Kathy Lovelace lost her job and was about to lose her house, too. But then she made a seemingly simple request of the bank: Show me the original mortgage paperwork.
And just like that, the foreclosure proceedings came to a standstill.
Lovelace and other homeowners around the country are managing to stave off foreclosure by employing a strategy that goes to the heart of the whole nationwide mess.
During the real estate frenzy of the past decade, mortgages were sold and resold, bundled into securities and peddled to investors. In many cases, the original note signed by the homeowner was lost, stored away in a distant warehouse or destroyed.
Persuading a judge to compel production of hard-to-find or nonexistent documents can, at the very least, delay foreclosure, buying the homeowner some time and turning up the pressure on the lender to renegotiate the mortgage. ...
Chris Hoyer, a Tampa lawyer whose Consumer Warning Network Web site offers the free court documents Lovelace used to file her request, has played a major role in promoting the produce-the-note strategy. ...
A University of Iowa study last year suggested that companies servicing mortgages are often negligent when it comes to producing the documentation to support foreclosure. In the study of more than 1,700 bankruptcy cases stemming from home foreclosures, the original note was missing more than 40 percent of the time, and other pieces of required documentation also were routinely left out. ...
April Charney, head of foreclosure defense for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in Florida, said the strategy has been so successful for her that she now travels around the country to train other lawyers in how to use it. She said she has gotten cases delayed for years by demanding that lenders produce paperwork they cannot find.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A cool trick to delay foreclosure
I'm no fan of people who bought more house than they could afford, hoping they could get rich quick through real estate. However, I do feel sorry for the people losing their homes because they lost their job, as is common in non-bubble areas like Ohio. So, I got a kick out of this:
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beautiful. saves us from having to subsidize their mortgages... at least until we fully nationalize the banks, which is just around the corner.
ReplyDeleteb/c how else will bondholders remain whole thru this debacle?
ISTR that there was a big discussion in calculated risk a year ago. http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2008/02/lost-note-affidavits-skeletons-in.html
ReplyDelete-Jim A.
What a lowlife that Kathy is. Has she no integrity? It's bad enough that she wasn't honoring her contractual obligation in the first place, but to play games like this is beyond low.
ReplyDeleteNow on the other hand, I'm not sure why the banks don't go down to the deed recorders office and get a copy of the damn paperwork so they can effect the foreclosure.
"John Fountain said...
ReplyDeleteNow on the other hand, I'm not sure why the banks don't go down to the deed recorders office and get a copy of the damn paperwork so they can effect the foreclosure."
Because most of the time, the issue is the lender doesnt show up with the original note, which is NOT recorded (it is supposed to remain in the lender's possession).
The note is technically a negotiable instrument, (like a check) - just like you cant cash a copy of a check, you cant collect on the copy of a note.
This is disastrous.
ReplyDeleteEssentially the crooks found a way around the system.
And this won't stop us from subsidizing their mortgages...instead the money will go to the banks directly.
Which "crooks"?
ReplyDeleteThe borrowers who forestall foreclosure by demanding the lenders produce the note?
OR
The lenders who decided the "produce the note" law was antequated, and they simply didnt need to comply with it in the modern world of CDOs?
BOTH.
ReplyDeleteIt's two crooks trying to screw each other...that's why it's so amusing.
Frankly I couldn't care less what happens to the foreclosed home owners. A very small percentage IMO deserve to have their process stalled and an even smaller percentage should ever see a dime of bailout money.
And I hope even a smaller percentage are ever allowed to buy a home again.
This is nonsense. I fully blame Wall Street for orchestrating this and God knows just how much fraud is going on there.
But I'm not going to let these crooked homeowners off the hook either. Most knew EXACTLY what they were doing. It's their signature on that loan document, it's their decision. They have a brain, they made a choice. They lost. End of story.
It's not my responsibility as a cautious and responsible citizen to bail out crooks, gamblers, and charlatans. Now these homeowners sit there crying and demanding notes, whining about they got conned, they didn't this, they didn't know that.
At worst they tried to make money knowingly. At best they were extremely stupid. Even then, stupidity should be painful.
Well most "homeowners" that are facing foreclosure are retards. So most likely, they wont know or find out how to do this.
ReplyDeletei am always surprised by how little sympathy people getting foreclosed on get here. I mean, yeah, they made a bad move and it was dumb. And I'll even say, people who can't pay their mortgage should generally be foreclosed on (in the current economic conditions I think it probably makes sense for banks and the government to try all available means to avoid a foreclosure). But jesus people, don't revel in it. Lots of people, millions, bought into the lies, hype and stupidity of realtors, lenders and friends. "Buy now or be priced out forever". "Real estate never loses value". "Stop throwing money away no rent". "You'll always be able to refi or sell". I know I was inundated with shit like that and as a guy in his 20's with no real financial savvy it took me alot of research to see why it was all bullshit. I'm lucky I didn't fall for the BS and feel sorry for those who did.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. I'm a renter. Have been for a long time due to what has been going on.
ReplyDeleteI'll be the first to say that I'm overjoyed at what is going on because it's weeding out a lot of crookish, self-serving people. While you may say everyone is like that, I'd disagree again.
My intentions were to buy a home to live in..not to buy and play market in...or borrow against and buy toys with.
If I can be responsible, then why can't others? Now that they have been irresponsible, selfish, and self-serving, why should THEY get a bailout and not me? What message is this sending people? Act like assholes, screw others, and then we'll pick you up if you fall down? I know that's the American way but come on...this is over the top.
Don't feel sorry for such people brother. These people didn't fall into it...you don't simply fall into a casino, start gambling, lose your money, and then turn around and expect to be given your money back.
Feel sorry for yourself for having wasted years of your live watching these ass-bags destroy the economy so you can now pay more taxes to bail them out.
F'em.
Come on man.
The funny part about our taxes bailing them out, Our country ALREADY has one of the highest taxes out of all countries (factoring in income, state income, social security and double that number if you are self employed).....and we don't even get state health care or a free university degree.
ReplyDeleteThe housing bailout and the Iraq war has destroyed us. One day we will have to pay the piper, I hope its not during my lifetime. Luckily my child has dual citizenship.
"The housing bailout and the Iraq war has destroyed us. One day we will have to pay the piper, I hope its not during my lifetime. Luckily my child has dual citizenship."
ReplyDeleteLikely unhelpful. I saw this coming a few years ago and seriously considered moving overseas. Then I realized that as crappy as the US balance sheets are - they are still probably the strongest in the world.
Yeah we gotta pay the piper - but everyone else got a big sh*t sandwich to eat.
So you think.
ReplyDeleteYou need to get out more. Quality of life and standard of living is higher in many other places. We started out lower, and we'll go even lower.
I guess the silver lining is that most Americans haven't a clue how good other people have it.
Thanks for highlighting this. There's a good "How To" article on using a Produce the Note strategy to delay foreclosure at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ehow.com/how_4764181_produce-strategy-prevent-delay-foreclosure.html
Hope it helps.
O"my God you people are hartless. I am in this pitcular situation right now. I am far from a crook or an idiot. My husband an I just came across some hard times. Like many Americans. My husband is selemployed and was working steady, I was working for the big three. Everything was looking good. We remorgtage are home on an adjustable arm with the hopes of refinacing in three years. Well one month later I found out I had cancer. After a year of treatment and nine sergeries later, we quite in debt from my lack of being able to work. I was still employed by the big three,but out off and on because I was left parcialy handicap from one of the surgeries. So when I was layed off from work and offered the buyout I took it w/ the hopes of paying off are debt.We payed off all are debt and were only left with our morgatage. But my husband had no work barley and with me particaly handicap we were unable to make our house payment witch keeps going up every six months.We tried working with the morgtage company, but they only had tempory fixes for us. So before you go and open your mouth and bash people, consider that you don't know everybodys situation.
ReplyDeleteANON:
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry to hear what is going on with you. Particularly the regarding illness.
I don't think anyone here is talking about people like you. You are a VERY VERY small minority that is hit with such problems....the people most of us are speaking about are not people like you and you are rare exception..not the norm.
We're talking about the typical and rampant type of abuser who knew what they got themselves into, got in WAY over their head hoping for a quick buck, and now wants a handout.
Does octo-mom sound familiar? It's these types of clowns. And they are ALL OVER the place.
Best of luck to you and your husband.
Nice post. I like the part about produce-the-note. I live in Tampa and know one person he helped, and it actually worked. Well it did not work like some of the newspapers reporting, but they did get new terms that were very favorable and they were able to avoid foreclosure. It really varries by situation and probably the laws of your state on how far this goes. This site has all the videos they have done. Watch all the videos here:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/bozo2d
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your great "A cool trick to delay foreclosure" BLOG.
Bankruptcy services are very helpful to manage defend foreclosure and review debt remediation. ForFloridaBankruptcy.com providing important financial assistance to people who dealing with bankruptcy, real estate, sales or mergers. Also offer Defend Foreclosure in Florida.
Best Regards
Michael Raines
You know, all are not crooks. We have owned a family run lumberyard for a number of years. All three families for the past 5 years have taken a 50% pay cut to try to keep the business running. We live in the Detroit area. In December we had to close the doors. We put all into the business. We had to do that in the 80's and things turned around. Not this time. We put 40,000.00 down on our house and always payed on time. We owe 100,000.00 and can not keep up. We have no income. My husband is 55 and can not find a job. So your harsh views for all are unjustified!. I had a brain hemorage in 1991 and am not able to help enough to keep us a float. It is sad to see my hard working husband feel like a looser and people like you judging when you have no idea what some people have sacrificed. We have lived in our home for 11 years and payed all interest. We have already payed over 300,000.00 for this house and we will lose it. The bank got all the interest payed to them and our principle was just started to really go down when we lost everything! I understand that is how it goes, but we did not go on great vacations and buy fur coats and cloths, jewelry. We were two hard working people trying to get our kids raised and lost everything.
ReplyDeleteYour story makes me very sad because it's people like YOU who need the help...not the bastards who were flippers and crooks who bought homes to sell in a year or two and run with the money OR the people who walk away WHO CAN PAY.
ReplyDeleteYou, your husband, and people like myself and my wife who work hard and would not think of walking away unless under extreme situations like yourself are the ones getting screwed.
I feel for you and hope you get out of your predicament.