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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Say "Produce the Note" to delay your foreclosure

If you're asking, "How can I delay my foreclosure?" you should watch this video.

In 1,700 bankruptcy cases that deal with foreclosure the bank can't produce the note. Legally, they should be able to prove to the court that you owe them money on your house.

According to fox news, some people have stalled the foreclosure process for a few weeks to several months---Helping buy you time to negotiate a lower payment plan with your bank.

CNN Reports that 50% of Banks Can't Show the Note

With tens of thousands of families facing foreclosure each month, Greg Hunter says that 1/2 the time banks don't have the paper-work to show that they own your mortgage.

CNN tells the story about a homeowner falling behind in her loan payments in 2007. Needing a mortgage workout, Wachovia still foreclosed after she tried to pay a catch up payment... But the bank admitted to losing the mortgage note---And this isn't a rare occurance according to Katherine Porter (University of Iowa); she says that 40% of banks can't provide evidence that they own.

One set of 14 mortgages are still in limbo because the bank can't produce the note to show proof of ownership.

CNN recommends that people facing foreclosure get an attorney or at least show up on their court date and content the foreclosure---Ask the bank for proof that they own the house.

Tough Times in Georgia

This story is featured in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

ISSUE IN-DEPTH: FORECLOSURES: State must aid homeowners

Lawmakers should act to mitigate depth and length of crisis by curbing mortgage practices that hurt borrowers.

By Maureen Downey

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, March 08, 2009

New homes sales in metro Atlanta fall 52 percent in 12 months.

Area foreclosures set a record in February, and the state’s jobless rate hits a record high in January.

One in eight Georgia mortgage holders are now either behind on their payments or in foreclosure.

Read the rest of the story here

Delaying Foreclosure in Colorado

House Bill #1276 has started its path towards debate on the house floor. The Colorado legislation would make it possible for a homeowner to delay foreclosure.

Basically, once a notice of foreclosure is sent to the homeowner, they would have 20 days to contact a government agency. That agency would then decide if the home-owner gets a 90 day window to delay foreclosure and try and work out a solution to their mortgage payment issues with the mortgage lender.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Foreclosure Delay tactic---Show the Note

The Chicago Sun Times recently published an article talking about how the mortgage securitization market has made it difficult for mortgage companies that are foreclosing on home owners to find the paper-work that proves that they own the mortgage.

Click Here to read the Chicago Sun Times "Produce The Note" story

Delaying Foreclosure with Show the Note, may note work in New Hampshire

According to WMUR the "Show the Note" technique doesn't work too well in New Hampshire in delaying foreclosure... This is because you don't have to go to court in order to foreclose on somebody.

So if you're tempted to use the "Show the note" technique in New Hampshire, you'll have to sue the mortgage lender in court to "Show the Note", but the New Hampshire judges still have work arounds to make it easy for foreclosure to proceed.

Indiana Legislators Move to Delay Foreclosure Filings

According to WIBC Indiana's legislature has approved legislation that would delay the foreclosure process and help home-owners negotiate new mortgage terms to get caught up.

House Approves Bill That Would Delay Foreclosures
By Eric Berman
2/25/2009

The Indiana House has overwhelmingly approved an attempt to stem the tide of foreclosures.

Lenders would have to delay filing foreclosure actions for a month to try to negotiate new mortgage terms with homeowners on the edge.

House Financial Institutions Chairman Jeb Bardon (D-Indianapolis) says the bill still needs work, in part because the state must wait to see what changes the Obama Administration makes in federal bankruptcy law. One proposal under consideration would let bankruptcy judges force lenders to accept lower interest rates on mortgages.

Bardon's bill formalizes the state-sponsored loan counseling service established to help homeowners avoid toppling into foreclosure.