Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Court Awards Florida Man Title To Home Lost In BofA Screw-Up; Foreclosure Sale Took Place Despite Homeowner Not Having A Mortgage

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:
  • In the second South Florida foreclosure reversal this week, a Broward County court "vacated" the sale of a Fort Lauderdale man's home that had been sold out from under him, even though he bought the house with cash and never had a mortgage. The court order, made at the request of Bank of America, reversed the foreclosure sale of Jason Grodensky's house.

  • Grodensky was the subject of a Sun Sentinel article about wrongful foreclosures last month [see Lauderdale man's home sold out from under him in foreclosure mistake]. He and his father bought the house for cash and didn't owe money to Bank of America, but the lender had continued to pursue a foreclosure case that began with the previous owner. In July, Grodensky learned that his house had been sold in a foreclosure auction.

  • The news comes one day after Bank of America disclosed that the court had also vacated the foreclosure sale of a Miramar homeowner's property — even though the homeowner had secured a mortgage modification.(1)

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  • Grodensky says he's not planning to go back to court to file a lawsuit against the lender to seek compensation for his four-month ordeal. "I hadn't planned on it," he said. "I'm not out to get anybody. I just want to get it fixed."(2) Grodensky bought the house for cash in December 2009 in a short sale. The seller was in foreclosure. Grodensky said he had no idea that the foreclosure process did not stop at that point.

***

  • Grodensky filed a claim with his title insurance company and was working with that firm to try to resolve the issue. He hasn't yet been notified by the title insurer or Bank of America that the sale was vacated on Monday. "I'm happy it's over, but I am not holding my breath about it," he said. "I'm waiting to see if I actually get contacted."

For more, see Home returned to Fort Lauderdale man who lost property in foreclosure mistake (Wrongful foreclosure case the second in South Florida this week).

Go here for links to other reported Bank of America foreclosure screw-ups.

(1) See:

(2) Earlier media reports reveal that at least one Massachusetts law firm is apparently going around the country taking on these illegal foreclosure & lockout cases on behalf of screwed-over homeowners. See:

For those homeowners who've been screwed over by wrongful lockouts by foreclosing lenders (and their confederates) and seek some possible guidance on how much their cases might be worth if they seek to sue, see: