Foreclosure crisis: New questions being raised about court filings in foreclosure cases

court filings

The expanding investigation into Florida’s foreclosure crisis has turned up a new problem that may involve a number of cases: Individuals hired by law firms to notify struggling homeowners when their foreclosure cases are to be heard in court may have filed faulty or false documents.

Foreclosure defense attorneys and consumer advocates say they have documented a number of foreclosure cases where "process servers" filed questionable paperwork. State investigators who are examining foreclosure documentation problems — involving law firms that employed "robosigners" to rapidly process claims — are also taking a close look at process servers, court documents show.

According to lawsuits filed on behalf of homeowners, some individuals appear to have violated the rules of process serving: the personal delivery of legal papers, required by law, notifying people that a foreclosure action has been filed against them. Like "robo-signing" — the mass signing of foreclosure documents without review by loan servicers — it’s an alleged practice that is putting lenders, and the foreclosure law firms serving them, under fire.

via Foreclosure crisis: New questions being raised about court filings in foreclosure cases

Man will plead guilty in multi-million dollar mortgage scheme

A man involved in a mortgage scheme first uncovered in a Tampa Tribune investigation four years ago has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire, mail and bank fraud. Chad Evans’ Clearwater companies, Shorefront Ventures LLC and Tye Funding LLC, were used to lure "straw buyers" to participate in fraudulent mortgage transactions, according to court documents.

A straw buyer is someone who buys something on another’s behalf.

Fifty properties were bought and illegally flipped, for a loss to lenders of about $6.9 million, the government says.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment, a fine of $27,496 and supervised release of not more than 5 years. Evans’ lawyer did not return phone calls in time for publication.

via Man will plead guilty in multi-million dollar mortgage scheme.

The Trouble with Condos

The Trouble with Condos

In the housing meltdown, even outside the usual housing bust hotspots, some condominium owners are faring even worse than owners of single-family homes.

In some gentrifying neighborhoods of Boston, for instance, where condo conversions of the city’s storied triple-decker row houses were rampant in the last decade, many owners now find they can’t sell their units, partly because of tougher lending requirements by government-sponsored mortgage backers including the Federal Housing Administration, some real-estate experts say.

The new rules, enacted recently to help forestall rising foreclosures, mean many condo projects no longer qualify for financing by some GSE-backed mortgages because they require more information about the financial soundness of the entire condo project than in the past.

via The Trouble with Condos.

It’s a great time to buy, sort of

Home sellers continue to battle foreclosure-laden banks for the attention of home buyers, some of whom find themselves in a better position than they have been in decades.

Yet some are hesitant to buy, thinking (fearing?) that prices will go lower and they could soon find themselves in a negative-equity position if they borrow money to close the deal.

And the latest blow to the mortgage market — the exposure of fraudulent documentation, broken chains-of-title that leave the ownership of the note and the property in doubt, and the suspension of foreclosures by banks — is giving players on all sides of the table reason to shudder.

via It’s a great time to buy, sort of.

Orlando condos among cheapest in state [Central Florida]

The midpoint for Orlando condominium prices last month remained below $50,000 and was 40 percent below the statewide median price, according to a report released this week by Florida Realtors.

Condo prices in Central Florida have been depressed for more than a year, with the metro area’s median price in September down 5 percent to $49,900 compared with a year earlier. Across the state, the median condominium price in September was $83,400, down 18 percent from a year ago.

Among Florida metropolitan areas, only Lakeland had condos cheaper than Orlando’s last month, with a median price of $40,000.

via Orlando condos among cheapest in state [Central Florida].

Title insurer tightens reins on lenders


Title insurer tightens reins on lenders

The country’s largest title insurer said that banks and other lenders must vouch for the accuracy of their mortgage documents before the firm will write insurance for a foreclosure sale.

Fidelity National Financial announced the policy change — the strongest move yet by a title insurer to protect itself from possible losses — in a memo this week to its employees and agents, according to Peter Sadowski, the company’s chief legal officer.

Recent reports of flawed paperwork have particularly worried title insurance companies, which are critical in the home-buying process. Lenders require buyers to buy coverage in case there is a dispute over who owns a home.