Category: foreclosure mill

Attack the "Successors"

April 6, 2021

In analyzing the paperwork in front of you, make sure you read every word and do not accept anything said at face value. A popular ruse by foreclosure mills is the use of the word “successor.” I have been saying that this word is used as a cover-up for “we don’t have title to the debt, note or mortgage.” That means they have no loss connected with a claimed scheduled payment that was not received by a “Servicer” who had no right to receive it in the first place. Hat tip to Gary Dubin, Esq. and Shelley Erickson. If they

Latest Moratorium Extensions Are Two-Edged Sword

January 26, 2021

The new president is facing incoming fire from all directions. If he does not extend the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, hundreds of thousands of people are going to be homeless. But the extension does not come without costs. https://www.marketplace.org/2021/01/25/biden-acts-on-evictions-foreclosures-but-long-term-housing-crisis-looms/ See also https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/black-knights-first-look-2020-ends-with-1-7-million-more-seriously-delinquent-homeowners-than-at-start-of-year-foreclosures-at-record-low-301211915.html * As you have seen on these pages, I am quite confident that none of the scheduled payments from homeowners are legally due. On the other hand, I am loathe to tell homeowners or tenants that they should withhold payments if they can make them. * The reason is basically extortion or duress. By withholding a scheduled

TONIGHT! Why Lawyers Should Want Foreclosure Defense Cases and What They Are Missing $$$

January 21, 2021

Thursdays LIVE! Click into the Neil Garfield Show Tonight’s Show Hosted by Neil Garfield, Esq. Call in at (347) 850-1260, 6 pm Eastern Thursdays SHARE THIS POST WITH LAWYERS YOU KNOW!!! This show is devoted to convincing the lawyers who will listen that they are missing out on something very profitable and important. Representing homeowners faced with foreclosure papers can and does present an opportunity for large paydays, consistent victories in court, and playing a part in changing the trajectory of home finance in this country and around the world. In 2008 I presented a seminar that provided the essentials of

What Happened With Your "Loan" — By admitting that you received a loan you lose.

December 16, 2020

The plain truth is that homeowners are losing their cases through assymetry of information. They think they understand when they do not have a clue. They are admitting the obvious, which turns out to wholly untrue. In so doing they give the court no choice but to enter judgment aganst them. ApplicationForLoanProcessAndFundingOfServiceFees I am experimenting with new ways to present this. If you click on the above chart you will see that the application process is actually a dead end. Nobody actually agrees to lend any money. Nobody does lend money. Money arrives later at the “closing” table but unknown

Chase loses again after trying sneaky maneuver

December 15, 2020

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER LEHMAN DEALS WHERE CHASE CLAIMED OWNERSHIP AND STOLE PROPERTY FROM HOMEOWNERS? Neither Chase nor anyone else actually has a claim or a case against the homeowner if the premise is that either Chase or some other named “trustee” owns the loan through the magical process of “securitization”. The fact that securities were issued is not a license to lie. Using a label doesn’t mean anyone is telling the truth. Even Chase couldn’t stomach defending a nonexistent securitization process; so it lied about something else. In this case it lied about ever receiving the note which

How and Why to Litigate Foreclosure and Eviction Defenses

December 2, 2020

[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form] Wall Street Transactions with Homeowners Are Not Loans * I think the biggest problem for people understanding the strategies that I have set forth on this blog is that they don’t understand the underlying principles. It simply is incomprehensible to most people how they could get a “loan” and then not owe it. It is even more incomprehensible that there could be no creditor that could enforce any alleged obligation of the homeowner. After all, the homeowner signed a note which by itself creates an

Document Review for Dummies: Why homeowners and their lawyers get confused by documents proffered by foreclosure mills

November 10, 2020

It occurs to me that most questions I receive contain either an inquiry about the meaning of documents or statements as if they know the meaning of documents. So here is a short primer on reviewing documents that might help. WHAT (IF ANYTHING) IS THE TITLE OF THE DOCUMENT? While this seems to be simply a matter of reading and common sense, there is more to it than that. If I draw a rough picture of a dollar bill and hand it to you, nobody will accept it as payment for anything even if the writing on it says “United

Why are conditions precedent so important in foreclosure cases?

November 6, 2020

The mischaracterization of a condition precedent alters the burden of proof. (e.s.) If compliance with the HUD regulation is a condition precedent to foreclosure, the plaintiff carries the burden of proving substantial compliance with the condition when it presents its case, so long as the borrower has made a specific denial of the plaintiff’s allegation that it had satisfied all conditions precedent (e.s.).2 See, e.g., Chrzuszcz, 250 So. 3d at 769–70. But if compliance with 24 C.F.R. § 203.604 is an affirmative defense, “[t]he defendant, as the one who raises the affirmative defense, bears the burden of proving that affirmative

More Details on VendorScape, CoreLogic and Black Knight

October 13, 2020

Hat tip to “Summer chione” So it is apparent that the banks are responding to discoveries about how orders are transmitted to lawyers, “servicers”, realtors etc.. While it is all the same playbook, they merely change the name of the characters. So internally the name VendorScape might still be used but externally, to the public, they are showing different names and even showing multiple names for the same “service”. But is always the same, to wit: a central repository of data that has been robotically entered to support misrepresentations of investment banks that massage the data, control the reports, and

Tonight! Is it time to sue Black Knight? 6PM EDT 3PM PDT The Neil Garfield Show

October 1, 2020

Thursdays LIVE! Click in to the Neil Garfield Show Tonight’s Show Hosted by Neil Garfield, Esq. Call in at (347) 850-1260, 6pm Eastern Thursdays Tonight I will discuss the curious case of blatant economic fraud on the entire country by investment banks. They figured out how to eliminate the risk of loss on lending, how not to be labelled as a lender subject to lending laws, and who pursue collection, administration and enforcement of obligations that do not exist. And then by denying the receipt of funds that paid off the loan on their own books they continue to operate as though

Watch that modification agreement. You are being forced to accept a virtual creditor instead of a real one.

September 29, 2020

“Morality is an existential threat to commerce and politics. Although we legislate morality we refuse to enforce it. It is OK to lie to consumers or borrowers but not OK to lie to a financial institution who by the way is lying to you.” Neil F Garfield, October 2009 speech to regional bankruptcy conference in Phoenix Arizona. The proposed modification agreement is an attempt to force or coerce the borrower into accepting a NEW term of the loan agreement that any attorney would advise against, to wit: acceptance of a designated creditor instead of a real one. The transmission of

Another Homeowner Victory In Hawaii! Gary Dubin, Attorney

September 28, 2020

US Bank v Compton 9335344481 Hawaii 2020 Dubin So here is yet another example of litigation done correctly. This case demonstrates that the courts can and will be convinced to rule in favor of homeowners when the correct issue is raised at the right time in the right way. Here are some quotes from the case: “Compton asserts that the evidence which U.S. Bank sought to admit through (1) the “Declaration of Indebtedness and on Prior Business Records” by Carol Davis (Davis), a “Document Execution Specialist” employed by Nationstar Mortgage LLC d/b/a Mr. Cooper (Nationstar), as servicing agent for U.S.

How to Fight Those "Declarations" from False Claimants in Foreclosures

August 7, 2020

The bottom line is that the loan account was extinguished contemporaneously with the origination or acquisition of the account. There is no loan account claimed as an asset of any company. The records of the self-proclaimed servicer are not records of the loan account or the establishment of the loan account on the books of any company. Therefore they are not records of the creditor. Besides being fabricated those records are irrelevant and inadmissible without foundation testimony and proof that the loan account has been established on the books of some creditor and even then, even that is irrelevant unless

Gary Dubin, Esq. Scores Another Victory for Homeowners in Hawaii in Notorious LSF9 Case

August 4, 2020

More kudos to Gary Dubin who keeps producing favorable decisions for homeowners. This ruling is important for a variety of reasons. This time it is all about the rules of evidence and legals tanding to even bring the claim. see US Bank LSF9 v Verhagen 7-20-20 * The first reason is that it presents a court of appeal that drilled down on the actual facts rather than the presumed facts. This is a substantial departure from prior judicial practice. I think it reflects a change in judicial attitude. While nobody is willing to say that these foreclosures are entirely fraudulent, The suspicions and

The missing second witness —Attacking the Business Records of A Servicer: Start with the fact that the company is self-proclaimed servicer with no proof of authority and then pivot to the absence of records establishing the debt as an asset.

July 29, 2020

Excellent article written by attorneys at Blank Rome on the issue of Business Record exceptions to the hearsay rule. The hearsay rule is simple. It excludes from evidence any statement that is uttered out of court — whether that statement is in writing or was made orally. see https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-supreme-court-resolves-conflict-20649/ So here is what it looks like in a typical old-fashioned foreclosure trial. The witness testifies that he or she is the records custodian of a bank. He/she says she has the records of the homeowner/borrower from the bank and he/she testifies that he/she knows from his/her own personal knowledge that those

Just like I said: Megabanks are doing just fine despite economic downturn — at the expense of investors, taxpayers and homeowners.

July 21, 2020

Major banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley used massive trading revenues to beat profit expectations despite the continued struggles of the United States economy during the coronavirus pandemic. Those trading units tend to perform best when markets are volatile, helping to guard the major banks against economic struggles. see https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/17/without-big-wall-street-trading-arms-regional-banks-lean-on-mortgages-and-fees-to-beat-earnings.html Way back in 2006 and 2007 and when I first started publishing articles about the mortgage meltdown (before most people realized there was a meltdown) I reported that the major banks were siphoning off much of the wealth contained inside the U.S. I said that these mega banks were parking ill-gotten gains off-shore in various

There is no valid cause of action for foreclosure arising from the Uniform Commercial Code. There is a cause of action under common law contract — but nobody has alleged that in claims or defenses.

July 20, 2020

The only way that enforceability of the homeowner transaction can be preserved is through common law contract, in which UCC presumptions would probably not apply I recently received a question from a paralegal asking a question I constantly receive — where do I find my loan. Or more specifically how to find out which trust owns my loan. the answer is that (a) you are asking the wrong questions and (b) you are admitting that the loan is actually in a trust. That simply is not true. Here is my reply: I appreciate the work you are doing. I think

Who is PennyMac and Why Was It Needed by Wall Street Banks?

July 17, 2020

I received an email from one of my most prolific contributors that I am republishing here because virtually everything in it is entirely correct. I especially approve of her point about the fact that servicer advances are funded from proceeds of public offerings of stock that were all purchased by the Wall Street banks who did the underwriting. Substance over form: the banks were giving PennyMac the money to make servicer advances. The banks were using the investor sourced money supply to buy the fake stock offering. None of it was real. The end result is that all roads lead

How did Wall Street make all that money on "securitization."

July 13, 2020

Servicers did not make any advances. They never did and they never will. They said they did but they didn’t. If you read the prospectus carefully you will see that the money from investors is divided into three parts. * The first part is the purchase of a certificate that promises payments to the investor based upon a formula that is independent of any homeowner debt, note or mortgage. It does not commit the Investment Bank to using the funds in any particular way. But the payments are partially indexed on the performance of an arbitrarily chosen group of loans

Does the REMIC Trust Exist?

July 8, 2020

In all jurisdictions, even if the trust has some assets, and therefore legal existence as a legal person, if the asset in question has not been entrusted to the trustee on behalf of beneficiaries, the existence of the trust is completely irrelevant. And all claims arising from the supposed existence of the trust are also irrelevant and lack Foundation. I agree that the existence of the Trust might be a subject for debate. However, the fact that a trust exists on paper does not mean that it exists relative to any loan or debt or note or mortgage. In fact,

Moratoriums Extended: That Doesn't Mean You Won't Be Out On the Street Or Living With Relatives

June 9, 2020

Governor Ron DeSantis (R) Florida, issued a new order extending the moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions. * The investment banks on Wall Street like this turn of events because they no longer need to lie orally to homeowners in order to get them to fall behind in payments. Their goal is foreclosure and eviction mostly except for abandoned properties after foreclosure which are called Zombie properties. * Practically everyone who has had an issue with mortgage payments has heard the familiar refrain: “you don’t qualify for a modification because you are not delinquent in your payments. You must be at

Sham Affidavit Rule in Federal Courts Might Apply to State Court Actions in Foreclosure

June 5, 2020

A sham affidavit is one that asserts facts that are inconsistent with facts alleged in pleadings or previously proffered in discovery, prior affidavit or proffered documents. This happens a lot in foreclosure cases when foreclosure mills file motions for summary judgment. They often casually change the claimant by reference or name adding some power of attorney or other claim that is not attached or explained. The sham affidavit rule bars the affidavit in its entirety if it asserts facts or positions that are not consistent with prior assertions. The sham affidavit rule can apply to attempts to contradict not only

BEWARE: MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES MAY NOT STOP SALES OF THE PROPERTY

May 22, 2020

In a nutshell, moratoriums will do very little for homeowners or the courts. First unless a specific moratorium order states that it bars sales and evictions it is only the foreclosure action that is temporarily suspended. At some point in the near future, homelessness will spike because of a new tidal wave of foreclosures. Second a moratorium does nothing to forgive payments. So when the moratorium expires, all the payments are due unless you ask for and receive some sort of forbearance agreement from servicers (who probably don’t have any authority despite all appearances to the contrary). Third, don’t rely

Why Homeowners Lose Their Homes to Crooked Banks

April 21, 2020

The first and foremost thing about this is that where any loan is subject to claims of securitization, that claim is false. So no investor ever bought any loan, debt, note or mortgage. Not ever. All documents claiming to memorialize such transactions are false. So the designated claimant has no claim. To win these cases you must be realistic about what you are up against. The justice system doesn’t care about the merits of any claim, defense or denial unless it is properly and timely presented in accordance with the established rules of procedure and laws of evidence. It is