Is Bank of America Resuming Foreclosures?

According to CNN, Bank of America (which purchased Countrywide) said this Friday that it is going to resume foreclosing on homeowners who have fallen behind on their monthly payments.

"We have identified areas of our process that can be improved and while we make these improvements, it's important that we move ahead with efforts to reduce the number of abandoned properties across the country," said Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) Home Loans, in a statement. "The properties can drag home values in neighborhoods and slow the eventual recovery of the housing market."

The bank said it plans to proceed with 16,000 foreclosures this month, though it will observe a "holiday suspension" of sales and evictions from Dec. 20 to Jan. 2.

So if you don't get a foreclosure notice by December 19th, that means that you may be able to get another two weeks. I'm guessing that the bank executives just don't want the company to have negative press that would be associated with kicking people out onto the street during Christmas time.

Consumerist Highlights the "Show the Note" strategy to delay foreclosure

Today the Consumerist blog the editors showed a story about how homeowners can delay foreclosure by asking the bank to show the note.

Beleaguered homeowners who can't pay their mortgages and risk losing their property to banks can try a Hail Mary pass to keep sticky-fingered bankers away from their real estate. They can ask banks to show them the promissory note that they signed during closing, promising to pay the mortgage. If the bank can't immediately dig up the paperwork, homeowners will most likely buy some more time.

Did Chase Bank Stop Foreclosures?

The LA Times reported recently that Chase bank is going to start resuming foreclosing on people who have stopped making mortgage payments. The large financial company headed by Jamie Dimon had temporarily stopped foreclosure proceedings in over 40 states.

Now it appears that Chase will resume the necessary legal work in 23 states starting in mid-November (just in time for the holidays). But California has a more streamlined process and Chase is still working on kicking out people in that state.

If you've had any luck in delaying your foreclosure with a show the note strategy---Leave a comment below.

50 States Investigating Mortgage Fraud

Bloomberg TV reports that attorney generals for all 50 states are investigating mortgage fraud that may have ran rampant in the housing market. Homeowners who have run behind on their monthly payments may be able to delay foreclosure proceedings by having a skilled bankruptcy attorney find errors and fraud in how the mortgage bank and servicer handled the paper-work... This could add months and months to the legal process of evicting them from the home and the eventual foreclosure at the courthouse.

This video features an interview with the Ohio attorney general.

CNN's Produce the Note Strategy to Delay Foreclosure

Whether you are facing foreclosure, have an underwater mortgage, or are just a concerned homeowner, it's important that you contact your bank and demand to see the original note on your mortgage.

Your home could be owned by the wrong bank, or you could even be paying the wrong amount on your mortgage.

This clip was recently on CNN and helps homeowners who are behind on their payments learn how they can search for a lawyer and ask the courts to have the mortgage bank or servicer produce the note (and hopefully they don't use a robo-signer).... This technique may be able to buy your family several extra months in your home.

California with nine kids Breaks Locks and Reclaims Foreclosed Homes

This local California family with 9 kids went to the extreme to keep their foreclosed house. They originally purchased the house many years ago for over $500,000 and eventually borrowed over $1 million on the property---Needless to say, after a little while they fell behind on their monthly payments and got evicted.

Well after foreclosure-gate and the wrath of the robo-signers signing fraudulently on loan documents the family of Jim and Danielle Earl hired a lawyer so that they could stay on Mustang Drive. Well they managed to get a locksmith to open up the house for them and they moved in---effectively squatting in their old residence. Which must tick off the investor who acquired the property, invested tens-of-thousands of dollars in fixing it up prior to selling it to a new owner... The Earls managed to break in before the new family took position.

In my opinion, the Earls are fully taking advantage of the situation... They borrowed $1 million and now want to own the home free and clear with out paying anything. I think they are delaying the inevitable; but this situation may cost the title insurance company a lot of aggravation seeing as how the title has been based to 2 different people after the Earls.

Do Forgeries Void Mortgage Foreclosures?

The Washington Post details an interesting example of how forgeries on signatures of numerous foreclosure documents are bound to cause head-aches for bank and opportunities for lawyers to delay foreclosure proceedings.

For example, Linda Green claimed to be an executive of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, MERS and dozens of other lenders while signing off on tens of thousands of affidavits. In many cases her signature looks like it was actually signed by somebody else.

So depending on the paper work, robo-signers (like Ms. Green) claim to have knowledge of the case and the lending documents in question. Now the US Attorney in Florida, attorney generals from all 50 states and many senators are conducting investigations that may lead to the foreclosures being stopped or delayed.

The Washington Post speculates that some judges were being overwhelmed by the les pending procedures as well and perhaps didn't give each case as much attention and scrutiny as what they really deserved.

How does the foreclosure freeze work?

On the day when JP Morgan reported that in the state of New York it takes almost 800 days from a mortgage being delinquent to the bank being able to sell the property (That's over 2 years), the guys at Fox Business Channel (including Charlie Gasparino) explain how the pending foreclosure freeze caused by improper legal documents can wreak havoc on the foreclosure process.

Barney Frank and other legislatures are scaring some of the bankers with what might happen to the loans on their books.

For homeowners who have fallen behind on their monthly payments one of the best things you can do is to seek out legal council and try and have your bank "show the note" to prove to you and your council that they are actually the rightful recipients of your monthly payments.

The question is if new government involvement will help or hurt the speedy resolution of these issues.

Will my state stop foreclosures?

According to Bloomberg the attorney generals of 40 states may choose to start legal action to stop banks from foreclosing on thousands of homeowners who have fallen behind on their monthly payments.

According to the article:

State attorneys general led by Iowa’s Tom Miller are in talks that may lead to the announcement of a coordinated probe as soon as Oct. 12, said the person, who declined to be identified because a final agreement hasn’t been reached. The number of states may change because several are still deciding whether to join the investigation, the person said.

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King said today in a statement that his state will join a multi-state effort. Lawyers representing the banks are expecting a more widespread investigation, according to Patrick McManemin, a partner at Patton Boggs LLP, a Washington-based law firm that represents banks, loan servicers and financial institutions. Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender, today extended a freeze on foreclosures to all 50 states.

US Representative Grayson Asks Supreme Court to Stop Foreclosures

According to the Orlando Sentinel Florida's congressional representative has asked the state's supreme court to stop all mortgage foreclosures handled by a few notorious law firms in florida that have supposedly fudged some of the documentation. If you're falling behind on your payments in the sunshine state, this may end up buying you a little bit more time.

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has asked the Florida Supreme Court to halt mortgage foreclosure cases handled by three law firms under investigation by the state's attorney general.

In a letter sent Monday, Grayson urges Chief Justice Charles Canady to suspend cases filed by three firms he calls "foreclosure mills:" the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson; Shapiro & Freeman; and the Law Offices of David J. Stern.

Together, those firms handle about 80 percent of the foreclosures in Florida, according to Grayson. Attorney General Bill McCollum is investigating whether the firms presented courts with fabricated documents to obtain judgments against homeowners.

In one Jacksonville case, a judge blocked a foreclosure brought by Washington Mutual Bank and JPMorgan Chase Bank, and their law firm, Shapiro & Fishman, and accused them of fraud when it turned out the mortgage was owned by Fannie Mae.

"I respectfully request that you abate all foreclosures involving these firms until the attorney general … has finished his investigations of those firms for document fraud," Grayson wrote.

How do I legally avoid or delay foreclosure?

Jeff Lerman, "The Real Estate Investor's Lawyer" , on Fox News, discussing "7 Ways To Legally Delay or Avoid Foreclosure".

And one of the most important ways to have the mortgage company or servicing company legally produce the original mortgage note. The homeowner is also well advised to show up for all court dates--Ask your lawyers, ask the judge what your options are---maybe even show up in court a few days early and watch what other people do for their cases... You'll be able to learn what works and what doesn't. Avoid what doesn't work and try to repeat was does work---Remember you're fighting to stay in your house and stop foreclosure---Or at least delay it.

Florida Court asks Banks to Show the Note and finds them committing fraud

This month a Florida court cracked down on a legal firm that supposedly forged foreclosure documents.

A legal firm would assign a fake assignee as the mortgage owner. Sometimes signing a fake name (such as Linda Green) and signed thousands of documents for Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank and others. The court found problems with the notary stamp on many of the documents and sometimes the bank that was bringing the foreclosure to the court never owned the note. And neither did the mortgage servicer.

So if you're in that situation you should know your rights and ask your attorney or the court to have the bank "Show the Note"... If they can't prove they own the I.O.U. on your house, you'll be able to buy yourself significant time.

According to the Washington Post

Some of the problems in foreclosure paperwork are being created because mortgage loans were repackaged and resold to investors so often that the physical documents become lost. It's the job of a document processor to present and vouch for the authenticity and accuracy of these papers, but attorneys for homeowners have unearthed examples where critical records are forged.

In theory, a judge should review the files one more time. But after the crisis produced massive numbers of delinquent homeowners, judges in many cases became overwhelmed.

Some simply took at face value the documents handed over to them by the lenders - who in many cases were not checking the files, either, according to interviews with judges, attorneys and consumer groups.

In some Florida courts, for instance, many judges automatically approve a foreclosure unless a borrower can point to a specific problem. Homeowners are given five minutes for a presentation. Often, they do not bother to show up.