Countrywide Subpoenaed; Possible False Foreclosure Claims Against Homeowners Being Investigated

Buried in an article in today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel is the following blurb:

• The U.S. Trustee, the federal agency monitoring the bankruptcy courts, has subpoenaed Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender and loan servicer, to determine whether the company's conduct in two foreclosures in South Florida represented abuses of the bankruptcy system.

• One of the inquiries involves Manuel Del Castillo and Maria E. Pena, Miami borrowers who filed for protection last May under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. In July, Countrywide Home Loans filed a claim, saying that the borrowers owed almost $279,000. In the second case, the trustee has asked for documents relating to Countrywide's claim for almost $101,000 against William and Joyce Chadwick, borrowers in Boca Raton, who filed for Chapter 13 protection in October 2005. The borrowers in both cases objected to Countrywide's claims of what was owed.

Source: Business Briefing (4th thru 6th paragraph) (11-28-07).

See also, Foreclosure Charges by Lender Investigated (New York Times - 11-28-07) (may require subscription; if no subscription, try here).

Go here, Go here and Go here for more on recent Countrywide problems with consumers.

For more on allegedly false claims being made by home lenders and mortgage servicing companies both in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy proceedings, see:

• Borrowers Face Dubious Charges in Foreclosures (New York Times; may require subscription; if no subscription, try here),
• Bankruptcy Trustees Taking Action Against Dishonest Lenders, (Warren Reports On The Middle Class),
• Questionable Mortgage Servicing Practices Coming To Light In Bankruptcy Cases (11-6-07 post).

Go here , go here , and go here for posts on questionable mortgage servicing practices. questionable mortgage servicing practices tactics yak