The state of Florida currently has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. According to the AP story, a recent report by a workgroup put together by the state court system estimated that nearly 400,000 cases are now pending in Florida and 700,000 more could arise over the next 3 years. The way this order is structured homeowners could possibly have their case automatically assigned to a non-judge unless they object within 10 days. The order also states that the lawyers who are assigned to handle the foreclosure cases cannot practice the “same case type” of law in the county where they work as a magistrate.

The order was approved after the Florida Legislature approved a bill dealing with foreclosures. The bill will make the lenders prove in detail that they own the mortgage or they would need to explain why they cannot prove ownership of the loan.

With this order going through the State Supreme Court System, Florida homeowners now more than ever need the services of a foreclosure defense lawyer to assist them. Hiring an experienced Florida foreclosure lawyer can assist homeowners with the complexities of their foreclosure, but also the changing laws that are happening as well. For more information on how to defend your home from foreclosure, please visit www.litvinlaw.com.

To read more about this story from the AP click on the Yahoo! News link below.

http://news.yahoo.com/fla-court-oks-using-non-183750362.html

Flores states that on multiple occasions Bank of America advised her to stop making regular payments to qualify for the program. Bank of America then proceeded to put her on a trial plan and then denied her application stating that she missed a payment. Flores states that she made all of her payments. Bank of America has foreclosed on her property and has put it up for auction on May 1st.

A spokesperson for Bank of America tells CBS Atlanta that they sent her a trial loan modification in July 2009 and that Flores made the payment a month later which is why they had to decline her acceptance into the Making Home Affordable Program.

Unfortunately for most Americans, this is another example of how lenders are going after homeowners and foreclosing on their properties. This is why if you are facing foreclosure, it is important to consult with an experienced foreclosure defense attorney so they can review your situation and formulate the best possible defense against your lender. For more information on foreclosure defense, visit www.litvinlaw.com.

For more information on this story from Huffington Post and CBS Atlanta Click on the links below.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/17368771/northwest-atlanta-homeowner-fights-foreclosure

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/bank-america-foreclosure-miss-mortgage-payment_n_1414988.html?utm_hp_ref=foreclosure-crisis

Deed in Lieu of foreclosure is where the homeowner hands over the deed to their home to the lender in exchange for the homeowner being released from the terms of the mortgage. The lender can then resell the property to recoup as much money as they can that was lost by releasing the homeowner from their mortgage terms.

Now the question you must be asking yourself is “Why would someone want to walk away from their home?” Well, there are a lot of cases where the home that was purchased was not all that it was meant to be. Some examples include:

1) If a homeowner owes more money on their home then the current market value and the property value is continuing to depreciate, it might be in the homeowner’s best interest to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure so they do not remain in an investment that is harmful to their family.
2) Homeowner’s with bigger families find that the need for a bigger home is not required once their children go to college.
3) Sometimes the homeowner’s job is way too far of a commute than when they purchased the home and are finding that in today’s economy it is too expensive to live so far away from their job.
4) The crime rate might have gone up in the area they live in and it is not a safe neighborhood anymore for their family.

As you can see there are many reasons that someone would want to walk away from their home. While most homeowners want to keep their home, the few that do not want to keep their home have options to walk away. There is no guarantee that a lender will grant a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Hiring an experienced foreclosure attorney can help homeowners review their options and get the best possible solution for the homeowner given their current situation. To learn more about deed in lieu of foreclosure or other foreclosure defense strategies, visit www.litvinlaw.com.

There are many benefits to doing a loan modification for both the homeowner and the lender. For the homeowner, it will stop the foreclosure and bring the terms to a more manageable level for the homeowner to make their monthly payments. It also saves the homeowner from the severe impact the foreclosure would have on their credit score. In many cases it is more cost effective for the lender to do a loan modification than proceeding with the foreclosure process. By modifying the loan, it saves the lender the time, money, and resources are required to go through the entire foreclosure process. When the homeowner is evicted there are increased costs to the lender to maintain the upkeep of the property and paying any homeowners association fees to keep the property value up. In some cases the property value decreases due to poor upkeep of the property and sometime vandalism by the homeowner before they are evicted.

There are many different types of loan modifications that are available for the homeowner. A few of the more common loan modification types are a forbearance, a loan extension, an interest rate reduction, a loan extension, and a repayment plan.

While in foreclosure, hiring an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to assist you with saving your home is paramount. Having a foreclosure attorney negotiate on your behalf can help assist you with getting better terms for your loan modification or if you do not qualify, find another avenue for you to save your home. For more information on loan modifications and saving your home, visit www.litvinlaw.com.

Even though the housing market has improved and the property values are increasing there are still nearly 750,000 homes in the foreclosure process as of February 2013 according to RealtyTrac. Those who are underwater on their loans and in foreclosure are taking a good look at the property values in their area and finding that even though they are underwater, the increase in property value in certain areas means that there may be light at the end of the tunnel. If the housing market continues to improve, it may give homeowners who are underwater more incentive to save their home from foreclosure.

Even if you are underwater and/or facing foreclosure hiring an experienced foreclosure defense attorney will help you in the process of saving your home. Now more than ever it is beneficial for homeowners to keep an eye on their property values as the housing market continues to improve. As property values increase the homeowner has more incentive to not only save their home but make home improvements as well. For more information on how to save your home from foreclosure, visit www.litvinlaw.com.

In today’s economy, putting together a budget to get all of your bills paid can be quite challenging. Besides paying the bills themselves, the challenge is taking the budget you have and organizing which bills you will pay first. One of the most overlooked bills of importance is your Homeowners Association dues. While the cost of the dues you owe may vary among homeowners, people often forget how important it is to be on time with your HOA dues and the consequences that can come about if you fall behind. If you fall behind on your HOA dues, the HOA can file for foreclosure and you are at risk of losing your property and will have the need to hire an experienced foreclosure defense attorney.

Due to the housing slump and recession, a large number of homeowners and investors were foreclosed upon and many of the HOA dues on those properties were never paid resulting in a loss of revenue for the HOA. With the loss of revenue, many HOA’s have cut back on costs and are more likely to foreclose on a property if a homeowner falls behind on their HOA dues. The impact of the mortgage crisis hit the HOA’s hard and it has forced homeowners who are paying their dues on time to help shoulder the burden of the operating costs of the HOA’s. This has put added pressure on the HOA’s to collect any unpaid dues as quickly as possible.

If your HOA has filed a foreclosure against you for unpaid dues, hiring an experienced foreclosure defense attorney will help you in the process. In some cases the HOA might have overcharged you on dues and you have the right to contest those fees. When facing foreclosure it might seem like the end of the world, but foreclosure issues can be resolved and you can keep your home. For more information, visit www.litvinlaw.com.

Through internal emails and employee interviews, it was discovered through the lawsuit that JP Morgan and two of the firms that the bank acquired, Washington Mutual and Bear Stevens, ignored problems and in some cases hid them entirely in order to make a profit.

The lawsuit was filed in 2012 by Dexia, which is a Belgian-French bank. Dexia states that they were duped into buying $1.6 billion dollars’ worth of troubled mortgage-backed securities. JP Morgan has denied any wrong-doing in the case according to court filings and has offered no comment at this time according to the New York Times.

The Dexia lawsuit focuses on complex securities created by JP Morgan, Washington Mutual, and Bear Stevens during the housing boom. As soon as profits went up, they scrambled to churn out more investments regardless of questions about their quality. The loans were then quickly sold to investors. As a Bear Stevens executive explained it to employees, “we are a moving company, not a storage company,” according to the court documents.

JP Morgan usually hired third party firms to examine the home loans before they were packed into investments. The firms searched for problems like appraisals that inflated property values or borrowers who overstated their incomes.

Dexia lost $774 million in mortgage backed securities according to court records and has been bailed out twice.

This is one example of how big banks handled mortgages during the foreclosure crisis. This is why fighting your lender against the foreclosure of your home is the right thing to do. When hiring an experienced attorney to handle your foreclosure defense, it is possible that fraud can be found and it can strengthen your case is keeping your home. For more information on defending your home against foreclosure, visit www.litvinlaw.com.

To read more about the story from the New York Times click on the link below.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/e-mails-imply-jpmorgan-knew-some-mortgage-deals-were-bad/?hp

The homeowner has one of two options when filing an answer to the foreclosure summons or complaint.

1. The Answer- This is the homeowner’s response to the lenders claims listed in the summons or complaint. Your answer must cover 3 areas:
   • Your statement either denying or admitting the allegations made by the lender.
   • The list of affirmative defenses that will be used against the summons or complaint.
   • Any counter-claims you might want to bring against your lender.
2. 2) Motion to Dismiss- If you have grounds for a dismissal of the foreclosure, then this motion can be filed in place of the answer.

Filing an answer is a complicated process if you are not familiar with the foreclosure laws in your state. You need to review the foreclosure paperwork and familiarize yourself with the foreclosure laws in your state so you can come up with the affirmative defenses you will need to file with your answer. Your answer does not have to go in depth, just state the defenses you are planning to use.

If you end up missing the deadline, you can request an extension of the time frame to file the answer. When filing your answer, you should file the answer with the Clerk of the Court. By filing with the Clerk of the Court, you will receive immediate proof that you filed your answer and you can keep a copy that is stamped by the Clerk of the Court for your records. Also make sure you mail a copy of the answer to the attorney of record that is representing your lender in the foreclosure.

If you do not file an answer and just ignore the foreclosure summons or complaint, a summary judgment will be filed against you and you will lose your home. Hiring an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to file the answer and defend your home against foreclosure is your best course of action. Your foreclosure defense attorney will have the knowledge to be able to formulate the best possible answer and defense on the road to saving your home.

MERS or the Mortgage Electronic Registration System is an electronic registry used to track ownership and servicing rights of mortgage loans. When the housing market picked up in the 1990′s, the old Assignment of Mortgage paper trail that was used was deemed too slow and a new process needed to be created to speed up the process as the United States moved into the electronic era. So in April of 1997 the MERS system was launched.

Banks utilized the MERS system to not only speed up the process of the buying and selling of mortgage loans, but by using this system they saved billions of dollars in filing fees. If a loan is paid back on time, the MERS system is only required to have two documents recorded, the original deed of trust or mortgage and the reconveyance of the deed of trust or mortgage when the loan is paid off.

The MERS system is beneficial to home owners, real estate professionals, and title companies as the system allows them to be able to identify who the current holder of the mortgage is. The Mortgage Identification Number or MIN for short, can be used to track the history of the loan throughout the entire process, including securitization and foreclosure. The MERS ServicerID allows homeowners to search for who the current owner of the mortgage is, just in case they need to refinance their loan or initiate discussions with the loan holder to prevent foreclosure on their home.

The information in the MERS system is also used to identify mortgage fraud in foreclosure defense cases. Since a lot of mortgages were added to the MERS system without the original mortgage note and in many cases sold without verifying that the sale was based on the original note, a high number of foreclosures that were filed were not legal. This type of mortgage fraud has been identified in many foreclosure defense cases and homeowners have been successful in keeping their property based on this type of mortgage fraud.

When hiring an attorney for your foreclosure defense, the attorney will utilize this system to identify who the current mortgage owner is and identify if fraud is involved with the mortgage loan. If fraud is detected this will strengthen your case against the bank and assist you in saving your home.

In Judicial States where foreclosures are served, the lender must submit documents and a signed affidavit by the person at the bank who has reviewed and verified the documents being submitted who believes that the facts are true. It was discovered that in many cases the bank employees signing the affidavits did not personally review the documents but they signed the affidavit anyway. Many bank employees testified that they spent on average about 30 seconds on each affidavit they signed which is where the term robo-signers came from.

A foreclosure cannot be legally served to a homeowner if the foreclosure paperwork is not correct. If the lender submits an affidavit that is false, then it cannot legally take possession of the property. Unfortunately for many homeowners, lenders have foreclosed on thousands of properties illegally, but with the discovery of the robo-signing scandal, judges in judicial states are taking a much closer look at the paperwork being submitted before signing off on a foreclosure. In non-judicial states, homeowners can file a lawsuit against the bank to stop the foreclosure process.

The importance of keeping your documentation in order is crucial for cases like this. After you have hired an attorney for your foreclosure defense case, they will be able to review the documentation to see if you have been a victim of robo-signing. If this turns out to be the case, the court will, in most cases, be more than willing to call into question the banks foreclosure paperwork. This will increase your chances of winning your foreclosure defense case against your lender.