Happy New Year for Homeowners! No More Cutting Corners for Banks!

RoyOppenheim — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:38:26 +0000

Banks will need to clean up their circus “act” in 2012 when it comes to Florida foreclosure cases thanks to a series of stinging decisions handed down by the 4th District Court of Appeals that could be the gift that keeps on giving for Florida homeowners.

The court finally realized the banks must have the proper authority before they proceed in the foreclosure process. For years I have been saying the banks have systematically been cutting corners in the foreclosure defense process by not having the requisite power to bring their cases.

In this most recent case, Robert McLean vs. JPMorgan Chase, Chase, which was seeking to foreclosure on McLean’s Broward County home, claimed the note from the borrower was “lost, stolen or destroyed.” I call shenanigans on that claim. The truth is banks were in such a rush to move forward that they just never bothered to check their own paperwork.

McLean sought to squash the foreclosure because he said that Chase ultimately could not prove they were the owner of the note. In fact the assignment of mortgage, which is a document which indicates that a mortgage has been transferred from the original lender, which Chase produced to the court was signed three days AFTER the first foreclosure complaint was filed by the bank.

The 4th DCA, in our eyes, had no choice but to reverse a lower court’s decision and side with the homeowner. As the saying goes, possession is nine tenths of the law, and in this case, Chase was left holding an empty bag. The court noted that if there was “substantial doubt about the note” that the bank should dismiss and refile the case, and it was clear from Chase’s lack of concrete proof that they had no legal standing in this case.

The 4th DCA’s ruling also guarantees homeowners have a right to an evidentiary hearing, rather than just a summary judgement.

The decision is a monumental leap forward in the way courts handle foreclosure cases and the role that the mortgage assignments play in the foreclosure process. What the courts have been doing was effectively denying the due process rights of those who were in foreclosure by not forcing the banks to prove ownership of these mortgages.

Gerald Richman, a lawyer for the foreclosure firm Shapiro and Fishman tried to downplay the importance of this ruling in the Palm Beach Post, saying it didn’t mean the foreclosure had no merit. Oh Gerry, you’re missing the point, by a mile. If you’re going to make people cross every “i” and dot every “t” before they get the keys to the kingdom, how can we not demand banks do the same before they take them back!!

The truth is the process the banks engaged in was unfair and unconstitutional, and the courts have now come to the conclusion that we did long ago.

Thank you, 4th District Court of Appeals, and may the New Year bring you many more moments of clarity like this one.

Why Oppenheim Law Prefers Short Sales Over Florida Foreclosure

RoyOppenheim — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:28:03 +0000

Some Florida attorneys and other experts sometimes seem to suggest there is no difference between having a Florida foreclosure or Florida short sale on your record or credit report and pose the question:

“Why go through the hassle of a short sale?”

The thought process might be technically correct, but only in a state described as a “non-recourse state.” Florida is not one of those states and is in fact a RECOURSE state. This means the banks can and will likely come after you for the difference between the principal value of your Florida mortgage and the value of your home at the time of the Florida foreclosure sale.

In non-recourse states, like California, people can walk or stay, and either way the banks cannot come after you. In Florida, New York and other recourse states the banks can come after you for as long as 20 years. The banks have the right to try and garnish your wages and bank accounts and even depose you under oath. In fact they can and will likely come after you even if you are long dead. You can read my Op-Ed piece in the Sun-Sentinel for a more detailed description of the difference between recourse and non-recourse states.

However, if you get out by orchestrating a South Florida short sale, you’ll likely be released from the amount the bank does not recover at closing. In fact the reason it is called a “Short Sale” is because the bank is coming up short at closing. Now the Bank has a few options. They can take the hit as they do frequently, and as they may well be required to do according to new rules coming out of the Obama Administration, or they can negotiate some payment plan with you. Sometimes the terms are good, and other times they are truly oppressive. However, remember whatever you negotiate is not written in stone or blood and is unsecured.

Thus, the Bank will likely sell the Note (here we go again) to a hedge fund, or collection agency for pennies on the dollar. So you once again will have an opportunity to renegotiate the terms. And even if you don’t make any payments at all, are the banks really going to spend thousands of dollars to find you, serve you and hire attorneys to sue? Maybe… but my bet is they will first go after the low hanging fruit: the poor folks who never read the Oppenheim Law blogs and now have deficiency judgments entered against them.

So, to recap, The Oppenheim Law bottom line:

Explore a short sale first before throwing in the Florida foreclosure towel.

South Florida Law Blog » Florida mortgage

Happy New Year for Homeowners! No More Cutting Corners for Banks!

Why Oppenheim Law Prefers Short Sales Over Florida Foreclosure