Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog

Beginning in 2007, we saw the beginning of the real estate market crash and the ensuing flood of foreclosure cases. Since that time foreclosure defense attorneys have repeatedly told judges and the media about the fraudulent practices of many foreclosure mills. Towards the end of 2010, these practices finally came to light.

For instance, allegations of robo signing, fraud, documentation errors, issues with process servers, problems servicing loan modifications, and other similar issues, have prompted many lenders to slow down the foreclosure process which in turn has slowed down the housing recovery. Florida’s Attorney General eventually announced an investigation into these alleged practices. As a result of this investigation, we saw David J. Stern’s empire quickly crumble before our eyes.

You would think that the foreclosure mills would finally get the picture after Stern’s fall. But, that is not the case. Fraudulent practices continue to come to light and the Courts are finally using their power to reprimand lawyers who commit fraud.

Marc Ben-Ezra, head of the foreclosure mill Ben-Ezra & Katz, certainly did not learn a lesson from the Stern fiasco. Last week a Miami-Dade County Circuit judge found Ben-Ezra in contempt for filing “sham pleadings” and for “wasting the court’s time”. At a previous hearing, the judge ordered Ben-Ezra to come to court and respond to allegations that his firm had filed fraudulent documents. However, he failed to show up.

Apart from being found in contempt, Fannie Mae finally got fed up with the “document execution” issues at Ben-Ezra’s firm and terminated its relationship with the firm. Now, all these cases are going to be handled by other firms. Unfortunately, this pull-out resulted in the firm laying off nearly half of its 568 employees. Its looking like his firm is facing the same fate as Stern’s office.

Fraud is widespread in foreclosure cases. It appears to be a systemic problem. Despite this fact, its not easy to spot. It takes an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to spot fraud. But spotting the fraud is not even half the battle. The challenging part is attacking the fraud and establishing the appropriate strategy.

Navigating these waters can be difficult, but we are experienced in handling foreclosure matters. People often think that foreclosure defense basically entails delaying the “inevitable” – a foreclosure. However, many alternatives exist. At Alvarez & Barbara, we don’t buy time to delay the inevitable. We buy to time to find a solution that suits each individual client.
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EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

It seems that David Stern’s problems keep adding up as more allegations of fraud are brought against his firm. His firm has been accused time and time again of falsifying documents that must be filed with foreclosure lawsuits. Now, one of Stern’s files may make it all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. This case reminds us of the recent Massachusetts Supreme Court decision throwing out a case in which the bank could not prove its ownership of a mortgage after it was securitized.

We’ve discussed multiple times how many mortgages over the past few years were assigned to other banks. In order for an assignment to be valid, the banks must record the assignment in a County’s land records. Without recording such an assignment, there’s no possible way of identifying with certainty the true holder of a mortgage and the accompanying note.

Whenever this proof does not exist, a Court should not allow a lender to foreclose on a property. This is why many foreclosure cases are being voluntarily dismissed throughout Florida – lenders simply don’t have the proof that they own a mortgage.

Unfortunately, it seems David Stern’s law firm may have falsified its “proof” of an assignment in a case that is headed to the Florida Supreme Court. At first, the foreclosure complaint was filed without the assignment attached. Later, Stern’s office filed an amended complaint which attached an unrecorded assignment that was dated right before the original pleading was filed. The bank eventually dropped the case, but later re-filed with different documents.

However, this is not the first time this happens. As a matter of fact, it is a regular occurrence. Nevertheless, only an experienced attorney will catch these small details which may be proof of fraud.

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.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

In recent weeks many banks have dismissed hundreds of foreclosure lawsuits in Southwest Florida. They are doing this instead of facing lenders at trial.

However, what should we understand this to mean? Does it meant banks are just taking a break before refiling with stronger evidence? Or, does it mean that they are giving up for good?

The foreclosure defense bar has long accused foreclosure firms of never actually reading lawsuits that were filed. Also, many mortgages which ended up being securitized were never actually legally transferred by entities such as MERS leading to significant problems in proving ownership.

The Clerk of Court for Lee County believes that the banks will come back and refile. However, this will certainly be costly because of the large filing fees incurred in these cases. For example, in order to file suit against a homeowner living in a $250,000 home, a bank would have to pay $1,900.00 in filing fees. The Clerk of Court is currently unable to estimate how many cases have actually been dismissed.

This past Tuesday alone, banks filed eight voluntary dismissals. An attorney based in Southwest Florida has reported that he saw 50 consecutive foreclosure suits voluntarily dismissed.

The banks may not be able to re-litigate many of these files because a lot of mortgages were bundled in mortgage-backed securities. Many mistakes were made in this process, which makes it extremely difficult for a bank to prove ownership of a mortgage. Nonetheless, there are still a small amount of cases where the bank is still the original holder of the mortgage.

The Jacksonville area is also seeing the same activity. Its believed the dismissals may be caused by a significant Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling which invalidated two foreclosures because a bank couldn’t prove ownership of a mortgage after it had been improperly placed into a mortgage-backed trust.

This creates opportunities for many struggling homeowners to potentially get back on their feet, or otherwise chart a course of action that is best for them. 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.
—–
EXTENDED BODY:
Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.