HOAs CAN STOP FORECLOSURES

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EDITOR’S NOTE: One good thing about House Bill 87 recently passed in the Florida legislature is that homeowner associations, condominium associations, and cooperative associations can force a bank to proceed with foreclosure. The problem they have is that once a homeowner knows that foreclosure is “inevitable” they stopped paying the Association dues as well as not making any payments on mortgage debt.

But I think the lead story is that these associations could stop the foreclosures altogether. As I have previously stated on these pages arguments that are frequently rejected by both the trial and appellate courts when they are proposed by homeowners are accepted and even augmented when the same argument is made by an institutional opponent to the foreclosure.

The associations may be included in the institutional category. In my opinion they should take advantage of the new portion of House Bill 87 when appropriate, but their focus should be on filing foreclosures on the homeowners who have not paid their dues. In that same foreclosure it is my opinion that the alleged mortgage that was recorded should be attacked as to both validity and priority.

When I was practicing law in South Florida in the 1970’s and 1980’s I represented hundreds of associations as general counsel and of course as trial counsel for the foreclosure of liens. generally foreclosures were not as pandemic as they are now but there were still plenty of them. The procedure is the same as the mortgage foreclosure.

1. You plead that the association has the right to a lien as per the the Declaration of Condominium or other enabling document for the association.
2. You plead that you gave adequate notice in accordance with the statutes.
3. You plead the amount of monthly dies and special assessments due from this homeowner and you plead that no payments were made (not merely that the homeowner failed to pay). You might want to phrase it as “neither the homeowner nor any other stakeholder has made any payment to the association or its agents on this debt.” (This is to require the Bank to plead the same words).
4. You plead that you filed the lien to secure past dues and future dues until the foreclosure judgment is entered and the property is sold.
5. You plead that the dues were so much for monthly maintenance, so much for special assessments, and that the expenses of filing the lien and enforcing it with an attorney should also be awarded.
6. You plead that all other lienholders are junior to the lien of the association unless you know otherwise. You plead that the mortgage lien recorded at page XX Book XX in the Public Records of the County is junior to the lien of the association.
7. When the trial or Motion for Summary Judgment comes along you have a witness that verifies that they are the records keeper for the condominium as set forth under the Condominium Statutes, they have personal knowledge regarding the receipts and disbursements with respect to the account of this homeowner, they verify or testify what was received from all sources on this account, and that the balance due to the association, as a receivable, is a specific total amount arrived at through simple addition and subtraction.

When the HOA files such an action it is setting the standard for a foreclosure proceeding and it has the full authority of Florida Statutes behind it. Since in most cases the alleged owner of the mortgage lien is no longer the party named on the instrument, the Association can plead truthfully that this party has no interest in the debt and therefore is not entitled to enforce it nor argue for its validity or priority relative to the Association’s lien and foreclosure.

Any OTHER party would be required to intervene and prove that they can make and prove the SAME ALLEGATIONS AS THE ASSOCIATION — something they clearly cannot do. And if they try, depositions of the leading witnesses for the new guest to the party would occur revealing that they have no money trail to show that they funded either the origination or acquisition of the loan and that if they have any claim, it is unsecured and subject to a separate right of action against the borrower. Instead they have a bunch of fabricated paper that refers to financial transactions that never occurred in reality.

The usual end result, if the HOA is successful, and my firm is prepared to demonstrate this to any association that wants to hire us (or who wants to instruct their association attorneys to do it) is that the Association wins, the homeowner redeems the Association lien because it is a small fraction of the presumed lien of the mortgage and everyone is happy except the bank that tried to foreclose who finds itself foreclosed out of the mortgage.

Or the Association becomes the owner of the property at a foreclosure sale or some other person outbids the association WITH CASH and the association lien is satisfied, along with a new owner who pays the monthly and special assessments.

This is going to cause all the players in the false securitization scheme that masked a massive PONZI scheme a lot of trouble because the investors, insurers, government agencies, counterparties to credit default swaps and others who paid on this debt are going to find out through a Court Order that the whole thing was a sham and that the real lenders, the investors never had the bond secured nor was the mortgage debt ever subject to a valid claim through the bond, nor was it properly perfected and secured, so the mortgage filed in the county records was a sham.

HOAs have good reason to follow this strategy for themselves, their distressed homeowners who can be restored to ownership of the property without the illegal encumbrance filed by the the Wall Street players, and for the other homeowners whose property value decreases each time another foreclosure is filed.

John C. Goede: Can HOAs file for a court order requiring lenders to complete stalled foreclosures?
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2013/jun/30/john-c-goede-can-hoas-file-for-a-court-order-to/

The Sneaky Game Banking Giants Are Playing to Suck More Money From the Foreclosure Crisis
http://www.alternet.org/economy/banks-and-foreclosure

WHY WOULD A BANK OF ALL THINGS PAY 6 TIMES WHAT THE PROPERTY IS WORTH UNLESS THEY WERE COVERING SOMETHING UP? Big banks sometimes pay 600% above value to retain Sarasota foreclosures
http://www.housingwire.com/fastnews/2013/07/08/big-banks-sometimes-pay-600-above-value-retain-sarasota-foreclosures

WHERE ARE THE CONVICTIONS OF THE BANK OFFICERS WHO TURNED THIEVERY INTO POLICY? More than 40 convictions in mortgage fraud scheme involving Florida properties, Ohio straw buyers
http://www.inman.com/wire/more-than-40-convictions-in-mortgage-fraud-scheme-involving-florida-properties-ohio-straw-buyers/

WHY DO BANKS WANT US HOMELESS? Our bank wants us homeless
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/08/our_bank_wants_us_homeless/

Does Your Mortgage Receive Your Full Attention?
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20130709_mortgageattention.htm

Tags: Association foreclosures, association liens, condominium associations, cooperative associations, foreclosure, HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATIONS, motions, Pleading, PRIORITY OF LIENS, redemption, validity of liens
Posted in Corruption, Eviction |