I just talked to the head investigator with the State of Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection and he said that they CAN and WILL help! He reassured me several times that we are now in the right hands and that they deal with these situations ALL the time. He said that it absolutely does sound like we have been dual-tracked, and then there is also the issue that Carrington did not even own our loan and had no legal standing to foreclose. His exact words were, "It definitely sounds like the law is on your side in this case." He told me that Tom Cox just won another huge case similar to this, which will play in our favor since it shows that another one of these cases has just recently come down the pipeline where the mortgage servicer lost. This bureau works very closely with Mr. Cox and he is a big reason why our state has such tough laws when it comes to foreclosures. When I asked him if there is any way that all of this can be undone so that we can save our home, he very enthusiastically said, "Absolutely! We have full jurisdiction over Carrington in this state, and they have been very responsive to us in the past when there have been other complaints against them." Thankfully, our state has VERY strict consumer protection laws when it comes to this sort of thing, tougher than any other state, he said. He is contacting Carrington right away to let them know that there is now a complaint against them and that they are being investigated. I also emailed him all of the documentation from us working with Carrington this past year on the loan modification. Another thing that he mentioned is that the fact that Carrington was the one who bought our home as opposed to some random third party gives us a leg up since that makes this much easier to deal with and even "undo." We now have more hope than ever before. We have had absolutely no luck finding an attorney willing or able to take us on (I received another rejection this morning from yet another attorney), but now that the state is involved and they have full power over Carrington and can force them to undo this foreclosure and sale if the need to, it looks like we may not even need one.
House foreclosed on and sold without us knowing!!!
- Thread starter jwa81
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The investigator emailed me this afternoon and said that he reviewed all of the documentation that I sent him, including a copy of our original mortgage with all of the papers that I signed at the closing of our house way back in 2008, and he has officially sent the complaint off to Carrington! Hopefully, we will hear something tomorrow. I am now feeling much more confident and hopeful knowing that the state is involved and they have full power to shut these people down (at least here in Maine), sue them, and demand that this foreclosure and sale be undone! The investigator did say that while our case is very complex, it is nothing they can't handle and deal with. I'm thinking that once Carrington sees they are being investigated by the State of Maine for what they have done to us, a state in which they are VERY closely monitored and supervised under a supervised license, they may start to change their attitudes!
Just thought I'd post a slight update. The state officially opened an investigation on Carrington last week and they did receive confirmation back from Carrington that they received notice of the investigation and they have been ordered to provide all kinds of documentation to the state so that they can investigate the legality of this foreclosure. The investigator did inform Carrington that they are to cease any and all negotiations or sale of our property during the course of their investigation, which the investigator does expect will be quite a lengthy and involved investigation due to the complexity of our case since the foreclosure judgment has already occurred. He also said that he is not entirely sure if the dual-tracking issue alone will be enough to undo all of this (which I don't understand as there is a FEDERAL law against dual tracking); however, he DID say that dual tracking is a VERY big deal to the state and that Carrington knows this (they are on a supervised license here in Maine), so hopefully that alone will work in our favor. The investigator said that since Carrington are the ones who now own our home, they are free to do pretty much whatever they want, whether it be reinstate our mortgage and modify our loan, write us a whole new mortgage, or agree to lease our home back to us for a couple of years to allow us to get into a position to be able to buy it back from them. Honestly, at this point, we would be completely open to ANY of those things....whatever it takes for us to stay in our home or at least buy us a couple of years. I did bring up the issue of the improper MERS assignments and the question of whether Carrington had legal ownership of our mortgage to be able to foreclose since we had been told previously that they did not. I was told by the investigator that is something they can and very likely will look into, but he did say that these mortgage assignment issues can be fixed and Carrington may well have done that. We just don't know yet. The investigator also did reassure me that the last thing Carrington wants is our home, because even after they have it, it's not over for them and it is going to continue to cost them quite a bit of money. I would think that they would much rather just try and work something out with us so that they do not have to take possession and then be responsible for the property.
As far as the writ of possession, I'm not sure if Carrington is required to inform their attorney of this state investigation (I would think they are) and have the writ halted. The state investigation was launched AFTER they filed a motion for writ. I do know that their attorney filed a motion with the court for a writ on 10/1 and I had gotten in there the day before on 9/30 with my objection/request to reconsider to the writ, so the court was holding any writ action for up to 21 days to allow Carrington and their attorney time to file a response to my objection and then it goes before a judge. I have no idea if this state investigation will put a halt on this as well. The investigator really couldn't answer that for me, but told me to contact him right away if that does happen. He also told me to notify him right away if I have any communication whatsoever with either Carrington or their lawyer. He said that communicating with them definitely won't hurt our case, but he wants to be apprised of any dealings with them.
Either way, my husband and I have decided that we are digging our heels in and REFUSING to leave our home, even if a writ is issued. From what I have read (and I have been doing A LOT of reading), many homeowners have stayed in their homes even after the writ is issued if they firmly believe that they were wrongfully foreclosed on and then, if you refuse to leave after the writ has expired, that forces the bank/mortgage company to file an unlawful detainer lawsuit, which costs them even more time and money (the last thing they want). Does anyone know about this or how it works?
As far as the writ of possession, I'm not sure if Carrington is required to inform their attorney of this state investigation (I would think they are) and have the writ halted. The state investigation was launched AFTER they filed a motion for writ. I do know that their attorney filed a motion with the court for a writ on 10/1 and I had gotten in there the day before on 9/30 with my objection/request to reconsider to the writ, so the court was holding any writ action for up to 21 days to allow Carrington and their attorney time to file a response to my objection and then it goes before a judge. I have no idea if this state investigation will put a halt on this as well. The investigator really couldn't answer that for me, but told me to contact him right away if that does happen. He also told me to notify him right away if I have any communication whatsoever with either Carrington or their lawyer. He said that communicating with them definitely won't hurt our case, but he wants to be apprised of any dealings with them.
Either way, my husband and I have decided that we are digging our heels in and REFUSING to leave our home, even if a writ is issued. From what I have read (and I have been doing A LOT of reading), many homeowners have stayed in their homes even after the writ is issued if they firmly believe that they were wrongfully foreclosed on and then, if you refuse to leave after the writ has expired, that forces the bank/mortgage company to file an unlawful detainer lawsuit, which costs them even more time and money (the last thing they want). Does anyone know about this or how it works?
I don't know how this works in full but many have fought through it and stayed in their homes anywhere from 3 to 10 months after the foreclosure. It looks like Carrington is not willing to delay and that they DO want your property. Those cross motions went very fast, they were ready. At least the investigation *may* slow them down and give you a few days to think on this legally. Seek qualified legal advice ASAP. I do not know if what you have filed ends anything, there is no longer a 20 day wait for the answer. (There is a timetable anywhere between 5-10 days? 20 days in federal. Just assume you need to reply promptly if you can't find court rules that address this, better to ask forgiveness that to ask permission) It is ready for ruling once this happens, but maybe you can file a surreply on a couple of things that make this foreclosure questionable. You will also need to attack any lack of standing. If the transfer was fishy from the beginning and they didn't show the note or the note was not endorsed properly, or not endorsed at all, you may have a fighting chance. (Review these legal files from the courthouse if you don't have them all together.) You have to get a restraining order while you argue or appeal the matter. I'm not sure how to do that in Maine. You are right, dual tracking argument is likely moot other than a FDCPA violation. However, convicting them of that violation may assist you in the area of a lack of good faith and fair dealing. Violations alone will not overturn the foreclosure. Dig for more and build your case. But remember, save your money and keep it private, you don't know what the future holds yet. It could help you refinance or it could help you retain an attorney. If you are hiring someone make sure to vette them properly and get referrals from trusted sources.
The not knowing is making me literally sick to my stomach and causing us a HUGE amount of stress, which is the very last thing we need. The chief investigator with the state did tell me that Carrington has been very responsive and cooperative with complaints/investigations in the past and that they have been very good about modifying loans. He did say that they DO have the power to reinstate our mortgage or even write us a whole new mortgage since they are the ones who bought our home, but we have no idea if they will do that. The possibility of a leaseback could also be a potential option. We have been trying for the past 2 weeks to find an attorney who can help us, only to be turned down by all of them. I did look up consumer law attorneys in our area on the Justia web site and I emailed every single one of them yesterday in hopes that at least ONE of them will be able and willing to help us. The closest ones to us that I found are about 45-60 minutes away from where we live. I did call the free legal assistance hotline in our state last week, but was told that we make way too much money to qualify for their services. They said that our household income is over twice what their limit is. Great. Carrington's attorney had told our HUD counselor that it was a 21-day writ, but we don't even know what is going to happen between my motion to object the writ and the now active state investigation and Carrington being ordered to cease any negotiations and/or sale activity on our home while this investigation is ongoing. We are NOT giving up without a significant fight. We were wronged in so many ways here. We are not giving up our home that we worked so incredibly hard for and have 12 years worth of memories in.
If Carrington is being ordered to cease any negotiations and/or sale activity while the investigation is ongoing, then you will likely get that in writing soon. I would also want to verify this stops ALL activity, including eviction or moves for possession. Usually they stops/cancels all pending action. (You may have to submit a copy if no one else does. It's also evidence in your favor.) You can probably find this out in a phone call if this action is brought by your Attorney General. Call and ask.
Once you know, you can use the delay on planning out a resolution.
I'm so sorry that happened to you. That's my fear if I don't get a handle on the collection agency (veripro) to allow me to buy my title back. The value isn't there but neither is my income. Good luck
Ugh. I am so sorry. Believe me, I know exactly what you are going through! We currently are working with a nationally known attorney who also produces movies on foreclosure fraud, which we are quickly finding that we are the victims of! He was previously an assistant attorney general as well as a title insurance attorney and he has been SO, SO helpful! Believe it or not, I found him on YouTube when I was watching some of his documentaries on foreclosure fraud, so I reached out to him via email and he immediately got back to me and has been amazing! His name is Chris King. Today, we looked up our foreclosure documents on the county's web site and there are SO many red flags, including a very likely fraudulent quitclaim that our mortgage servicer filed to produce ownership of our title, which they do not legally have! The more we research our situation, the more and more screwed up it gets!!!
I really hope everything turns out okay for both of us! <3
It's been a while, so I wanted to post a quick update. We just filed what we feel is a VERY powerful and compelling 30-page rule 60 motion with the court to have the judgment nullified as it was fraudulent. Included in this motion are many examples of recent lawsuits against Carrington for this exact same abusive and deceptive behavior that have gone in the favor of the homeowners as well as proof that there is no chain of title and that Carrington had no legal right to foreclose. Also included was a copy of the email where Carrington's CEO called me an idiot a couple of years ago when I emailed him to file a complaint (he had meant to forward my email to another one of the Carrington higher ups, but instead accidentally responded to me). We also included proof of how they blatantly dual-tracked us and stonewalled us when it came to getting a modification. We have been working with an out of state attorney who is a former assistant attorney general in Ohio and ran a title company for many years and now helps fight mortgage fraud. He has been amazing and extremely knowledgeable. The motion that he wrote for us was beyond brilliant. Carrington is essentially handcuffed now. In addition to this, we are also preparing to sue. This is going to be a wild ride, but so worth it!