Propietarios en apuros se benefician con fallo de la corte en Florida

Struggling homeowners gain favor in key ruling

By KIMBERLY MILLER

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 9:10 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011

Posted: 9:08 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011

Home­owners in foreclosure may have a better chance of getting a true trial, instead of a quickie judgment, following a 4th District Court of Appeal decision that requires banks to prove ownership of the note at the time they file for repossession.

The ruling Wednesday in Palm Beach County was heralded by foreclosure defense attorneys who said it may even force banks to dismiss some cases and start over with new paperwork.

Tom Ice, founder of the Royal Palm Beach-based foreclosure defense firm Ice Legal, called the decision a "sea change" in the way courts are looking at foreclosure cases and the importance of assignments of mortgage.

"No longer can banks just walk in and have their attorney wave around a piece of paper saying this is the note," Ice said. "The good news for homeowners is now they have an opportunity to prove their case and get a trial on its merits."

The 4th DCA ruling follows a rare Florida Supreme Court decision last week to take up an already settled Greenacres foreclosure case that involved an allegedly backdated assignment of mortgage that the bank used to show ownership. The court said it wanted to rule on the case, in which the homeowner was defended by Ice's firm, because its opinion could have an impact on the "mortgage foreclosure crisis throughout the state."

Wednesday's ruling was on the case of Robert McLean vs. JPMorgan Chase, and involved a 2009 Broward County foreclosure.

Fannie Mae ignoró abusos de "robo-firmas" en ejecuciones hipotecarias de FL

Fannie Mae ignored robo-signing abuses in Florida foreclosures, investigation finds

By KIMBERLY MILLER

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 9:39 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, 2011

Posted: 9:37 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, 2011

Federal mortgage giant Fannie Mae was told in 2006 about faulty court documents filed by Florida foreclosure attorneys acting on its behalf but did nothing to correct the practices, an inspector general found.

A report issued Friday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General said an outside law firm Fannie Mae hired to investigate allegations of wrongdoing confirmed "unlawful" practices and stated that foreclosure attorneys were sacrificing accuracy for speed by filing false documents.

Problemas de documentación detiene casos de ejecución hipotecaria

Mortgage document troubles holding up foreclosures
10/02/2010 © Palm Beach Post
Posted: 1:52 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010

The technical glitch that Ally Financial is citing for freezing portions of its foreclosure machine could keep Susan Carlsen in her million-dollar Jupiter home for another year. Or, even win her the court case all together. Carlsen's attorney, no doubt like many foreclosure defenders nationwide, plans to take full advantage of the acknowledgments by Ally, JPMorgan Chase and now Bank of America, that legal documents used to repossess people's homes were flawed.

Attorneys for Ally, formerly GMAC, withdrew an affidavit stating how much Carlsen owes on the house last month as it was revealed bank employees swore to personal knowledge of foreclosure documents when they had no such knowledge. The unexpected reprieve for tens of thousands of delinquent borrowers opens legal avenues to slow Florida's so-called "rocket docket" - a blur of quickie foreclosure judgments aided by a summer infusion of $9.6 million to hire additional judges and court employees.

NYT: Florida tiene una respuesta rápida al desastre hipotecario

September 4, 2010

Florida’s High-Speed Answer to a Foreclosure Mess

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON and GERALDINE FABRIKANT

TEN days from now, a four-bedroom house on a cul-de-sac in Middleburg, Fla., is scheduled to be auctioned off at the Clay County courthouse, 25 miles south of Jacksonville.

A judge who recently took over their foreclosure case has ordered Rodney Waters; his fiancée, Terri Reese; and their four children to leave the home they bought in 2006.

Mr. Waters, a supervisor at a local packaging company and the family’s sole breadwinner, fell behind on his mortgage two years ago after his property taxes jumped unexpectedly. He now owes $264,000 on the house; a similar home down the street sold for $138,500 in February.

The predicament of the Waters-Reese family is common in Florida today. The state routinely sets new records for foreclosures — in the second quarter, 20.13 percent of its mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure, a national high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. And with housing prices still in a free fall, almost half of all borrowers in Florida owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, says CoreLogic, a data firm.