Penalizing Banks for Foreclosure Irregularities

Wells Fargo and Company, the fourth largest bank by assets in the United States, Bank of America, the largest lender in the United States and Citigroup the third largest

8lender in the United States expect to be sanctioned by the United States government for bad foreclosure practices.

These banks are accused by federal regulators of abusing borrowers and illegally foreclosing on homes. A federal probe has been underway for many months. Federal investigators have found widespread deficiencies in the manner in which home loans are serviced, payments are collected, how loan modifications are processed and the foreclosure process itself on loans.

Banks to Be Penalized

Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citibank have all been accused of improper and illegal foreclosure practices. There have been reports that federal regulators may demand as much as thirty billion dollars from some 14 mortgage companies regarding improper foreclosure and mortgage practices.

Bank of America is responsible for the most mortgage loans in the United States. It handles 2.1 trillion dollars in home mortgages. Bank of America besides being investigated by federal regulators has been subject to a variety of private lawsuits concerning their mortgage foreclosure practices. Bank of America had temporarily suspended all foreclosure proceedings in 2010 to conduct a review and investigation of its foreclosure and mortgage practices. Bank of America has recently re-instituted foreclosure proceedings. They claim they have dealt with all of their internal problems concerning the processing of mortgages and handling of foreclosure.

Long Island Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

If your home is in foreclosure or you need a mortgage modification we can help you. The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been assisting consumers and homeowners with problems concerning debts to financial institutions for more than two (2) decades. We prepare mortgage modification documents. We can help deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet the consumers needs. If you are in foreclosure, we will attend foreclosure court conferences on your behalf.

We litigate defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues, defective mortgages, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions, and other related real estate proceedings.

In situations where we feel a filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is appropriate we file these proceedings with the United States Bankruptcy Court on behalf of our clients. We also assist our clients in reestablishing credit after filing for bankruptcy. We can help stop foreclosure in its tracks. Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Mortgage Modifications for Customers Whose Mortgages are Current

Banks are turning their backs on millions of Americans whose homes are in foreclosure. At the same time, several large banks are approaching borrowers whose mortgages are not in default and offering to reduce their debts or modify the terms of their mortgages.

JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, two of the largest financial institutions in the United States, have been contacting borrowers whose mortgages are up to date, offering them special deals. The borrowers being contacted by these banks have pay option adjustable rate mortgages. These banks seek to eliminate as many of these mortgages from their books as possible.

The banks approach individuals whose homes are underwater, but who are current on their mortgage payments. While many borrowers who are in deep financial trouble need help, the banks are ignoring these situations. Instead, they’re making unsolicited contacts and, in theory, rewarding the customers who have done right by them.

Dan B. Fraham, a spokesman for Bank America, recently stated “by proactively contacting pay option ARM customers and discussing other products with better options for long term, affordable payments, we hope to prevent customers from reaching a point where they struggle to make their payments.”

In theory, the banks have decided to make deals regarding mortgage loans that gives borrowers the option of skipping the principal payments and some of the interest payments for a period of several years. Thereafter, the unpaid balance is added to the principal of the loan. The banks are concerned that if these underwater loans go, eventually the homeowners simply abandon them. This is a great deal for these homeowners who’ve kept their loans current. Unfortunately, this ignores approximately 33% of the outstanding mortgages that are either in default or underwater!

Long Island and New York City Foreclosure Defense

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense for homeowners. We litigate all aspects of foreclosure proceedings including, but not limited to, defective foreclosure lawsuits,defective mortgages, predatory lending issues, bad faith, and other real estate legal issues. We attend foreclosure court conferencesfor the clients we represent. We also assist our clients in the preparation of mortgage modification applications, as well as deal with mortgage modification programs that are unresponsive to our clients’ needs.

In certain situations, foreclosure related bankruptcies can be utilized to stop foreclosures from moving forward. Upon filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court issues an automatic stay that stops the foreclosure lawsuit from moving forward. It should be noted that bankruptcy proceedings are brought in the United States Bankruptcy Court, while foreclosure proceedings are brought in New York State Courts.

For our clients who file bankruptcy, we can sometimes eliminate second mortgages. We also can assist our clients in re-establishing their credit after filing bankruptcy. Should you have questions as to what type of bankruptcy would be appropriate for you or whether there is other alternatives related to foreclosure defense, feel free to contact us. At your initial free consultation, we will discuss all of your foreclosure options. We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

Foreclosure Horror Story

Warren Nyerges and his wife Maureen purchased a home from Bank of America in St. Petersburg, Florida. They paid $165,000 for a twenty-seven-hundred square foot home.

Foreclosure Proceedings Initiated on Home

Several months after paying $165,000 for the home and having no mortgage on it, Warren and Maureen were sued in a foreclosure proceeding. They originally thought this was a joke. The house had no mortgage on it. This was the start of a saga lasting almost two years. A representative from Bank of America told Warren he was not current on his mortgage. This was ridiculous; he didn’t have a mortgage.

Homeowners Sue Bank of America

Warren and Maureen eventually sued Bank of America. After painstakingly researching this situation, Warren and Maureen found out that their names were taken from their real estate contract to buy the house and placed on a previously initiated foreclosure proceeding.

Florida Attorney General Investigation

The Attorney General’s office in Florida investigated this matter. They ascertained the attorney representing Bank of America had engaged in fraudulent practices. He had overcharged homeowners in legal fees. He also brought foreclosure proceedings without having the appropriate documents showing the banks were owed money on the homes. Eventually, Maureen and Warren were able to straighten out their problem with the help of a foreclosure defense attorney.

Foreclosure Help

Is your home in foreclosure? If so, we can help you save it! We are a foreclosure defense law firm. For more than 45 years, we have helped our clients in obtaining mortgage modifications and dealing with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet their needs. We represent our clients in foreclosure defense litigation. We litigate issues involvingdefective mortgage, predatory lending, defective foreclosure lawsuits and other types of real estate issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients.

At the time of our initial consultation, we provide all foreclosure options to our clients. In situations when foreclosure related bankruptcies make sense, we discuss either filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Filing bankruptcy immediately stops the foreclosure from moving forward. Sometimes the bankruptcy can also eliminate second mortgages. We discuss with our clients how to re-establish credit at the end of the bankruptcy. Feel free to call to discuss your foreclosure options. We appreciate your visiting us on our foreclosure blog.

Bank of America Segregates Troubled Mortgage Loans From Performing Mortgage Loans

Posted by Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq.

Bank of America Segregates Troubled Mortgage Loans From Performing Mortgage LoansBank of America has 1.3 million home mortgage loans in its portfolio that are in default. To deal with these defaulted home mortgage loans, Bank of America created a new entity.  This entity is known as Legacy Asset Servicing.  The defaulted loans, from this point forward, will be serviced by Legacy Asset Servicing.  Many of these defaulted loans were acquired from Bank of America when it purchased Countrywide Financial in 2008.

Performing Mortgage Loans

Bank of America has approximately twelve-million additional home mortgages in its portfolio.  These home mortgage loans are not in default.  Bank of America will continue to service these loans directly.

Countrywide Financial and Improper Mortgage Policies

Countrywide Financial was involved in initiating numerous sub-prime mortgage loans.  Since Bank of America’s acquisition of Countrywide, they have been forced to write off billions of dollars in sub-prime mortgage loans.

Bank of America has decided to remove the non-performing loans from its portfolio for a variety of reasons, including an investigation into foreclosure practices by financial institutions that is currently underway by all fifty state attorney generals’ offices.

Bank of America Changes its Foreclosure Practices

Last year, after Bank of America was criticized by state court judges in a number of states, it established a moratorium on foreclosures.  The bank has since modified its foreclosure practices.  Bank of America has also sharply increased the number of mortgage modifications that have been approved. In the last quarter of 2010, more than 80,000 mortgage modifications were approved by Bank of America.  This is a step in the right direction.

Chase Retail Services, which is a consumer banking unit of JP Morgan Chase, has also indicated that it would separate its non-performing home-equity and mortgage loans from its performing home-equity and mortgage loans.  In January of 2009, Citibank also separated its troubled home mortgage loans from mortgage loans that were up-to-date.

Foreclosure Defense In New York

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense cases throughout the Metropolitan New York area.  We assist our clients in mortgage modifications.  Should your home go into foreclosure, we attend foreclosure conferences, we litigate these matters and deal with defective foreclosure practices, predatory lending and bad faith proceedings by financial institutions.  We also maintain this foreclosure blog to update the general public regarding a variety of issues concerning mortgage modifications, foreclosures, mortgage modification programs that fail to serve the needs of consumers, as well as other related articles.  Should you need a consultation, fell free to contact us at 1-800-344-6431; 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.  Our phones are answered 24/7.

Fargo To Amend Foreclosure Proceedings

For  the past month and a  half Wells  Fargo Bank has in public statements regarding foreclosure proceedings insisted that all of their procedures were correct and appropriate.  On Wednesday October 27, they did an about face.

Wells Fargo now claims that it plans to correct, redo and resubmit the proper documents in approximately 55,000 foreclosure proceedings. To this writer that seems to be more than a minor mistake.

Wells Fargo claims that after reviewing the situation they found that some bank employees had “failed to strictly adhere to its required procedures during a final step in its documentation process”.   Wells Fargo further stated “some aspects of the notarization process had not always been properly followed creating the potential for paperwork errors.”

No Foreclosure Freeze

Wells Fargo is not freezing its foreclosures. They are amending all 55,000 improper
foreclosures to correct the paperwork mistakes previously made.

In addition to Wells Fargo four other large financial institutions are taking similar actions.  JP Morgan Chase said it was looking into about 115,000 foreclosure proceedings in 41 states. Bank of America is also looking into approximately 100,000 foreclosure proceedings in 23 states. GMAC and PNC financial are also resubmitting improper foreclosure paperwork. Unfortunately when the banks get through with correcting their mistakes the homeowners will eventually have to face the music.  Foreclosure are brought when homeowners do not pay their mortgage payments. In the end the homeowners are thrown out of their homes and their homes are sold. Hopefully there are more inventive, more practical, more humane solutions such as mortgage modifications to this problem.

About Our Firm

For more than 45 years our law firm has assisted individuals with mortgage modifications, foreclosure defense and lawsuits involving creditors. We have expertise in defending homeowners in foreclosure lawsuits.  We have litigated cases involving predatory lending practices. We are also familiar with the issues involving failed mortgage modification programs.  Should you, a friend or family member be involved in a foreclosure. You need a foreclosure defense attorney to represent you.  Our experience in representing individuals in all aspects of foreclosure defense including but not limited to foreclosure defenses and litigating foreclosure issues makes us one of the foremost foreclosure defense law firms in the metropolitan New York area. Feel free to call us for a free consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or 1-800-344-6431. We are available 7 days a week.

Foreclosure Defense in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Baldwin, Malverne, Freeport, Oceanside, Long Beach, Elmont, Lakeview, West Hempstead, Hempstead, Merrick and Bellmore, New York

We represent individuals throughout the New York Metropolitan area with divorce and child custody, personal injury, car accident, wrongful death, estate administration, nursing home and medicaid issues

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