Deutsche Bank Sues Foreclosure Fraud Expert's Son With No Financial Interest In Her Case
WASHINGTON -- Deutsche Bank appears to have retaliated against a high-profile foreclosure fraud expert, whose years-long battle against her own foreclosure helped reveal a wave of apparent malfeasance, by suing her son.
The expert, Lynn Szymoniak, an attorney who specializes in white-collar crime, is widely considered on Capitol Hill to be one of the nation's top experts on foreclosure law. When Deutsche Bank attempted to jack up the interest rate on the mortgage for her Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., home in May 2008, she contested the move, setting off an investigation which unveiled mountains of forged signatures and fraudulent bank paperwork associated with the foreclosure process.
Szymoniak alerted other attorneys, neighborhood advocates, lawmakers and the media about the apparent rampant fraud. She appeared on "60 Minutes" in April to discuss the broader foreclosure scandal [video appended below].
Her own home has been in foreclosure since June 2008. A month earlier, she had been notified that the interest rate on her adjustable-rate mortgage was being raised, increasing her monthly payments by about $1,000. But the terms of her mortgage only allowed interest-rate hikes at certain dates.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Szymoniak noted that Deutsche Bank was not acting within the allowed timeframe.
"They missed my adjustment date, and then when they figured it out, they just slapped that higher payment on anyway," she said. "I paid one payment at the higher rate and then I said, 'This is ridiculous.' And I stopped paying and then they sued me in June '08."
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After she'd been sued, Szymoniak said, she began investigating the documentation on Florida foreclosures, uncovering alarming irregularities, including signatures that were apparently forged. If so, those signatures allowed banks to push foreclosures through overly quickly, charge improper fees and assert improperly inflated borrower debts.
Shortly after appearing on "60 Minutes" Szymoniak won a major victory in her own foreclosure case. The court found that Deutsche Bank was unable to demonstrate ownership of her mortgage, which had originally been issued by the defunct subprime mortgage lender Option One, and threw the case out.
Deutsche Bank was permitted to refile their case if the bank could obtain proper documentation, however. And on Friday, May 6, Szymoniak received a notification from the bank's lawyers that she was again being sued for foreclosure.
But Deutsche Bank wasn't just going after her. The bank was also attempting to sue her son, Mark Cullen, who is currently pursuing a graduate degree in poetry at the New School in New York. Cullen hasn't lived in Szymoniak's house for seven years and is not a party to any aspect of her mortgage -- he has no interest in either the property or the loan, and never has had any such interest, according to Szymoniak.
"It is just absolute harassment," Szymoniak said. "He doesn't own anything, for god's sake! He's getting a masters in poetry. He not only doesn't have any money, he's never going to have any money."
And other Florida foreclosure experts say it's difficult to interpret Deutsche Bank's move as anything other than retaliation for Szymoniak's media presence. If it is not, in fact, retaliation, they argue, then Deutsche Bank's lawyers have demonstrated rank incompetence.
"It sounds crazy," said Margery Golant, a principal with the foreclosure defense law firm of Golant & Golant PA in Florida. "I can think of no legitimate reason, if he doesn't have some connection to the property or to the mortgage, to include him in an action to foreclosure."
"It's an intimidation tool," said Matt Englett, a partner at the Florida law firm Kaufman Englett Lynd PLLC. "Most people, they get scared and they get nervous and I think that's the effect that they're trying to have on him and his mother."
"If he's not an owner of the house, it's pretty clearly just vindictive," said Joshua Rosner, the managing director of Graham Fisher & Co., a mortgage investment firm. "If they're doing it intentionally, that's one hell of a statement. If they're doing it randomly, that's still pretty incredible."
The experts said the lawsuit against Szymoniak's son could also have negative implications for him beyond the immediate costs of fighting the foreclosure case, even though he has no financial interest in anything related to it.
"He's going to have a lawsuit out there against him," Englett said, "so if someone were to do some kind of background check against him, that would come up."
Watch Szymoniak's "60 Minutes" interview:
Update:
Deutsche Bank maintains that it is not to blame, and notes that while it is legally listed as the plaintiff in the Szymoniak foreclosure case, another company directs the actual legal maneuvering.
"Pursuant to the aforementioned contracts for securitization trusts, loan servicers, and not the trustee, are responsible for foreclosure-related legal proceedings. The attorneys and law firms who oversee foreclosure proceedings on behalf of the trusts are engaged by loan servicers rather than the trustee. Loan servicers are obligated to adhere to all legal requirements, and Deutsche Bank, as trustee, has consistently informed servicers that they are required to execute these actions in a proper and timely manner," said Deutsche Bank spokesman John Gallagher.
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11:19 AM on 7/05/2011
These banks are CRIMINAL ENTERPRISEAmerica DEMANDS criminal prosecutio
AND American DEMANDS that the US Department of Treasury but investigat
06:03 PM on 6/15/2011
bank has done so many bad stuff, if all docs are given out to wikileaks, the American Bank system would fallBank Foreclosur
01:14 PM on 5/19/2011
what great about this article is it proves that this women who stood up an started fighting these fraudlent banks is WINNING (to quote Charlie Sheen), It proves you can put the banks back against wall when you know and understand how to use proper administraTruth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light. GW
http://www
11:57 AM on 5/19/2011
When the country goes back into recession, and it will this year, I hope the bankers are dragged from their buildings.11:44 AM on 5/19/2011
I thought it was possible to do some pretty unpleasant things if anyone attemptef to use a court to enforce a fraud or to harass. I know of corporatio
01:57 PM on 5/16/2011
They operate like the mafia. Can't the government do someting about these thugs?
12:11 PM on 6/13/2011
Nope. The thugs own the government
08:22 PM on 5/15/2011
interestin02:44 PM on 5/15/2011
Another bank that isn't exactly eager to prove that the reason they function is because they have a reputation to lose.08:45 AM on 5/15/2011
There is only one Mark Cullen listed in the court docs, and he is listed as an atty, not a defendant? Her foreclosur
10:54 PM on 5/16/2011
That's useful informatio06:32 AM on 5/17/2011
Not sure if the link would copy over correctly, sometimes they don't. All I did was search Palm Beach court records.There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All
12:24 PM on 6/13/2011
Do lawyers have such a bad reputation that one of them would rather tell his own mother that he is a poetry student with no chance of ever making real money, instead of the much uglier truth? What's worse, "Oh my God, my son is a worthless beatnik poet!" or "Oh My God, my son is a crooked, slimy LAWYER!" I would prefer the beatnik poet every time. There might really be a Hell, you know.
02:22 AM on 5/15/2011
My e-mail to Pam BondiDear Pam Bondi,
I am upset by your lighthande
As the chief law enforcemen
We are in troubled times, and the public needs to know that the law applies to all, great and small. If rule of law, is perceived as rule of the rich, then civil unrest and revolution will be the result.
Do you think Judge Judy would rule in favor of a plaintiff or defendant who produced a fraudulent document to win their case? NO! because it would violate the”CLEAN HANDS DOCTRINE” that no relief shall be granted to a party who engages in unlawful activity.
I ask that you do your duty.
03:28 AM on 5/15/2011
Write it up as a letter and send it instead.02:18 AM on 5/15/2011
Well although it is not mentioned in the story, she also has a daughter in college. Why not the same treatment for her?I can understand the banksters going after Ms Lynn Szymoniak. After all she was directly responsibl
Before public outrage builds the banks want to crush her, while maintainin
There getting the FREE HOUSE!
They have ruined our economy, and even though they were in such desperate straits when they got the bailout money, the to big to fail banks paid back the money in a year, and started handing out bonus money immediatel
And to big to fail is looking like their to big to prosecute. The robo signing by multiple people pretending to be bank officers, and notaries notarizing documents intended for use in court is a felony. I sent Pam Bondi a e-mail to let her know how I feel about this fraud. You should send your state AG a e-mail.
01:29 AM on 5/15/2011
The US GOVERNMENT SAYS THAT DEUTSCHE BANK L I E Dirst they ignored us. Then they fought to discredit us. Now finally, they are agreeing with us.
The lawsuit that appears below is the most significan
The significan
http://mat
U.S. Says Deutsche Bank Li-ed
Suit Accuses Lender of Misreprese
http://onl
03:55 PM on 5/15/2011
Excellent links.12:28 PM on 6/13/2011
How will this case do when it reaches the 5 corporate stooges in the US Supreme Court?01:22 AM on 5/15/2011
Here’s a link to the New York Fed’s new proposal that would appear to be the start of a MERS whitewash.(1) revise the law, whether state or federal (working with Congress and federal agencies) to remove unnecessar
(2) provide statutory or regulatory backup for market developed mortgage transfer operations and clarity for the documentat
(3) revise the law for maximum efficiency in the process to accomplish the lowest cost for transactio
http://www
11:41 PM on 5/16/2011
What do you mean by "the start of a MERS white wash?"12:55 AM on 5/17/2011
Do you remember this?HR 3808 ‘The Interstate Recognitio
This bill, aka "The Great MERS Whitewash Bill," was introduced in 2009, ostensibly to make it easier and more efficient for courts to recognize out-of-sta
http://dai
MERS is owned by all the biggest banks, and they certainly do not want it to be sunk by huge fines. Investors in mortgage-backed securities also do not want to see the value of their bonds sink because of doubts about the ownership of the underlying mortgages.
So it looks like the stage may be set for Congress to pass a bill that would limit MERS exposure on the recording fee issue and perhaps retroactively legitimate mortgage transfers conducted through MERS private database.
Didn't pass. BUT If they "nationali
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01:42 AM on 5/17/2011
ALL MAJOR FEDERAL AGENCIES JOIN IN ORDERING MERS TO STOP CURRENT PRACTICESApril 13, 2011
MERS AND MERSCORP ENTERED INTO A CONSENT CEASE AND DESIST ORDER FINDING DEFICIENCI
http://liv
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01:53 AM on 5/17/2011
Yves Smith Monday, April 4, 2011 Cease and Desist Orders as Regulatory Theater in Mortgage Settlement NegotiatioNow on the surface, this sounds sensible. The banks are not cooperatin
It’s important to stress that a threat of action that is weaker than what you are demanding in a settlement makes no sense in a negotiatin
Now some of my correspond
The interestin
The interestin
http://www
01:55 AM on 5/17/2011
Professor William K. Black on MERS and ForeclosurMay 7, 2011
MERS’ problems are legion, but they are also inherent in its structure. This column addresses only one aspect of its “agency” problem. MERS is set up in a bizarre fashion designed to minimize costs. It has only a trivial number of real employees. It has no ability to check its members’ initial or continuing quality or integrity. MERS appoints its members’ personnel as MERS officers and exercises no meaningful oversight over their actions.
As I have explained in prior articles, MERS’ members have endemic, severe problems with mortgage documentat
http://fin
Lots more at the link.
08:49 PM on 5/14/2011
Szymoniak'If her son was wrongfully sued, it’s easily dismissed by motion for summary judgment, which should happen within a few weeks. It's been about a week, so I'll wait a bit. If there’s no evidence at all to support his inclusion
Perhaps someone can explain what’s missing in the following, according to the story above:
1. "When Deutsche Bank attempted to jack up the interest rate on the mortgage for her Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., home in May 2008, she contested the move...".
2. "Her own home has been in foreclosur
3. "...she said. "I paid one payment at the higher rate and then I said, 'This is ridiculous
No state law allows a bank to sue for foreclosur
I'm not a lawyer, but have been a regulator who managed small teams of lawyers recovering assets for financial institutio
12:11 AM on 5/15/2011
Stop it. It's really sad.
01:09 AM on 5/15/2011
ChasG,That is a very good case in point yes had Lynn Szymoniak put her property into a revocable land trust and made her son a beneficiar
The timing of the conveyance to her designated trustee though may be scrutinize
He had nothing to do with this property from my understand
I think she blew the lid off this and wished to go public not just to protect herself but to help millions of homeowners across this country negatively affected by these robosigner
I firmly believe that equity share transactio
My best wishes to Lynn Szymoniak she is a national hero.
01:20 AM on 5/15/2011
She SAID he has no interest in the property; therefore the speculatioAre you and Chas suggesting she is a li-ar?
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03:59 PM on 5/14/2011
So how--exact08:48 PM on 5/14/2011
Doi' - cha Bank12:15 AM on 5/15/2011
Ain cha smart
