Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog

A Judge in Pasco County, Florida, admonished U.S. Bank, N.A. for committing a “fraud” in a foreclosure lawsuit. Another Judge in St. Petersburg, Florida was highly skeptical about the validity of documents submitted by the bank’s “foreclosure mill”. These cases highlight many of the problems that banks are encountering when trying to foreclose on homes using a “foreclosure mill”.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Bank N.A. sued a homeowner after the homeowner defaulted on a $190,000 loan he had received from U.S. Bank N.A. in Pasco County, Florida The Law Offices of David J. Stern, which represented the bank, prepared a document called “assignment of mortgage” showing that the bank received ownership of the mortgage in December of 2007. The document was also dated December 2007.

But after investigating the matter, the Circuit Court Judge assigned to the case concluded that the document could not have been prepared until 2008, and not 2007 as the bank claimed. Therefore, the Judge ruled that the bank could not prove it owned the mortgage at the time the foreclosure was filed. Specifically, the Judge wrote that the”assignment of mortgage” that was purportedly prepared in 2007 “did not exist at the time of the filing of this action … was subsequently created and … fraudulently backdated, in a purposeful, intentional effort to mislead.” The Judge ultimately dismissed U.S. Banks N.A.’s foreclosure case against the homeowner.

This is just another example of an unfortunate trend developing in Florida. Banks are inundated with foreclosures due to the collapse of the housing market, and often times they do not have the appropriate paperwork to support their claims. Our law firm could help assist in defending these types of cases, and we can assist with your needs.

And with the increased number of foreclosures comes the higher propensity for banks to make mistakes. Which is yet another reason to ensure that banks be required to go through the judicial process. Fortunately, and as we reported in our earlier blog posting the Florida legislature rejected the bank’s efforts to bypass the judiciary.

“The pure volume of foreclosures has a tendency perhaps to encourage sloppiness, boilerplate paperwork or a lack of thoroughness” by attorneys for banks, wrote the Judge in the Pasco County assigned to this particular foreclosure claim. The deluge of foreclosures makes the process “fraught with potential for fraud”, she said.

At an unrelated hearing, a Florida State Court Judge in St. Petersburg said that an affidavit submitted by the David J. Stern law firm on behalf a bank in a foreclosure case was not necessarily sufficient to establish that the bank was the owner of the mortgage. The Judge, in that case, said at a hearing that “I don’t have any confidence that any of the documents the Court’s receiving on these mass foreclosures are valid”.

Plase contact our office today if you are facing foreclosure. Our team of foreclosure defense attorneys can help you. But don’t delay and call us today.

A recent report in the Miami Herald reveals that 19,918 homes slipped into some stage of foreclosure during the first three months of 2010. That is a 60% increase in foreclosure related matters as compared with the three months of the year last year.

In Broward county, the number of homes falling into some stage of foreclosure is even higher – 21,308. And that means the increase is a staggering 67% increase compared with the first three months from last year.

Additionally, banks also repossessed over 9,000 properties in South Florida during the first three months of 2010. Indeed, over 3,500 properties were repossessed in March alone in the tri-county area.

What all those numbers mean is that at least 1 in 45 homes in South Florida are at some stage of the foreclosure process, and the numbers are growing.

Indeed, the foreclosure crises is striking all areas of South Florida. A recent report in the Miami Daily Business Review reveals that while Fisher Island has one of the highest per-capita incomes in the Unite States, the banks are pursuing many Fisher Island homeowners in foreclosure. The same holds true for many other high end South Florida communities such as Gold Beach, Golden Estates and Coral Gables, just to name a few.

With each passing day it becomes abundantly clear that the average person, whether they are wealthy or low income, are over leveraged. That includes the multi-millionaires with multimillion dollar homes.

If you or a loved one are facing a foreclosure, please contact our office today.

In a victory for all Floridians, a piece of legislation that was backed by the Florida Banker’s Association died today in the Florida House of Representatives.

The controversial piece of legislation would have weakened the voices of the many distressed homeowners in Florida by depriving them of their basic due process rights to a hearing, and notice. If this bill had passed, the balance of power on foreclosures would have swung almost entirely in the bank’s favor, leaving the homeowner with little to no recourse to fight to save his home.

As reported in the Miami Herald, the Florida House of Representatives Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council ended its session without hearing the controversy foreclosure bill.

The proposed bill would have allowed banks to skip legal proceedings all together unless the homeowner requested that the foreclosure go through the legal system. Such a bill would only further the struggles many homeowners are experiencing by significantly shortening the foreclosure process thereby making it more difficult to save the home.

Of significance, the proposed bill would have allowed homeowners to go to court, and avoid the non-judicial foreclosure process, only if they made a request within the first 20 days of the foreclosure process. That particular provision is indicative of the importance of immediately contacting our office upon receipt of any foreclosure related papers so as to best assess what options you may have to defend the foreclosure.

This fight, however, is not over. The banks will again attempt to pass this bill through the current legislative session. Please check our blog frequently for updates regarding this important piece of legislation.

If you, or a loved one, are facing foreclosure, please contact us today to discuss your situation in greater detail.

The Florida Realtors recently released a report revealing that those that fell into foreclosure typically had one more reason other than a job loss or bad loan.

“Contrary to what some researchers have argued, many Florida homeowners were not driven into foreclosure by simply being trapped in bad loans, or losing their jobs or taking pay cuts,” said Joel Searby of Strategic Guidance Systems. “What we found in talking with people who’ve gone through foreclosure is that there’s a `plus one’ factor,’ ” meaning job loss coupled with other circumstances such as divorce or health problems usually led to homeowner distress.

Not surprisingly, the study also revealed the far reach of the foreclosure epidemic in that foreclosures have impacted homeowners across a broad range of incomes and demographic backgrounds. After researching many of the markets with the highest rates of foreclosures, including Miami, from March 2006 through February 2009, the report made the following findings:

• More than 20 percent of homeowners who were foreclosed upon had household incomes ranging from $50,000 to $75,000. Another 20 percent had incomes in excess of $100,000.

• One in four Floridians facing foreclosure were college grads. Another 30 percent had at least some college education.

• Ninety-two percent of foreclosed-upon Floridians were married homeowners, and 8 percent were single. Nearly two-thirds of Florida foreclosure cases involved families with children.

• Thirty-five percent of those in foreclosure had lived in their homes for 10 years or more. More than 40 percent had lived in the homes fewer than 5 years.

If you or someone you know is facing foreclosure, please contact our office today to schedule an appointment so that we may assist you in addressing your foreclosure related concerns. You can reach us at 305-263-7700.