Friday, December 30, 2011

WELL NOW, THE NEVADA SUPREME COURT IS ABOUT TO MAKE THINGS INTERESTING! ANYBODY WANT TO GUESS WHICH WAY THIS ONE IS GOING TO GO?

Nevada Supreme Court to Hear Case to Determine Legality of MERS Foreclosures

By on December 29, 2011

Nevada’s real estate market was devastated by the bursting real estate bubble and the subsequent foreclosure crisis.  Home prices in many areas of Nevada are down by 50-60% or more since the market peaked in 2006.  Until recently, Nevada has consistently had one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the country.

Now, the Nevada State Supreme Court is set to hear a case that may consider whether or not the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) has the right to foreclose on a property in its own name.  If the State Supreme Court rules that mortgages assigned by MERS cannot establish ownership, homeowners could challenge any foreclosure done in MERS’ name.  Other  courts across the country are split on this issue.
MERS holds more than half of mortgages across the United States, and a similar number in Nevada.  MERS has been at the center of much controversy over the past couple of years, and was recently the focus of a scathing piece in Harper’s Magazine (Stop Payment! A Homeowner’s Revolt Against the Banks), as well as an investigative report on 60 Minutes.

The housing market in Nevada is so bad, that according to Corelogic’s 3rd Quarter Negative Equity Report, as of November, 58.3% of homes with mortgages in Nevada are underwater, while 4.8% have near negative equity.  Total home equity in Nevada among homeowners with mortgages is less than -$10.3 billion, making the average loan-to-value ratio in the state 110.2%.  Nevada is the only state that has a net negative home equity.

As a result of this disaster, Nevada has been one of the most aggressive states in fighting mortgage abuses.  In October, Nevada passed a tough anti-foreclosure law that makes it a felony for a lender, servicer or trustee to make false representations or claims over a title.  In the wake of this law, foreclosures in Nevada plummeted.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has been very aggressive in fighting foreclosure fraud and robo-signing.  Notably, she is pursuing criminal charges against robo-signers, has teamed with California Attorney General Kamala Harris in a joint investigation into mortgage abuses, and recently announced a suit against Lender Processing Services for consumer fraud in their foreclosure practices in Nevada.
This case could have a massive impact to say the least.  I will be following this one closely and will report back with updates.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

DID YOU LOSE YOUR HOME TO WRONGFUL FORECLOSURE? HERE IS HOPE.

HOMEOWNERS: DID YOU LOSE YOUR HOME TO WRONGFUL FORECLOSURE? DO YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A ROBO-SIGNATURE ON YOUR DOCUMENTS?

 If you lost your house in foreclosure or were forced to short sale it because your lender would not work with you... don't give up just yet. If you have a robo-signature by your bank on your loan or a lack of proper paperwork regarding transfer of title by your bank... you definitely have legal options to go after your lender for a wrongful foreclosure.

Do any of you feel that you were wrongfully foreclosed upon, and what is your story?

You can call me (Andrew) at 877-400-0219 ext. 301, I can go over exactly what I am talking about and your options. I look forward to speaking with you and hearing your story.

Or if your prefer, e-mail Andrew the details of your story. Send him your home's address, city, state, county, the name the title was in, and your phone number.

 GOD BLESS YOU ANDREW!

Friday, October 28, 2011

WHAT ABOUT HOMEOWNER HOSKING? WAKE UP AG KAMALA HARRIS AND DOBERMAN MITCHELL J. STEIN AND HELP VIRGINIA HOSKING WHO IS SCARED OUT OF HER MIND, WAITING TO BE FORCED FROM HER HOME. FOCUS!


Lawyer accused of mortgage-related fraud sues attorney general

Jeff Turner/Flickr
Los Angeles-area attorney Mitchell J. Stein refers to himself as "The Doberman" and his website advertises, "You Hold The Leash."
In August, California Attorney General Kamala Harris raided Stein's offices and accused him and other lawyers of fraudulently misleading thousands of struggling homeowners into paying to be part of mass lawsuits against mortgage lenders like Bank of America.
But Stein sued back, after warning on his Twitteraccount that "The Doberman is about to take a large bite out of Kamala Harris." Stein has accused the attorney general of being "the pawn of America’s most powerful banks,” claiming that Bank of America "corruptly funneled money" to Harris, according to one of his lawsuits.
As the legal sparring continues, the alleged fraud victims are running out of time.
Virginia Hosking received a notice last week directing her to vacate her foreclosed Whittier house within three days.
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"Now I’m sitting here freaking out, afraid to walk out my front door in case they come lock me out," Hosking said.
Hosking said her husband had just passed away and she was facing foreclosure last year when she paid $4,000 to another law firm targeted in Harris' fraud suit.
Hosking said she was told that joining the lawsuit against her mortgage lender, Bank of America, would help save her house. At some point, Stein's firm, which has been suing Bank of America since 2009, took charge of Hosking's case.
The attorney general accused the lawyers of deceiving homeowners into thinking that the lawsuits would stop foreclosures or reduce their mortgage payments. In a press conference announcing the action, Harris called it "work that will bring justice to many homeowners in California who were targeted by predators who happened to have a law license."
Stein, who signs e-mails with a picture of a Doberman pinscher, claims that he is "Bank of America’s biggest nightmare" and that Harris' suit puts struggling homeowners at risk.
He points out that Harris received four donations in February, totaling $1,500, from attorneys with the law firm representing Bank of America.
Stein's recent lawsuit accuses Harris of doing the bidding of Bank of America by removing "the superstar who had been beating the bank to a pulp for two and a half years."
Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris, called the suit frivolous.
"We respectfully decline to address the very strange claims made in this lawsuit," he said in a statement. "It is, sadly, another example of what we uncovered during our investigations: false promises designed to lure already distressed homeowners into paying money to lawyers who refuse to properly represent them."
A Bank of America spokeswoman declined to comment.
Stein's office sent e-mails to clients like Hosking asking them to show up at a court hearing to support Stein "in the fight against bank and government corruption."
His firm sent out a press release that said hundreds of homeowners would gather in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement and "against Ms. Harris' support of the 1%."
Meanwhile, the State Bar of California obtained a court order stating that Stein "has become incapable of devoting the time and attention to ... his law practice" and authorizing the bar to seize his files and freeze his bank accounts.
Stein, however, maintains the order doesn't apply because it names Mitchell J. Stein and Associates and not his newer partnership, Mitchell J. Stein & Associates LLP. For the same reason, Stein's website states, "this law Firm has never been sued by the State of California."
Stein is also trying to stop seizure of his assets through his Florida bankruptcy proceeding.
The state bar notified Hosking that she could pick up the confiscated files relating to her, but she would have to find another lawyer.
Hosking keeps getting solicitations promising to save her house if she pays a fee.
"There are all kinds of preying people out there. I don’t know who to trust anymore," she said.
The state bar will work to return money to alleged victims from Stein's frozen funds, said Suzan Anderson, an attorney for the bar. Authorities also are encouraging banks to give a break to people like Hosking.
"Right now, the attorney general and the state bar are discussing with the lenders how they might be able to put a hold on any foreclosures because of these actions and maybe work with the people and give them time," Anderson said.



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Saturday, October 15, 2011

SAN MATEO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ARE RESOLVED TO STEP IN FILL THE GAP THE GOVERNMENT HAS LEFT AND COMMUNICATE TO THE FEARS OF HOMEOWNERS


Official seal of County of San Mateo

Foreclosures rise in San Mateo County;
local officials try to help

By Stephanie Soderborg | 15 Oct 2011
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Like an obnoxious neighbor, housing problems did not wait for Rose Jacobs Gibson to settle in to her position on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors before they came calling. Her first two days in office, she remembers, the phone lines were flooded by elderly and low-income constituents who feared they would lose their homes because of changes to the federal Section 8 subsidy program.

Crowds wait in line to check in to the Oct. 1 San Mateo Count Foreclosure Resource Fair. (Photo: Stephanie Soderborg/Peninsula Press)
People did not understand how the changes would affect their lives, and the government was not doing enough to inform them, Jacobs Gibson decided.  She resolved to help get the necessary information to the public.
Twelve years later, her cause remains the same – only now her work focuses largely on the thousands of home foreclosures in the county.
Early this month, her office hosted a Foreclosure Resource Fair, bringing together bank lenders, housing counselors and legal advisers to provide free advice to the nearly 200 people who crowded into a community center in Menlo Park. At the fair, the supervisor’s office began to distribute a 28-page guide for homeowners and renters, titled “Foreclosure Prevention.”
The guide provides answers to frequently asked questions, offers tips for avoiding foreclosure, suggests when not to keep a home and lists more than 60 local foreclosure assistance resources. Those resources include counseling agencies, alternative housing resources, legal aid and nonprofits that provide related services such as mental health counseling and food programs.
“One of the challenges is that people have such pride, and when it comes to their home it is just so difficult to have to admit that you are faced with whatever the problem is,” Jacobs Gibson said.

Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson addresses the attendants of the 2011 Foreclosure Resource Fair. (Photo: Stephanie Soderborg/Peninsula Press)
As measured by per capita figures, San Mateo County has weathered the nation’s foreclosure crisis better than many areas of California. Of late, though, the trend is more ominous. In September, 788 properties were under notice of default, forced auction or bank repossession in the county, up from 498 in August, according to RealtyTrac.com, which tracks foreclosures. Counties in the rest of the Bay Area saw a decrease over the same month.
Foreclosures can have a widespread effect on a community by depressing property values.
Encouraging homeowners to seek help is an important step, Jacobs Gibson said. Residents who work with housing counselors are 60 percent more likely to keep their homes and significantly modify their loans than those who do not seek help, according to an Urban Institute study.
“A lot of homeowners feel that they have to come up with money to seek help, which they don’t. Some feel that they can resolve the problem themselves, when they cannot,” said Bob Kane, a lawyer who volunteers at the free Community Legal Service in East Palo Alto. “For a lot of them it is just that they are not aware of the resources out there.”
Many people who attended the Oct. 1 resource fair agreed to be interviewed under the condition that they be identified by first name only, explaining that the forced loss of a home is a highly personal matter.
A homeowner named Jeff said he drove 90 minutes one way to attend the fair. Due to lack of counseling, he said, he did not recognize the severity of his situation until too late.  Now he is facing foreclosure. “I thought we had a minor bump in the road,” he said.
The fair and resource guide also help governments and community service agencies because, in some cases, not everyone is aware of where to refer clients, according to Jacobs Gibson.
Martin Eichner, the director of Project Sentinel, a HUD counseling center, said large agencies coordinate with each other already. But until now, Jacobs Gibson said, it was hard to find a single resource listing all the available services. “There will be a little more assistance now that people can provide with out having to try and think, ‘who do I call and where do I go,’” she said.
Laura Fanucchi, the associate director of Human Investment Project Housing, a nonprofit dedicated to home sharing and self-sufficiency, explained another benefit of the resource guide: “We cannot focus our time on creating this type of resource, yet it is so valuable in case management.”
Agencies that provide assistance to the best of their abilities bring peace of mind to many struggling clients. For Jeff, the counseling advice he received at the resource fair provided a sense of relief.
“We came in scared to death… at the potential of loosing our house at some unknown date in some unknown process,” he said. “We are able to come out today… and we’re pleased. We are coming out happy.”

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NEVADA CONTINUES TO LEAD THE NATION IN STOPPING FORECLOSURE FRAUD.

Animated flag of Nevada.Image via Wikipedia

Foreclosure fraud law
takes effect on Saturday


A new law that imposes stricter recording requirements on mortgage servicers takes effect this Saturday, providing homeowners with an extra layer of protection.


Assembly Bill 284, also known as the "Foreclosure Fraud Reform" law, requires mortgage servicers to show clear and complete documentation of a mortgage note's ownership before foreclosing on a property and selling it. The law was passed during the last session of the Nevada Legislature.


The law also requires parties seeking to foreclose in the state to file a notarized affidavit with the appropriate county so residents can access information about their mortgages. The required information includes the owner of the mortgage note. Finding out such information can be difficult for owners of distressed properties seeking a loan modification, especially for notes that have been securitized and resold several times.


"Nevada homeowners ... now must be told who really owns their house and whether they even have the power to sell it," said Greg Jensen, a Reno homeowner lawyer and owner of Jensen Law Group. "These changes -- coupled with the 2009 law allowing Nevada homeowners to elect foreclosure mediation -- provide greater transparency in foreclosures, prohibits trustees and banks from cheeky foreclosure arrangements, and now gives homeowners a new lawsuit remedy."


The question now is whether the law can be used to identify which parties have the authority to negotiate loan modifications on behalf of the mortgage note owner, said Keith Tierney, a Reno lawyer.


Tierney, a former mediator for the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program, says servicers who take part in mediation sessions despite a lack of negotiating authority have been a problem.


The law also could increase the court system's workload, Tierney added. Nevada is a non-judicial foreclosure state, which means foreclosures are addressed via state statute instead of going through the court system.


"The law will take Nevada closer to becoming a judicial foreclosure state, potentially clogging our district courts," Tierney said.


Nevada Assembly Majority Leader Marcus Conklin, AB 284's primary sponsor, says the law provides much-needed accountability in the state's foreclosure process.


Nevada led the nation for the 56th straight month in August with a foreclosure-related activity rate of one in 118 housing units, according to foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac.


"There have been widespread instances of foreclosures based on false, improper or incomplete documents throughout the nation over the past few years," Conklin said in a statement. "This new law is part of our ongoing commitment to prevent foreclosure fraud in our state and to ensure that the Attorney General has the tools necessary to prosecute those who defraud homeowners."


http://www.rgj.com/article/20110930/BIZ02/109300383/1002




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DO YOU NEED HELP TO AVOID FORECLOSURE?

If you would like to receive information on how you might avoid the foreclosure of your home, please e-mail me your name, address, and phone number. Someone from our office will be in touch right away to assist you. With Warm Regards, Kelly L. Hansen, HOMEOWNERS HELPING HOMEOWNERS, ctsmyhon@yahoo.com
Be happy, healthy and prosperous, but most of all, be blessed.
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