Homeowners associations are suffering greatly as a result of many homes in their associations being in foreclosure. When the homeowner stops paying their mortgage they usually stop paying their homeowner association fees and special assessments. The remaining homeowners have to take up the slack for all the necessary maintenance. When a foreclosure is finished, the property passes from the old homeowner to either the bank or a third person who buys it at the foreclosure sale. At that foreclosure sale the homeowner association usually gets all or at least a part of the past owed dues and assessments. Then the new owner is responsible for future dues and all dues and assessments from that point forward.

Apparently in this case, the bank became the new owner and it did not pay the future assessments. It is not clear if they paid the past assessments as they are obligated to do as part of the foreclosure sale. The bank also failed to bring the place into proper repair.

All homeowners associations have the right to foreclose on any of their homes for failure to pay assessments and dues, and for failure to keep the place of proper repair. We see homeowner associations bringing their own foreclosure actions at the same time as the banks are completing their foreclosures before the banks. They then become the owners, but they take it subject to the existing past-due mortgage. They do not have to pay the mortgage because they never received the money from that loan. Remember, it was the previous homeowner that received the loan and used it to pay the prior owner when they bought the house. So now the homeowners association is the owner and therefore has possession, but they don't have to pay the mortgage. They typically rent the unit and pocket the rental money to help with all of the association expenses. The bank gets nothing. When they do this they are still subject to the bank completing its own foreclosure. The new tenant will have to vacate once the bank finishes the foreclosure action. A month-to-month tenancy would solve this problem.

In this case, the bank as the new owner is liable for all association dues and has the obligation, as any homeowner, to keep the place in good condition. When the homeowners association won their own foreclosure against the bank, it was not able to get anyone to buy it for an amount greater than what the association had spent to repair the place. This was the amount they sued the bank for in the foreclosure. The difference between these two sums is called the “deficiency,” and the bank as the current owner remains responsible for this amount. Apparently, the bank decided that it was better to walk away from this unit than to spend the money to pay the association, and continue with the responsibility of maintaining and marketing this unit. The bank now has no further responsibility arising from this unit. The homeowners association will probably win in this case.

For more details on the case Frank Albear, esq. is referring to: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/cerabino-surburban-west-palm-condo-assocation-look/nR3pK/

Many of today’s American senior citizens grew up under the American ideal that real estate would always flourish and appreciate in value. Today, more seniors than ever before are now struggling to make mortgage payments and being threatened with foreclosure.

Last month, the nation got its first solid evidence of how the real estate bust is affecting its senior citizens in an AARP report aptly named “Nightmare on Main Street: Older Americans and the Mortgage Market Crisis.”

Despite older homeowners having lower foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates than people under age 50, these numbers are still rising for senior citizens. Some of AARP’s troubling findings are as follows:

While only 0.58 percent of homeowners over the age of 65 were in foreclosure in 2007, the number jumped to 5.7 percent in 2011. In the same age bracket, more than 5 percent of homeowners are 90 days or more late on mortgage payments as of 2011, which is up from 1.28 percent in 2007. 25 percent of subprime loans of borrowers age 50 or older were also 90 days or more late on mortgage payments or already in foreclosure as of 2011.

While homeownership is usually seen as the safety net for seniors in retirement, these older Americans were not immune to the real estate craze and its ultimate crash. In hopes to cash in on the boom, many older homeowners sold their homes at top dollar and purchased investment properties that ended up flopping. As of December 2011, 3.5 million loans for people age 50 and older were struggling with no equity. In the same age bracket, 600,000 loans were already in foreclosure.

There were even cases in which senior citizens were taken advantage of during the real estate boom. In one instance, an 86 year-old man received a call in 2005 offering him a risk free way to make money on real estate. The mortgage broker, who ended up being unlicensed, had the World War II veteran take out a mortgage on his property that he already owned in order to buy additional investment properties. Now the properties are in foreclosure and his own home in Delray Beach is struggling.

“To face losing your home at a certain age, there’s no time to recover from that,” said Susan Reinhard, senior vice president of AARP’s public policy institute. “If they can’t sell their home, they can’t go to assisted living. That’s a problem.”

Reinhard also stated that AARP plans to release mortgage and foreclosure data that is specific to Florida by the end of the year. While no one knows for sure, the data is expected to reflect what we have already been seeing on the national scale.

For more information, check out the article “Housing Bust Sinks Seniors” in the July 26, 2012 issue of The Palm Beach Post.

Florida Supreme Court Puzzled Over Power To Sanction Party After Voluntary Dismissal

Florida Supreme Court Reviews Monumental Foreclosure Fraud Case

The Florida Supreme Court held oral argument today on the foreclosure case of Pino v. Bank of New York/Mellon, a lawsuit that is getting national attention and could possibly rollback a plethora of foreclosures and make banks vulnerable to severe financial penalties in the state of Florida.

The Florida foreclosure case was voluntarily dismissed by the lender after the borrower established fraudulent documents had been used to establish standing to sue. The trial court and District Court of Appeal held that once a voluntary dismissal is filed, the court has no power to do anything further in the dismissed case, even in the case of fraudulent conduct. The Florida Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction to address this issue.

During oral arguments from the florida foreclosure attorney of each side in the case, the justices appeared to be in conflict over the necessity of even deciding this issue. After realizing the Supreme Court was going to allow the appeal to proceed, the parties reached a confidential settlement and requested the appeal be dismissed.

The Supreme Court declined to accept the dismissal, indicating the question was too important to pass up. However, after listening to the oral argument, there appears to be a great probability that the appeal will be dismissed as many of the judges did not see the necessity of resolving this issue and several indicated that the solution should be in changing the Rules of Civil Procedure to address the "can't fix fraud" issue.

My bet is that this appeal is going to be dropped, but we will eventually see changes in the Civil Rules of Procedure that will allow trial courts to sanction fraudulent litigation behavior even after a voluntary dismissal.

Ever since the complete housing market debacle, and subsequent economic turmoil including huge layoffs, the word bankruptcy has become a much more common term. It is a real concern for many consumers that are drowning in credit card debt, back taxes and delinquent mortgage payments.

Even the rich and famous are not immune. Warren Sapp, the famous NFL football player and Dancing With The Stars contestant, filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy a week ago here in South Florida. It was reported in court documents that he owes more than $6.7 million to creditors, back child support and alimony.

I get many questions emailed to me about bankruptcy issues, so I thought I would invest the time to answer a bankruptcy question I received recently.

Bankruptcy Question of The Day

A woman recently wrote asking "Can I declare chapter 7 bankruptcy and still be able to keep ownership of my car?" She asked this because she stated "I am concerned because I need my car to take my children to school and also for my commute to work."

The short answer is that, more often than not, you can find a way to keep it under Florida bankruptcy laws. If you have a car which is financed, and is worth less than what you currently owe, then you may ask the bankruptcy court to let you hold onto the automobile and keep making payments toward the debt. If the car is worth more than what you owe, you are still entitled to exemptions that protect some of the equity that you have in the car and you may be able to negotiate a deal with the bankruptcy court so that you can retain ownership.

For example, if you do not own a home or if you do not intend to keep the home you reside in as part of the bankruptcy, then an additional exempt $6000 of homestead protection may be attainable to protect that amount of equity in the automobile if needed.

Call the LaBovick Law Group at 888.777.3884 for a free consultation to discuss the bankruptcy process and your options. The Florida bankruptcy team at the LaBovick Law Group help clients from our Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, and Boca Raton offices. We represent bankruptcy clients throughout Florida, including Palm Beach County, the Treasure Coast, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boynton Beach, North Palm Beach, Stuart, Deerfield Beach, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, Lake Worth, Tequesta, Ft. Pierce, Lake Park, Riviera Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Delray Beach, Greenacres and Wellington.

As many as 100,000 foreclosure cases in the state of Florida have been put in a state of flux with the undoing of the David J. Stern law practice. March 31, 2012 was the end of the road for Stern’s involvement in more than 100,000 foreclosure cases in which he is listed as the attorney of record. Some have speculated that many thousands of cases could be dismissed, unless lenders quickly hire another lawyer.

The David J. Stern law firm, founded in 1994, became one of the largest in the state of Florida by 2009. Most of its business was handed out by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in which the Stern Florida Attorneys handled many thousands of foreclosures. By its peak, the South Florida lawyers were handling one out of every five foreclosure suits in the state of Florida.

But for much of his legal career, Stern has always been associated with allegations of unethical conduct. He had trouble in 1999, when he agreed to pay $2.1 million to borrowers who were overcharged for legal expenses and the subsequent cover-up by the firm via fraudulent documents. The straw that broke the camel’s back was in 2010, when allegations of illegal shortcuts, including robo-signing, became the center of attention across the nation. Stern’s firm was associated with these allegations, and as a result, the firm was fired by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Stern, in a letter back in the beginning of March, wrote the firm is basically out of business. What is left is a mess in the Florida court system.

Over the last few weeks, progress has been made in cleaning up matters after the collapse of the Stern law firm. The Florida court system is paying more attention to these fraud allegations. But it’s a long road ahead.

Frank Albear, a West Palm Beach foreclosure lawyer for LaBovick Law Group, stated that repairs to the Stern files, where necessary, leave stronger legal claims that could protect future home buyers from having to defend title to their home.

Only time will tell how this legal mess will play out. Do you have an opinion? Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts .

The housing meltdown has sent shock waves throughout the United States, with foreclosures reaching over 4 million. In an effort to help current homeowners that are on the brink of losing their home, the government initiated a program whereby homeowners can receive a free fraud review of their foreclosure to make sure there are no issues.

It was recently reported by the Palm Beach Post that few homeowners have taken advantage of the free foreclosure fraud review. Specifically, less than 3% of the total eligible for the fraud review have taken advantage.

It was reported that representatives have sent out over 4.3 million notices to those that qualify for the review, with only 121,725 people responding thus far. The initial deadline of April 30, 2012 has been pushed back to July 31, 2012, due to the low response.
Some of the main concerns with the program include:

1. A homeowner must have been in some process of foreclosure in 2009 and 2010 to be eligible. But it's only for a two-year period and a lot of the subprime loans went into foreclosure before that.
2. Concerns about whether homeowners would have to sign away rights to future claims if they accept an award for financial harm found during the foreclosure review.

One of the main reasons there has been such a low response is that many homeowners treat the mailing as another piece of junk mail. Homeowners receive several mailers regarding foreclosure assistance and it is believed by many that this correspondence blends in with the rest. Others believe homeowners think it is a scam.

I tell my clients to apply for the review, but only a handful have alerted me to the letters.

They get a lot of advertisements and there are so many scams out there that they might think it's just a scam. It's a bit of a hazy program.

Have you received a free foreclosure review mailer? Have you gone through the process? Leave a comment below discussing you experience.

HBO has been airing a made for HBO movie entitled “Too Big to Fail”. The film has an A list cast and was written by Andrew Sorkin. The story line revolves around the failure of Lehman Brothers and the bailout of AIG.

The film details the history and ultimate failure of “default swaps” and the carving up and repackaging of mortgage bundles. The government stepped in. The Treasury Department and the Chief of the Fed orchestrated a deal with the major banks to accept TARP funding to perpetuate increased consumer credit. However, the government had no way to ensure the banks would use the funds in the way they were intended.

Sadly, the banks did not use the funds as envisioned and instead ramped up their legal coffers to begin a huge onslaught of foreclosures. Now, several years later, we are all feeling the impact of this ill fated idea. The courts are clogged, unethical law firms are employing robo-signers to perpetuate bad documents and fraudulent Florida Foreclosure filings.

Continue reading "HBO Series - Too Big To Fail - TARP'S Role in the Foreclosure Crisis" »

In a very closely watched match, several U.S. Banks are seeking to broker a deal with state attorneys general, in an effort to avoid billions in court claims over faulty foreclosure seizures.

The banks in talks include, Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Ally Financial Inc.

The proposed deal on the table includes options such as paying penalties, pledging relief to home buyers, which can include reducing loan principal, cutting fees or paying moving costs.

Settling the documentation lapse during home seizures is at the forefront for state and federal officials. The attorneys general told the banks earlier this week that they face an estimated $17 billion in civil case court claims. The banks had initially offered to settle the improper foreclosure claims for $5 billion.

Continue reading "Banks seriously discussing Options in pending Foreclosure Deal " »

How the mighty have fallen. One of the few remaining Foreclosure Mill law firms, Ben-Ezra & Katz, announced the layoff of nearly 150 foreclosure staff members. This was their second major staff cut this year, in February they cut over 200 employees after losing their gravy train Fannie Mae business.

In it's heydays, the foreclosure mill law firm, had nearly 600 staff members processing about 18,000 foreclosures. Please understand that we are not celebrating in their loss, but it seems to be poetic justice for the homeowners that lost their home to foreclosure due to this firm and others such as the David Stern firm. Allegedly, they are accused of fraudulently handling foreclosure files and falsifying documents. If this turns out to be true, how could they possibly think that their misdeeds would not be uncovered?

Cutting staff seems to be the least of their worries. The firm is being investigated by the Florida Attorney General and is embattled in litigation with several banks for the mishandling of several foreclosure cases. They are not getting a free ride in court and are being held accountable for their actions in foreclosure cases.

Continue reading "Foreclosure Mill Law Firm Ben Ezra & Katz closes foreclosure business" »

The five biggest US mortgage servicers are considering a cash for keys program that would pay delinquent borrowers money to leave their home. Is this a new play to lure people from their owns and steal the property with a carrot? Last week, the number tossed around was $21,000 to delinquent homeowners. Regulators and Banks are trying to agree on a solution.

The FDIC chaired the meeting last week and stated that the cash for keys program would involve the biggest servicers, such as Bank of America. This incentive would try to lure homeowners away from their home with small amounts of cash, instead of stealing it with fake documents signed by robo-signers.

Our Florida Foreclosure Defense Lawyers, have seen a lot of creative tactics presented by the banks to clear up the Florida foreclosure crisis. This new plan is one of the all time most creative that plays into the banks favor most of time.

Continue reading "Foreclosures: Cash For Keys Program and the Banks" »

Florida courts received a sigh of relief today when Governor Rick Scott approved millions of dollars in emergency funding to help clear some of the hundreds of thousand of Florida foreclosure cases.

The Florida Supreme Court warned the governor that the $14 million was desperately needed to clear the massive foreclosure case backlog throughout Palm Beach County, Broward County, Dade County and other counties throughout Florida.

Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney, Audra Simovitch, is in court almost daily representing clients in fighting the banks against fraudulent foreclosures and helping clients in bankruptcy matters. This new financial boost for Florida courts should help in this foreclosure crisis.

If you are in Florida facing foreclosure or bankruptcy, understand that there is help out there for you in getting you that fresh start.

Click on the following links to read more on the Florida courts receiving millions in badly needed funding:

Governor approves millions to speed up foreclosure cases - - WPTV.com

Scott approves partial bailout for Florida courts - WTSP.com (Associated Press)

The majority of consumers have at least heard that the Obama administration is taking steps to make significant changes with the structure of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but few individuals truly understand how the new proposals will impact borrowers. Although a number of different strategies have been initiated, there are several that bear mentioning due to the fact that they specifically will cost prospective buyers more money or even the chance to own a home.

Minimum Down Payment Requirements
Many homeowners appreciate the ability to purchase a home without making a substantial down payment, and it is no secret that many prospective buyers do not have adequate savings to afford a 10-20% lump sum. However, the proposals are suggesting that a 10% down payment would be the minimum amount allowable in order to qualify for any federal support on the mortgage. While it may be possible for a consumer to easily afford their monthly payment, few can provide such a significant amount of money upfront.

Reduction in Federally Supported Mortgages
If the amount of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA loans are reduced as per the proposals, borrowers are going to have to depend more upon their local banks and credit unions. The unfortunate truth is that this means the lenders are going to have a much higher level of risk. Smaller institutions are going to be much less likely to offer fixed term mortgages for a lengthy period of time, and only highly qualified buyers will be approved for a loan. Higher risk also means that the lender must experience more of a reward for lending the money, so expect interest charges and other costs associated with home loans to increase substantially. The federally supported mortgages will also be unable to provide assistance with larger loan amounts, so many homeowners will be forced to deal with jumbo loan requirements that are likely to include large fees and down payments.

Continue reading "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Mortgage Proposals Could Cost Borrowers" »

The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on scam artists that blatantly prey upon distressed homeowners facing foreclosure or in need of a loan modification. Recently, the FTC charged a national group of companies based in Palm Beach County, with marketing illegal loan modification services. The FTC seeks restitution for loan modification victims and wants the firms to end to their illegal practices.

According to published reports,U.S. Mortgage Funding Inc., Debt Remedy Partners Inc., LowerMyDebts.com LLC, David Mahler, Jamen Lachs and John Incandela Jr., also known as Jonathan Incandela Jr., allegedly violated the FTC Act and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule and falsely claimed they had a 100% success rate in obtaining loan modifications that would drastically reduce mortgage payments for distressed homeowners.

It is important for distressed homeowners seeking assistance in mortgage modifications or debt relief to be wary of fraudulent scam artists that represent themselves as legitimate firms. Since Jan. 1, 2010, individuals or businesses offering services to negotiate a loan or mortgage modification must be licensed through the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. Also, new disclosures are required such as large-type print on contracts and a three-day rescission period.

In the recent complaint against the Florida based loan modification companies, they allegedly claimed to have loan approvals and affiliations with mortgage lenders> They also claimed that a homeowner would receive a full refund, if they failed to receive a loan modification.

Our Florida Consumer Debt Relief Attorneys, work with distressed homeowners every day, seeking legal help for mortgage loan modifications, foreclosure defense or bankruptcy. Many have spoken to or even hired fraudulent companies that prey upon distressed homeowners seeking immediate help. Before choosing a mortgage modification or debt relief firm, check the company's track record and history to make sure there are no complaints or charges pending against them.

The FTC and many state Attorney General's are prosecuting fraud on loan modification scam artists. If you feel that you have been exposed to mortgage or loan modification fraud, contact the Florida Attorney General's Office, at (866) 9-NO-SCAM (866-966-7226) or www.myfloridalegal.com

Click on the following link to read more on FTC sues Florida loan firm - Tampa Tribune/ Hernando Today

After serving our country, soldiers and veterans come home to find that lending institutions are fraudulently foreclosing on their homes. Recently, it has come to light that a Morgan Stanley subsidiary, Saxon Mortgage Services Unit, may have fraudulently foreclosed upon nearly two dozen military families from 2006 - 2008. The Department of Justice Department is investigating the allegations.

Several mortgage and lending companies are being investigated by the Department of Justice. including, Saxon Mortgage Services, a Morgan Stanley unit. The Service members Civil Relief Act is a federal law that governs actions creditors can take against service members on active duty. It expressly prohibits lender from foreclosing on active-duty service members without a court hearing.

At the forefront of these new revelations is the case of the fraudulent foreclosure sale of the home belonging to Sgt. James B. Hurley , a Michigan National Guard member. St. James Hurley came home from serving in the Iraq war and found that his home had been foreclosed upon.

Continue reading "Military Service Member foreclosures under attack by DOJ" »

Every year, lending giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. files an annual securities report. This year's report, which was filed on February 28, included some very eye-opening information. The bank disclosed that it is currently the defendant in more than 10,000 legal proceedings around the United States. The proceedings stem from the huge array of investigations that have been taking place concerning foreclosure practices. Around the fall of 2010, glaring paperwork errors on foreclosures were brought to public attention. In many cases, those errors cost people their homes. Not surprisingly, the discovery prompted a vast range of investigations into foreclosure industry practices.

If JP Morgan ends up paying out on all of the proceedings, the New York-based bank could end up paying fines of up to $4.5 billion. The legal proceedings have been initiated by a number of different entities. The attorney generals of all fifty states have banded together to investigate botched foreclosures. The United States Department of Justice has gotten into the act, too; many bank regulators have been filing suit, as well. Considering the huge number of involved parties, it isn't especially surprising that the nation's second-largest bank is knee-deep in litigation concerning these foreclosures.

JP Morgan is not alone in its battle, though. CitiGroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and many other banks and lenders are facing legal proceedings, too. For homeowners who are facing foreclosure, this news highlights the importance of seeking a qualified foreclosure defense attorney. All too often, homeowners feel helpless in the face of such troubles. When a bank begins foreclosure proceedings, many people just let things proceed. The assumption tends to be that the bank knows what it is doing. As the huge number of botched foreclosures and the issue of far-reaching foreclosure fraud comes to light, it is clear that homeowners need to protect themselves.

Continue reading "J.P. Morgan Facing Up to $4.5 Billion in Fines over Botched Foreclosures" »

Since our firm helps people who are facing foreclosures we have a unique perspective on the "foreclosure crisis." We see cases from start to finish. Sometimes folks come to us too late in the process. They want us to try and "unwind" the case. These poor people simply want to know their options, such as modification and/or mediation.

After doing hundreds of investigations, we have discovered the insidious side of home loans and banking. We have uncovered massive foul play when it comes to the foreclosure process.
Many times the original loans are sold and assigned to lending servicing agents. These loans are sold multiple times.

The buying and selling of the loan is not illegal or unethical if the law if followed. Remember, we are talking about the right to take away most people's greatest asset, their shelter, their family safety and their life security.

The law must be followed when a bank forecloses on a family's home. The law requires that any sale of the mortgage and note must be properly "assigned" to the new owner. That "assignment" must then be recorded. If those steps are not followed the homeowner will never know who actually owns the property. This is NOT happening!

Now we have lawsuits being filed by companies who are swearing under oath that they own the mortgage and note. Unfortunately they have no legal proof and many times it is not true. These note holders are suing the homeowner in foreclosure even though they do not have the legal right to foreclose! Sounds crazy. It is. But it is also true.

Many of these note holders are banks. These banks are moving forward with bad documents and trying to avoid the judge throwing their case out by filing assignments far too late in the case. Sometimes the banks wait over a year to file an assignment. Keep in mind, the Judges are being crushed in foreclosure cases. They want them to be over more than anyone. So, some Judges are actually allowing the bank to file "catch up" documents at any time just to end the foreclosure.

Yesterday I was in court trying to set aside two foreclosure judgments which the bank actually got even though they did not own the note or the mortgage when they filed their lawsuits. In other words, they sued and foreclosed on a family home and they did not own any paperwork which supported the allegation that the bank had any right to foreclose!

The documentation we presented was clear on this and the fact that the bank got the judgment using fraud. It did NOT matter. The judge denied the motions! Of course we are appealing, but so few people have the money to hire lawyers to fight banks who are taking their homes to begin with, it is the norm for the homeowner to just give up.

The system is terribly weighed down by the foreclosure crisis. The banks are not following the law, which makes matters worse. I assume the trial judges rightfully believe people facing foreclosure will simply go away if they are denied access to justice. These rulings further delay justice and justice delayed is justice denied. This is true most of the time, but not for my clients. We are going to fight down to the bitter end and obtain the justice our clients deserve!

A Palm Beach Couple is breathing a sigh of relief due to a foreclosure reprieve. This was largely due to the courtroom success of foreclosure defense attorney Audra Simovitch, in convincing a judge that the couple was entitled to this because of improper service. The judge in the case agreed preliminarily that they were never properly served with a foreclosure summons.

Audra Simovitch, Esq. stated the following to the Palm Beach Post:
“The banks are cutting every corner possible, There was not proper due process.”

The bank's representative carelessly attached a flier attached to the couple's door without any information such as name, address, or person served. This is not the way that a home is foreclosed upon and the bank should know better.

The March 14th sale date of the couple's home will be delayed until a further trial where the bank must prove that they followed the law and the foreclosure process rules.

Everyday, our Palm Beach Gardens Foreclosure Defense team fights against injustice and for the rights of the foreclosure victims. The banks such as Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, GMAC and several others try and get away with robbery by illegally handling foreclosure claims and sales. The banks are facing billions in litigation fees and fines for their fraudulent practices.

If a person is facing the threat of foreclosure, they should seek the assistance of an experienced foreclosure defense team. There are several options out there for homeowners. Seek help before it is too late. Don't allow the banks to steal your home, stand up and fight.

Click on the following link to read more on the foreclosure reprieve:
Couple wins foreclosure reprieve - Palm Beach Post

Issues regarding the mishandling of mortgages and foreclosures around the United States have been in the news a lot lately. Recently, an even more disturbing trend has been appearing on the radar: home break-ins and ransackings by banks. Thanks to a common clause that is found in many mortgages, banks technically have the right to enter and secure a house that has been abandoned. Unfortunately, it appears that many banks aren't being too careful in determining whether or not a house has actually been abandoned. As a result, people around the country are returning to homes that have been looted for no good reason.

A New Breed of Lawsuit

Understandably, homeowners who have discovered that their homes have been wrongfully entered and/or ransacked by their banks have been filing lawsuits. In some cases, the homeowners have been at some stage of the foreclosure process; however, their homes have not been abandoned in any true sense of the word. In other cases, homeowners who are totally current with their mortgages - and even some who own their homes free and clear - have been grappling with these issues. Many experts believe the spate of bank break-ins is yet another sign that the foreclosure process is woefully out of control.

Locked Out of the House

When a California homeowner went to check on her vacation home in the mountains, she was shocked to find that the locks had been changed. When she was finally able to get into the house, she found that it had been cleaned out. All of her belongings were gone. Although the woman was in the midst of foreclosure proceedings, she filed a suit because the house was not actually abandoned. Bank of America, had jumped the gun; in turn, they had created a mountain of headaches for the woman.

Bank Break-Ins on Random Homes

A Texas man went through an even more troubling issue with Bank of America. The bank changed the locks to his second home; they also shut off its electricity. The irony was that the homeowner, owned the home free and clear. Bank of America no longer held the mortgage. As a result the electricity being turned off, 75 pounds of fish spoiled and caused significant damage. The homeowner is suing Bank of America and joins hundreds of other homeowners who are fighting back against banks unscrupulous tactics.

If you do not know about the foreclosure crisis in South Florida, you must have been living under a rock, or living in the wilderness without any communication to the outside world. Several National Banks and Florida Law Firms have been in the news for committing fraud upon the courts and homeowners by filing false affidavits to establish assignments of the loans.

In the mortgage world, assignments are not uncommon. Mortgages are bought and sold on a daily basis. However, for a final holder of the mortgage, note and security agreement to prevail in a foreclosure action, it must produce accurate and truthful evidence of the assignment of those documents to the current holder. That has now been the rub in a voluminous amount of cases currently in the court houses across the state and the nation.

Many lenders and unscrupulous law firms have employed “Robo-signers” to defraud homeowners. These people spend hours on end every day executing these assignment affidavits without having actual knowledge of the contents of the documents they are signing and therefore are committing perjury. This led several lenders to halt the foreclosure process and courts to halt the sale of distressed properties. Unfortunately, the moratorium has been lifted in many states and the banks have resumed foreclosures.

This crisis has opened the door for aggrieved borrowers to attack these fraudulent foreclosures and force the banks into a modification of their loans. Our Palm Beach Gardens law firm along with several other firms across the state has been aggressively defending mortgage foreclosures. Our firm has helped hundreds of families keep their home. Our professional staff has many years of experience in the lending industry. They assist homeowners in mortgage modifications even through the foreclosure process. Our staff of attorneys are well versed in defending foreclosure actions and work closely with our mortgage modification personnel to achieve the best possible result for our clients.

If you are currently under water on your home loan or facing foreclosure, do not give up. You have rights. At LaBovick Law Group we are experienced, aggressive and will use our legal expertise and resources to help protect your most precious asset – your home.

Don’t let the banks take advantage of you during these rough economic times. Stand Up and Fight.

Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney Scott Haft was interviewed in the Palm Beach Post regarding South Florida man gets his property back after judge reverses Chase foreclosure.

Mr. Haft discussed how his South Florida client had his foreclosure reversed today ay based on a motion arguing the bank was wrong to take the property back at auction while at the same time negotiating a loan modification on the home. Attorney Haft filed a motion to vacate the foreclosure judgment based on fraud, misrepresentation and misconduct by JP Morgan Chase, which had promised a trial loan modification

The Palm Beach Post article discusses how Miami-Dade Judge Marc Schumacher granted the motion. It was agreed to by Chase's attorneys, which is also unusual. A summary judgment is a quickie foreclosure hearing, usually granted when the facts of the case are irrefutable.

Click on the following link to read the article South Florida man gets his property back after judge reverses Chase foreclosure