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| Breaking Foreclosure News This is the latest in breaking foreclosure news hitting the internet and I think you should read it. Some of the news is helpful and some is quite disturbing. You'll find good news and bad news. But all of it's reality and we all need to face it! Please feel free to post any stories and news in this section in regards to your local market. |
This is a discussion on Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves within the Breaking Foreclosure News forums, part of the Homeowner Party - Homeowners Unite to Fight Back category; HOMEOWNER, DON'T LET THE WOLF IN YOUR DOOR! Iris Martin Author of Mortgage Wars Posted April 3, 2009 HUFFINGTON POST ...
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | HOMEOWNER, DON'T LET THE WOLF IN YOUR DOOR! Iris Martin Author of Mortgage Wars Posted April 3, 2009 HUFFINGTON POST Your lender is threatening to foreclose? Not! If your loan has been securitized, your lender is not the current note holder and has no legal right to do so. Millions of Americans today are in financial and psychological distress because their toxic adjustable rate mortgages have reset, forcing them into delinquency, default and foreclosure. These homeowners have been victimized by a conspiracy of predators that has fraudulently induced them into toxic loans in order to generate fees and profit. However, the lenders who originated these loans and sold them have no legal right to foreclose, per their own 8K SEC filings. They just have to be reminded in court that, when they were paid in full for the loans, plus a premium, they relinquished their legal right to foreclose as they are no longer current holders of the notes. Or as Florida attorney April Charney, known as the "Foreclosure Killer," puts it, "it seems a no brainer that a judge would make sure every foreclosure has a legal claim." Sounds too good to be true? Not! In fact, it is simple contract law. While many players in the securitization business want to convince you that the "lost note defense" is a "legal gimmick" that will merely slow down foreclosure, recent judicial orders upholding the rights of homeowners are the current reality: Judge Boyko dismissed 14 foreclosures attempted by Deutsche Bank, stating that "the federal court system will not be forgiving in this regard." Judge O'Malley dismissed 32 foreclosures, stating that the lender "has not filed adequate documentation demonstrating that it was the owner and holder at the time it filed suit." Judge Bufford found in favor of the pro se homeowner against IndyMac Bank, stating "IndyMac Bank is not the real party of interest." Judge Rose dismissed 20 foreclosures, stating "while the plaintiffs have pled that they have standing, they may not have had standing at the time when the foreclosure was filed." Judge Crawford dismissed a foreclosure, concluding that "MERS failed to establish that it held either the mortgage or the note at the time it filed the lawsuit." Andrew Pizor, Counsel for Connecticut Fair Housing Association, wryly says, "Foreclosure firms are so used to actions just going through unopposed. Now people are paying attention and pointing out the gaps. When I raise these defenses in foreclosure proceedings, the shocked response from lenders is that 'it is a technicality.' Well, not paying your mortgage is a technicality, too." And more such orders are coming every day as energized homeowners fight their mortgage wars. In fact, these judicial opinions are so thoughtfully written and so adamantly supportive of homeowners' rights, that I have included them in my new book, Mortgage Wars: How to Find Fraud and Reverse Foreclosure. These judges were also surgically critical of the mortgage giants who breezed through the securitization process, as in this quote by Judge Boyko: "The institutions worry less about jurisdictional requirements and more about maximizing returns." But despite the law, and in the spirit of protecting the conspiracy, our government wants to lend them even more money and further empower them! No one, including the President, seems to care about the psychological carnage created as Americans are tossed on the street, forced into ********ness or residing in their cars. In his address to the nation, Obama said "if you got yourself into more house than you can afford, we can't help you." In reality, the Administration knows that it cannot convince owners of mortgage backed securities to modify their pooling and servicing agreements, if for no other reason than that no one can find them. It is one big multi-trillion dollar (and growing) mess being dumped on the very homeowners and taxpayers who have been defrauded. Further, this lunacy fueled by the media -- that the foreclosure crisis was caused by a sudden epidemic of deadbeat liars -- isn't helping. Most borrowers were not first time homeowners and trusted the professionals to play it straight, as in "fiduciary responsibility." Consider this: what idiot would commit to a loan, knowing that in a few short months he would be out on the street, saddled with bankruptcy, bad credit, and bail out taxpayer debt to boot? And don't think for a second that this financial blood bath hasn't contributed to our nation's post traumatic stress disorder, starting with the rigged 2000 election. Thrust into a ten year cycle of fraud, most Americans have come to accept that, if they couldn't elect a President without being overruled, and they can't stop a fraudulent war devoid of weapons of mass destruction, then how could they stop the financial wolves from beating down their doors? The irony is that the predators, so obsessed with selling derivatives, attacked the one front we just couldn't resist: our homes. Fast money for homeownership? Cheap equity lines? How about a one percent loan? They had us at "hello." American homeowners need to come together and scream out loud, "We're not gonna take it!" through filing predatory lawsuits alleging fraud and demanding quiet title actions. While there is quite a self-serving underground movement aimed at suppression, (think Deep, Deep Throat, the sequel), we still have, on our side, a little document called the United States Constitution which assures us that "Citizens of the United States shall not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." So how do you find your own due process? If you are a victim of the conspiracy, follow my ten step war plan of engagement: 1. Get out those dusty closing documents and peruse them; they actually make for fascinating reading. You will learn all sorts of facts that your mortgage broker and lender did not want you to know, as in how they committed mortgage fraud. 2. Check your credit rating. If you have fallen to the bottom of the class and your loan is fraudulent, there is hell to pay. Your lender has violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 3. Compare the current value of your home to the stated appraised value at your closing. If your value has dropped significantly, it may have been fraudulently inflated to increase the loan amount, so your broker and lender could reap higher fees. Again, a major no no. 4. Is your debt to income ratio over 35%? Oops, they did it again. It is against the law to put borrowers into loans that they cannot pay back. 5. Does your income reported to the IRS match the income on your loan application? If not, check to see if your data was fudged and your signature was forged. A common enough practice which also happens to be a crime. 6. Go online and google your lender's 10K and 8K filings for the year that you signed your loan documents. See how your lender has gleefully bragged to its investors about how efficiently it securitized loans such as your own. Most lenders even go as far as to claim that no loans sold into pools were predatory in any way! (Think investor fraud.) And don't get me started on the accounting firms who certified these blatant lies. Or the credit rating agencies who stepped up to the plate with inflated ratings and outstretched palms. 7. Get your loan audited. It is the first step in building a winning lawsuit. If you can't find an auditor, go to my website ______________ and we will refer one. 8. Get a qualified attorney to file your "Qualified Written Requests" and your legal complaint. We know some of the best ones in the country who will not rip you off. No point in jumping from predatory lending to predatory lawyer. 9. Demand your loan be extinguished. After you have been defrauded, it is your legal right to demand that the predators be held accountable. Toward that end, don't waste time attempting to modify a securitized loan. Go right for the jugular, just as your lender has. 10. Break out the champagne. You have tamed the wolf. Maybe in time, you can transform him into a lovable canine companion, maybe a Wall Street born-again Marley. And stand up for yourself. Don't fall for the media's pre-emptive attacks on your character. An examination of recent history paints an entirely different picture of a conspiracy of politicians, regulators, investment bankers, mortgage brokers and nominal lenders that would do anything -- including bankrupting the country and the globe -- to profit from the derivatives explosion. It's time for this karmic cycle to reverse and for homeowners to take back their American dream, one lawsuit at a time. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Irish Gal, Thanks for posting this article. The writer is correct -- we can't become inactive or apathetic because of the emotional weight of this mortgage mess. We have to keep using as many avenues as we can to let the lenders, servicers, and their attorneys know that we are not going to roll over and play dead! dasmom |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Most excellent post Irish Gal Kind of wish I would have read it first and not got all long winded on the other thread. Oh well Thank you so much for sharing this, Catherine |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Catherine, Glad you found the article inspiring. I thought you would. Good luck and keep us posted. I just wish there were more (pitbull) attys around advocating for the distressed homeowners as a class, as a nation, instead of the burden still being on distressed homeowners to fight, case by case, these corrupt, mammoth systems and institutions. It's impossible to do it case by case. Just impossible. Ok - here's my rant. We need a present day Ferdinand Pecora, Esq. (a prosecutorial pitbull who took Wall St. / banker fraudsters down after they helped to crash the stock market creating the Great Depression) and a real champion of the people (I don't think they produce them anymore in law schools |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves I have followed April's cases for the last few years - the folks in Northern FL really have a heck of an advocate on their side, that is for sure. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Wow, great post it does give some hope, there is so much to digest from this site. We also are in the CW/BofA (LOOKING GLASS). It truely seems unreal. Not only are we dealing with a failed business, having to go to work for someone else at a 50% reduction in income, but it is tearing our family and marriage apart. Not to rant but many thanks to all who have written. I guess I am one of the lucky ones since I do have a job......But it still just seems so very unfair............Having worked so long and have it disappear so quick.... |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Irish Gal, This is a FANTASTIC post!!! I wish I'd come across this earlier but it's not too late for me, I don't think. I had a sneaking suspicion that my mortgage with Option One/AHMSI was a securitized one, and when I looked at the foreclosure papers that had been served on me last year.... yup! I know for sure that there is at least one TILA violation on my loan, which was a cash out refinance, and which gives me THREE YEARS instead of three days to rescind the loan. I have until December 19th of this year to do so, and I can follow up with a quiet title action. There's a lot of great info about recission/quiet title action at Quietitle. Please do all yourselves a favor and go there and print out the info. It's very clearly written and understandable. I just wanna know, WHY in God's name isn't all this valuable info being disseminated publicly through the media and other outlets and why do we have to go digging for this stuff ourselves, when more and more people are getting kicked out of their homes every day, simply because they didn't have access to this knowledge base?? It makes me sick ... and FURIOUS with the banks, Wall Street investors and what have you!! Sally |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Quote:
Hey Sally, Glad the info helped you! Keep up the good fight ! | |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves I don't understand all that is in the article, but I have a question. I can't find any financial info in my papers but I've wondered how we were approved. We are both on SS disability with a combined income of $1900. Our payment with taxes & everything is $750. Does it sound logical that we would get a loan? Just curious as to what others think. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Hi all - I read the Huffington Post article and they ask for information from people trying to get loan mods. I just sent my story to: submissions+foreclosure@huffingtonpost.com. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Folks, I just bought Iris Martin's book, Mortgage Wars, that was mentioned in the Huffington Post article posted by Irish Gal, and it's an absolute must-buy! The book is chock-full of commonsense legal strategies and relevant case studies and is very enlightening and empowering. One thing Ms. Martin pointed out in the book and which makes a lot of sense is that if your loan was securitized, then your servicer does NOT have legal standing to modify it because it is actually owned by a bunch of nameless, faceless investors out there -- so trying to modify it while being given the runaround by the loss mit departments and what have you is a total WASTE OF TIME and a lot of unnecessary stress and sleepless nights. The best strategy is to rescind your mortgage and then follow up with a quiet title action in court, with a demand to extinguish the mortgage altogether -- which is EXACTLY what I intend to do with my toxic mortgage -- if I can just find an attorney willing to take me on! And oh the irony..... just as I was sitting down to crack open the book for the first time yesterday.... a car pulls up at the curb in front of my house and a man gets out, walks up to my door and sticks an envelope in it. The message inside was from AHMSI saying that a field inspector had stopped by and that I was requested to call them at their toll-free number. Just as I was sitting down to read "Mortgage Wars"!!! How's that for irony??? Ain't that rich?? Wooooo hooo! :-D Sally |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Quote:
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Quote:
Re auditor, you must be careful as there's many charlatans out there ready to take your money and provide no service. The attorneys on this site have been vetted by Moe and do audits. Moe is the expert in that arena. He may be able to provide you better info. on that topic. All I know is it's best to use an atty recommended by someone you trust and who had a good experience w/ that particular atty. You can also go the state bar website of the state you are in, or the national assoc of consumer advocates (attorneys) and do a search there. But, before you plunk over any $$$$, do your homework and research! Be informed. Also, I don't have a website. Maybe you are referencing The Huffington Post site re articles I've posted ? Good luck! Keep us posted! | |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves I went to Amazon to check on Mortgage Wars and found this one . The reviews are darn good even if the price is steep. I'm not pushing the book as I have not read it. I'm just passing the word in case someone might be interested. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Quote:
Thanks for the heads up on that book. You are right, the price is a bit steep, but when you think about what's at stake, your home, then it's well worth forking over some $$ and arming oneself with legal strategies for the big battle ahead. I would just like to know WHY, why in God's name haven't these strategies been mentioned in the media?? I just don't understand it when the foundation of our society is crumbling under the weight of the foreclosure crisis. Do any of you have an idea? Sally | |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves I'm sure that the same money that is behind the MSM is the same money behind the banks and lenders. They all have their fingers in the pie. If you get the book please let us know how it is. I bought the book previously mentioned. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves I purchased Mortgage Wars yesterday and read it in one night. I plan on finding an attorney as soon as possible to bring a Quiet Title Action against my lender. I filed Chapter 7 to try and save our home after closing our business due to a 60% loss in income and cutting everywhere we could. I got behind in my mortgage on an Option Arm and the bank just would not work with me at all. We pulled it out twice from back payments but it is impossible to keep up with the high payments with income decrease. Income is coming back and a modification would save a 350,000 loss to the lender, and keep us in the home we love and we know we will be able to save if they work with us. The loan is expected to recast in 6 months and will collapse at that point. Home is valued at 600,000 loan is 940,000. They put my payment in a suspense account when I became behind by two months. The late fees continue to add up, they offered a payment plan with double payments for 6 months. Yeah right that's going to work! After reading Mortgage Wars it is clear why they are not working with me. It is also clear I may have some Legal Weapons of my own! I have TILA violations FAIR Credit Violations after Bankruptcy( they are reporting me late after discharge preventing my fresh start)home was included and discharged with nor reafirmation. They are collecting fees monthly in escrow that do not exist for our type of home and our county does not collect. They are collecting for Home Owners Insurance but we pay ourselves directly. I also feel quite confident they have no authority to foreclose if they do not have the original note. I have never been notified that my note has been transfered but it clearly was if it is in a trust. After reading the case studies I took out my paperwork from my Chapter 7 filing and found the "Motion for Relief" that was filed by mortgage company last fall it clearly shows The deed of trust names MERS as "the beneficiary under the service instrument. I have been told that my loan was sold in a securitized trust and they are not allowed to modify just collect payment or work out a payment plan, foreclose or short sale. Iris Martin points to the fact that in many of these cases the mortgage company is no longer the "party of interest" and has no right to foreclose.The courts and banks routinely foreclose with no objection from the home owner. I think Iris Martin may be changing that tide on owner at a time! Now if I can just find a Virginia attorney who is willing to fight with me! I am so tired but I can't give up. My kids are counting on me. I have done nothing wrong! I did not ask to be in a loan that has been sliced and diced by greedy banks. I never had a late payment till the day I filed Chapter 7. We held on as long as we could . If a real investor was involved in this transaction it would be a different story for my family. They would see our income would support a modification offer and save a foreclosure. I want my home, I can afford my home if they would work with me on the back payments they just want to foreclose. Today there is hope everyone. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves pmvba please keep us informed of what is going on. I too ordered the book and am looking forward to reading it to see if it offers me any help. I doubt it but I'm going to give it one last try. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Jinksy, I do not want nor expect my home for free. This book gave me hope that a modification to save my home will be possible if I utilize the legal system to help me. Going it alone the last year has been a complete waist of time and paying a modification service to get the same line from the mortgage company was proof to me I needed more help. Good Luck to you. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Quote:
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Quote:
Irish Gal, Have a new twist from Wachovia. Just received a letter date August 18th 2009. The title is Re: Notice of Transfer of Mortgage. Now I have been trying to get a mortgage Modification for 3 months. They came back with a mortgage modification with $78K principle reduction from $970K to $892K and change my variable rate loan to a 38% DTI for year 1 and keep increasing the interest only payment up yearly for 4 more years by $200 per monthly payment (by changing the interest rate each year). Then after year 5 they increase payment to $1,000 more per month (they now include payment of the principle and give 35 years to pay it off). They know full well that it would be impossible for me to pay this payment starting year 6 unless I can increase my wages $2,000 per month divided by 38% ( a whopping $5,000 gross monthly increase in 5 years). But they say there is not negotiation or discussion; sign or they will foreclose. So when I get this new letter. They are admitting they were not the mortgage owner while negotiating the mortgage modification. But they did not disclose this to me. Here is part of their letter " Due to the nature of the previous transfer, a transfer of owenership of the debt was not recorded and is not required to effect the transfer back to Wachovia." What the hell does this mean? Have you seen this starting to happen in the industry. I have a payment to make to finalize the mortgage modification by August 31st 2009. I am not sure I should do this. It sounds like they were never the owner and could not have foreclosed on the home. Not sure they can do it now since they say their is no recording of ownership to Wachovia. Can you please suggest a next step for me? I don't have much time before the offer they have open gets slammed shut. I am not sure if I should pursue legal help with this new information since I don't understand how they can be the new owner without a recording of ownership. Are they buying mortgage back securities with TARP money and claiming they own the property again? Is this a new legal trick to enable foreclosure by giving legal notice to me they are the rightful owner if I don't contest it? Thanks, tnt101 | |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves I bought the book "Mortgage Wars" from Amazon and am on page 60. I really think you could benefit from this book. It describes your situation. Please invest in the book before you do anything. |
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Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | Re: Article: Stop Foreclosure Wolves Quote:
Welcome! Wish I could help you on this one, but I have no clue what any nexts steps should be. | |
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