Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
NY Foreclosure Mill Attorneys' Failure To Submit Mandatory Paperwork When Filing Foreclosures Clog Courts, Leave Cases Languishing In Limbo
In New York City, the New York Post reports:
Foreclosure-mill attorneys are routinely breaking the law and clogging New York courts with unresolved cases, an explosive new study shows.
In a report set to be released this week, MFY Legal Services shows that foreclosure-mill law firms are still failing to file required documents in an astonishing 43 percent of foreclosure cases started in November 2010 and March 2011. The percentage was even higher for cases in October 2011. These trends suggest that as many as 5,200 of 12,142 residential foreclosures begun in New York last year are languishing in limbo.
“It’s a huge problem,” said Jacob Inwald, Director of Foreclosure Prevention Litigation for Legal Services NYC. “Once you are sued in foreclosure, you are frozen and can’t resolve your situation.”
At issue is the October 2010 rule requiring foreclosure law firms to verify the accuracy of their filings. Created after the robo-signing scandal, the rule was meant to curtail false filings. But because lawyers can begin a case and file two documents afterwards — the accuracy affirmation and a request for a settlement conference — they have a loophole to exploit.
Troubled borrowers pay a steep price. Foreclosure fees and charges rack up, but the borrower cannot attend a settlement conference. As the delays drag on, homeowners become ineligible for certain modification deals, or too deeply in debt to climb out.
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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