Two Ongoing Florida Cases Show HSBC's Purported Foreclosure Moratorium May Be BS; Inquiries To Lenders' Attorneys Yield No Explanations

AOL's Daily Finance reports:

• In HSBC's 2010 annual report, the bank asserted that it had stopped "processing foreclosures" and that it "suspended foreclosures" in December, even though the information wasn't made public until Feb. 28, when HSBC filed the report with the SEC.

• But based on at least two cases still working their way through Florida's courts, that delay in disclosure apparently also meant that HSBC didn't tell attorneys bringing foreclosure actions in the bank's name to put their cases on hold. Indeed, if HSBC had systematically put its many pending foreclosure cases on hold in December, the news surely would have come out before now. So it's appropriate to ask: What does the moratorium announcement really mean?

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• In two active Florida cases, Wells Fargo is trying to foreclose as the loan servicer for HSBC, which is the plaintiff and will, if the foreclosures are successful, get the properties. The case names reflect HSBC's role: HSBC v. Harley, and HSBC v. Shinneman. Both are set for trial later this month, and as of March 3, had not been not affected by HSBC's foreclosure moratorium.

• Jacksonville Legal Aid attorney April Charney represents Harley, while attorney Todd Allen represents Shinneman. Both reached out to their opposing counsels repeatedly after the HSBC moratorium became public. Both opposing counsels told them on Thursday that the cases were going forward. (When I contacted the attorney for HSBC in the Shinneman case, Travis Harvey, his response was "no comment." HSBC's attorney in Harley, Michael Winston, didn't reply to my email.)

For more, see What Do HSBC's Foreclosure Moratorium and Robo-Signing Claims Really Mean?