Foreclosure Lawyers

Maryland Foreclosure Activity Appears to be on the Decline

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:45:06 +0000

Here is an interesting chart using realty trac data for the state of Maryland . It shows that the number of foreclosures actions including foreclosure sales, notices of default and lender purchases has declined dramatically after peaking in 2009. Some of is due to people waiting to see how the various suits against the banks settled out, but the long term trend is clearly on a downward slope.

State of Washington Foreclosure News

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:18:39 +0000

By DAVID ARON

One of the more imaginative responses to the foreclosure issues confronting the country is embodied in the state of Washington Foreclosure Fairness Act of 2011. The act seeks to utilize mediation to expedite the resolution of foreclosures with the help of trained foreclosure lawyers and other HUD approved counselors.

Mediation has long been viewed as a way to quickly and efficiently resolve issues with out resorting to high cost litigation.

According to Managing Director of Public Safety at the Washington State department of Commerce Richard Torrance, the Washington Foreclosure Fairness Act stipulates that if someone is in the foreclosure process, in many cases, they can request mediation and the process must be completed within 48 days. Aside from offering a low cost solution it enables people to directly face each other and resolve a situation quickly. “It gives them a voice,” notes Torrance who heads up the facilitation of the program.

According to Torrance’s statistics about 50,000 homes this year are in danger of suffering foreclosure. He notes the program in its first year referred 1325 cases to mediation. Of those referred, 364 were mediated and of those cases 179 resulted in mediated agreements.

Torrance noted that it was the first year of the program and that there was a ramp up phase during which mediators needed to be certified before cases could be mediated. He noted that the regulations are being fined tuned and in July the length of time before mediation needs to be completed will be extended to 70 days and that eligibility is being adjusted as well.

Foreclosure Attorneys News for West Palm Beach, Cleveland and New York City

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:24:43 +0000

By DAVID ARON

Kimberly Miller of the Boca Raton Post has been doing some excellent reporting of the foreclosure crisis. A post I particularly like is a recent missive charting the rise of fraud amongst Florida and Boca Raton foreclosure attorneys.

According to Miller, the Florida Bar Association received 1394 complaints on housing related issues since 2008; a staggering 793 of the complaints related to loan modification in Boca Raton and Florida overall.

That being said the Florida Bar has chosen to open investigations on only 377 foreclosure fraud cases, of which 234 are pending and no punitive actions taken. The Bar seemingly has been more concerned with foreclosure attorneys in Boca Raton or Florida in general focusing on loan modification. Miller reports that the Florida Bar has taken disciplinary action against foreclosure attorneys practicing loan modification a total of 137 times, and disbarred three lawyers.

Miller adds that in August, Boca Raton attorney William O’Toole was placed on emergency suspension when the Florida Supreme Court concluded his home loan modification and foreclosure defense business was causing “great public harm.”

Boca Raton Foreclosures Dropping
Perhaps a more important but underreported story is that, at least in Florida, banks are seeing a drop in customers greater than 60 days late on their mortgages. Donnna Gehrke –White of the Sun Sentinel, has been following this good news story. She reports that according to Bank of America, the number of homeowners in South Florida with delinquent mortgages was 30,000 in June 2011 and is now just 19,000.
According Gehrke-White, the drop is part of a national trend highlighted in the U.S. department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report released April 6th.

According to HUD statistics, as of February, 39,902 homeowners have gotten loan modifications in Palm Beach and Broward Counties to make their monthly payments lower and more affordable. Another 3,902 families are now on a trial modification plan, according to the Treasury report.

Gerhke-White quotes an official at Boca Raton-based Paradise Bank, saying that there were currently no outstanding West Palm Beach foreclosure loan issues or any Boca Raton foreclosure or Florida foreclosure issues for the bank, as they had no home loans from the last 30 days with payments more than 60 days in arrears over the last two months.

BIG Cleveland Foreclosure
Case Western University’s Center on Urban poverty and Community Development is reporting the beginnings of growth in Cleveland’s Urban Core. The report cites sites significant growth in the downtown, as young creative types take advantage of the cheap rents and urban amenities. The emphasis, however, is on the nascent nature of the growth.

There is still much distress in the city and it is taking its toll on the commercial property scene. US Bank recently began a city of Cleveland foreclosure process on a $56 million loan on a 40 story building that has been in delinquency for two years. The Erieview, a 700,000 plus square foot building, is 28% vacant. According to news reports the owners believe they can avoid foreclosure. No doubt they have contacted clever Cleveland foreclosure lawyers to help.

Cleveland Foreclosure Kefuffle
Some non-profits are fighting to help homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure in Cleveland. Unfortunately, rather than fighting banks or predatory lenders, these non-profits are fighting themselves–Ouch. It appears a number of local outfits including Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People, Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland, Community Housing Solutions and the Cleveland Housing Network are taking umbrage that a national group of do-gooders, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) out of Boston is planning to hold a marketing event at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein’s Center in June.

The local groups’ claim is that NACA came to town in 2009, attracted a lot of attention and then failed to follow through with many of the people that were in danger of suffering Cleveland foreclosures.
Although this may be in part a turf battle, there does seem to be some legitimacy behind the local groups’ charges. Since 2007, the Ohio Attorney General’s office received 19 complaints against NACA, including some relating to telephone solicitations and foreclosure counseling. That being said the complaints did not result in actions against the group.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which approves housing counseling agencies, has no record of action against the group. HUD does not say however whether complaints have been filed against a group.

NYC Foreclosure Attorneys may need voice lessons.
In a recent news report by John Farley for Channel 13 in NY, singing protestors attempted to block the auctions of 6 NYC foreclosures. All told, about 40 housing activists and homeowners gathered at the Bronx Supreme Court. The blockade attempted to halt six auctions through song.

13 of the protestors were arrested and removed from the courtroom of Hon. Douglas E. Mckeon. According to Farley’s report it was the seventh NYC foreclosure blockade coordinated by Organizing for the Occupation (O4O). Formed in April 2011, O4O has had some success in blocking NYC foreclosure auctions during the past few weeks. However, also according to the report, the court system is becoming more proactive against the protestors; one waggish NYC foreclosure attorney suggested that the protestors may need to add dance to go along with the song act.

This isn’t to say that NYC foreclosures are not a serious issue. The Channel 13 report reveals there are approximately 100,000 pending foreclosures in New York with the highest concentrations of these foreclosures in New York City neighborhoods such as Jamaica, Queens, and the South Bronx. An overwhelming 75 percent of these homeowners face foreclosure without NYC foreclosure lawyers.

The process can take months or even years while meetings are scheduled, emails sent back and forth and the courts in every borough experiencing severe backlogs. But for most homeowners comes the final stage, an auction, where savvy bidders come looking for a great deal on a property and I suppose, can get them for just a song.

Foreclosure Dispatches: Views From Around the Country

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:13:34 +0000

From the Huffington Post

Foreclosures aren’t going away. By now, the abuses that brought us to this point and continue to sink us further into the crisis — predatory lending practices, hastily securitized loans and mortgage servicing errors — are well known. Accountability for these abuses, however, remains an open question.

As we await the outcomes of the 50-state attorneys general settlement and the Obama administration’s new federal Financial Crimes Unit led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, we must not lose sight of the homeowners and communities who suffer the collateral damages of foreclosure.

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law teamed up with the National Coalition for the Civil Right to Counsel and independent producer Sarah Reynolds to create a multimedia video series entitled Fighting Foreclosure: Why Legal Assistance Matters that tells the stories of homeowners around the country. The series focuses on the perspectives of people who have seen or experienced firsthand what happens when homeowners go up against banks and mortgage servicers without an advocate at their side. Time and again, with counseling and legal representation, homeowners are able to catch documentation fraud, lending violations and other unlawful practices, and negotiate a fair settlement to stay in their homes.

Community groups, legal aid lawyers, and housing counselors continue to act as first responders in a slow-moving foreclosure disaster that, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, is not even half-way over.

Dispatch #1: Sarah Ludwig and Josh Zinner, Co-Directors, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) in New York City

NEDAP — a financial justice resource and advocacy center based in New York City — recently released a report showing that 345,435 mortgages were at risk of foreclosure in New York State in 2011. NEDAP’s analysis confirms that the state has a long way to go before the foreclosure crisis is over. The report shows that neighborhoods of color continue to be disproportionately affected.

From where you’re sitting, what, in your view, is one of the main challenges facing homeowners in foreclosure?

Servicers, servicers, servicers. We are years into the foreclosure crisis, and banks, through their mortgage servicers, continue to present serious obstacles to homeowners, resulting in millions of foreclosures that could and should have been averted. The problem should perhaps come as no surprise, since servicers generally continue to make more money from foreclosing on homes than from modifying mortgages, and public policy response has been slow at best in terms of requiring meaningful accountability by the industry. People who seek to negotiate effective loan modifications with servicers continue to get the major runaround, experiencing maddening delays and unreasonable denials of their loan modification applications. Meanwhile, the financial industry has spent millions upon millions of dollars lobbying against even the most basic reforms — to the profound detriment of families, communities, and the country.

What is one aspect of the foreclosure crisis that has been overlooked by the media?

The media, in general, have failed to address the fact that so little has been done to hold banks accountable — notwithstanding general consensus that banks and Wall Street caused the foreclosure crisis (enabled in no small measure by their regulators), and notwithstanding what we now know was a multi-trillion dollar bank bailout. Similarly, most media have categorically avoided core questions regarding the restructuring of our financial system to ensure fairness and equity going forward. Another glaring gap is coverage of the millions of people who’ve unfairly lost their homes to foreclosure. What’s happened to them? Where are they now? Where’s the redress?

By some estimates, we are only halfway through our nation’s foreclosure crisis. What is the biggest change we need to make in addressing this problem going forward?

Broadly speaking, we need to forge a coherent, comprehensive federal housing policy that is grounded in principles of fairness and equity, and that emphasizes non-speculative housing models, such as community land trusts, mutual housing, and limited equity cooperatives. It is also vital that we address pervasive unemployment, underemployment, and the lack of a living wage. In terms of the mortgage industry, servicers should be held to strict rules and legal standards, such as a fundamental duty to work in good faith with distressed homeowners. The rules should require servicers to reduce principal for people underwater on their loans, for example, and include meaningful enforcement mechanisms and strong penalties for non-compliance.

Nevada Says Bank Broke Mortgage Settlement- NY Times

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:31:17 +0000

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

The attorney general of Nevada is accusing Bank of America of repeatedly violating a broad loan modification agreement it struck with state officials in October 2008 and is seeking to rip up the deal so that the state can proceed with a suit against the bank over allegations of deceptive lending, marketing and loan servicing practices.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in United States District Court in Reno, Catherine Cortez Masto, the Nevada attorney general, asked a judge for permission to end Nevada’s participation in the settlement agreement. This would allow her to sue the bank over what the complaint says were dubious practices uncovered by her office in an investigation that began in 2009.

In her filing, Ms. Masto contends that Bank of America raised interest rates on troubled borrowers when modifying their loans even though the bank had promised in the settlement to lower them. The bank also failed to provide loan modifications to qualified homeowners as required under the deal, improperly proceeded with foreclosures even as borrowers’ modification requests were pending and failed to meet the settlement’s 60-day requirement on granting new loan terms, instead allowing months and in some cases more than a year to go by with no resolution, the filing says.

The complaint says such practices violated an agreement Bank of America reached in the fall of 2008 with several states and later, in 2009, with Nevada, to settle lawsuits that accused its Countrywide unit of predatory lending. As the credit crisis grew, the settlement was heralded as a victory by state offices eager to help keep troubled borrowers in their homes and reduce their costs. Bank of America set aside $8.4 billion in the deal and agreed to help 400,000 troubled borrowers with loan modifications and other financial relief, such as lowering interest rates on mortgages.

But foreclosure problems mounted in Nevada, where Countrywide originated 262,622 loans, and complaints about the bank’s loan servicing practices began flooding into Ms. Masto’s office shortly after the settlement was struck. She found that Bank of America had “materially and almost immediately violated” the terms of the settlement, according to the complaint.

Ms. Masto declined to comment beyond the court filing.

Jumana Bauwens, a spokeswoman for Bank of America, said the bank was reviewing Ms. Masto’s complaint. “We disagree that there has been any material breach of the consent decree and will continue to vigorously defend this action,” she said.

Ms. Masto’s request to terminate the 2008 deal could raise further questions about the extent of its liabilities arising from Countrywide’s lending practices and from the bank’s own loan servicing activities in the foreclosure crisis. The move by the Nevada attorney general could also imperil the already shaky negotiations over improper foreclosure practices being conducted by state attorneys general and the four largest banks, including Bank of America.

Those talks, which also involve federal officials, have stalled over the summer with disagreements over whether the deal would allow state regulators to bring future lawsuits against the institutions for questionable practices. Attorneys general who do not want to give up the right to file additional suits against the banks — including Ms. Masto, Eric Schneiderman of New York and Beau Biden of Delaware — have declined to endorse a proposed settlement.

The breadth of the new Nevada complaint indicates that Bank of America’s problems extend throughout its mortgage operations, including origination, loan servicing and securitization. Nevada officials also found broad problems in the bank’s interactions with imperiled borrowers.

For example, the complaint says the bank advised credit reporting agencies that consumers were in default when they were not, and contends that Bank of America employees deceived borrowers about why their requests to modify loans were denied. In addition, it says, the bank falsely claimed that the actual owners of loans had refused to allow changes to their mortgages, and it incorrectly claimed that borrowers had failed to make payments on trial loan modifications when in fact they had. Bank of America also misled borrowers, the Nevada attorney general’s filing noted, by offering loan modifications with one set of terms only to come back with a substantially different deal.

Among the more troubling findings in the Nevada complaint is the contention by several Bank of America employees that the company imposed strict limits on the amount of time they could spend on the phone assisting troubled borrowers seeking help with their loans.

One worker said in a deposition cited in the complaint that employees were punished if they spent more than seven minutes or 10 minutes with a customer. Even though these limits allowed almost no time for assistance, Bank of America employees who did not curtail their conversations were reprimanded, this employee said.

The Nevada filing also maintains that Countrywide, which Bank of America acquired in 2008, did not deliver necessary loan documentation when it put together mortgage securities and sold them to investors during the boom. Under the typical pooling and servicing agreements struck between Countrywide and investors who bought the securities, the bank was required to endorse the mortgage note and deliver it to the trustee overseeing the pool. Countrywide failed to do so, the complaint notes.

These paperwork failures should have barred the bank from foreclosing on borrowers, the Nevada complaint says, but it went ahead nonetheless. This aspect of Ms. Masto’s complaint echoes a lawsuit filed in early August by Mr. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, to block a settlement between Bank of New York and Bank of America covering 530 Countrywide mortgage pools. In that case, Mr. Schneiderman contends that Countrywide did not deposit loans into the mortgage pools as required and that the bank had no right to bring foreclosure actions against these borrowers.

Ms. Masto’s complaint asks that the court impose civil penalties on Bank of America and order it to cover the costs of caring for foreclosed properties borne by municipalities.

State Attorneys General & 5 U.S. Banks Near Settlement

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:21:53 +0000

The imminent settlement between the 5 largest U.S.Banks and State Attorneys General will make it more important than ever for homeowners in distress to be represented by competent counsel.

A big part of the reason that the banks are signing onto this settlement, is that it will leverage the credibility of the Obama Administration and State Attorneys Generals to further their efforts to convince homeowners to sit on their legal rights related to legitimate claims they may have over lending and foreclosure practices.

Participating Banks are betting on the fact new modification promises may entice homeowners to walk away from real actionable claims against lenders, servicers and their vendors

This makes it more imperative than ever for lawyers who represent homeowners and consumers to cut through the noise and hopeful implications of the settlement to help make sure that homeowners are represented. (Find out how to more effectively reach potential clients here)

The settlement itself amounts to little more than moving around the deck chairs on the Titanic. The math simply doesn’t work. The principal reductions promised will either be spread like peanut butter over millions of mortgages, too small to advantage either the homeowner (or the lender) in any significant way, or at the proposed dollar allocation announced today, will only benefit a fraction of the homeowners facing foreclosure.

The proposed $2000 payment to families wrongly foreclosed upon is exactly the minimum that a husband and wife would be entitled to under a Fair Debt Collections Practice Claim. Those of us who represent homeowners know that there are state consumer protection claims and tort claims available that could provide wrongly displaced homeowners will tens of thousand of dollars more.

The silver lining in the settlement is that it does not in any way limit homeowner defenses or counterclaims in the foreclosure process. It is more important than ever for homeowners to be represented by competent lawyers.

Marc Dann
WWW.Lawprofits.org

Internet Marketing

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:48:36 +0000

GAIN EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO USE THE DOMAIN NAME FORECLOSURELAYERS.COM IN YOUR LOCAL AREA!

This Is A New Advertising Platform Like No Other

Prior to the formulation of this advertising platform one URL like foreclosurelawyers.com would be accessible to only one law firm, and would only be valuable to a firm that had a nationwide practice, you would not want someone in NY seeking your foreclosure services if you were only practicing in CA. What we know is that having a valuable address like foreclosurelawyer.com could impact your business causing growth in orders of magnitude.

What would your business’s ability to reach new clients seeking your services be if you had the address for your region of the country for foreclosurelawyers.com. This address (which you could use in your marketing efforts) can be yours while not having to change any elements of your existing investment in your current Web site.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss with you the measurable results you could expect by associating yourself with this million dollar brand.

GEO-TARGETING Web Properties is a Game Changer – You can be a part of it: Our ability to Geo-Target will attract the 1,000′s of potential clients that are looking for your services because you will have the right address. Foreclosure lawyer is a natural search term that will drive clients to your Web site that today is getting no traffic or only traffic you are paying for. All of this new access can be utilized without having to alter any current Web site presentation or marketing campaigns already underway.
What Benefits Your Firm Will See Immediately

High Google ranking for those seeking foreclosure assistance
Local targeted lead generation seeking your services for your area of practice in your city
Drive additional traffic to your Web site from high Google ranking results
Your natural listing will always be there while pay-per-click ends the minute you stop paying
Companies that rank in the top 5 Google positions have an 78% chance of being selected
We pay for the SEOeffort for the URL foreclosurelawyer.com you gain the results
Monthly reports that measure your results
NO long term commitment, we will earn your loyalty and continued business with results

YOUR FIRM CAN BE A PART OF THIS GROUND BREAKING USE OF THE INTERNET AS AN ADVERTISING PLATFORM

MAKE FORECLOSURELAWERS.COM YOUR VERY OWN ADDRESS TO THOSE SEEKING YOU OUT- FINALLY YOU CAN BE FOUND

How We Get You Found

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:47:00 +0000

Can the clients you seek for your foreclosure services even find you when they are searching for an attorney who practices in their area? There are literally millions of pages indexed on the Internet on nearly any given topic and Google dominates where consumers search for local businesses. In fact, a vast majority of users report that they use Google monthly to find a local business.

The fortunate few websites that are found among the first ten on the first page are the only real winners. Numerous studies show that of the millions of search terms put into Google daily, it is PLACEMENT that determines which web address gets clicked on.

You can start benefitting TODAY from the highly-searched term “foreclosure lawyers” by using the URL foreclosurelawyers.com as your very own web address and as a part of an Internet marketing campaign to build your website’s traffic and visibility.

All Posts

Google Search Snapshot

FORECLOSURELAWYERS.COM can provide you with this necessary PLACEMENT in Internet search engine results. Unlike other media, it has been scientifically proven that where your website is listed is critical in increasing the volume of traffic to your site. As a lawyer, the number of visitors to your site is crucial in the acquisition of new clients.

PLACEMENT Drives Traffic; Traffic Drives Qualified Visits; Qualified Visits Drives New Client Acquisition. It all starts with PLACEMENT and in order to reach your goal of ranking in the top ten on page one, you would normally have to pay thousands of dollars. Instead, you can own the URL foreclosurelawyers.com in your area and rank HIGH in natural search results.

Why YOUR Internet Address Is Critical

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:42:54 +0000

Google Search Snapshot

Google is successful because it has stayed focus on what it is that makes them successful; simply put “making sure that each search query you input into the Google Search Engine returns with the most relevant result. There are two groups of people on the Internet; those who are seeking to find solutions and those doing research about those solutions. Amongst those two segments are those who know you by name and those who do not. You don’t need those who know you to find you…you are looking to be found by those folks who need your specific services in your specific area. That is why having and address that can be found is critical. You won’t be found without it.

Being found is both Critical and more every day more DIFFICULT. In today’s Internet Marketing arena only the strongest the smartest and most honest players will occupy the first page and thereby be the ones selected by doing research and shopping. Its starts with a marketable address like foreclosure lawyers and it takes skill to maneuver and comply with all of Google’s ever expanding way to make sure when someone clicks on your address your services have the highest percentage of probability in being the most relevant response to that search query like foreclosure lawyers.

What You Can Expect

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:40:31 +0000

You can expect to have the clearest view of your “return on marketing investment” ever. One of the most significant aspects of this new Internet Marketing age is that absolutely everything, each and every click is able to be measured. If you cannot measure your advertising/marketing investment then don’t do it. How many people have been added to your new client rolls as a result of 1 Phone directories 2. Bar Association directories 3. Internet directories or banner and affiliate marketing efforts, my guess you know it is too much but not at all aware of how much too much.

We offer you a whole new way of using technology which delivers your Web or Landing page directly to the individual searching for your services. No more having 3 clicks to a directory listing off of the Google search results; right from Google to your site, directly. You get full advantage of a world class Web address (foreclosure lawyers.com) and all the status and Search Engine Marketing required to get it to the top of the first page. Placement will create traffic.

If you are in the top 3 results returned by Google for a foreclosure related search term you are likely to see 40-65% of that traffic stopping at your site. Assuming your message is crisp and speaks to the mindset of the searcher you could expect to see as much as a 20% rise in solid new business derived from those searches.