More Foreclosure Rescue Victims Fighting Back
WSVN-TV Channel 7 in Miami reports on two cases of financially strapped homeowners who unwittingly signed away their homes and who decided to fight back. In one case, attorney Carol Lombardi of Legal Services of Greater Miami, who has been involved in maybe 15 or 20 of these types of cases, successfully brought legal action against foreclosure rescue operator Hencile Dorsey to take back the home he took from Lombardi's client.
In another case, South Florida attorney James Brady has filed suit on behalf of a husband and wife who unwittingly signed over their home to Florida Housing Council, another local foreclosure rescue operator.
Jack Moussa of the Florida Housing Council has taken the position that the homeowner needs to follow the contract they signed, pay the trust $160,000 for its work and they will get the house back in their names. According to Moussa, "They are quite aware of the American system. They do realize what a contract is."
For more, see Home Heartache.
Postscript
I don't know what law school foreclosure rescue operator Jack Moussa of Florida Housing Council went to, but he better hope that all the judge does is order him to give back the home to the victims. If a judge finds that his forecloure rescue arrangement should be recharacterized as an equitable mortgage / disguised loan, and a judge calculates his "profit" on the deal to be more than 18% per annum, he may be found to have violated Florida's civil usury statutes (Section 687.03, Florida Statutes). Further, if Mr. Moussa's "profit" is calculated to be more than 25%, he potentially stands to forfeit any money he invested in the arrangement (and he also may be getting a visit from local prosecutors regarding possible criminal misdemeanor charges; "profit" over 45% per annum could result in felony charges; see Section 687.071, Florida Statutes).
See:
In another case, South Florida attorney James Brady has filed suit on behalf of a husband and wife who unwittingly signed over their home to Florida Housing Council, another local foreclosure rescue operator.
Jack Moussa of the Florida Housing Council has taken the position that the homeowner needs to follow the contract they signed, pay the trust $160,000 for its work and they will get the house back in their names. According to Moussa, "They are quite aware of the American system. They do realize what a contract is."
For more, see Home Heartache.
Postscript
I don't know what law school foreclosure rescue operator Jack Moussa of Florida Housing Council went to, but he better hope that all the judge does is order him to give back the home to the victims. If a judge finds that his forecloure rescue arrangement should be recharacterized as an equitable mortgage / disguised loan, and a judge calculates his "profit" on the deal to be more than 18% per annum, he may be found to have violated Florida's civil usury statutes (Section 687.03, Florida Statutes). Further, if Mr. Moussa's "profit" is calculated to be more than 25%, he potentially stands to forfeit any money he invested in the arrangement (and he also may be getting a visit from local prosecutors regarding possible criminal misdemeanor charges; "profit" over 45% per annum could result in felony charges; see Section 687.071, Florida Statutes).
See:
- Equitable Mortgage & Usury In Sale Buyback Deals In Florida,
- More On Equitable Mortgage & Usury (Florida).
- Go here for more on the Florida case law on equitable mortgage, generally (some of which also addresses usury), to consider how the case law may be applied to foreclosure rescue transactions structured as a sale leaseback, or variations thereof, with a right to buy back the property in the future. equitable mortgage yak
posted by Home Equity Theft Reporter at 6:58 AM
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