-signed to the trusts in order to foreclose on the property.

This secondary banking system is based on high-level debt, such as mortgage-backed securities and Treasury debt. Analysts say this secondary market is essential for traditional banking because without it banks wouldn't lend and credit wouldn't be available.

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems hid these transactions and allowed houses to be bought and sold quickly while getting around local laws that govern recording these transactions. MERS would be the name the property was recorded under, though it may have changed hands five times.

As Miami foreclosure defense lawyers and others began questioning whether MERS had any ability to foreclose, judges have increasingly said it doesn't. And after officials told mortgage servicers that to get reimbursed under the federal program HAMP, the servicers would have to show the loan had been assigned to the trust. In response, robo-signing went viral.

And as a result, this process broke violating the terms of trusts as well as state real estate law. The banks also cannot comply with tax laws for mortgage-backed securities. The author points out that the shadow banking system is flawed because the collateral is both owed to the borrower and the depositor at the same time. What happens when both demand their money at the same time?

The article points out the obvious flaws in our banking system and shows that homeowners nationwide have been deceived and ripped off. Many Miami foreclosures were done through robo-signing and other illegal practices, yet the court system has been slow to hold banks accountable for their actions. As more and more evidence comes out, Miami foreclosure defense lawyers will bring this to judges in order to save homes from foreclosure.

Continue reading "Why Is Robo-Signing in Miami Foreclosures Still Ongoing?" »

The New York Times reported recently it's unlikely that Washington lawmakers will come up with a significant program to help homeowners struggling with foreclosure in Miami.

That's not all that shocking, considering that the programs of the past have done little to help homeowners struggling with an underwater mortgage and in danger of foreclosure or strategic default. While the current administration has promised big results from its programs, there hasn't been much help provided to struggling homeowners.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers believe and have seen proof that fighting a bank in a foreclosure case is much more efficient than waiting on a government handout. These programs have dedicated millions of dollars and yet little of it has been actually utilized to help modify loans or help people stay in their houses.

Because the programs have no teeth, banks aren't required to use them and there is little incentive for them to do so. Rather, they believe they can make more money off a foreclosure than actually keeping a person in their house with a mortgage modification.

Taxpayers are rightfully skeptical about new government programs that promise to help homeowners. In the past, few have done so. In April, a program was designed to provide reparations to homeowners damaged by foreclosure abuse, but many officials believe it may do more harm than good.

An April program from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was borne out of consumer lawyers identifying forgeries and other problems with foreclosure documents filed with the courts by banks and representatives. It's interesting to point out that it was lawyers, not bank regulators, that pointed out these massive problems.

More than four million homeowners were contacted and told they could end up getting some type of financial bonus for being trampled upon by the banks. This was after banks agreed to audit themselves. Lawmakers last month voiced doubt that the program would work and cautioned that there could be a conflict of interest among the consultants that were hired by banks to review the problems.

One researcher the newspaper talked to spotted a conflict after one hour of looking at documents, despite the comptroller's office saying it closely vetted consultants to check for potential conflicts.

Others have pointed out that JPMorgan Chase hired Deloitte to audit its practices, the same company that audited Washington Mutual and Bear Starnes, two defunct firms. Both were later acquired by JPMorgan, so loans that could come under scrutiny would be done by the firm that audited their books.

Other problems pointed out by industry leaders is that the years under analysis are after when most subprime loans were sent into foreclosure and those homeowners who participate in the program are left unprotected against any future damage. Participating in the program could lead to a person giving up their rights to fight a foreclosure in the future. Also, participants could still lose their home to foreclosure even if they take part in a review of their case.

There are few solid programs that actually help homeowners. The only way to hang on to your home if it's been hit with a Miami foreclosure is to fight back. Point out the bank's faults in your case and hold them accountable to proving their case.

Continue reading "Waiting on a Real Government Bailout For Miami Foreclosures? Don't Bet On It" »

A recent CNNMoney article suggests that homeowners who are willing to fight back against banks in a Miami foreclosure may be able to stay in their houses rent-free for as long as several years.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have helped many homeowners by pointing out problems with bank documents, proving the robo-signing practices that have infiltrated our real estate market and the issues that have caused many people to choose a strategic default over putting their retirement savings into an underwater mortgage.

Banks have certainly shown their inability to correctly process the millions of foreclosures that have flooded the market. In their infinite wisdom, bank officials have decided that instead of legally and morally filing foreclosure paperwork, they will create inaccurate documents in support of foreclosures.

Skilled and experienced Miami foreclosure lawyers have been able to point out these mistakes and also show that bank officials are unable to prove who actually owns the loan. That has been a recurring problem for banks.

Because of their reliance on MERS, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a network of real estate purchases and sales created by and monitored by banks, home sales haven't been well kept track of. This registry often clashes with official records kept in cities and counties where the sales take place, so when it comes time for a bank to foreclose, the information may be mixed or even unavailable.

Also adding to the problem is that banks made money off of mortgage loans by selling them as bundles to investors. Called securitized mortgages, investment groups may actually own the loan, but the bank that originally signed the loan paperwork may attempt to bring the foreclosure.

These problems have led to free rent for some homeowners. CNNMoney reports that the average time it can take for a foreclosure to be fully processed -- starting with the first missed payment to the final home auction -- is now 674 days. That is up from the 253-day average from about four years ago.

In Florida, however, the court system is so slammed with cases that the average time it takes to process a foreclosure is 1,027 days, which is more than three years. Only Washington D.C. tops Florida at 1,053 days. In New York, the average stay is 906 days. Nearly 40 percent of homeowners whose houses are in default haven't paid their banks in at least two years.

While the article reports that there is rarely a dispute about whether payments have been made, homeowners are able to stay in their houses because of bank errors. Robo-signing is a big reason. When foreclosure defense lawyers discovered these problems, they were able to show that bank employees signed paperwork despite having no knowledge as to the accuracy of the documents.

In some cases, attorneys are able to show judges that employee signatures are different on multiple papers, that notarized documents are executed on dates that aren't possible and that the paperwork signed as accurate is incorrect.

Often, lost or misplaced paperwork can lead to a botched foreclosure by the bank as well. Since many of the documents that are filed are done so electronically, they can be misplaced easily. Unless the banks can find them, the foreclosure can be tossed out of court.

Continue reading "Stay at Home for Free throughout Miami Foreclosure Defense" »

In the first two blogs in this series, our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers looked at how banks are getting away with crimes because the Obama Administration seems to think what has happened in our country was simply the "least ethical" practices, but not crimes.

The blogs also looked at how a small faction of states attorneys are going against the grain and pursuing lawsuits against the banks who caused the real estate collapse in the first place. Rather than going along with most other states attorneys and attempting to settle with the banks for cash, this group seems intent on holding them criminally accountable for causing an influx of foreclosures that left homeowners considering strategic default because of problems with mortgage servicers and shady bank practices.

And our series of blogs has also concluded, based on a Politico article, that the Obama administration doesn't seem very interested in pursuing criminal cases against these bank officials. While it's obvious that crimes were committed -- there have been documented examples of banks foreclosing on military families -- as many as 5,000 against a 2003 act. And bank officials who were ordered to alter documentation in order to support a foreclosure -- yet no major criminal charges have been filed.

In fact, the administration has encouraged the states attorneys to settle with banks over their foreclosure practices instead of pursuing criminal cases. That's what has happened on the federal level. The Justice Department is trying to squeeze the banks for money instead of charging their officials with crimes. This comes on the heels of the Federal Reserve doling out $7 trillion in secret loans to banks.

The Politico article reports that Obama seeks to coverup the bank crimes by trying to force the states into a large-scale financial settlement. The Massachusetts lawsuit, which alleges foreclosure fraud against banks and MERS, is the most sweeping and while most banks have done little to fight back, government-owned Ally Financial has said it will stop lending in Massachusetts.

Officials are now attempting to set up congressional hearings into Ally's capital strike, a tactic which is designed to meet their legal demands while threatening to stop financing. This isn't new. In 2003, Georgia lawmakers found that mortgage lending had problems with predation and fraud, so they passed a consumer protection law that struck back at fraudulent practices.

But the result wasn't what they expected, as Standard & Poor's said it would no longer rate mortgage-backed securities with loans that started in Georgia. Since S&P made big profits from rating subprime mortgages, the Georgia law could have threatened its business. Lawmakers quickly reversed the law.

The Politico article goes on to state that while the housing bubble and burst wasn't just based on bad behavior, it included threats made by banks to stop financing or make lending difficult in states where lawmakers attempted to make things right for homeowners.

The only way to make change, which is sure to come slowly, is for lawmakers to care about justice and to make it happen. Banks have found that crime pays and until someone stops it, it will only continue.

Continue reading "A Miami Foreclosure Is Not Only a Tragedy, But a Crime Scene: Part 3" »

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers recently found a Politico article which makes the point that foreclosures shouldn't just be treated as a life-altering problem, but also as a crime scene.

What bank officials did has caused a momentous spike in Miami foreclosures and in the number of people who had to work out short sales or consider strategic default as a result.

Banks ordered robo-signing and altered documents in order to support a foreclosure. They have thus far gotten off without any real penalties. Many are still making their seven figure bonuses and large salaries despite these actions.

It's about time that prosecutors start holding these people accountable for ruining our real estate market and leading to many Miami residents having their homes taken away because of unlawful actions.

In the first part of our series on this Miami foreclosure blog topic, we discussed how several attorneys general, not including Florida's, have gone against the grain in pursuit of these criminals. While the Obama administration has pushed these state prosecutors to agree to a settlement with banks to let them off the hook for their wrongs with few questions asked, about half a dozen have decided not to engage in talks. This will allow them to continue their prosecution of bank officials in lieu of receiving what amounts to a payoff.

Interestingly enough, one of these state attorneys is Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joseph Biden. He is suing MERS for unfair and deceptive practices. Attorneys general in New York, Nevada, Massachusetts and elsewhere are fighting back.

The second part of this blog series will look at the problems that these bank officials have caused the court system and the people who have had their life savings depleted because of the greed.

Some reports have suggested that bankers pushed borrowers into subprime loans because the interest rates were higher and they were more attractive to investors. In fact, there have been lawsuits filed alleging that black and Hispanic borrowers were discriminated against because some qualified for normal loans, but were pushed into subprime loans.

And while President Obama himself said what has happened on Wall Street wasn't criminal, only "the last ethical," banks have admitted to breaking the law. Earlier this year, Politico reports, JPMorgan bankers were found to have violated the Servicemember Civil Relief Act, which protects military members from foreclosure. The bank foreclosed on 18 military families.

Regulators have found recently that as many as 5,000 military families have been sent into foreclosure illegally, despite built-in protections from the SCRA. And as it seems to go, the Justice Department settled with Bank of America for alleged violations of the act, which allows the bank to not have to admit doing anything wrong.

The Politico article points out that Obama's statement about Wall Street's actions being unethical is incorrect. The servicemember act has been on the books since 2003 and although the president said laws need to be changed, they were already in place. The article reports that the George H.W. Bush administration sent about 3,000 white-collar criminals to prison and yet the Obama administration has yet to send one.

The article suggests that the current Attorney General hasn't brought any criminal charges against those involved in illegal military foreclosures or foreclosure fraud. Instead of pursuing these cases criminally, it appears the current administration is happy to settle with banks to get money instead of prison time.

Sadly, this has allowed criminals to get away with crimes and has left homeowners stuck in a Miami foreclosure. When the government settles out of court for cash instead of prison time, where does the money go? Does it bring people's homes back? No. There really is no justice in what the government has been doing.

Continue reading "A Miami Foreclosure Is Not Only a Tragedy, But a Crime Scene: Part 2" »

The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to rule on a case out of Greenacres where allegedly fraudulent bank documents were used in support of a foreclosure, The Palm Beach Post reports.

This case could have major implications on the cases of foreclosures in Miami and statewide. The use of robo-signing, fraudulent documents and other unlawful practices by banks has led to the biggest real estate collapse in decades. House values have plummeted, causing people's mortgages to be underwater and leading to a foreclosure crisis.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers recognize that the Supreme Court taking up this case could have a major impact on all foreclosure cases throughout the state. The Justices agreed that the case highlights the "mortgage foreclosure crisis throughout the state."

While the case in question has already been settled, four of the seven justices agreed that they should look at the legal question that was posed, saying that it is bigger than this one case and could impact all others. At issue is whether a bank can still be held accountable for using robo-signed and fraudulent documents if officials decide to dismiss the foreclosure case after it has been challenged.

In this case, the bank filed to foreclose on a man's house in 2008, alleging that it owned the mortgage via assignment from another lender. After the man's foreclosure defense attorney challenged the backdated assignment, the bank voluntarily dropped the case and settled with the homeowner.

The man appealed, asking that the dismissal be reversed and while lower courts sided with the bank on that issue, an appeals court asked the Supreme Court to take a look. The appeals court decided that the issue is "a question of great public importance as many, many mortgage foreclosures appear tainted with suspect documents."

The Office of State Courts Administrator reported that from July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011, more than 104,000 foreclosure cases were dismissed. Many of these cases were likely dismissed because banks didn't have the proper documentation, couldn't prove who owned the note or used fraudulent documents to try to prove the facts.

This is big news for homeowners trapped in foreclosure because if the state's high court rules in favor of the homeowner, that means that other homeowners throughout the state may be in a better position to fight back against banks who have tried to steal their homes via bad documents.

It has been reported that bank officials in some situations literally cut and pasted figures and signatures onto documents they used in support of foreclosures in Miami and elsewhere when they didn't have the facts to prove their case. They violated homeowners' rights in many cases simply because they couldn't handle the glut of foreclosures that hit the court system so rapidly.

Instead of handling cases legally and upholding homeowners' rights, banks took the low road and used slimy tactics in order to try to take away people's homes. Even in cases where homeowners tried to work with them through loan modification programs or a short sale, banks would go behind their backs and attempt to foreclose.

Homeowners statewide -- whether in foreclosure right now or not -- should be thankful that the justices will look at this case. Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers hope that the court holds banks accountable and doesn't let them off the hook and allow them to ruin people's lives without due process or a shred of honesty and decency.

Continue reading "Florida Supreme Court to Consider Miami Foreclosure Case Rife With Fraudulent Documents" »

The New York Times recently wrote about a former South Florida banker who acknowledges that banks' loose credit is the reason that the real estate market and financial system in the United States collapsed. He acknowledges that because of his actions -- and those like him -- foreclosures in Miami and nationwide went viral, leading to strategic defaults and under water mortgages.

It's encouraging that at least some people are finally acknowledging what the rest of the country has believed for some time. Sadly, it's too little too late. The banks got more than $7 trillion in secret loans from the Fed, made billions from those loans and still are going after people's homes.

The best way to fight the banks is to fight a foreclosure with an experienced and aggressive Miami foreclosure defense lawyer. The banks have made many mistakes and they should pay for it. Over are the days that they have so much financial strength they can bully borrowers.

Many people sought to buy homes, doing business as usual, in the late 2000s. Sadly, though, many people were buying second homes that they hoped to flip and make a profit from, so banks, with their loose credit, were lending out billions of dollars to people in states outside Florida. For a while, it worked and they were able to make a quick buck.

But when 2007 came and the bubble had nearly burst, many people were stuck with a second house that had lost value. Then, things spiraled out of control. People began defaulting in droves and prices began plummeting.

Banks watched this happen before their eyes. What once was a time of joy with bankers lending out money and just waiting for the big benefits turned into a nightmare. Ultimately, it has cost millions of people their jobs and sent the nation's and world's economies into a tail spin.

According to the article, former Chase Home Finance vice president James Theckston told the newspaper that in 2007, his team wrote $2 billion in mortgages, sometimes without documentation. He said people without jobs, income or assets could get a loan just based on a good credit score.

He said that bank officials enabled the problems by telling bankers to loan out the money, even when it didn't make sense. Senior bankers turned a blind eye, especially because mortgages were securitized and sold to investment groups.

The banker said that some executives got a commission that was higher from subprime loans, so they would entice mainly black and Latino borrowers, some who weren't fluent in English and who weren't savvy, to get a loan. When the newspaper contacted Chase, it's spokesmen acknowledged the subprime and no-document mortgages and says it doesn't do that anymore. It points out that it has offered four times as many loan modifications than foreclosures.

The article goes on to report on the Fed's $7.8 trillion in secret loans to banks and how the loans helped keep our country's financial system afloat, it also rewarded the bad behavior of bankers and has left homeowners helplessly toiling in foreclosure. Many of the least sophisticated borrowers in America have been hurt especially hard.

Continue reading "Former South Florida Banker Tells How Banks Are to Blame for Miami Foreclosure Mess" »

Homeowners battling foreclosure in Miami know how tough the system can be. Mortgage servicers and real estate investors continue to face civil and criminal prosecution. But as a recent column by new deal 2.0, a news project of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in New York, opines that mortgage servicers are getting away with the perfect crime because years after warnings were put out about fraud in the country's banking system, there have been relatively few criminal prosecutions.

This is a shame and a failure by our criminal justice system. While Miami foreclosure defense lawyers understand that it takes quite a bit of time and effort to build a criminal case against bank officials, mortgage servicers and other real estate professionals, we also believe that the longer banks are able to conduct Miami foreclosures unlawfully, the more victims there are.

The columnist agrees. In the piece he writes that in 2004, FBI agents warned Congress that there was an "epidemic" of mortgage fraud. Within two years, Fannie Mae endured an accounting scandal.

What happened next was criminal, yet little has been done about it. Wall Street CEOs began signing documents they didn't know where accurate or knew were inaccurate, The New York Fed began blindly lending money despite conflicts of interest. Balance sheets of banks were manipulated to hide the problems they were having as foreclosures ruled the news.

Despite all the problems, there were few arrests being made. Most of the prosecutions related to the problems with foreclosure and banks have been minor contractors or low-level bank employees, who were likely just following orders from above. There have been civil suits, and states are negotiating a settlement with banks for foreclosure fraud, but that will result in payoffs and not prison time.

As the column goes on to say, the problem with this is that when all of the illegal activity continues to go unpunished, it continues to happen. There have been recent reports of foreclosure defense attorneys uncovering robo-signed documents to this day, despite banks being busted for this more than a year ago.

A New Orleans bankruptcy judge recently said in court that Lender Processing Services, a company that handles 80 percent of foreclosures for big banks, has been programming fraud into the software used to process foreclosures. The judge said the company uses highly automated software that applies payments "contrary to the terms of the notes and mortgages."

The article goes on to say that mortgage loan notes are supposed to be paid first to interest, then principal and then other fees. Investors get paid first and servicers, who collect fees for themselves, get paid when they collect late fees or if the house goes into foreclosure. What the columnist reports is that they are using software to prioritize their fees above the interest and principal that is getting paid to investors.

Additionally, if homeowners are late one month with a payment, it's supposed to be a one-time miss. The programing, however, can lead to a glut of fees that can lead to homeowners missing payments again and again, causing them to spiral into foreclosure.

If our prosecutors aren't going to help, then the only way to fight back on your Miami foreclosure is to use the banks' mistakes and unlawful activity against them. Consult with a Miami foreclosure defense lawyer today to ensure your rights are upheld.

Continue reading "Banks May Still Be Getting Away With Crimes in Miami Foreclosure Cases" »

Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have written quite a bit lately about the fact that banks and mortgage servicers contracted to work for them have been sitting around, wondering if they will come to a settlement with state prosecutors to avoid a glut of lawsuits.

We're happy to report that at least one attorney general is taking a more aggressive approach, and may even prove helpful to those who have suffered through foreclosure in Miami and elsewhere as well.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Maso announced recently that a grand jury returned a 606-count indictment alleging that two title officers conducted a robo-signing scheme between 2005 and 2008.

Nevada is one of a handful of states whose attorney general has bailed out of negotiations to settle their unethical and illegal practices they conducted once the real estate market crashed and foreclosures began flooding the market. We reported on our blog recently that a dozen top banks are expected to pay $20 billion to settle claims of taking people's homes away through these actions.

But several attorneys general would rather hold banks accountable instead of letting them off the hook. $20 billion is a lot of money, but nothing compared to the money these banks have made over the years. They bundled and sold loans that defaulted, and have taken away homes from people who couldn't afford a lawyer and who were victimized when banks made up documents and robo-signed them. They need to be punished further.

And if it takes criminal charges, so be it.

In the Nevada case, Gary Trafford and Gerri Sheppard, both of California, are alleged to have fraudulently notarized and filed documents that were prepared to foreclose on Nevada homeowners. The grand jury alleged that these two directed their employees to forge their names on foreclosure documents and notarize the signatures they just forged. The documents were then filed with the local clerk of courts office in order to start the foreclosure process.

Trafford faces 102 counts each of offering false instruments for recording, a felony, false certification of certain instruments, a felony, and notarization of the signature of a person not in the presence of a notary public, a misdemeanor. Sheppard faces 100 counts each of the same charges.

The documents were allegedly forged in order to rush them to the clerk's office so they could be filed the same day. Don't think this is something that happened only in Nevada, either. This is a widespread problem that hasn't gotten enough attention. It certainly has happened at the Miami-Dade courthouses as well.

Hundreds of thousands of homes were taken away at the beginning of the foreclosure mess. Who knows how many of those were taken with fraudulent and robo-signed documents? Before the problem was well known, the people on the front lines of this battle likely had their rights violated when no one knew what was being done.

Sadly, it's still being done today even though there are investigations ongoing in every state. Banks have used many unethical and illegal tactics to tackle the foreclosure problems they created with their greed.

Continue reading "Nevada AG Fights Back on Foreclosures With Charges Against 'Robo-Signers'" »

The clerk of courts in Jacksonville and the attorney general in Delaware have sued MERS -- Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Mortgage Servicing News is reporting.

MERS is an entity created by the nation's major banks to record and track residential mortgage assignments. This is a private, limited-access system that banks deemed necessary so they could keep up with the influx of purchases and sales that were moving too quickly for the public system.

But it has been exposed in recent years by foreclosure defense lawyers in Miami and elsewhere for having many problems. Foolishly, banks relied on MERS when filing foreclosures in Miami, even though those figures, dates and other information wasn't the official information gathered by the clerk of courts where the house is located.

In this case, according to the news article, the lawsuit in Florida alleges that MERS doesn't comply with state property laws and has cost cities and counties millions in unpaid recording fees. The lawsuit seeks class status, meaning that all 67 counties in the state, including Miami-Dade, could join the lawsuit.

One of the biggest problems with MERS is that when a mortgage is sold, the information is put into the system, but no assignment is recorded. This has come to light in recent years because if a homeowner faces foreclosure, county clerk records likely won't say that the bank, a trust of investors or another lender altogether actually owns the note on the house.

Banks make money off the interest that homeowners pay, but they also make money by bundling mortgages together and selling them to investors so those investors can reap the benefit of the interest paid. In many cases, banks haven't been able to tell who actually owns the mortgage when they file a foreclosure on a house.

Duval County Clerk Jim Fuller sued Merscorp Inc. on Oct. 31 alleging civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment and fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation. The lawsuit requests that MERS not be used in Florida and a court hearing to determine if MERS properly tracks note transfers in its system.

Merscorp responded that a promissory note has never been required to be disclosed in the public record and that the MERS system isn't a replacement for public land records. A spokeswoman said the system isn't competing or hiding records from what is filed publicly.

A few days earlier, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, sued MERS claiming that it engages in deceptive trade practices. That lawsuit claims that MERS records and records from 100 foreclosures in a Delaware county in 2010 have large disparities.

It's obvious that MERS has its issues and that banks have relied on this private, unofficial system for trying to take away people's homes. These mistakes can be used to the homeowner's advantage, however. Showing that lenders have made critical mistakes and are using inaccurate information in support of a foreclosure is one of the best defenses to keeping a person in his or her home.

Lenders have made many critical mistakes throughout the housing crisis and foreclosure debacle. As they say, the best offense is a good defense, and proving the banks have tripped up is the best way to overcome them trying to take away a person's house.

Continue reading "Florida Clerk Sues MERS For Using Invalid and Inaccurate Filings in Miami Foreclosures" »

A recent story from Bnet.com, a CBS company, highlights the ridiculousness of the banking industry. In the article, the author reports that Bank of America, one of the largest banks in the world, punished its employees who spotted mortgage fraud.

Just when you thought banks couldn't get any more evil. The same lending institutions that have denied wrongdoing and yet taken billions of dollars in bailouts in public money, are the same banks that have taken away people's homes by using made-up documents and falsely signed paperwork.

And now a new low -- punishing employees who were honest enough to bring forward the problems going on in the company at a time when the bank had a record number of foreclosures in Miami and nationwide. This is just another reason why hiring an experienced and aggressive Miami foreclosure defense lawyer is critical if you are facing foreclosure in Miami.

Banks will stop at nothing to take away people's homes. As the Miami Foreclosure Lawyer Blog recently reported, a Countrywide auditor was fired and recently awarded nearly $1 million in a retaliation suit after bank officials shut down her internal investigation into fraudulent actions. Shocking that Bank of America bought Countrywide in 2008. Apparently the attitude in those companies is that banks can do what they want, when they want and to whom they want.

The BNET article piggybacks on another recent article cited in the recent blog post about Countrywide firing its investigator. But it goes into more detail about the U.S. Labor Department report that resulted in the big payout for the Countrywide investigator who was doing her job in investigating internal problems.

After management got wind that the investigation into fraud was ongoing, it brought in members of the team headed by the investigator, who was an executive vice president at the time. One person was grilled for three hours by a member of the "Employee Relations" department to try to get them to say something bad about her.

After Countrywide was bought by Bank of America, she thought the investigation was dead, but Bank of America then fired her. They offered her a $230,000 severance if she would keep quiet about the fraud she discovered. She refused and was fired for "poor judgment as a leader" and "inappropriate and unprofessional behavior."

While she since has gotten a job with a credit union, she has granted few interviews with the media, even as others have come to her defense and the government has ruled in her favor.

The scary thing about all this is just how far these banks are willing to go to protect their fraud, robo-signing and false documents in Miami foreclosure cases. They will blow through employment and whistleblower laws to get rid of people even within the walls of their buildings to keep hidden from the public the efforts they have gone to in order to defraud the American people.

Continue reading "Bank of America Punishes Employees For Spotting Miami Mortgage Fraud" »

A recent article in The Palm Beach Post reports that Fannie Mae, the federal mortgage giant, was told five years ago that its attorneys were filing robo-signed documents, but it chose to do nothing about it.

Well, isn't this super. While the government has come out condemning these actions by banks and setting up unsuccessful programs to help homeowners, it knew all along this was going on in foreclosures in Miami and elsewhere.

They hypocrisy in government is amazing to Miami foreclosure defense attorneys, who have seen banks attempting to strip away people's homes through robo-signed documents, other faulty paperwork and an unwillingness to negotiate despite all of their shady actions.

Homeowners must be willing to fight back against foreclosure in cases like these. Banks try to bully homeowners, but end up getting kicked in the teeth when homeowners fight back and hold them accountable for their actions. Many homeowners have been able to live -- rent free -- for years in houses where banks haven't been able to prove who actually owns the house because of their own ineptitude.

And the same goes for the federal government. Fannie Mae -- created after the Great Depression to keep the secondary mortgage market going -- has now been caught red-handed.

According to an inspector general report, an outside law firm Fannie Mae hired to investigate allegations of wrongdoing confirmed that "unlawful" practices were occurring. The report found that attorneys hired to try to take away people's homes were signing inaccurate documents to move them through the foreclosure process faster. Despite learning about this fact, Fannie Mae did nothing to improve the oversight of these firms working for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, The Palm Beach Post reports.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy loans from banks and flip them to investors, providing a guarantee to cover losses if loans default. The mortgage giants were taken over by the government in 2008. Plantation-based David J. Stern wasn't mentioned in the report but was the largest law firm used by Fannie Mae in Florida cases. The firm closed last year after allegations of robo-signing surfaced. More than 100,000 cases statewide were abandoned after the firm shut down.

Employees told Fannie Mae that notary stamps were passed along and used by people not certified as notary publics, signatures were forged, mortgage assignments were created after foreclosure judgments were entered and employees hid filed from auditors seeking to check on the process.

As of June 30, Fannie Mae had a principal balance of $180 billion in unpaid home loans in Florida alone. Roughly 12 percent of the state's Fannie Mae loans are delinquent.

The bottom line here is that law firms hired by the government and banks to take away people's homes, as well as loan servicers, were using robo-signed and unauthorized means to steal away people's homes without due process.

What does the government do in response? Look the other way. So, people have lost their homes, had a judge sign off years ago, and the bank sold it at auction all while using false documentation. And that's fair?

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers vow to do everything possible to fight for a Miami homeowner's property. Bringing up evidence of robo-signed paperwork, missing documentation and illegal practices is a good start in saving your home from foreclosure in Miami.

Continue reading "Fannie Mae Ignored Robo-Signing Abuse in Miami Foreclosure Cases" »

The news just keeps getting worse for Bank of America and its purchase of Countrywide in 2008.

A new report by iwatchnews.org says that 30 former Countrywide employees say the company was protecting officials who were committing fraud by silencing potential whistleblowers. The former employees allege that Countrywide executives encouraged or allowed them to commit and cover up fraud. This not only affected homeowners, but included falsified income documentation and other ways to steer borrowers into bad mortgages.

This is far from shocking to Miami foreclosure defense lawyers, who have been questioning the actions of the banks and their officials for years in defense of Miami homeowners. This new report, though, hopefully will shed light on the banks' actions to judges who are making rulings on homeowners who are having their houses taken away in Miami foreclosure proceedings.

Corporate investigators in the summer of 2007 discovered piles of paper that were set to be shredded outside the offices of Countrywide bank branches. In the mounds of paper, they discovered that branch employees were creating fake bank statements, inflated property appraisals and other phony paperwork by using scissors, tape and correction fluid, the story reports. Investigators believe that what they found showed that workers routinely cut and pasted addresses on different pieces of paper to show appraisals.

Yet, the Bank of America's chief investigator was getting resistance from the company after making the discoveries. One executive e-mailed dozens of workers warning them of the investigation. Officials didn't allow them to interview senior managers. Instead, fill-in interviewees read from scripts that had been vetted by higher-ups before they were sent to investigators.

Branches were shut down and employees let go, but investigators suspected the main fraudsters were left unscathed. By fall 2008, after Bank of America acquired Countrywide, it fired the chief investigator, accusing her of "unprofessional conduct." But the U.S. Department of Labor recently ruled she was fired as payback for her investigation and was awarded $930,000 plus reinstatement.

It seems that regulators have been oblivious to the problems going on with banks for far too long. If employees were allowed -- and encouraged -- to falsify documents related to homeowners, what else did they do?

From this report, it can be said that not only are homeowners' foreclosure documents being mishandled and falsified, but also documents that relate to the original loan could have been altered to help the company and harm the homeowner.

Miami foreclosure defense lawyers must be called on to look into these claims. While some believe that a foreclosure case is as easy as open and shut, this simply isn't the case. This story highlights the need for more scrutiny and more accountability for the banks that are ruining our economic situation.

A Miami homeowner shouldn't be thrown to the curb when the bank can't prove who owns the note, can't show proper documentation and has altered documentation to benefit it and ruin the homeowner's lives. They have rights that must be upheld and honored.

Continue reading "Former Countrywide Employees Say Company Covered Up Fraud in Miami, U.S." »

A recent NBC News report on the foreclosure mess in Florida revealed that banks are creating documents in order to have the proper paperwork to push through a foreclosure on Miami homeowners.

Sadly, this is no surprise to Miami Foreclosure Defense Attorneys. We have seen banks continue to create documents, pay companies to create documents and file falsified paperwork in foreclosure cases.

An experienced lawyer can help spot false documents and petition the court to hold banks accountable for their actions. If they don't have the documents in place, they shouldn't be able to take away a person's home. And they certainly shouldn't be able to create documents in order to move the process along.

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Attorneys told NBC News that they see, on a regular basis, documents that have been created for the sole purpose of taking a person's home away. The documents weren't produced before the bank filed a foreclosure action against a homeowner.

Further, the attorneys see documents that are signed by a bank official, but have never been shown to the homeowner, even though there are lines for the homeowner's signature. NBC News also discovered that there are companies that banks could hire to create the documents for an individual foreclosure action.

Some of the documents unveiled in the NBC investigation were papers that contradict who actually owns the mortgage, documents about companies that don't even exist and notarized documents that were never signed by the homeowners.

Attorneys say the banks have a financial incentive to create these documents because without them, they can't take away people's homes. If they aren't successful in foreclosing on a home then they can't sell it at auction.

While banks wouldn't comment to NBC News for this story, what they typically have said about these issues is that these documents are either mistakes or just created because they were supposed to be in the file in the first place.

While a person may fall behind on monthly mortgage payments, the banks still have the burden to show who owns the mortgage and what is owed.

That's why an experienced Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyer must be called on to hold the banks accountable and hold their feet to the fire as homeowners in Miami continue to fight back.

Continue reading "Banks Are Filing Fake Documents to Steal Away Miami Foreclosed Homes" »