In Foreclosure: FIGHT BACK against the Bank and Mortgage Lenders America!
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I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed)
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)
Ok, so you are facing foreclosure?
Let's start with a very brief synopses of the whole mortgage melt down crisis:
Here is what happened in a nutshell... Prior to Wall Street interfering with the home lending situation there was one lender and one borrower. Subsequently, Wall Street saw an opportunity to package these mortgages and to sell them to investors. They didn't care whether the mortgages were good or not, whether the borrower was credit worthy or even had a pulse because they were just the middle men. As soon as they sold them they got their money, their Mercedes Benz, their penthouse on Park Avenue as did the lender and the mortgage agent and they were gone, after all AIG insured all these transactions so the hot potato was in someone elses hands by then. The addition of wall street not only allowed these types of loans (no doc, teaser rate, no down payment loans etc) but they encouraged them.
So when the time comes to foreclose on the loans the actual lender is difficult if not impossible to ascertain. So, you many ask...how does this benefit me? One of the things you can do when facing foreclosure is to demand that the bank show you the original note, in other words proof that they own your home. They have to prove that they OWN the note (your home). A bank cannot take your home if they have no proof of ownership. This tactic has worked with people who have been sued by credit card companies. The debt from a credit card company has been bought and sold so many times that in many cases the collection agency has no legal proof that they own the debt or that you owe the debt. Without that proof they are NOT entitled to collect it from you.
CAPICHE? THEY CANNOT COLLECT ON A DEBT THEY HAVE NO PROOF OF OWNING!
This same tactic can be used when you are being foreclosed on. If the bank cannot PRODUCE THE NOTE they cannot foreclose on you! In addition, it will put you in a stronger position when it comes to renegotiating the note. Even if they do have the proof it might buy you a little time because there are so many foreclosures that finding the paperwork alone could delay the process by months.
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CNN interviewed Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur about this topic and she recommends that her constituents “just squat”.
If you're poor and the bank is coming for your
home, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has a plan for you.
Just
squat, she says. Yes, this Ohio Democrat is actually encouraging
her distressed constituents whose homes have been foreclosed
upon, to simply stay put.
"So I say to the American
people, you be squatters in your own homes," said
Congresswoman Kaptur before the House of Representatives. "Don't
you leave."
She's called on all of her
foreclosed-upon constituents to stay in their homes and refuse to
leave without "an attorney and a fight," said CNN.
"If
they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell
them stay in their homes," Kaptur told CNN.
Moreover,
Kaptur is a high-profile advocate of an increasingly popular mode
of fighting foreclosures best known for it's key phrase: "Produce
the note."
By telling a bank to "produce
the note," a homeowner can delay foreclosure by forcing the
lender to prove the suing institution is actually the same which
owns the debt.
"During the lending boom, most
mortgages were flipped and sold to another lender or servicer or
sliced up and sold to investors as securitized packages on Wall
Street," explains the Consumer Warning Network. "In the
rush to turn these over as fast as possible to make the most
money, many of the new lenders did not get the proper paperwork
to show they own the note and mortgage. This is the key to the
produce the note strategy."
And Friday's segment on
this growing foreclosure fighting "movement" was not
the network's first. Earlier in January, CNN explored one
person's strategy in demanding her bank "produce the note,"
only to find that the lender had "lost or destroyed"
the evidence of debt ownership. Such a revelation can
significantly strengthen a homeowner's position when asking to
renegotiate a mortgage.
That these banks, many of which
received billions of dollars in government bailout funds,
continue to boot defaulted owners from their homes, makes them
"vultures" says Kaptur.
"They prey on our
property assets," she said. "I guess the reason I'm so
adamant on this is because I know property law and its power to
protect the individual homeowner. And I believe that 99.9 percent
of our people have not had good legal representation in this."
Of course you should consult an attorney before you do anything. But, if you are facing foreclosure then what do you really have to lose?
Do you think that the elite bankers are primarily responsible for the housing crisis?
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Well, keep it in mind for anyone else out there. Thanks
Useful and timely, Brie, Thanks!!
Thanks msorensson.
I need more info , I am currently waiting for the knock on my door , when they tell me that I have 30 days to vacate . Does anyone have any info to pass on to me , that will help me to save my home ?
Contact a lawyer (they will talk to you without charging you and if you one doesn't call another) and ask them about the Produce the Note tactic to stall or keep your home. Usually you can find an attorney that will give you some advice.
Also: look into this website: http://www.producethenoteattorney.com/2009/10/fore
Call the Congressman in your voting district! Seriously, each congressman in every state has staff devoted to helping home-owners facing foreclosure deal with their lender - especially if you are trying to get a loan modification but the lender turns you down with a lame excuse or continually gives you the run around asking for more and more meaningless paperwork and you never get an answer. Your congressman's office can at least get you a real answer. Even if it the loan mod. turns out not to be helpful for your budget (even though the bank will think it is) it's a great stall tactic.
Thanks Real Estate Investor...good advice.
What kind of advice is this? You owe money. If you cannot pay it back, give back the property. Why are you teaching people how to steal? What happen to honor and integrity? It is not the banks fault you cannot pay back the loan. Anyone over the age of 21 is an adult and if you signed a contract, honor your commitment.
Alan: You understand nothing! This whole system is rigged from the get go, maybe you should read a bit first before making a comment on something you have no information on.
Brie - great advice !!! Teach people how to delay the inevitable, further decreasing the value of the home and the homes around it.
What you forgot to mention in your synopses was that folks were not forced into paying more homes than they could afford, or buying homes without the
How about suggesting people cut back on other expenses, try working more hours and second jobs, or better yet
You're an idiot! Look around you, there are no jobs thanks to our traitorous politicians and thieving CEO's. You are living in a fake American dream world that no longer exists for most people, just because you seem to be able to manage it doesn't mean that most are and this is through no fault of their own.
My husband and I bought our house and always had never had trouble paying for our mortgage and in fact, owned two places, one of which we sold last year. Then....I lost my job and my husband and to take a huge pay cut, not once but twice! We didn't want to lose our home so immediately went to our morgage holder - being Bank of America - and asked for a modification. They were ready and willing to help, signed us up with the HOPE Team and we did everything thing they asked us to do - filled out the proper paperwork, notorized everything and sent it back to them. We were told they had received all of the necessary papers, our morgage was reduced by $200.00 per month and our mortgage extended out by 10 years. Everything was a go but BOA said it would take 3 months to finalize it all. They told us to start making the new payments as of 9/1/09 which we did. We did receive other paperwork twice, and I immediately called and was told it was not something the HOPE Team was offering so to ignore it. Now, a year later, they are telling us that our original HOPE modification was null and void and was almost immediately so upon sending in the paperwork. Not one person from BOA EVER told us that. If they had, I would have tried to get help in another way or at least tried to make my original payments. I got a letter of foreclosure today - I am around $3000.00 in arrears and must pay that now or face the foreclosure. I can't. This was not OUR fault - this was a bank who is treating people (and there are many such stories) badly. Fraud!
Thank you so much for sharing your story Kim. So many people out there are suffering and it's important to share your story so that the few who aren't aren't under the misguided opinion that all is well.
I'm so sorry for you but unfortunately I'm not surprised. I don't think that anything that happened to you was an accident.
KIM, Your story is identical to ours. So this is the real deal. I have read all of the post here and everyone needs to know this fact. If the banks wanted to help those homeowners, they would. Period. This is a plan by the Banks and is contructed "All By Design" to sieze american home owmers real property. I am a former Real Estate Broker, I take very specific detailed notes. I have proof that Bank of America has made numerous violations of contract law in our case, documented every phone call, all 27 of them, kept all letters and notices sent to us from all 3 divisions at Bank of America, The Making Homes A ffordable division, The Loan Modification Department and the Mortgage Processing Department. We have a signed and notorized "Loan Addendum" drafted by Bank of America, which they accepted two trial payments under from us, (while doing so, never signed and dated our original copies and provided us copies) and 7 days prior to us making the 3rd and final trial payment, we recieve "A notice to A ccelerate" which means we are headed to foreclosure, even after they approved of the addendum. I can see right through the maze of lies and deception, thanks to solid record keeping. So I decided to take a stand. I write to the CEO of Bank of America. Do you think he responded? Of course not. I knew he would not, so I sent the same copy of the Letter to my District 2 congressman Rick Larsen (D) WA and Senator Patty Murray (D) WA., the US Attorney General's offce Eric Holder, President Obama's office, our loacl TV station King 5 News special investigator Jessie Jones and Fox News Special Investigations.(No Political Favs here). Below is the Copy of my letter:
United States Senator Patty Murray
Washington DC Office
173 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Murray,
Please do not discard or ignore this urgent plea for help. I am writing to you asking for help in order to save our home in from Foreclosure by Bank of America. We have exhausted all resources currently available to us, in trying to work out a home loan modification with Bank of America. Below is a brief summary of the situation that has led to me writing this letter.
In October of 2009, I contacted Bank of America and informed them that I was in danger of not being able to pay my mortgage payment due to a loss of my business/job; massive medical bills form my Wifes Heart Attack she suffered in 2008, and depleting all of our savings. The bank informed us that we could only receive help if we were behind on our payments. We were encouraged to contact various housing agencies to seek help, only to be stuck in vicious loop of dead end hope without a solution other than being encouraged to stay in contact with the lender and to work with them. Finally on March 4th of 2010, Bank of America informed us that we qualified for a Loan Modification. They sent us the addendum; we signed and notarized it, made two trial payments for May and June. On June 25th, 2010 we received a letter from Bank of America indicating “Notice to Accelerate” which is the first step towards foreclosing on our home. On June 28th, 2010, we received a letter from Bank of America stating we were turned down for “Any work out option”. Upon speaking with Bank of America on 07/08/10, we were told that we were once again approved for the Making Home Affordable program and that a “New Loan Program Packet” was ordered by the Bank on June 13th, 2010 and was going to be sent to us in 30 to 45 days. Bank of America never did sign the addendum they had asked us to sign and mail us a copy back for our records, hence no valid addendum was on file or in force. Something was not right with the conflict of information I was being told by Bank of America and what was actually happening at Bank of America.
On July 28th 2010, I called Bank of America to find out where the New MHA packet was that was allegedly being sent to us VIA FED EX. 45 days had come and gone. I was informed by Bank of America that there is no packet for a new MHA loan and that there never was one.
From what has transpired over the last 10 months is astonishing. It appears that Bank of America has designed a process that is intended to confuse homeowners through trickery, false information, miss communication and outright fraud. I am asking for your assistance as a last ditch effort to keep my home and stay in it. I am willing to work with the Bank. However, it appears they want my house more than we do. I am not asking for a hand out. I am asking for a solution for us to keep our home. I am now gainfully employed and able to make our mortgage payments.
As a matter of desperation, I am sending a copy of this letter with detailed notes of conversations with Bank of America, a copy of our Loan Addendum they sent us , to you, and to Congressman Rick Larsen D-WA. District 2, President Barack Obama, the CEO of Bank of America, King 5 News Special Investigator Jessie Jones, and Fox News and the United States Department of Justice. I am not going to just give up while Bank of America continues to abuse the MHA act signed into law by President Obama.
I can only conclude that Bank of America has received billions in TARP money to write down mortgages on their balance sheet (paid for by the US Taxpayer) all the while only intending to help less than 5% of their customer base, all by design to grab private property, resell it and make a profit. It appears to be “all by design”. My 16 year old son wants answers as to why the Bank is allowed to do this to our family and why nothing is being done to stop their flagrant and out right abuse of the LAW. The only answer I can give his because “they can” and the Government is powerless to stop it.
Senator Murray, why is it, and how is it that Bank of America is allowed to get away with this abuse of clearly defined legislation? Where is the Justice? Please help us before we become homeless. I look forward to your prompt and swift reply.
*****
I contacted an Attorney in Seattle who has already filed a class action law suite against Bank of America, His office informed me that there are an awful lot of other people with the same problems, with them loosing paperwork, modifing loans then taking them back, miss communication and just outright deception.
you can find hin if you google "Bank of America Class Action Lawsuit Seattle Attorney"
Write to your Congressman or Woman and Senators, Dont just sit back and let these crooks steal your property. I did hear from both and they claim to be "looking into it" We will see, wont we!
Thanks for sharing your story Kim.
My boyfriend is a welder with 3 kids and after staying in an unhealthy relationship with their mother for 17 years so that his children could have the best and that a judge couldn't dictate when he saw his kids he then met what he thought was the love of his life. At that time he was making over 100 grand a year and had less than 20,000 in debts. In 2005 she convinced him the new wife that is using his kids to guilt him into the deal to buy a 195,000 house financed solely in his name but because Texas is a comm property state she's on the deed. 2 weeks later he catches her with his best friend in the home and she filed a fraudelent restraining order so that's right it's financed solely in his name but since 2 weeks after buying it he can't go on the property. NOW 5 years later they are in a messy divorce the house is in foreclosure. His credit is 300,000 grand in the hole. And he's now making half of what he should be making. She won't turn over documents pertaining to his business and the IRS is more worried about her privacy and disclosure than with the numerous amounts of fraud she has committed. I'm a fincinial advisors daughter and can not believe what this woman and the debt collectors get away with. This woman has stolen from him, his kids, and his grandkids. She has filed false affadavits, committed numerous amounts of fraud, opened accounts in his name with no legal right to do so. Yet no one want's to make her accounttable. It's sad but this article had some very useful information in it for me as I fight with the foreclosure company. Thank you for letting the real average american know what our rights are.
Thanks for sharing your story Brooke, I am (unfortunately) not surprised. Remember one thing; they are not playing by the rules so you don't have to either, you just have to be smart about it. Unfortunately your boyfriend learned this lesson the hard way. Also, remember that bad credit is not the end of the world...your creditors would like to make you believe it is because they want their money, but it's not. Do not let the worry over bad credit get in the way. Try the "provide the note" tactic, if that doesn't work have your boyfriend just walk away from the creditors. If he has bad credit she, his ex, cannot use it. If he has no money, no one can take it...I hope you understand what I am saying. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
Captain Hindsight saves the day again!!!
Servicers have a copy of your original note. If you think there was fraud at origination then you can hire an attorney to do a forensic analysis but you will have to pay and you better hope there was fraud and you didnt contribute to any misrepresentation.
There are thousands of banks that have NO COPY of the note, that's why they put a moratorium on foreclosures...the homeowners are the least culpable in this high stakes fraud and they have paid the dearest!
Hello Brie! My goodness. If I tell my story I'll sound like a broken record. It is the same as Kim and Greg. I have been dealing with Bank of America(less) for the past 12 months. My husband and I have lost income from the monthly trips to the court for our "modification" meetings. It seems that no one knows what the h$%% is going on with regards to our modification. I can not describe the emotional toll this has taken on us. In fact, I believe that is their mission: to wear you down to the point where you can't even function anymore. To make matters worse, I've just recently been laid off. I'm so ready to start the search for Gilligan's Island and forsake mankind!!
Well, Cindi I'm right there with you..that's why I started writing a lot of my "off-grid" articles!
Brie , I always enjoy your comments , and you a right , this is a ploy , shell game whatever to seize our properties, our story is almost identical to the ones above. From my understanding , homeowners must file suit against the banks prior to being served w/ foreclosure documents challenging the validity of the debt instrument ( note ) . B of A took over Countrywide as we all know , and we too made initial 3 payments to B of A , then filed Chap . 13 , they kicked us out of program so we converted to a Chap. 7 as we would not have been able to repay the arrears and the house payment , and no I am no deadbeat even though some seem to think so (thanks for setting them straight Brie) I was a remodeling contractor in the very affluent D.C suburbs for 20+ years , re-negotiated our loan , bought down points ,went from a 30 to a 15 year note and then the bottom dropped out when all the new home builders flooded my market , anyone can build a new home , it takes a craftsman to bid and complete a whole house renovation on a 100 year old house while the family is still living there , the stories I could tell . Needless to say , after what I perceived as my failure I fell into a deep depression , but look out ,I'm back, I know it wasn't anything I did and now ,B of A you better look out and send your best lawyer and bring your "A" game . I will be contacting my Congressman and I have about a month to bring suit against B of A and I will be filing the papers within the next week . "Don't let the bastards keep you down " was a term the WWII vets used to use , I am planning on forfeiting our home but may as well make these banksters spend as much as I can in the process, I will delay them and jam them up every step of the way to cut into any profit they could realize, and being a builder, who is to say certain beams and supports may fail due to termite damage . I probably wont do that but it makes me feel a little better to know that I could :o) -Keep up the good work Brie
Dear Worried in Maryland...STICK IT TO THEM! I feel we are in an economic war and whatever you can do, I hope you do do! I'm so glad you saw the light because part of the weapons used against us is to debilitate us with feelings of failure. It works to their advantage. Good luck to you.
Hey Brie, My wife and I have been on to this for about 1 1/2 years now and have become very well educated in this mess. So much so that now some attorneys are asking us for help. Anyway, I have a posting here called Criminal Issues of the Mortgage Servicing Industry where we lay out most of the issues and short explainations about them. Homeowners Against Mortgage Servicing Fraud and we are friends with Jack Wight who runs the largest web site called MSFRAUD.org. We have found several chinks in their armour and we have begun educating people in how to get money back from these crooks, a lot of it from the forced placed insurance scum. They can be taken down but you really have to know what you are doing and learn to play their game better than they do. It really helps when you have a smart wife who can ponder their devious minds and out think them.
Great, I'll check it out. It's a difficult matter so my hat is off to you.
Very informative post. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, glad you liked it Gracemere
Sorry, Jefferson never said that. The word "deflation" didn't exist prior to the previous depression (in the 1930's).
Other than that, its a good post, but I think people are better off just walking away from underwater loans. The banks, Fed, and government all KNEW that they were creating a real estate bubble, but did not and still don't tell the truth about any of it, just like they are hiding the fact that we are in a depression now.
Well, it does say attributed so who knows..but yes I agree with you.
Brie,
I have a BOA loan that was originated 5 years ago by CWid. When you say note do you mean the note that transfers ownership of the note to BOA. When I asked for the note they sent me a copy of the orig loan doc I signed with Countrywide.
Yes, that is the note.
the pink umbrella Level 4 Commenter 22 months ago
This would have been awesome to know when my mom was going into forclosure. great hub and very useful.