Category: hearsay

How to Stand Your Ground in Court Without Offending the Judge

October 31, 2023

A Guide for Homeowners and Their Attorneys in Foreclosure Defense Did You Take a Loan? We’ve all been there, sitting in a courtroom, listening as the judge fires off a familiar question: “Did you take a loan?” Whether you’re defending yourself or you’ve got a lawyer by your side, this moment can be nerve-wracking. But listen up, it’s crucial to hold your ground. Your response should cut straight to the point: “Your Honor, I’ve had my share of loans over the years. But the key thing here is, I’ve never taken a dime from these folks or anyone they took

HEARSAY OBJECTION AND LACK OF FOUNDATION: How Lockbox and Separate Processing Agreements Divert Money and "Servicing" Functions to Undisclosed Third Parties Acting on Behalf of the Investment Bank Who Originated the Transaction with the Homeowner.

February 15, 2023

From LoanDepot quarterly report, 2022: The Company derives income primarily from gains on the origination and sale of loans to investors, income from loan servicing, and fees charged for settlement services related to the origination and sale of loans. Not one word about revenues or profits arising from the receipt of principal and interest from borrowers. But people who have done business with Loan Depot (and there are thousands of them) all think they borrowed money from Loan Depot. So when they see a document purpotedly endorsed or assigned from Loan Depot, it make sense. But it is a lie.

How Foreclosure Mills Win by Misusing "Judicial Notice"

February 10, 2023

Hat tip to summer chic Judicial Notice is a rule of evidence in which the court receives a written request to accept a document into evidence as proof of the truth of the matter asserted. In Foreclosures, the truth of the matter asserted is that there is an unpaid loan account, and the named plaintiff or beneficiary has the right to administer, collect and enforce it. If that is alleged in a form that is allowed by law, and proven in the manner allowed by law, the foreclosure will be granted. I might add, that it should be granted to

How Evidence Works for and Against the Consumer/Homeowner

April 7, 2022

(Once again, because of minor medical issues I decline to do the Neil Garfield Show. I offer this instead) It is easy to get lost in the weeds. Don’t make up your own words or definitions because your definitions have no relevance to your case. Do hold the accusing side to their words and to the legally accepted definitions of those words as contained in statutes and cases. But above all, start at the beginning — a rookie mistake made by nearly all young litigators and pro se litigants who skip over the gold to pick up a few pieces

"Black Knight": Banks Are Peddling A False National Narrative of Declining Foreclosures

December 7, 2021

I’m busy today so I can’t publish my usual long analytical article. But one thing that is constantly staring at me is the fact that the national press and news releases are in basic conflict with local media. And the fact that local media is going out of business isn’t helping. Black Knight is a company whose size and reputation is entirely based upon preparation, presentation, and use of false documents and information that were forged, robosigned, and back-dated. Those were the days when it was called Lenders Processing Services in which DOCX was used to produce the false documents.

Those letters from the lawyer for the "servicer": PHH

November 2, 2021

It is true that someone will execute a release of the lien. What is not true is that they have any authority to do so — nor is it true that PHH has any right to receive any money, whether it is a monthly payment or a payoff. In fact it is not true that PHH will receive any money. They won’t and they don’t. All payments are directed through lockbox contracts and FINTECH companies into accounts that may bear the name of a company claiming to be a serrvicer but which are owned by someone else. This is why

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

You might not know VendorScape but it sure knows you

October 12, 2020

In a somewhat startling admission by CoreLogic, we now have an admission of many facts that might not have otherwise surfaced but for intensive and aggressive, persistent Discovery. I am not publishing the entire letter from them for privacy reasons. But it is worth mentioning that the letter was sent, after careful legal analysis, as a response to a complaint to the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Board — organized by Elizabeth Warren under the Obama administration. The response was (a) mandatory and (b) subject to charges of lying to a Federal agency. The problem faced by CoreLogic was that on

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

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

Why Reformation Makes Sense as a Response to Illegal Claims of Servicing, Collection or Enforcement of Homeowner Mortgage Obligations

June 18, 2020

In the world of pretend REMICs, there can be no debate that investors who buy “certificates” are unsecured creditors of the investment banks and that investment banks are not legally creditors of homeowners. So why are we allowing investment banks to administer, collect and enforce homeowner obligations? This has been my point from the beginning in 2006 when I started writing and appearing on TV and Radio. The “Securitization” never happened. Investors became unsecured creditors of the investment bank (IB) not secured creditors of homeowners. In turn the investment bank also wanted to avoid accountability and liability as lender so

PennyMac and Other Companies are Making False Claims as "Servicers": Black Knight, the king of fabricated documents is behind 62% of all "servicing records."

June 10, 2020

The bottom line is that companies claiming to be servicers are not servicers although they perform some servicing functions as “clients” of Black Knight. This provides a veil of plausible deniability for lying in court about testimony and documents. Hiding behind litigation immunity foreclosures are being pursued and granted resulting in windfall payments to intermediaries who never had any stake in the financial stake of any homeowner transaction. Examination of the facts shows that the “boarding process” is nonsense i.e., a lie). “New Servicers” simply log on to the Black Knight system. There is no boarding required. It is a

FLA S Ct Reverses Course on Homeowner's Award of Attorney Fees and Raises Other Issues for Defense of Foreclosures

January 8, 2019

For those of us that have access to the data, we know that homeowners are winning foreclosure cases all the time. Nobody else knows because as soon as a homeowner wins or gets into a winning position they are offered money for their silence. The situation worsened when Florida and courts in other states turned down the homeowner’s demand for attorney fees after the homeowner had flat out won the case — especially where the case was dismissed for lack of standing. Here the homeowner once again wins, having advanced several defense narratives. The homeowner applies for recovery of attorney

How to Use National Settlements as Part of Foreclosure Defense

July 23, 2018

Bill Paatalo brought this provision to me attention again. It gives a virtual checklist for discovery: All DOCUMENTS regarding the National Consent Judgement’s (CONSENT ORDER) “Settlement Term Sheet (I)(A)(4) which reads as follows: Servicer shall have standards for qualifications, training and supervision of employees. Servicer shall train and supervise employees who regularly prepare or execute affidavits, sworn statements or Declarations. Each such employee shall sign a certification that he or she has received the training. Servicer shall oversee the training completion to ensure each required employee properly and timely completes such training. Servicer shall maintain written records confirming that each such

Fla 2d DCA: HELOC Instrument Not Self-Authenticating Article 3 Note

May 30, 2018

Just because an instrument is not self-authenticating doesn’t mean it can’t be authenticated. Here the Plaintiff could not authenticate the note without the legal presumption of self-authentication and all the legal presumptions that follow. And that is the point here. They came to court without evidence and in this case the court turned them away. Florida courts, along with courts around the country, are gradually inching their way to the application of existing law, thus eroding the dominant premise that if the Plaintiff is a bank, they should win, regardless of law. GET A CONSULT FREE RESEARCH: Go to our home

Fla 4th DCA Slams Door on "another Ditech loan" in foreclosure claims

April 13, 2018

The trial court erred (i.e., it was wrong) when it accepted unfounded hearsay testimony over Defendant’s timely objections. Kudos to Mark Stopa, Esq. Let us help you plan your answers, affirmative defenses, discovery requests and defense narrative: 954-451-1230 or 202-838-6345. Ask for a Consult. You will make things a lot easier on us and yourself if you fill out the registration form. It’s free without any obligation. No advertisements, no restrictions. Purchase now Neil Garfield’s Mastering Discovery and Evidence in Foreclosure Defense webinar including 3.5 hours of lecture, questions and answers, plus course materials that include PowerPoint Presentations. Presenters: Attorney

Discovery in Foreclosure Actions

April 9, 2018

Discovery is more complex than lay people realize. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in court. Our paralegal, Connie Lasco, saw the problems and forwarded the request for service to me for comment. Here is an example of my comments to one homeowner who is defending her home pro se. She is asking us to do a motion to compel — based upon her filing of a request for production. We do provide those services. But there were certain prerequisites that were unknown to her. My response should assist lawyers and pro se litigants

Vulture Firms: The Last Step in a Chain of Illegal Paper, with the Debt Long Gone

February 28, 2018

The key element of the paper strategy has been to create the illusion of transfers of assets, thus supporting the erroneous narrative that with all those parties purchasing the loans, a lot of due diligence MUST have been done and therefore the screaming defense of homeowners (attacking ownership) is nothing but a dilatory stall tactic. What is consistently missed, even by people who are completely fed up with the banks and regulatory agencies that have given a wink and nod at plainly fraudulent practices, is that the only “asset” is the paper, and that the debt itself has never moved.

FDIC "endorsements" of Note or "Assignments of Mortgage"

February 15, 2018

The FDIC does not want to get into the middle of a court battle over the validity of ownership claims etc. Most endorsements and assignments occurring while the estate of a failed bank is in receivership are of dubious validity and often outright fraud. Chase for example claims ownership of loans when it suits them but denies ownership — or any liability arising out of the loan ads service practices — when it would place Chase in a bad position. Let us help you plan your case narrative and strategy: 202-838-6345. Ask for a Consult. Register now for Neil Garfield’s

Ghostwriter: Fabricating Original Wet Blue Ink Signatures — the Underlying Fraud Behind Nearly all Foreclosures

February 7, 2018

Want to know how they popped up with an “original” note that looked like the original? “Our machines have been in government installations worldwide for over 60 years. The Ghostwriter T550 has been a popular machine. It offers the ability to sign signatures or short phrases on letters, awards, forms, and other correspondence. You are also able to enlarge or reduce the size of the signature to fit the signing area of the document. As with all Ghostwriter machines, security is a priority. Signatures are not stored in the machine but on a removable device. Machines are also equipped with

What and Who is a Creditor?

February 5, 2018

Practically everyone thinks they know what is a creditor even if they cannot identify who is the creditor. The reason that this is important is that the lawyers for the banks have created a divergence of the money trial and the paper trail. One is worth every cent claimed and the other is worth nothing, but for the repeated acceptance of a claim as proof in and of itself that a real transaction is referenced in the paper trail. In most cases, it isn’t. Let us help you plan your narrative and strategy: 202-838-6345. Ask for a Consult. Register now

Wells Fargo, Ocwen and Fake REMIC Trust Crash on Standing

January 16, 2018

What is surprising about this case is that there was any appeal. The trial court had no choice but to dismiss the foreclosure claim. A copy of the note without an indorsement was attached to the complaint. This leads to the presumption that the indorsement was attached after the complaint was filed. Standing must be proven to ex isa at the time the suit was filed. The robo-witness could have testified as to the date the indorsement was affixed but he said he didn’t know. The robo-witness was unable to testify that the default letter had been sent. It didn’t

Fact Check: Robo-witness knows nothing

January 10, 2018

Information is admitted in evidence only after a proper foundation has been laid. If the witness knows nothing about the foundation the evidence should not be admitted as evidence. Appellate courts will usually reverse a trial court’s error in ruling on evidence UNLESS the appellate panel decides that the error would not have made any difference in the outcome. The fundamental fact at the root of all foreclosures is that the homeowner owes a debt to the foreclosing party and has not paid. In the passage below a witness supposedly employed by US Bank displays a lack of personal knowledge

Ocwen Boarding Process Was Shot Down Last Year

December 11, 2017

As foreclosure defense lawyers have been saying for years, the Ocwen Boarding process is a sham. “This boarding process is a legal fiction, and it means something different to every entity,” Butchko ruled from the bench during a March 17 hearing. Ocwen does not verify any of the data. It downloads it and then “calls it a day.” “I have done this investigation for a long time,” he said, noting, “The appellate courts are going under this presumption that there is some type of meaningful auditing and verification.” But Jacobs maintained, “You just heard it from a lawyer who knows how