Posts Tagged ‘Jacksonville Legal Aid’
April Charney, the Mother Theresa of Foreclosure Defense is Under Attack….
Author: Matthew D. Weidner, Esq.
Whether or not you are in foreclosure, you have benefited from the groundbreaking, earth-shattering work done to protect consumers and support our entire judicial system by April Charney from Jacksonville Legal Aid.
This one pioneering lawyer, this Warrior For The People has traveled from one end of this state to the other and all over the country preaching the gospel of respect for the rule of law and defense of those who are most in need.
Along the way April has changed not just the lives of clients, but she has almost single handedly changed the entire bar, by creating quite literally an Army of dedicated and principled attorneys who are committed to fighting for consumers. So important and so respected is her work that she was recently recognized by the Florida Bar for all her work.
And so it is with terribly dismay that I read this hero might be under attack…
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid attorney April Charney has proved a big pain in the ass for giant corporations in the middle of the foreclosure crisis like Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo Company and Jacksonville-based Lender Processer Services. She gummed up what had been routine and quick foreclosures with questions that led to an exposure of the fraud and forgery that drive many foreclosures. Charney was among the first attorneys to ask lenders to produce the proof they really owned the loans and had the right to foreclose. Attorney generals opened investigations into foreclosure practices in 50 states. Jacksonville’s Lender Processing Services was in the middle of those investigations because it is one of the country’s largest loan servicers and because of the volume of legal documents that company representatives appear to have faked.
WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO LET THE WARRIORS WHO ARE FIGHTING CONTINUE TO SUFFER ATTACKS
Systematic Violations of Servicemember Civil Relief Act Among All Lenders?
Author: Matthew D. Weidner, Esq.
The world needs to know that real foreclosure defense in Florida especially began when passionate attorneys from Legal Aid offices across this state, stood up and started fighting for families. Jacksonville Legal Aid has always been on the forefront of the foreclosure fight, and the good work started by April Charney from Jax Legal Aid is still being done by the great lawyers that work for legal aid offices all across the state, like Lynn Drysdale, Glorida Epstein.
A huge issue that the committed foreclosure attorneys across this country are really digging into now, is the very real possibility that service member’s rights are being violated. Following is some information shared with me by April Charney…I encourage everyone to pay careful attention to this….but the bottom line is this….HUD regulations require all creditors to send SCRA notices to all loans in default….and no one that have talked to have ever seen one….
HAVE A LOOK AT THIS NEW MILITARY FORECLOSURE WEBSITE
The numbers of homes admitted to as wrongfully foreclosed in the recently announced foreclosure related military settlements seem really, really low considering the systemic failure of pre-foreclosure compliance with the notice required to be sent to all homeowners in this country within 45 days of a payment default under 12 USC 1701xC5 to advise them of their SCRA rights – to make sure there is a safety net to catch all the military at risk.
12 USC 1701x(C)(5) is titled: Notification of availability of homeownership counseling and provides, in pertinent part:
(A) Notification of availability of homeownership counseling.
(i) Requirement… the creditor of a loan shall provide notice…to…any eligible homeowner who fails to pay any amount by the date the amount is due under a home loan…
(ii) Content. Notification…shall…notify the homeowner…of the availability of any homeownership counseling offered by the creditor…
[and shall] (III) notify the homeowner…of the availability of homeownership counseling…
AND SHALL…(IV) notify the homeowner by a statement or notice, written in plain English by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Treasury, explaining the mortgage and foreclosure rights of servicemembers, and the dependents of such servicemembers, under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.), including the toll-free military one source number to call if servicemembers, or the dependents of such servicemembers, require further assistance.
(B) Deadline for notification. The notification…shall be made…
(i) in a manner approved by the Secretary; and
(ii) before the expiration of the 45-day period beginning on the date on which the [PAYMENT] failure occurs.
The above statute does not apply to FHA/Hud insured or other federally insured loan (VA, fmha, etc.) because they have their own administrative, statutory and regulatory requirements.
The above statute applies to every fannie, freddie or other conventional loan including every allegedly securitized loan.
There appears to be no compliance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act notification requirements before any foreclosure anywhere in this country. This failure is actionable to present equitable and contractual defenses to a foreclosure, judicial or nonjudicial; presents a failure of a contractual and statutory condition precedent to all foreclosures; is a breach of the mortgage contract rights of the borrower and is evidence of illegal and predatory consumer debt collection.
The federal regulations enforcing this notice requirement were issued in 2007 and are found online at:
and…8% of the (600 of 7500 est) persons in f/c in Sarasota, Fl “live” near Plano, Texas, Jax, Fl and Ft. Mill, SC where there are numerous military bases and/or military contractors (also get SCRA rights)…makes you wonder what the numbers look like around the nation…
WHERE THE OWNERS LIVE…Where the people who own Sarasota County foreclosed properties live:
Fort Mill, S.C.4%
Jacksonville2%
Plano, Texas2%
Foreclosure Courts That Uphold The Highest Ethical And Professional Standards in The Land
Author: Matthew D. Weidner, Esq.
Far and above the finest, most aggressive and most principled foreclosure lawyers in this state are the attorneys working at Ice Legal in West Palm Beach, Florida. Next to the nationally respected pioneer in foreclosure defense, April Charney from Jacksonville Legal Aid, no single group of lawyers has done more to advance the cause of foreclosure defense and to protect the core and substantive rights of consumers than Tom Ice and the fantastic lawyers he has working with him.
The members of the Ethical and Principled Foreclosure Defense Bar, consumers and indeed all across this state have benefited immeasurably because of the exceptional legal work they have produced. If you’ve had a chance to review any of their pleadings or taken the time to read any of the numerous depositions they’ve taken, you should appreciate the attention to detail, the crisp and clean nature of the pleadings and the precision of their application of the law to the unique facts of the case.
With all that being said, as a member of the Ethical and Principled Foreclosure Defense Bar, I am frankly deeply troubled by reports I hear on a regular basis that seem to suggest some courtrooms across this state are leaning too much in favor of “pushing through this foreclosure crisis” than carefully considering the important ethical, social and jurisprudential consequences of sloppy, inaccurate or fraudulent legal work. So called “Rocket Docket” or “Foreclosure Gas Chambers” that have been set up in circuits across the state are ratifying and confirming the development of institutionalized processes and procedures that encourage the production of sloppy, inaccurate and potentially fraudulent legal work product.
The bottom line is this, if the foreclosure mills know their cases and evidence submitted will not be subject to the kind of proper judicial scrutiny that cases involving the confiscation of a consumers home should be subject to, will they cut ethical and legal corners that they would not otherwise cut?
In my mind, the answer is clearly yes. I am quite certain that when the Millionaire Foreclosure Mills produce their work product, they pay particular attention to getting their facts right when submitting cases and evidence before the judges of the sixth, twelfth and thirteenth judicial circuit, courtrooms which are known to be presided over by judges who are tough, focused on details and facts and holding the lawyers that practice before them to the highest ethical and professional standards. There are certainly other circuits in this state of which the same can be said, but I know this about these circuits based on my first hand experience.
Which brings us back to the unusual and troubling circumstances we hear reported about in other areas of the state, particularly South Florida and particularly Palm Beach County. The dockets are particularly crushing in those areas, but we must remember that each case represents just one person or just one family. That 84 year old sick woman, or that illiterate migrant worker that is a defendant in a foreclosure case should not be affected by the “foreclosure crisis”. Indeed his or her Constitutional rights must be zealously protected the Court Sitting in Equity just as if this were the only case pending before the court.
Which brings us back to the comments about the detailed and exceptional work produced by Ice Legal. I attach here an example of the kind of work produced by them. I encourage all advocates, and especially members of the Bar and Bench, to read and consider the matters asserted in the motion carefully. I urge us all to consider that everytime we step into a courtroom, whether it be for a small claims case, a death penalty case or a terrorist trial, the same rules and principles apply. That imposing and awe-inspiring court shown above should be in each of our minds every time we step into a courtroom and we should all be asking ourselves, how would these learned judges sitting below view my conduct in this case? And with that in mind, I urge each to read the attached motion:
