Matt Weidner – Fighting For The American People

Posts Tagged ‘right to foreclose’

The following comes from a recent column by respected Journalist Abigale Field.  Things are very, very bad out there and they are only going to get much, much worse.

No, it’s not because homeowners that lost their jobs are not paying mortgages…..these folks were just the canaries in the coal mine. Our elected “leaders” should have been focused on the far more significant issues that the homeowner cases exposed.  But they did not. Our entire elected bodies, at both the state and federal level, have chosen to utterly ignore the devastating conduct of the banks….and we will all pay the price for this fatal and systemic failure of judgment.

And now from Abigale Field:

NYAG Validates Homeowners’ Standing Claims

Homeowners across the country have argued that the banks foreclosing on them couldn’t prove they had the right to foreclose. These standing arguments alleged that the loans were improperly securitized and as a result, the banks claiming the loans now didn’t have them rightfully. But the judiciary’s response has been mixed, at best.

But now the New York Attorney General is saying the same thing. As Adam Levitin highlighted on Credit Slips, the Attorney General’s filing states:

“… The failure to properly transfer possession of complete mortgage files has hindered numerous foreclosure proceedings and resulted in fraudulent activities including, for example, “robo-signing.” These fraudulent activities have burdened borrowers as well as the courts with flawed foreclosure proceedings.”

Abigale Field

I want you to read two stories that ran in the Wall Street Journal.  The first ran in October 2010.  That story asserted that a small group of pescky foreclosure attorneys were stirring up a ruckus about a bunch of technicalities in foreclosure that caused confusion and turmoil in the housing market…(those damn consumer lawyers)

“There is a movement afoot by [state attorneys general] and private lawyers to use technical problems to avoid foreclosures where the borrower is in default and the foreclosure is in all respects substantively appropriate. These are lawyers where the best job they can do for their clients is to keep them in their houses without paying the mortgage.”

and

GMAC tried to sanction the lawyer on grounds he had embarrassed its employees, a maneuver that could have kept him from using the Stephan deposition as evidence. The motion was denied by Maine’s Ninth District state court, which also ruled, late last month, that GMAC had submitted the Stephan affidavits “in bad faith.” The court ordered GMAC to pay Mr. Cox $27,000, a sum it said he might have earned for his legal work if he hadn’t been working pro bono.

Damn those attorneys for actually pointing out fraud and improper practices in banking practices, but surely this is all just paperwork snafu right and we’ll just get right on with things, right?

Lenders say paperwork problems can easily be fixed, and foreclosures can proceed. “The homeowner might get to live in the house for a few more months free.

Read the Full Article Here

But most importantly, read today’s article in the Wall Street Journal…so much for for a tiny little frackas….this whole foreclosure thing is a…hurdle….no that’s not quite the right word….how ’bout we tell the truth and come to grips with reality….it’s a full blown catastrophe…..

Read the story, but critically, read the comments to the story…and make sure to leave your own…..

ARE FORECLOSURE ROCKET DOCKETS EVEN CONSTITUTIONAL?

That’s a very important question that must be analyzed carefully with special attention paid not just to the mechanism by which these courts have been implemented, but also taking into consideration exactly how these courts are working in the real world.  By now most of us have sat through enough Foreclosure Rocket Docket proceedings to know just how much the deck feels stacked against the foreclosure defendant and frankly against any sense of fairness or consideration of the more significant issues in foreclosure…..important issues like…

DOES THIS PLAINTIFF EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO FORECLOSE?

HAS THE PLAINTIFF LAW FIRM COMMITTED FRAUD?

DO THE AFFIDAVITS AND ASSIGNMENTS SHOW OBVIOUS SIGNS OF FRAUD?

Such pesky details are largely ignored in the context of the Rocket Docket proceedings where the real emphasis is placed on churning through this docket as quickly as possible. (Nevermind that the Plaintiff’s themselves have announced they wish to suspend the proceedings.  Nevermind that many of these Defendants either have no notice of the proceedings or are in a formal repayment plan.)

Earlier I reported on the Rocket Docket judge that asked, “So what’s this TARP I’m hearing about?” Just today, a defendant called to tell me about the totally disrespectfully and entirely impermissible  treatment she received in a 9:00 a.m. Rocket Docket hearing where the judge advised her, “You’re going to lose your home and there is nothing you can do about it.” 

This just cannot continue.

Well, one tough fighter decided that he would stick his neck out there and try to do something about it.  I get a lot of calls from clients seeking representation in North Florida and encourage you all to contact Daniel W. Uhlfelder <daniel@dwulaw.com> for representation.  For all you reporters and folks at bigger thinking folks out there, read his memo.  As I know you folks know, we need your help down here….Dan’s Memo provides a framework.

But most importantly, read the transcript of the proceeding….

ROCKETDOCKETTRANSCRIPT

Is The Foreclosure Rocket Docket Constitutional?

The banks are permitted to run wild.  Why should we expect there to be any consequences when they kick down your doors and throw your property into the streets, I mean after all, they stole billions from us already and was there a single indictment?  No.  Was there any punishment? No. Not only did they walk away Scott free, they were paid billions more in bailout money.  Not only were they paid billions in bailout money, they were paid $50 billion in mortgage modification money.  Not only were they paid $50 billion in mortgage modification money, here in Florida we paid $9.6 million to set up a foreclosure rocket docket to speed up the time it takes to throw a neighbor into the street and hired senior judges who don’t care to be bothered with pesky details like who actually has a right to foreclose.

God Save Us All If We Allow This To Continue….For Now We Must Rely On the Press to Save Us.

PLEASE READ AND COMMENT ON THE ARTICLE BELOW

MotherJones Article Here

For those of you that think the foreclosure crisis doesn’t impact you, consider the stories that will start to surface where lenders had no right to foreclose, such as the one in this article where the owner didn’t even have a mortgage on the property.

Sun Sentinel Article

While this is the most dramatic example, every day in court there are homeowners who are in formal repayment or modification programs with their lenders or the servicers, but a foreclosure sale is scheduled. I predict a wave of such reports over the next several months because the lenders have lost touch with the mills that are pushing these sales through.  And just forget about all the short sale and other people the are in the middle of modification discussions.  The system is so fatally flawed that only a moratorium will help to protect rights….just what was requested by US Congressman Alan Grayson.