JPM Chase Won't Evict 104 Year Old Atlanta Woman

Once the local media gets involved it is kind of tough for Chase (or Deutsche Bank) to foreclose on a 104 year old woman's house. The elderly lady has lived there for over 50 years with her 80 year old daughter. But somewhere along the line, a family member took out a loan on the home and didn't pay the mortgage. The bank recognizing a bad PR move around the holidays decided to call off the sheriff deputies and moving van in order score points with Atlanta's citizenry.

How does the foreclosure review process work?

If you went through any part of the foreclosure process during 2009 or 2010, you are eligible to have your mortgage foreclosure process reviewed by a government inspector to see if the bank acted appropriately. Probulica has an interesting Q&A that addresses many of the issues and concerns that you might have. The government website is kind of basic and cumbersome, so if you have issues or comments be sure to share them below. The consumerist said it well: ProPublica's Paul Kiel dissects the various flaws on the new review process. First off, no one is providing a definitive list of which particular lender errors would be worthy of offering the homeowner some sort of compensation. Furthermore, it has yet to be made clear about what that compensation would end up being. Is it cash? Or maybe just a cleaned-up credit report? Beyond that, there is also the issue of the 5-page Request for Review form that can be filed by people who believe they were given a raw deal during the foreclosure process. In addition to the standard questions the homeowner should be able to answer, there are open-ended questions like "Describe any other way in which you believe you may have been financially injured as a result of the mortgage foreclosure process," that may require the input of someone more savvy about lending terminology and foreclosure law.

How to Delay a Mortgage with a QWR

You have a right to a timely and thorough response to your written inquiries. Banks wish you never heard of a Qualified Written Request (QWR). Under Section 6 of RESPA is a requirement that lenders must acknowledge your inquiry within 20 days and respond thoroughly to your inquiries within 60 days. This request for a modification, there is a way to hold their feet to the fire. By sending a qualified written requestsuch as your hardship letter, request for additional concessions and request for itemization of feesyou force the banks to respond in a timely manner. This gets you priority in an overworked or understaffed loss mitigation department.

The man who foreclosed on Bank of America

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Forecloser
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

John Oliver of comedy central's "The Daily Show" filed a report on how the Bank of America foreclosed on a couple that had paid cash for their house. This Florida couple never had a mortgage let alone a home loan with Bank of America. Nonetheless, the bank foreclosed on the couple.

After they dealt with the issue at some level of expense, the married couple hired a rookie lawyer to try and get their money back from the North Carolina financial institution. The bank ignored their requests for months, so the couple foreclosed on their local BoA branch, hired a moving a company and went to the location with a Sheriff to foreclose and confiscate the banks furniture and other assets to get the value of their judgement.

Needless to say, after a few phone calls BoA cut the couple a check. While this skit has a lot of laughs, the story is all still true.

Show the note conference in Arizona

If you have lots of time to spare, you can watch this 1 hour seminar on the legal ins-and-outs of the mortgage industry and on how so many cases of foreclosure are rather weak because of the way many of the banks got sloppy with transferring the title of the note as the loan was constantly passed around various financial institutions.

With dozens of people forging the names of "bank executives" like Linda Green for the likes of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase and Countrywide, it's easy for homeowners to request the bank to show the note and to show proper foreclosure documents---If the signatures on the documents were forged, the homeowner might be able to buy themselves a few extra months while the wheels of justice grind slowly.

As always, be sure to consult an attorney for legal advice that is tailored for your own state.

Part 1

Part 2

part 3

part 4

Man Forecloses on Wells Fargo with a QWR

Recently various media outlets including the Consumerist and USA Today have published articles on Patrick Rodgers a Philadelphia homeowner who was having a ton of problems with Wells Fargo concerning his mortgage.

In 2002, Rodgers paid $180,000 for his nice little house in Pennsylvania and then the Bank wanted him to insure it for 1 million. It also charged him for two home inspections when nobody came over to inspect the house.

Patrick called dozens of times and had no luck in getting any response to resolve his loan issues... Consequently, he went online and did a little bit of legal research. He then decided to write to Wells Fargo with a Qualified Written Request (QWR)... Banks have 60 days to respond to these requests, and if they don't they can be sued for $1,000. Needless to say, the executives at Wells Fargo ignored Mr. Rodgers' requests, and so he took them to small claims court. Nobody showed up---so he got summary judgment. Since the bank still didn't pay, he had the local sheriff serve papers to the local mortgage brokers office in order to auction off items within the office to raise the $1,100 fine.

Low and behold, after the Sheriff's notice and tons of media attention... Wells Fargo ended up contacting the man and had a 40 minute conversation... It will be interesting to see how this issue ends up closing.

Moral of the story, if you're looking to delay your foreclosure process or annoy your bank, you should research this case some more; learn about the Qualified Written Request process and get a little litigious on your mortgage company.

Banks Can't Foreclose on Some Homeowners in Massachusetts

Bloomberg recently reported that the Massachusetts Supreme court ruled against Wells Fargo and US Bancorp.

Essentially, the high court agreed with a lower courts ruling that the foreclosure process the banks imposed against some lenders was not valid because the banks could not prove that they were indeed owners of the note.

The judges acknowledged that the families were not paying their monthly mortgage payment; but unless the financial firms can "show the note" or otherwise prove that they were holders of the mortgage during the time of the foreclosure, then the proceedings can not go through.

Such judicial voiding of foreclosures is getting more and more common has homeowners' lawyers are asking the Countrywides & Bank of Americas of the world to "Produce the note"... At the very least such strategies may delay your eviction a few weeks or months, or as in extreme cases (such as those in metro-Boston) the foreclosures will be thrown out.