Posts Tagged ‘mediation managers inc’
HUGE! Foreclosure Mediation Returns to Pinellas County!
Author: Matthew D. Weidner, Esq.
I am going to write a whole lot more about this later, but it is a HUGE statement that mediation is back up and running in Pinellas County.
I am convinced that his program CAN produce very, very high success rates…..if both sides start coming to the table and working the program.
Notice I said BOTH SIDES. Borrowers submitting docs and Lenders entering into real, substantive negotiations.
A revolution is coming and it might as well start in Pinellas County. Part of the revolution is keeping people in homes….WHILE MAKING FAIR AND REASONABLE PAYMENTS.
No more vacant and abandoned homes. Cops, military, teachers…..bodies and families in homes, taking care of them, keeping power on, paying taxes and insurance.
The banking industry will thank us in the very near future. From the press release:
CLEARWATER – Revisions to a previously mandated mediation program are targeted more directly at property owners who are most likely to benefit, while making the procedures more user-friendly and effective. The goal is to continue to efficiently move foreclosure cases through the courts of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which serves Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Under a new Administrative Order signed today by Chief Judge Thomas McGrady, Mediation Managers, Inc. (MMI), which contracts to provide mediation services for foreclosure cases, will no longer automatically offer mediation in every case. “A lot of resources were being used ineffectively while trying to serve borrowers who have already abandoned their homes or recognize that they will be unable to reach an agreed-on plan that would allow them to keep their homes,” Judge McGrady said.
Under the new plan, mediation will automatically be offered in all residential foreclosure case in which:
• Defendants have been personally served with notice of the foreclosure action;
• Notice of foreclosure was by publication, and the defendant responded within 120 days of service;
I will no longer make efforts to locate every borrower (only those who meet the criteria above), and mediation will now be available on foreclosure actions involving non-homestead residential property. The program that the Florida Supreme Court suspended last month required the initiation of mediation for all homestead cases and required MMI to attempt to locate all defendants before a case could move forward.
The suspended program also required lenders to pay an up-front fee of $750 to MMI – a not-for-profit organization. Under the revised plan, MMI will receive no administrative fee, and its mediation fee is set at $225 an hour with a two-hour minimum. The fee will continue to be paid by the lender, but will be listed as costs in all settlements or final judgments. If more than two hours are required, fees will be split between lender and borrower.
Chief Judge McGrady said that the new plan eliminates requirements that tried to include all homestead foreclosure cases. “As it has always been, mediation will continue to be a resource that is available to anyone who wants to utilize it to settle civil court cases, including foreclosures,” McGrady said. “But now, we will be proactive in trying to get parties to mediate only when there appears to be hope of a homeowner saving their property from foreclosure action that was initiated during a hard time that they are working themselves out of. We all have had setbacks, and mediation is a tool for overcoming those setbacks.”
In mediation, a neutral third party such as MMI assists both sides to reach a settlement agreement that quickly brings the case to a conclusion, avoiding longer and more costly litigation in court. Such agreements could lead to modified payment plans, extended loan terms, sale of the property, returning the property without any further obligation on the loan, etc. “It (mediation) allows both sides to mutually resolve their issues,” McGrady said, “while avoiding the expense and uncertainty of further litigation.”
He pointed out that in most cases financial institutions really don’t want to take possession of more properties, while mediated agreements provide time for hard-working property owners to get back on their feet.
In mid-2010, Sixth Circuit judges were dealing with approximately 33,000 open foreclosure cases. Mediation and a senior judges program have helped reduce the number of pending actions to less than 29,000. Last year, almost 10,000 new cases – 6,293 in Pinellas and 3,690 in Pasco – were filed. Judge McGrady said that while the new mediation plan will not automatically apply to previously filed cases, it gives the courts another tool to efficiently deal with the situation.
MMI was founded in 2010 by three local attorney/mediators, J. Richard Rahter, Jon C. Kieffer, and Jack L. Townsend, Sr. Kieffer and Rahter – the principal attorneys of Kieffer & Rahter, P.A. in St. Petersburg since 1985 – have been Florida Supreme Court-certified mediators for 22 years. Townsend, the principal attorney of Jack L. Townsend, Sr., P.A. in Tampa, has been providing mediation and arbitration services in the Tampa Bay area since 1996.
Judge McGrady emphasized the revised program does not rule out mediation for cases involving properties that do not meet the eligibility criteria. “Mediation can still be requested by parties to proceedings for commercial properties, or for any other contested foreclosure,” he stated. Borrowers with cases currently pending before the Court may file a motion requesting participation in the Foreclosure Mediation Program.
The revised plan also places some new requirements – particularly in the exchange of information – on participants and attorneys for participants. The complete order and necessary forms can be accessed at
http://www.jud6.org/LegalCommunity/LegalPractice/AOSAndRules/aos/aos2012/2012-002.htm
ATTENTION Editors & Assignment Desks: It is important that all citizens who may be having trouble paying their mortgages read or hear about their rights in a foreclosure case. Mortgage foreclosures are a major part of the local economic situation. As long as foreclosures are a part of the local economic situation, Judge McGrady and representatives of Mediation Managers, Inc. are available for one-on-one interviews.
To arrange an interview with Judge McGrady, call the Sixth Circuit Public Information Office at 727.453.7176.
Mediation Managers, Inc. can be reached at 877.664.1217 or 727.475.4944.
Another BOMBSHELL- a HUGE class action lawsuit agiant MERS, GMAC, BAC….and others.
Author: MattWeidner
This crisis is going to spawn at least as many lawsuits as the foreclosures started….have a read on this class action suit that was forwarded to me. If there is any justice left in this country, there will be indictments, punishment and penalties for all those who were involved in this incredible fraud….
What Will It Take To Stop This Madness? Local Television on Foreclosure Fraud.
Author: MattWeidner
National, regional and local press are reporting the serious issues relating to Foreclosure Fraud nearly every day now. A handful of honest judge with integrity are taking notice of the fraud in the foreclosure process and holding the lawyers and their clients to task. A ranking member of the United States Congress has written a letter to the Chief Justice asking for a moratorium on foreclosures. And yet in spite of all of this, across this state, oftentimes in secret courtrooms that are hidden from the public using evidence and information that is hidden from the scrutiny of press or public view, judges will be signing thousands of foreclosure judgments.
I was in one of those secret Kafka-esque courtrooms in Tampa yesterday. I made the speech I just made to the judge as he was in the middle of robo signing hundreds of judgments. He seemed annoyed at my presence in the courtroom and my suggestion that there was anything at all wrong with the process. We all know this is horribly wrong and like a sick patient that ignores his symptoms before it’s too late, the longer we allow this to play out, the worse the day of reckoning will be. One of my motivations early on was to bring attention to this crisis in the hopes that officials would step up and stop this madness. Our Attorney General is to be commended for taking the lead in this crisis…we can only hope that the Office of Attorney General maintains the integrity necessary to give these investigations their full force and impact.
Ohio Attorney General/Texas Attorney General Sue Mortgage Servicers
Author: MattWeidner
Some states have powerful, proactive Attorney Generals who aren’t afraid to stand up for consumers and common people. The links below will take to you sites that detail actions the Attorney Generals from Ohio and Texas are taking. These lawsuits could and should be filed by Attorneys General in every state. Our Attorney General is nibbling around the edges, one can only hope that the investigations of the mills will ultimately lead to real charges…..
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=3458
http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/2BAC1AF2A61BBA398525777B0051BB30
http://myfloridalegal.com/mortgagefraud
THIS IS WAR! AND HERE IS HOW TO DISMISS THOUSANDS OF FORECLOSURE CASES!
Author: MattWeidner
The Florida Supreme Court mandated that all residential foreclosure cases filed after February 11, 2010 be verified.
The Florida Supreme Court mandated that all residential foreclosure cases filed after February 11, 2010 be verified.
The Florida Supreme Court mandated that all residential foreclosure cases filed after February 11, 2010 be verified.
The Florida Supreme Court mandated that all residential foreclosure cases filed after February 11, 2010 be verified.
I wanted to write that several times just to drive the point home. I put it in bold just to try and emphasize the point. Despite the fact that this is absolutely clear and that there is no question about this rule, across the state there are thousands of foreclosure cases that have been filed which completely ignore this rule.
It makes me furious and I cannot understand why our chief judges, why our elected judges, why senior judges continue to grant summary judgment for these cases when the court has the inherent authority to DISMISS THESE CASES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE RULES OF THE COURT.
I understand why the foreclosure mills continue to file complaints that are in direct and flagrant violation of the rules of the Florida Supreme Court, but I cannot understand why our courts and our press are not all over this issue.
I have petitioned for a hearing to be held here in Pinellas County to ask why this affront to our courts is allowed to continue, but I want to share the motions with everyone once again in the hopes that you will all print them out, tailor them to your cases and share them with your chief judge.
CHARNESKI-MTD-for-Unverified-Supplement1
I am issuing a challenge to any foreclosure mill attorney, any attorney, any judge. Explain why the reasoning in the memos attached above is incorrect. And if the memos are not wrong, then why are our judges allowing thousands of these foreclosure cases to continue on the dockets every single day?
THIS IS ARROGANCE AND TYRRANY. THE FORECLOSURE MILLS AND BANKS ARE TRAMPLING ON BASIC RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES AND IGNORING THE RULE OF LAW.
THEY’RE IGNORING THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA!
THEY’RE IGNORING THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA!
If we are allowing them to get away with this in this forum, what’s next? Shall we allow them to just kick down the doors of anyone’s home? (They’re already doing that.) Shall we just toss out the window due process and basic, Constitutional rights? (We’re already doing that.)
I will pay for the transcripts of any hearing where a foreclosure mill defends the fact that they are not verifying complaints. I am dying to hear the argument against complying with the lawful authority of the Florida Supreme Court….but then who really cares anyway? What does it matter, it’s only foreclosure?
WHY IS THERE NOT AN UPROAR AMONG THE PRESS, THE GENERAL PUBLIC, ATTORNEYS? WHERE IS THE SUPREME COURT ON THIS? I mean after all, they passed a rule that is just being ignored….why are they allowing this chaos to occur?
Up Next- The Federal Government is the Biggest Plaintiff in Foreclosure Cases
Author: Matthew D. Weidner, Esq.
Get ready for the next wave of foreclosure litigation….this time featuring the Federal Government suing citizens in order to foreclose. We’re already starting to see it as various servicers or banking entities pursue foreclosure, cryptically announcing their status as “authorized to bring this action on behalf of Fannie Mae“.
It is an interesting phenomena that now you will see taxpayer dollars being used to fund litigation against taxpayers. Will our judges start enforcing rules and law when it is the mighty federal government breathing down the homeowner’s neck or will the case law have become so developed by that time that there will be no more need for judges….the Feds just come and kick down your door and throw you onto the street…..think about it, it’s already happening now.
