Halloween in the time of foreclosure

Posted on October 31st, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

When we moved across the country to accept a position to be caretakers for a farmhouse on an island, we did not sign up for ghosts! Today’s post at Love in the Time of Foreclosure on ChicagoNow is about the possibility of our house being haunted. Make sure to check it out and share your ghost stories in the comments section!

Day 3 on the island: Is this house haunted? – Love in the Time of Foreclosure

Last year we threw a wonderful Halloween party on a budget by decorating the house with the help of scary movie projections. The house actually blogged about it last year on its blog. Here’s a look back at that:

My Halloween Costume – The House Blog

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Miami Homeowner Not So Secret Weapon to fight Foreclosure – The lost note defense!

Posted on October 30th, 2009

Miami and South Florida homeowners fighting foreclosure or upside down on their mortgage may have a way out. Judges around the Country are holding banks trying to foreclose to their burden. TILA, HOEPA, RESPA are words Banks don’t want to hear. Many judges have lost patience with lenders. The days of a quick foreclosure sale and whopping deficiency judgment have changed some. A strong defense to foreclosure can make the difference in avoiding financial ruin. You need qualified counsel with prior bank experience to fight for you. Barakat, Jacobs & Associates are trial lawyers who negotiate from strength.

The law in Miami, Coral Gables, Kendall and Pinecrest is the same throughout South Florida and NY – The bank has to prove they own the note to foreclose. In October of 2009, New York Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain held PHH Mortgage failed to meet its burden to foreclose on a home in White Plains, and wiped out the $461,263 mortgage debt on the property. The pen is mightier than the mortgage, especially when applied to a court order. The reason for the result: if the lender can’t prove ownership of the promissory note, borrowers have leverage, and “may even be able to stay in their homes mortgage-free.”

Securitization is the reason notes have gone missing since the housing boom. Large pools of bank loans were bundled and sold to scores of investors. However, no one was watching the henhouse and the notes, were never adequately tracked or recorded. In some cases, that means nobody truly knows who owns what.

According to a transcript of the Sept. 29 hearing in the White Plains case, The Bank’s counsel said: “In the secondary market, there are many cases where assignment of mortgages, assignment of notes, don’t happen at the time they should. It was standard operating procedure for many years.” Judge Drain rejected that argument, and ruled he had “more than 50 percent doubt that if the debtor paid this claim, it would be paying the wrong person.”
Fair Game – If the Lender Can’t Find the Mortgage – NYTimes.com.pdf

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