RESCUE MY HOME: Foreclosure Defense and Debt Solutions Blog
A community of free information sharing provided to the public by your friends at the Law Offices of Bilu & Bilu. "Your home is your castle and under the law you are entitled to defend it."
Bovine Backed Derivatives
Jan 26th
Great– so the next thing that we will find out is that 5 Guys does not actually use meat in its burgers, but rather it invests in BBDs (Bovine Backed Derivatives) which are publicly traded at the slaughterhouse exchange. I could go on making jokes about this all day, but the truth of the matter is that David Stern will continue to profit from his wrongdoing until someone in the government exercises its authority and files RICO charges against him, LPS, and DJS as well as a civil suit for the forfeiture of those ill-gotten gains.
3 Nightmares
Jan 20th
So with regards to story #3– i had a client come in today that had the exact same thing happen to her. It’s amazing– when you enter in to a trial plan as the first step of a Loan Modification, your payment is due on the 1st of the month– there is no grace period. However, if you pay too early, you also run the risk of your payment not being properly credited. I believe that is the definition of a Catch 22
Surrogate Signing is Never Acceptable
Jan 16th
Utterly mind-blowing! Let’s just assume for a second (and only a second) that the Inspector General was correct in the determination that “surrogate signing” is acceptable. Even if that was true (which its not), the notaries that notarized the surrogate signatures have admitted to committing multiple felonies in the State of Florida (See Section 117 of the Florida Statutes). I guess it was more politically expedient to fire the whistle-blowers than than to prosecute the wrong-doers.
The Shadow Inventory is Bigger than You Think!
Jan 12th
There are a lot of numbers to digest in this post (not to mention the methodology that the author makes transparent), but it is really interesting. I have been saying throughout this crisis that the Banks will do only what is best for them, not what is best for the US economy or the American taxpayer- and the proof is in the pudding. The same way lenders like Countrywide and World Savings lied from 2004-2007 about how they were using negatively amortizing loans to artificially boost their “assets”, and (not) coincidentally inflate their stock prices they are now lying about the extent of their shadow inventory and the fact that they are actually the worst culprits when it comes to unreasonably delaying foreclosure sales when they think it is in their best interest. You need to look out for your own best interests, because no one else will do it for you!
The Year of the Short Sale
Jan 10th
We have had our eye in this date for the past few years- with good reason! If you are considering short selling your property, 1 day can make a huge difference to how it affects your tax liability. Another item that this article brushes over (no offense to the reporter) is that the bank must officially sign off in writing before December 31, 2011. This highlights just how important it is to have an attorney work with you on a short sale. While we cannot guarantee that every short sale will end with the deficiency being waived, we do work our hardest to see that it is. We also take great pains to explain to our clients what is happening with their debt before they sign off on their Short Sale- a Realtor is not qualified to do that!
Unethical Attorney on the Ethics Panel
Jan 9th
With over 90,000 attorneys in Florida, you would think that the Bar could have found an attorney who (a) was not the target of a recent Bar Ethics investigation and (b) was not fired by the Florida Attorney General’s Office for the conduct in question. You would think that, but, apparently, you would be wrong!
Man almost loses his home over $0.80
Jan 5th
This happens more than the banks are willing to admit. My office is full of files where the bank puts a client on a trial plan and then files a foreclosure suit while the the modification is ongoing. Even worse, I have a case where my client sent a wire, the bank could not find it and instructed my client not to make anymore payments until they figured it why they could not find the wire and then filed a foreclosure suit regardless. In a case like that, the banks are unwilling to do anything until an attorney or the media get involved. Its just sad.
Bondi Appeals
Jan 5th
As much as I am not a fan of Pam Bondi, the real problem lies with Bill McCollum. In a quickie attempt to garner support for his re-election campaign, McCollum rushed to serve subpoenas on Foreclosure Mills. Only problem, as much as I hate to agree with the Court of Appeals on this, is that he had no business invoking any authority under FDUTPA for these crimes against the citizens of Florida. Truth be told, this should have been a joint investigation coordinated with the AG’s office, the Florida Bar, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (perjury is, after all, a crime). This again goes to show you that our politicians are really out to help themselves, not you!
Foxes Guarding the Henhouse, Part II
Jan 3rd
A little more info on the “independent” foreclosure abuse review proccess. Apparently it is not all that independent, nor is it much of a review. I really wish i could be shocked. Basically, the worst offenders are hand selecting firms to review their practices based on their self-selected criteria. To put it in context, this would be like an accused axe-murderer insisting that he be tried by a jury of murderers and that they only be allowed to hear evidence about whether he used a gun to commit the crime!
The 4th DCA Finally Gets it Right
Dec 30th
Amazing. Kusos to the 4th DCA for this opinion. I have argued the underlying issue successfully many times in Court on a Motion to Dismiss, only to lose the same issue at Summary Judgment when the Plaintiff’s attorney magically appears with the original Note. Unfortunately most of my clients who have found themselved in that situation have declined to file an appeal (for a variety of reasons). It is nice to know that I was right, but it is a shame that it has taken this long to find out
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