Fighting Foreclosure: Where to Start

EDITOR’S COMMENT:

Darrell Blomberg is a pro se litigant who hasn’t made a monthly payment in over 4 years.  He’s not in foreclosure, but it has not come easily.  As he says, he has, “studied his eyeballs out”.  Additionally he works very closely with many homeowners, attorneys and other skilled professionals.  We are fortunate to have him here in Phoenix Arizona and have often wished we could clone him so every city could have at least one of him.  He hosts weekly strategy meetings that we recommend highly to everyone.  (For details see the end of his article below).  

In the article below, Darrell succinctly, directly, and with humor outlines where to start should you decide to fight your foreclosure.  

So you want to fight your foreclosure?  Where should you start?

Start with what you already have available to you.  What’s that?

Personally Archived Documents:

…..Real Property Purchase Contracts

…..Loan Application

Contracts Archived by Title Companies:

……….(Contact them and request the documents)

…..Real Property Purchase Contracts

…..Note

…..Mortgage or Deed of Trust

…..Complete Escrow / Closing package

Recorded Documents: (Recorded, Mailed, Posted, Advertised)

…..Deeds

…..Default Notices

…..Assignments

…..Substitutions of Trustee

…..Court Complaint or Notices of Trustee’s Sale

…..Sheriff’s Deed or Trustee’s Deeds upon sale

Prior Servicer Communication:

……….(You saved that didn’t you?)

…..Monthly statements

…..Missed-payment related documents

…..Responses from any attempted communications

…..Loan modification documents

If you choose to work with an attorney this should be the information you bring to her when you ask her to start a case for you.  If you were just getting behind in your payments and you had this much information for an attorney on your first visit… you’d probably have earned yourself a kiss!  (But don’t forget your checkbook just in case.)

The unfortunate reality is that most people show up at an attorney’s office empty-handed a few days before the foreclosure sale is scheduled to take place.  DON’T be that person.  The attorney is justified in saying she isn’t in a position to help you at that late stage of the sale process.

If you’re going to wait that far into the foreclosure process, at least show up with ALL of the above listed documents and improve your chances of showing the attorney you are worthy of her time.

Don’t want to use the services of an attorney to fight your foreclosure?  If you don’t want to hire an attorney you better have every one of the above documents!  Further, you’ll need to start cracking the books because you’re not going to be playing T-Ball in this ballpark.  You’ve made a choice to join the big league of study.  Here’s the continuing list of what you’ll not only need to learn but what you’ll need to know how to use.  And I freely add that you’ll need to use what you learned under extreme pressure!

Statutes:

…..State & Federal Statutes

…..Civil & Criminal

Case Law:

…..State & Federal

…..Search the highest applicable court first!

Rules:

…..Rules of Evidence

…..Rules of Civil or Criminal Procedure

……….(Local, State, Appellate & Supreme Court, Eviction Actions)……….

…..Rules of Court

…..Oh yes, there’s State & Federal for these too!

…..

Resources:

…..Many Dictionaries & Thesauri (An Antonym resource is helpful too)

……….Old and New

……………(Definitions change and you’ll want to use the right definition)

…..Law Dictionaries

……….Black’s (9 editions, get a couple different ones)

……….Bouvier’s

…..Law Library

……….Many are publicly available

……….Call the state & local courts

……….Check the local Universities

…..Internet

……….Law Schools websites

……….Google Scholar

……….State & Local governmental bodies

……………Administrative Agencies

……………Legislatures

……………Courts

……….Specialty Blogs

……….Specialty websites

…..Other helpful resources

……….American Jurisprudence

……….American Law Reports

……….Corpus Juris Secundum

……….Scholarly Articles

Now that we’ve got that figured out, where do you start?  The best place to start is with an in depth forensic review of your documents?  You’re up to that aren’t you?  What are you looking for?  The big three are: Errors! Contractual Violations! Statutory Violations!

Documents need to be checked thoroughly for authenticity, chronology, timeliness, correct contents, information consistency, method of delivery, chain of parties, authorization and proper notarization.  (Robo-signing hasn’t been established as a game-changer yet.)

The nice thing about reviewing your own documents is that you have all of the evidence.  It’s either in your possession or it is publicly available!  You can even get the recorded docs in “self-authenticating” form on line for just a few dollars.

BIG PROBLEM!

So you’re taking on an adversary with essentially unlimited assets, unlimited time and NO ACCOUNTABILITY.  That’s a monstrous task.  You need allies.  You’re not going to do this alone.  You’ve got to work with other like-minded individuals who are as committed as you.  I suggest you either find such a group or you start one.  I’ve started one and I’ll follow up with a post about that in the near future.

A strong group should amicably pool their talents and efforts.  In 10 months of running weekly meetings I’ve learned a lot.

The number one thing I have learned is that all defenders MUST start sharing ALL of their positive and negative experiences.  This includes; documents, pleadings, court results and bank, servicer and trustee communications.  Why?  Because everybody could have learned something from your share and perhaps helped you too.  But, if you didn’t share, we all missed out on the observation or discovery someone else might have made about your efforts if you had shared your experience.

If we keep up the diligent effort, the Banks, Servicers and Trustees will not prevail!  Attorneys and homeowners who educate themselves and rally together will prevail!

May your opportunities be bountiful and your possibilities be unlimited.

“Emissary of Observation”

Darrell Blomberg

Darrell@ForeclosureStrategists.com

The meetings I host are every Tuesday.

Here’s the details:

FORECLOSURE STRATEGISTS’ weekly meetings

7:00pm to 9:00pm. Come early for dinner and socialization. (Food service is also available during meeting.)

Macayo’s Restaurant, 602-264-6141, 4001 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012. (east side of Central Ave just south of Indian School Rd.)

COST: $10 per couple… and whatever you want to spend on yourself for dinner, helpings are generous so bring an appetite.

Please Bring a Guest!

(NOTE: There is a $2.49 charge for the Happy Hour Buffet unless you at least order a soft drink.)