June 21, 2020
Prior to the pandemic, we settled a commercial foreclosure action for $6,425,000.00. It was a seller-financed transaction, meaning that the buyer “borrowed” the money from the seller to purchase the property (no money was actually exchanged) and gave the seller a mortgage and signed a promissory note. No bank was involved. We never represent banks. … Read more
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June 21, 2020
In response to overwhelming demand and a lack of attorneys who handle foreclosure appeals (let alone quiet title appeals), we have been handling foreclosure and quiet title appeals for the past two years. More information about our appellate practice will follow in future posts. If you need immediate legal advice, please contact this office for … Read more
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April 7, 2020
With the emergency Order closing the NYS Courts to all but a very limited number of truly essential matters, our resources have been freed to help in a crucial legal battle literally involving the rights of inmates to live or die when (not if) the government acknowledges that the coronavirus has filled New York’s prison … Read more
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April 6, 2020
We lost a client to coronavirus on Friday. He was a good man, a pharmacist who continued working despite the risk to himself from interacting with sick patients. He left behind a wonderful family. Obviously they are devastated. Last week his daughter told me that he was hospitalized and on oxygen, and seemed to be … Read more
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November 7, 2017
A homeowner should consult with an experienced foreclosure defense attorney right after receiving foreclosure papers. The earliest stages of the case are the most crucial times to assert and preserve a homeowner’s legal rights for the remainder of the case. It is far more difficult for a foreclosure defense attorney to repair a “damaged” case than to handle the case correctly from the beginning.
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October 30, 2017
An extremely small percentage of homeowners win foreclosure cases and keep their homes through sheer luck. The other winners are usually represented by experienced foreclosure defense attorneys.
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November 24, 2015
In every foreclosure action, the foreclosing bank must have standing to foreclose. A bank only has standing to foreclose if it is the owner of the mortgage loan on the date that the foreclosure action is filed. If the homeowner’s attorney asserts lack of standing to foreclose as a defense in the Answer to the foreclosure complaint, the bank must prove that it has standing to foreclose. If the bank cannot prove that it has standing, the foreclosure action should be dismissed.
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November 6, 2015
Six years after a mortgage is accelerated, the time to file a mortgage foreclosure action expires (with occasional exceptions). If the bank has not won a judgment of foreclosure and no mortgage foreclosure action is currently pending, the homeowner may file a quiet title action to discharge (remove) the mortgage lien from the property. When a homeowner wins quiet title, the property can be sold without paying the mortgage debt. The homeowner keeps the sales proceeds instead of the bank. Debt Inversion accomplished.
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July 23, 2015
In a motion for summary judgment, the foreclosing bank must establish all facts necessary to prove its foreclosure claim and disprove all of the homeowner’s defenses and counterclaims through admissible evidence. The “admissible evidence” submitted by the bank normally includes an affidavit from an employee of the current mortgage loan servicer (not the foreclosing bank) that would be inadmissible at a trial where live testimony is required.
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June 5, 2015
Deutsche Bank’s attorneys made a motion for summary judgment requesting the right to foreclose upon Mr. Codio’s home. The Court denied the motion because Deutsche Bank had failed to prove ownership of Mr. Codio’s mortgage loan, citing forgery of Mr. Codio’s signature and initials on the fake note. The Court’s full decision is attached.
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May 22, 2015
Unless the homeowner’s attorney includes an “affirmative defense” in the Answer to the Foreclosure Complaint stating that the action is barred by the applicable statute of limitations, the statute of limitations defense is lost and the bank can foreclose upon the property even though it started the foreclosure action too late.
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February 26, 2014
A mortgage loan servicer is nothing more than a debt collector, and speaking with debt collectors can only hurt you. When dealing with collectors, it is important not to seem interested in resolving the debt. If you seem interested, they conclude that you have something to lose and focus on you. You want to make a debt collector think you are broke and don’t care what happens. This causes them to conclude they are barking up the wrong tree and to leave you alone. Nothing works better than refusing to speak to them.
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May 7, 2013
Whenever possible, we have our client present when we inspect the alleged original promissory note because the client is the only person in the conference room who saw the original note when it was signed and initialed at the bottom of each page. Clients can easily tell if their own signatures and initials have been forged and they can spot differences between the original document they signed and the document being presented.
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September 22, 2012
The other day a reporter named Natalie Wolcholver from LifesLittleMysteries.com called me out of the blue and asked whether a person could be sued for $1 million dollars for slapping someone. We ended up having an interesting conversation.
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April 11, 2012
Insider dealing at the expense of homeowners and taxpayers continues, and the financial incentives for most types of mortgage-related fraud will be unaffected by the recent $26 billion dollar federal/state foreclosure fraud settlement.
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October 20, 2011
A recent New York Appellate Court ruling may mean that the majority of home mortgages in New York State are “unforeclosable,” and that homeowners may keep their homes without making mortgage payments.
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August 20, 2011
If the Supreme Court decides not to hear the Gomes v. Countrywide case, Mr. Gomes will lose his home to a foreclosing bank that has not proved it owns Mr. Gomes’ mortgage and promissory note. To make matters worse, Mr. Gomes may be sued again for the same debt if the real owner of his mortgage shows up later and demands the money owed.
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July 18, 2011
Justice Schack is known for his continuing investigation of foreclosure fraud and “robo-signers.” He routinely dismisses improperly brought foreclosure cases “with prejudice,” meaning the cases cannot be re-started.
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July 8, 2011
The federal government’s policy of not prosecuting the millionaire and billionaire executives of the major banks leaves the executives feeling “prison proof” and free to commit more crimes to become wealthier.
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July 3, 2011
Don’t settle for a loan modification just because a bank gives it to you without asking first. A generous bank is an oxymoron. You may already own your home free and clear of any mortgage. You may owe the bank nothing.
In fact, another bank may own your mortgage and promissory note. That bank may sue you later even if you make all “modified” payments to the first bank.
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June 4, 2011
“I think that there is a genuine sense out there that there are two sets of rules, one for big and powerful institutions that are deemed to be too politically interconnected or powerful to fail, and the rest of us, Main Street,” says our guest Gretchen Morgenson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning business reporter who has written extensively on how the U.S. government has failed to prosecute any of the top figures who played a role in the economic crash.
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April 9, 2011
Private attorneys do not have your criminal investigative powers and cannot discover, or at least prove, all of the frauds perpetrated against our clients.
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February 16, 2011
When you finally enter the loan servicer’s consciousness as a potential threat, they can be incredibly efficient at correcting your account and restoring your credit.
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January 29, 2011
Mortgage foreclosure fraud causes two terrible things to happen: (1) a home owner may be foreclosed upon by a bank that doesn’t own the mortgage and promissory note; not only is the person’s home stolen, but the real owner of the promissory note can sue the former home owner later for the full amount owed on the mortgage; (2) banks selling foreclosed homes may not actually own them because the foreclosure was fraudulent; this means that 20 years down the road when the person wants to sell the home, they may find out that they never owned it, or worse yet, the real owner could show up after the sale and sue to get their property back.
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January 21, 2011
The debt collection business relies on people not fighting back. If everyone put debt collectors to their proof as we do, they would all be forced out of business.
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January 19, 2011
Once again the federal government is fighting yesterday’s war. The housing and mortgage-backed securities markets have already collapsed and banks will only lend to people with stellar credit. The proposed regulation will not protect against any current risk, but it may come in handy during the next real estate bubble.
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January 12, 2011
“To get judgments against the borrowers, the judge said, a single Mel Harris employee named Todd Fabacher signed 40,000 affidavits attesting to the accuracy of debt claims. Assuming 260 business days a year, Fabacher had to have personally (and purportedly knowledgeably) issued an average of twenty affidavits of merit per hour, i.e., one every three … Read more
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December 16, 2010
Any MERS member bank is allowed to appoint any employee it wishes, regardless of inexperience or incompetence, to sign documents prepared by the bank, not as a bank employee but as a “Vice President” of MERS. During her deposition MERS “Vice President” Beth Cottrell admitted to executing 18 thousand documents per month without any personal knowledge of the contents of what she was signing.
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November 26, 2010
Please write or email your Senator and Representative, as well as President Obama, and tell them that if they vote to “legalize” MERS, you will vote for their opponents in the next election.
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November 16, 2010
What do you get when you cross a Mafia don with a bond salesman? A dealer in collateralized debt obligations (C.D.O.’s) — someone who makes you an offer you don’t understand.
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October 27, 2010
In New York, a debt collection action is neither simple nor cut-and-dried. If the collection action is properly contested, it is frequently possible to win the case and owe no money. It is sometimes possible to force the collector to pay money to you.
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October 25, 2010
“You are talking about tremendous consequences. You are talking about taking people’s homes,” Judge Lippman said. “Those papers have to be accurate. They have to be credible.”
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October 23, 2010
Sincere apologies to the robo-signers, mortgage bundlers, MERS records bunglers, foreclosure mills, crooked foreclosure attorneys, politicians, investment bankers and mortgage bankers, thieves, liars, fraudsters and corrupt judges who had nothing to do with the foreclosure fraud crisis (and didn’t see a thing).
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October 22, 2010
“The absurdity of illegal activity, criminal conduct, and rampant fraud has reached a point where the nation must declare ‘No More.’ We must begin the process of identifying criminal actors — and prosecuting them.”
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October 16, 2010
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) has emerged as the epicenter of the current mortgage foreclosure crisis, despite the financial and real estate industries’ clamor to keep it out of the conversation. MERS maintains the only records in existence of most sales of mortgages from one bank to another. All MERS records are stored electronically and … Read more
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October 14, 2010
The public is not permitted access to MERS records, despite the fact that MERS has the only records in existence of most transfers of ownership of mortgages and promissory notes from one investor to another. Without access to MERS records, it is impossible for home owners to verify which bank owns their mortgage and promissory note.
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October 11, 2010
“Even if the foreclosure was legit, you can’t lock someone out of their home while they’re in it.”
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October 7, 2010
“The average foreclosure hearing in a Florida court is only 90 seconds. Mistakes are common and fraud is rampant.”
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October 7, 2010
If the corporations running the federal government have their way, equivalent legislation will pass after public attention is diverted to the next corporate/government-induced crisis.
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October 6, 2010
Foreclosure fraud causes two terrible things to happen.
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October 5, 2010
“My job is to do justice.” – Justice Schack
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October 3, 2010
When foreclosures are done with faulty documentation, that could leave the new owners of the house vulnerable to claims that someone else actually owns the property they thought they bought.
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October 3, 2010
When foreclosures are done with faulty documentation, that could leave the new owners of the house vulnerable to claims that someone else actually owns the property they thought they bought.
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October 1, 2010
Excerpt: Chase and GMAC, in their zeal to process hundreds of thousands of foreclosures as quickly as possible and get those properties on the market, employed people who could sign documents so quickly they popularized a new term for them: “robo-signer.”
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September 17, 2010
Violation of any federal, New York State or local criminal law is also a violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, for which you may recover up to $1,000 or your actual damages, plus attorneys fees and court costs.
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July 17, 2010
Of the millions of people in the United States facing foreclosure of their homes each year, few hire an attorney to defend them, assuming that there is nothing an attorney can do to stop a foreclosure. This is often a huge mistake.
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July 10, 2010
In New York, a debt collection action is neither simple nor cut-and-dried. If the collection action is properly contested, it is frequently possible to win the case and owe no money. It is sometimes possible to force the collector to pay money to you.
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April 4, 2010
Contesting Jobless Claims Becomes a Boom Industry – New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/us/04talx.html?hp According to the New York Times article, a company called Talx handles more than 30 percent of the nation’s requests for jobless benefits. Talx was acquired three years ago by Equifax, the credit-rating giant, for $1.4 billion. Equifax’s ownership of Talx creates a clear … Read more
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April 3, 2010
Business Week, “The Disposable Worker – Pay is falling, benefits are vanishing, and no one’s job is secure. How companies are making the era of the temp more than temporary” http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/10_03/b4163032935448.htm
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April 3, 2010
“…these out-of-state law firms and attorneys are committing crimes in New York by practicing law in New York without a license. Committing a crime in the course of an attempt to collect a debt is a violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, for which we sue for monetary damages, attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses.”
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April 3, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/business/economy/02garnish.html?pagewanted=1&hp Good article about a disastrous situation for working poor people who are alleged to owe a debt. Here’s an excerpt: For the working poor, losing a lawsuit can mean disaster. Federal law permits creditors to seize as much as a quarter of a worker’s paycheck, though the cutoff is lower for the lowest-paid workers, and a … Read more
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April 3, 2010
For detailed information, read the Rolling Stone article, “Wall Street’s Bailout Hustle – Goldman Sachs and other big banks aren’t just pocketing the trillions we gave them to rescue the economy – they’re re-creating the conditions for another crash” http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/32255149/wall_streets_bailout_hustle/1
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April 3, 2010
Read the New York Times Article: “Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03intern.html?src=me&ref=general
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April 3, 2010
GREAT WEALTH IS: 1. Nearly always an accident of birth; 2. Virtually unobtainable through legal and ethical hard work; 3. Often amassed through crimes and human rights abuses; 4. Protected by “democratic” governments above all else; 5. Tremendously expensive to protect; 6. Protected with tax dollars paid by the rest of society; 7. Least needy … Read more
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March 31, 2010
The New Poor – For-Profit Schools Cashing In on Recession and Federal Aid – NYTimes.com Commercial trade schools are under fire because they are attracting more students and Pell grants. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/business/14schools.html?ref=homepage&src=me&pagewanted=all
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March 30, 2010
http://play.rhapsody.com/jb-lenoir/the-very-best-of/deep-in-debt-blues
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March 24, 2010
“[A] 2008 report by MFY Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm in New York, found that defendants in consumer debt cases showed up in court less than 10 percent of the time, raising questions about whether they were ever properly served and about the prevalence of sewer service in the industry.”
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