Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog

After allegations of falsifying court documents and illegal procedures, The Law Offices of David J. Stern will no longer be representing Fannie Mae in Florida foreclosures. Fannie Mae announced it has suspended business with David J. Stern and has hired nine new Florida law firms. More firms may be hired as Fannie Mae continues to evaluate the other law firms it uses.

The current real estate market, and ongoing foreclosure, and housing, crises, presents all sorts of issues that must be properly navigated by a struggling homeowner. Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.

In a letter to two Florida lawmakers, Fannie Mae CEO and President wrote, "In instances where we learn that servicers or law firm are not adhering to our requirement or applicable law, we immediately engage and take appropriate action, which may include termination and notification of applicable law enforcement or regulatory agencies."

Fannie Mae requires that its mortgage servicers use firms in their retained attorney network. Excluding the new additions, Fannie Mae used seven firms in Florida. However, four of the seven are under investigation by the State Attorney General. In Florida alone, Fannie Mae holds $189 billion in unpaid home loan principal in its single-family residence portfolio. On these mortgages, the loan delinquency rate is 12 percent.

Once a major customer of The Law Offices of David J. Stern, Fannie Mae also suspended all foreclosure proceedings handled by its staff. As we have spoken about here, sworn testimony of former Stern employees discusses the regular practice of forging signatures on foreclosure documents. Specifically related to Fannie Mae, some former employees have testified about hiding flawed files from Fannie Mae auditors. Nevertheless, Stern's attorney maintains no intentional wrongdoing occurred at the firm.

While wrongdoing has yet to be proven at Stern's law firm, Fannie Mae has erred on the side of caution by disassociating itself from a firm which has allegedly partaken in illegal practices. Intentional or not, the fact remains that at the very least careless behavior may have led to illegal foreclosures. Fannie Mae must be certain to keep a closer eye on its new hires.

Continue reading "Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Will Have to Deal with New Law Firms Now that Fannie Mae is no Longer Sending Foreclosures to David J. Stern" »

Our firm has a proven track record in the area of deposit recovery. While we are currently aggressively representing the interests of many purchasers at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, ICON Brickll, the IVY, and other prominent South Florida projects, recover their pre-construction deposits, we previously spearheaded many of the defenses that the developers are currently using against purchasers.

A New York Federal Judge recently ruled that the developer, The Related Companies, must return a $510,000 buyer's deposit. This was because the developer failed to comply with the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSA). The developer's failure to comply with ILSA allowed the purchasers to rescind their $3.4 million dollar sales contract and get their deposit back, plus interest.

This ruling may be serve as a catalyst to entitle hundreds of recent condominium buyers to seek the return of their full deposit in such prominent South Florida projects such as the St. Regis Bal Harbour, ICON Brickell and others. Indeed, this ruling makes it possible for every buyer of a newly constructed condominium which has sold more than 100 units within the last three years to potentially obtain a refund of their deposit.

The reason this case is significant is because developers have scored many victories against purchasers on ILSA related issues. But this ruling may change the legal landscape as it relates to ILSA issues both nationally, and right here in South Florida.

ILSA is a federal law enacted back in 1968 that requires full disclosure from developers. It was originally intended to protect out-of-state land buyers from getting duped into putting money down for a piece of property they'd never seen before. But the law also applies to condo buildings with more than 100 units. Specifically, ILSA requires developers to record each condo purchase with the government. In other words, and according to this recent NY ruling, ILSA imposes an obligation to record every sales contract.

More often than not, however, the developers fail to record the sales contract. From the developers perspective, that requirement could be very burdensome and have collateral impact not necessarily intended by the consumer oriented ILSA. But that failure to comply with ILSA, and record those contracts, could be fatal to developers in the event a purchaser seeks the return of their full deposit. And this ruling, coupled with its rationale, and analysis, is certainly persuasive and helpful to all purchasers attempting to secure the return of their deposits in such projects as the St. Regis Bal Harbour, and others.

Continue reading "The Recovery of Your Pre-Construction Deposit at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, and other Prominent South Florida Condo Projects, May be Bolstered by a Recent Court Ruling" »

In a powerful ruling, the Fourth District Court of Appeal recently concluded that banks must prove that they hold the mortgage to the home facing defaults. The Appellate court opined that a Judge in Palm Beach committed reversible error when the Judge allowed the bank to repossess a couple's home when the bank failed to provide a copy of the original note and mortgage prior to the judge's ruling on the merits of the case.

In so ruling, the appellate court vacated the Judge's ruling and sent the case back to the original Judge with a clear message to find out who actually owns the mortgage at issue.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal specifically stated that "without evidence demonstrating [the bank's] status as holder and owner of the note and mortgage, genuine issues of material fact remain, and summary judgment was improper."

This significant ruling comes on the heels of growing news reports in Florida, and across the country, that foreclosures are being pushed through by the banks without proper, or, in some instances, fraudulently prepared, documents and paperwork. This is especially true in many Florida courts that have adopted "rocket docket" systems with the sole purpose of rapidly pushing foreclosures through the court system in an effort to get them out of the court house without undergoing the necessary judicial scrutiny to protect many innocent but struggling homeowners.

The current real estate market, and ongoing foreclosure, and housing, crises, presents all sorts of issues that must be properly navigated by a struggling homeowner. Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.

Continue reading "Florida Appellate Court Vacates Foreclosure in a Powerful Ruling that Will Aid Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyers to Keep Fighting the Banks on Behalf of Struggling Homeowners" »

Previously, we have discussed on this blog the suspension of foreclosure proceedings due to possibly faulty affidavits and dishonest court filings. Many would agree its probably a good thing that some banks with dubious filings have decided to take a step back and verify that everything they have filed is true and honest. Of course, this has further slowed down foreclosure proceedings. A greater backlog has been created by the fact that lenders, such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and GMAC continue to cancel foreclosure auctions.

Bloomberg is reporting that Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey in Miami-Dade County finds the cancellations "frustrating". Judge Bailey, who is managing a backlog of 80,000 foreclosures, set up a system in Miami-Dade County to help clear up the backlog. She also chaired a Florida Supreme Court task force in 2009 charged with addressing the large volume of foreclosure cases in the state's courts.

Her frustration is a result of the fact that banks are cancelling foreclosures on a daily basis. On October 26th, Judge Bailey said that 20 foreclosure auctions were canceled in front of one judge because the affidavits needed to be reviewed.

According to Bank of America, it has completed a review of its foreclosure procedures and it will "shortly" begin resubmitting affidavits in judicial foreclosure cases. GMAC, on the other hand, is still in the process of reviewing cases to determine whether there are problems with its system.

In light of the fact that Attorney Generals in all 50 states, including the US Attorney General's Office, are investigating lender practices in the foreclosure process, there are definitely legitimate concerns about how honest the banks have been. Certainly, while this slowdown may be frustrating to some, it would be more frustrating for a single homeowner to lose their home due to a lender who decided it was proper to submit false documents. Fraud upon the courts should never be allowed, and the banks should not be permitted to continuously commit fraud upon our courts.

Continue reading "Miami Judge "Frustrated" Over Foreclosure Cancellations" »

Foreclosures are a growing epidemic impacting not only many individual families, but the economic recovery as a whole. Whether your circumstance was caused by an increase in your interest rate, a loss of employment, decrease in income, divorce, death, or hospitalization of someone in your family, we can help.

Florida continues to hold on to its number three position for foreclosure filings in the country. In the third quarter, one in every 56 homes received a foreclosure filing. Nevada continues to lead the nation, and Arizona was second.

Florida foreclosure activity increased 12% from the previous quarter and was flat from a year ago, giving Florida the second largest foreclosure activity total, with a 157,026 properties receiving a foreclosure filing.

However, the recent moratorium on foreclosures, by several major lenders, in light of the "robo signing" revelations, will likely result in a reduction of foreclosures in the fourth quarter. Foreclosure activity in the 24 states that require foreclosures to be filed through the courts, including Florida, most affected by the foreclosure documentation issue plaguing many banks accounts for 40% of all foreclosure activity in the third quarter and 36% of all bank repossessions.

Struggling homeowners should contact our office to meet with one of our Miami foreclosure defense attorneys today. As the revelations of improper "robo signing" continues to increase, those who are in danger of losing their home to a foreclosure should examine the situation, with the aid of one of our attorneys, in greater detail. The problems the banks are presently experiencing as a result of the "robo signing" allegations arise in large part as a result of foreclosure defense attorneys bringing to light the systematic fraud routinely committed by the banks, their employees, and their law firms.

Homeowners have many alternatives available to them to fight a foreclosure. But homeowners must be armed with as much information as possible to decide what is best for them regarding the ongoing foreclosure crises.

Continue reading "Florida Remains Among the Nation's Leaders in Foreclosure Filings" »

Recently, lenders such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Co., and GMAC have halted foreclosures after they discovered their employees were signing affidavits without verifying any information.

As we have all ready discussed on this blog, many employees were signing hundreds of affidavits a day without verifying any information whatsoever. This practice has become known as "robo signing."

Consequently, "robo signing" has called into question countless foreclosure proceedings in Miami, and across the country. Luckily, some banks are exercising due caution and suspending foreclosures in order to verify already signed affidavits. However, Wells Fargo is not one of these banks. At least not yet.

A Wells Fargo employee testified in a deposition in March that she signed about 300 to 500 foreclosure documents per day and would only verify her name and title. Wells Fargo will not stop foreclosures and says that it has not discovered any problems with the legal documents that have already been processed despite this testimony.

Although they claim their foreclosure affidavits are accurate, this is the second Wells Fargo employee to admit to improperly signing affidavits. In May, an employee admitted that he verified only the dates on up to 150 documents per day and relied on co-workers to ensure the accuracy of the rest of the information.

The recent disconcerting news about unverified bank documents is certainly a call for homeowners to contest foreclosures, even those which have already been completed. JP Morgan has set aside $1.3 billion in the third quarter to cover legal expenses, including foreclosures. JP Morgan initially halted foreclosures in 23 states, but is now extending their review to 41 states. As a result, JP Morgan Chase will have 115,000 cases under review.

Continue reading "Wells Fargo Foreclosures Move Forward Despite Damaging Testimony by Their "Robo Signers"" »

One of the most commonly asked questions for a homeowner is who owns my mortgage? That question is often answered by solving a riddle within riddle. And sometimes the answer still makes no sense. The reason that question is often difficult to answer is because of a electronic filing system, i.e. MERS, employed by the mortgage industry for the past 15 years that has come under rapid fire recently by many foreclosure defense attorneys.

MERS serves as the mortgagee of record for lenders, investors and their loan servicers in the county land records. MERS claims its process eliminates the need to file assignments in the county land records which, in turn, lowers costs for lenders and consumers by reducing county recording revenues from real estate transfers and, in theory, provides a central source of information and tracking for mortgage loans.

When banks sell mortgages to each other and eventually package them into investment securities they use MERS as an electronic repository to keep track of the owners. MERS claims it has 64-million loans in its database; most likely your mortgage is one of them.

If a bank wants to foreclose it simply turns to MERS for the necessary documentation. Doing so is often much faster and cheaper than retrieving local title records.

But the MERS papers sometimes don't reflect the true status of the mortgage.

While MERS' origins were well intended, the subprime mortgage crises has highlighted the system's shortcomings. Indeed, MERS is often at the center of legal challenges disputing the company's right to initiate foreclosures.

It turns out that the electronic filing system, i.e. MERS, that the mortgage industry devised to facilitate the selling of mortgages from one financial party to another results in documentation that is often faulty and therefore not legally binding.

And that is why it is often difficult to answer the homeowner's basic question of who owns their mortgage, and making it that much more difficult for MERS to foreclose on the property that it cannot demonstrate who actually owns it.

Continue reading "MERS: Do They Really Have the Paperwork to Prove Who Owns Your Mortgage?" »

This is what some of the nation's largest banks said to their newly hired "foreclosure experts": Hurry up and sign those legal papers and don't even bother to look at them. Sign them as fast as possible and don't ever stop signing. Just sign sign and sign some more.

That was the mandate handed down by many of the major banks when they started hiring hair stylists, floor workers, assembly line workers, and others with no formal training in real estate or mortgages and labeled them "foreclosure experts." Their job? To sign as many "papers" as possible, and in the fastest amount of time, in an effort to speed through foreclosures. These new found "foreclosure experts" were asked to complete their job in times faster than world class sprinter Usain Bolt takes to break world records.

This practice has become known as "robo signing" and has called into doubt thousands of foreclosures nationwide, including right here in South Florida.

Struggling homeowners should contact our office to meet with one of our Miami foreclosure defense attorneys today. As the revelations of improper "robo signing" continues to increase, those who are in danger of losing their home to a foreclosure should examine the situation, with the aid of one of our attorneys, in greater detail. The problems the banks are presently experiencing as a result of the "robo signing" allegations arise in large part as a result of foreclosure defense attorneys bringing to light the systematic fraud routinely committed by the banks, their employees, and their law firms.

In an effort to rush through thousands of home foreclosures since 2007, financial institutions and their mortgage servicing departments hired hair stylists, Walmart floor workers and people who had worked on assembly lines and installed them in "foreclosure expert" jobs with no formal training.

The current "robo signing" crises is likely to prolong the housing depression for at least another few years. The allegations are opening the entire chain of foreclosure proceedings to legal challenge. Some foreclosures could be overturned. Others could be deemed illegal. All the more reason to consult with a foreclosure defense attorney today to assess your legal rights.

Though some have chalked up the foreclosure debacle to an overblown case of paperwork bungling, the underlying legal issues are far more serious. Yes, swearing that you've reviewed documents you've never seen is a legal offense, and one that should not be taken lightly. But at the center of the foreclosure scandal looms something much larger: the question of who actually owns the loans and who has the right to foreclose upon them. The paperwork issues being raised as a result of the "robo signers" has the potential to blight not just the titles of foreclosed properties but also those belonging to homeowners who have never missed a mortgage payment.

Continue reading ""Robo Signers" Taint Foreclosures in Miami and Beyond Further Highlighting the Need to Consult with a Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyer" »

Revelations of continuous fraud by the banks, and their law firms, have resulted in the launching of numerous investigations, and calls for a foreclosure moratorium. Indeed, many banks, including some of the nation's largest, like Bank of America, have temporarily halted foreclosures in Florida.

Struggling homeowners should contact our office to meet with one of our Miami foreclosure defense attorneys today. As the revelations of improper "robo signing" continues to increase, those who are in danger of losing their home to a foreclosure should examine the situation, with the aid of one of our attorneys, in greater detail. The problems the banks are presently experiencing as a result of the "robo signing" allegations arise in large part as a result of foreclosure defense attorneys bringing to light the systematic fraud routinely committed by the banks, their employees, and their law firms.

This foreclosure crises, and mess, only continues to deepen in South Florida. The New York Times reported that Old Republic National Title has decided that it will not issue title insurance to property foreclosed upon by GMAC. Meanwhile, Florida's Attorney General continues to investigate three prominent South Florida law firms to determine if those firms engaged in unfair and deceptive actions in their handling of thousands of foreclosures.

The issue associated with Old Republic is particularly troublesome for many potential home buyers and the real estate market as a whole. After the bank gains repossession of a property in a foreclosure the defaulting borrower is often evicted from the home. After which the foreclosed home is put on the market and ultimately sold. These sales account for approximately 1/3 of all homes currently sold in South Florida.

However, when when foreclosures are done with faulty documentation, such as in instances where "robo signing" practices were employed, it could potentially leave the new owners of the house vulnerable to claims. Title insurance protects the buyer against defects, errors or omissions in the chain of title. Old Republic said in the memorandum that its agents were already reporting written cancellations of contracts involving both Chase and GMAC due to problems stemming from the wide spread practice of "robo signing."

All of this is occurring at a time when the economic recovery is tenuous at best. In August, Miami Dade County's unemployment rate jumped to 14.4% from 13.3% in July. And until unemployment, and the economy as a whole, recovers, the local real estate market will remain in a state of high uncertainty.

Continue reading "The Ongoing Mortgage Meltdown Presents Unique Opportunities for Foreclosure Defense Attorneys in Miami to Assist Distressed Homeowners to Fight to Save Their Home" »

In the past week, Bank of America, JP Morgan, and GMAC have all announced that they were suspending tens of thousands of foreclosures across the country due to apparent improper handling of documents. This could be the start of a new wave of problems for the banks here in Florida.

These colossal blunders by the banks illustrates the need to have an experienced Miami foreclosure defense lawyer on your side. The bank's ongoing mishandling of these foreclosures files just further illustrates why having proper legal representation is so important.

Foreclosures have evolved into a massive industry for both the banks, and a few select group of law firms representing the banks. And that cozy relationship has resulted in Florida's Attorney General launching an investigation on this industry due to an increasingly large volume of mistakes in many foreclosure cases. Indeed, just recently an individual's home was foreclosed on despite the fact that his home did not have a mortgage, and in another instance a local South Florida Judge blasted the bank's foreclosure lawyer for failing to follow appropriate procedure in a foreclosure case.

More than 3 million foreclosures are expected to take place this year across the country, with Florida leading the way. However, some estimate that at least 80% of all foreclosures have some type of documentation problem with the file, which may result in the need to have the foreclosure re-filed.

The reason behind the documentation problems stems from the heavy, and growing, load of foreclosures. Many banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan, and GMAC, employed people who processed the paperwork as quickly as possible in order to comply with many local rules and procedure. This practice has become known as "robo signing." However, this practice is improper, and many banks have halted the march towards foreclosures because of the fact that "robo signing" is improper.

Continue reading "Miami Foreclosures Are Put On Hold Due To Admitted File Mishandling By Many Major Banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and GMAC" »

One would think that a bank could only foreclose on a home if it owns a mortgage on the property. Well, Jason Grodensky entered the Twilight Zone of the housing crisis when Bank of America foreclosed a home he outright owned without a mortgage.

Grodensky and his father purchased the house for cash as an investment property. They purchased the home through a negotiated short sale. Regardless, a court-ordered foreclosure sale took place and the home was purchased by Fannie Mae, a government-backed lender.

Let's construct a bit of a timeline: Countrywide Home Loans filed a foreclosure case on this property in 2008. When Bank of America took control of Countrywide, the mortgage and note were transferred to them. Then in December of 2009, Grodensky purchased the home. One would think that this would end the foreclosure process. But, that was far from the truth.

Thereafter, a motion to dismiss the case was filed in July. The very next day a motion was filed to re-open it and the home was sold in a court-ordered foreclosure sale on July 15. Although Bank of America stated it will foot the bill to resolve the problem, Mr. Grodensky's case brings to light the myriad of problems affecting borrower during these difficult times.

How could this happen? Let's start with the foreclosure courts. Many cases are simply being herded like cattle through the system so the cases can be quickly disposed of. In this environment, mistakes are inevitable. Luckily, Judge Victor Tobin, charged with running Broward's County Court foreclosure system says this is the only time he's heard of this happening.

Next, lenders' lawyers are obviously not doing their jobs in a thorough manner if a home can be illegally foreclosed upon. Here, the Florida Default Law Group represented the lender. Currently, this law firm is under investigation by the Florida Attorney General's Office for allegedly submitting false or misleading documents to court. Perhaps there may be some truth to these allegations, or it could be a function of the fact that firms such as this are handling thousands and thousands of cases all at the same time. For example, a Chase Home Finance executive recently stated under oath that her and a team of eight supervisors sign about 18,000 documents a month. One can only imagine what their lawyers are facing.

Continue reading "Foreclosure Twilight Zone: Bank Improperly Forecloses on South Florida Home" »

August was a rough month for many American families. Lenders took back more homes in August than in any other month since the start of the mortgage crisis, according to the USA Today. Although properties entering foreclosure have decreased, home repossessions are increasing. In total, lenders repossessed 95,364 properties in August. This denotes a 3% increase from July and 25% from August 2009.

The Miami lawyers at Alvarez & Barbara, LLP, are on your side. We are experienced trial attorneys who will help you understand your rights and options under Florida and federal foreclosure laws.

The increase in repossessions can be attributed to banks trying to clear out their load of bad loans with the prospect of eventually putting the foreclosed properties on the market. However, they can't afford to just put all the properties on the marked. Lenders are concerned that if they dump all these properties onto the market, the housing market could stumble once again. This may explain why less than one-third of bank-owned properties are on the market.

There is a silver lining to this dark cloud though. Since lenders don't want to put these homes on the market, they have slowed the foreclosure process. This means borrowers who are in default can stay longer in their homes. To put things in perspective, the number of initial default notices sent in August 2010 is 30% less as compared to August 2009. Moreover, the rate of initial default notices being sent out has fallen on an annual basis over the last seven months.

Apart from the foreclosure, many borrowers are attempting to modify their loans hoping to prevent foreclosure. But this remedy hasn't worked perfectly. Many homeowners don't qualify and others simply fall back into default. The loan modification process can be long and tedious because of the amount of back and forth communications a borrower must have with their lender.

Others face a different problem. A man in Winter Garden, Florida was one financial information packet away from a permanent loan modification after going back and forth with his bank for more than a year. However, the modification never went through because his loan was transferred to another entity. Now, he must pay up his arrearage or face foreclosure.

Continue reading "Home Repossessions Set a Record in August as the Foreclosure Crises in Miami, and Nationally, Rages On with no End in Sight" »

The mortgage crisis has thrown an enormous amount of homes on the market. The supply of homes certainly surpasses the demand at the moment. As a result, home prices continue to drop throughout South Florida even though some areas are experiencing a rise in the sale of existing homes and condos. In this depressed market, interests rates are low. However, few Americans are able to take advantage of these historically low interest rates.

The ongoing foreclosure crisis has made lenders behave more conservatively. Consequently, people are finding it difficult to qualify for a mortgage. Even those with relatively good credit scores are having a hard time qualifying for a mortgage.

According to news reports, an analysis of more than 25,000 loan quotes and purchase quotes shows that about one-third of Americans are unlikely to qualify for a mortgage because of their credit scores.

For example, someone with a credit score below 620 who requested quotes on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage were unlikely to receive even one quote, even if they were able to make a down payment of 15 percent to 20 percent. On the other hand, mortgage borrowers with excellent credit scores (720 or higher) were able to get the lowest interest rates, which was usually around 4.3 percent for a 30-year, fixed rate mortgage.

On the bright side, borrowers with credit scores between 620 to 719 can save a substantial amount in interest by improving their credit scores. For each 20-point credit score increase, the average low APR drops 0.12 percent. Over time this may represent a good amount of savings. For instance, on a $300,000 home with a 20 percent down payment, this decline equates to a savings of $6,400 over the life of a 30-year loan.

Continue reading "The Ongoing Foreclosure Crisis is Impacting the Pool of Applicants Applying for Mortgages Today and Making it Harder for Many to Qualify for Mortgages in Miami " »