The Home Affordable Modification Program’s Paltry Lifeline

August 18, 2015 By

A Slack Lifeline for Drowning Homeowners

JULY 31, 2015 By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

“After Lucy Circe became disabled and could no longer work, she applied to Bank of America for a mortgage loan modification on her Vermont home. Over more than two years, starting in 2012, the bank repeatedly requested copies of documents that had already been provided, asked for proof that she was no longer married to a man she did not even know, and made other errors, like asking why Ms. Circe had indicated that she didn’t want to keep her property when she had actually told the bank she did….” READ MORE HERE.

Contact an Aggressive Foreclosure Defense Lawyer at Shaffer & Gaier Today

We provide a free initial consultation to anyone with concerns about foreclosure or who is involved in foreclosure proceedings. To schedule an appointment, call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660 or contact us online. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Home Owners, Homeownership, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Refinance Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Foreclosure Settlements for Pennsylvania Homeowners

February 26, 2015 By

We recently settled two contested cases involving a family home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The set of facts required that I file an action against Chase Bank in Federal Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and it is my belief that the Federal Court litigation is what spurred the global settlement.

My clients had owned their home for nearly 20 years and always paid their own local property taxes. My client was out of town for three months tending to her elderly mother and they missed a tax payment by two weeks. They quickly made up the late payment, but when Chase found out that it was late, Chase took it upon itself and mailed its own tax payment to the township. This then caused a domino effect of confusion, but ultimately ended up in Chase charging my client an additional $20,000 for the next year of taxes (so Chase could hold it in reserve), even though my client was always ready, willing, and able to pay the taxes. My client spent hours and days on the phone with Chase trying to explain that it was a one-time occurrence and therefore was no need to surcharge her the $20,000. She got nowhere.

While my client was trying to work things out with Chase, Chase filed a foreclosure action in Bucks County Court of Common Pleas. I responded to that lawsuit and we litigated that case for about 18 months; at the same time, I filed a lawsuit against Chase for wrongful foreclosure, claiming that my client did not breach the mortgage contract, but rather it was Chase that did. We conducted depositions and engaged in extensive motion practice, but then Chase reached out with a settlement offer which reduced the principle balance on my client’s property by $235,000. Chase, however, required that my clients pay off the mortgage in full (this is called a short-payoff) and my clients are able to do that by securing other sources of financing.

We stipulated in the settlement agreement that Chase would file a mortgage satisfaction, which was done approximately 45 days after my clients paid off the loan.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier – Protecting Homeowner Rights

The law firm of Shaffer & Gaier protects the rights of those who are facing foreclosure or seeking mortgage modifications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Home Owners, Homeownership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Wells Fargo Foreclosure Lawsuit

January 16, 2015 By

My client was offered a loan in 2007 by a broker who worked with Wells Fargo. His income at the time did not really support the loan, and he was hoping that the real estate would lift the value of his home. This, unfortunately, did not happen and over time, he was no longer able to keep up with his mortgage payments. As required by law, the bank sent a Notice of Intent to foreclose which notified my client how much he owed on the mortgage in order to make it current. Wells Fargo filed a Foreclosure lawsuit in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in 2010. I defended the lawsuit, and after motion practice and quite a bit of discovery, Wells Fargo withdrew the lawsuit. Three months later, however, Wells Fargo initiated a new lawsuit, again in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.

Wells Fargo, however, did not send my client a new and updated Notice of Intent to foreclose before they filed the second lawsuit. After discovery, the bank filed a motion for summary judgment and the trial court granted the motion which gave the bank the right to foreclose. I argued that Wells fargo was required to send my client a new, updated Notice of Intent, and since they did not, then the foreclosure was unlawful.

I filed an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court on the grounds that the lender was required to send an update Notice of intent before they filed a second lawsuit. Wells Fargo opposed the motion by claiming that it was nothing more than a formality and since the first Notice of Intent was sent, there was no need to send a revised one.

The Superior Court agreed with me and reversed the trial court’s order of summary judgment. Wells Fargo filed a motion for reconsideration which was denied on January 4th, 2015. I expect there will be an appeal to the Superior Court. The current status is Wells Fargo is attempting to take ownership of the home upon which they wrongfully foreclosed so I am considering filing a lawsuit against Wells Fargo to redress my client’s damages. -Michael Gaier

Contact Shaffer & Gaier

To schedule a free initial consultation, contact us online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense, Wells Fargo Foreclosures Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Foreclosure – Not so Straightforward

October 18, 2014 By

Based on a recent study conducted by RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings for the year 2013 totaled 1.36 million properties in the continental United States. Although this number has decreased by approximately 26% from 2012, the total number of Americans facing foreclosure is vast. Although it has been calculated that 1 million Americans are involved in active foreclosure proceedings of all stages, these numbers fail to account for homeowners living in fear of foreclosure proceedings that have not yet been instituted.

Although the term “foreclosure” is becoming ever prominent in the daily vocabulary of far too many Americans, the actual legal steps of the process still remain a mystery for the Americans directly involved in this nationwide crisis. Furthermore the help that is available feels elusive for those who are in desperate need of it. If you find yourself facing foreclosure, know that you are not alone and do not wait any longer to seek the help that you deserve. Take advantage of the many private and government funded programs that will allow you to retain your home. Help is available to you no matter what stage of foreclosure in which you find yourself.

In fact, Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that offers state-funded loan programs designed to help homeowners who, because of extenuating circumstances, have found themselves trapped in the foreclosure process and are worried about losing their homes. Pennsylvania even offers a specific state assistance program and there is help available for everyone through government programs that are specifically designed to help homeowners retain their homes.

HARP, the Home Affordable Refinance Program, is one of these types of programs. Originally developed in 2009 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of the Treasury, this program is designed for homeowners who owe more than the estimated worth of their home. As the foreclosure crisis grew in America following 2009 HARP grew too; this program was expanded in 2011 in order to maximize eligibility and help as many homeowners as possible. These are not the only options to help homeowners currently involved in this nationwide crisis. The point is, however, that homeowners should deal with foreclosure issues as soon as possible, but if need be, help can also available in the later stages.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier – Protecting Homeowner Rights

The law firm of Shaffer & Gaier protects the rights of those who are facing foreclosure or seeking mortgage modifications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

FORECLOSURE ERRORS CONFIRMED

June 16, 2014 By

On Wednesday, April 30, 2014, a Federal regulator confirmed that the biggest banks committed widespread errors when dealing with homeowners who faced foreclosure at the height of the mortgage crisis. The report released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was really a post-mortem of the earlier-released Independent Foreclosure Review, a very expensive review though limited in scope, of how the banks mistreated homeowners in the foreclosure process.

Almost 10% of the errors discovered in the review involve situations when banks improperly denied loan modifications that would have prevented a foreclosure filing in the first place. Many of these errors involved administrative flaws and improper fees being charged to the homeowners during the foreclosure process. In 2013, however, 15 banks settled with banking regulators making payments that totaled $3.9 billion, paid out to more than 4 million homeowners (averaging about $1,100 per household). These settlements ended the Independent Reviews, and the banks agreed to pay homeowners regardless of whether they had been harmed. The banks and regulators agreed to halt the review process because it was so expensive and lengthy, even though only a small fraction of the mortgage files were reviewed.

The report released on April 30 showed that the banks had made even less progress in the reviews than was previously disclosed. For example, Bank of America reviewed only 6% of its files, yet revealed a financial error rate of nearly 9%. Wells Fargo examined less than 10% of its records, and found an error rate of nearly 11.5%. Parties on both sides of the crisis were not pleased, and one reason could be that the decision to cut short the review left regulators with limited information about actual harm to borrowers, even though there was a multi-billion dollar settlement.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier – Protecting Homeowner Rights

The law firm of Shaffer & Gaier protects the rights of those who are facing foreclosure or seeking mortgage modifications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

New Jersey Resident Wins Damages Against Predatory Lending Practices

May 1, 2014 By

The average homeowner does in fact have recourse against the big banks when it comes to mortgage fraud and foreclosure defense. Goods news comes this past January from a ruling by New Jersey Chancery Judge Peter Doyne that says Wells Fargo committed actionable fraud and predatory lending.

The case involves Oscar Montesdeoca, of New Jersey. Evidently, Montesdeoca was persuaded to borrow $600,000 pus dollars for a three-bedroom home at interest rates that ranged from 7.75 percent to 14.35 percent.

The ruling is considered a significant victory in the battle against predatory lending practices in New Jersey, where another home foreclosure occurs every eight minutes! In the case in question, the mortgage for the home was $4800 a month. However, Montesdeoca earned between $500 and $600 a week, with his wife working for $7.00 per hour. They could not possibly have covered the mortgage, which ended up being $5700 a month, including insurance.

It was determined that the loan officer who worked with Montesdeoca had promised that “if he paid the loan and maintained good credit (for two years) he would receive refinancing” to reduce the high interest rates.

The couple couldn’t read the paperwork, which was in English, and learned only later that the bank listed their income as over $10,000 a month, when it was far from that amount. When the couple’s son requested that the bank refinance the mortgage in order to lower the high interest rate, as the officer had promised, the bank officer never responded.

The good outcome is that the bank was made to refinance the loans, and pay all the couple’s legal fees, as well as three times his damages, as required by New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier: Protecting Homeowner Rights

The law firm of Shaffer & Gaier protects the rights of those who are facing foreclosure or seeking mortgage modifications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Source: http://www.responsiblelending.org/tools-resources/headlines/opinion-nj-court-resurrects-american-dream-from-foreclosure-nightmare.html

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Fraud, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Foreclosure Defense in PA and NJ

March 26, 2014 By

If you have encountered financial problems and fallen behind on your mortgage, you may believe that your only option is to move out and allow your lender to foreclose on the property. To the contrary, there are many good reasons to fight foreclosure. Fighting foreclosure could give you an affordable place to live until you get your financial situation turned around. You may even be able to renegotiate your loan to make it affordable. The attorneys at Shaffer & Gaier, can help protect your rights.

Contact Us

To schedule a private meeting with an experienced foreclosure defense attorney, call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660 or contact us online. Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We will travel to your home if necessary to meet with you.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , ,

RELIEF FOR SOME HOMEOWNERS – BUT THEN A TAX BILL?

February 12, 2014 By

The big banks will be able to write-off the billions of dollars in debt relief they agreed to give to homeowners, but for the homeowners that received that help, the debt relief is treated as taxable income, which can result in large tax bills. There had been a tax exemption for mortgage debt forgiveness, but Congress let this expire on December 31, 2013. While Congress often allows tax breaks to expire, only to reinstate them later, the mortgage debt relief exemption has not yet occurred. This could partly be because there is a movement in Congress to broadly overhaul the entire tax code, and in an election year, this year was considered “small” relative to other tax matters that affect the nation as a whole.

The tax exemption helped homeowners who are underwater in their mortgage – that is, those who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth (approximately 6.4 million households nationwide). Put in real terms, this means that if you owe $250,000 on your mortgage, and your bank lets you sell it by way of a short sale for $150,000, then the $100,000 difference is treated as taxable income. This would lead to an approximately $28,000 tax bill because of the typical tax laws in which if someone lends you money and then later says you do not have to pay it back, the IRS counts the amount forgiven as income (except in cases of bankruptcy or insolvency). Nationwide, approximately 100,000 people used the mortgage debt relief exemption in 2011. In 2013, however, that number will be much greater, simply because there were approximately 250,000 short sales, yielding an average debt reduction of approximately $37,000. A homeowner in the 25% tax bracket would then face an extra $9,250 tax bill.

What remains to be seen is if Congress recognizes the unfairness of giving the banks a welcome form of tax relief, while piling even more debt upon the innocent homeowner.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier

To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Debt Forgiveness, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Foreclosures Plummeting – but not in New Jersey

December 30, 2013 By

According to reports, August 2013 brought the fewest lender initiated foreclosure actions against U.S. homes for any month in nearly eight years.  However, foreclosure activity is still on the rise in New Jersey. Nationally, approximately 55,775 homes entered the foreclosure process nationwide in August, a decline of 8 percent from July and down 44 percent from August of last year.  In New Jersey, foreclosure starts were up 18 percent from a year ago, and all foreclosure activity rose 43 percent. Additionally, New Jersey has a large backlog of distressed homes.  It is speculated that this backlog piled up while the mortgage industry dealt with accusations that homeowners’ rights were being abused in the foreclosure process. Full article.

New Jersey has the second longest timeline to complete the foreclosure process, behind New York, coming in at 1,002 days.  According to reports, the national average in the first quarter of 2013 is 477 days to complete the foreclosure process.  This means that if you are facing foreclosure in a state where it takes a considerable amount of time to complete the process, you will have plenty of time before the foreclosure is complete to try to refinance your mortgage, negotiate an alternative to foreclosure, or live inside your home without making a payment prior to foreclosure completion. Ultimately, the longer the foreclosure takes, the better it is for you.

 Contact Shaffer & Gaier

To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , ,

Foreclosures Surge in DC Area After Federal Budget Cuts – Could Pass New Jersey in Foreclosure Rates

November 11, 2013 By

According to reports released by the Bipartisan Policy Center, this year’s across-the-board budget reductions have led to “sequester pain.”  Federal agencies award more than $500 billion a year, or roughly $1.4 billion dollars a day, to tens of thousands of contractors, with late payments, halted work and canceled solicitations accumulating, to the detriment of companies and their workers. Initial foreclosure filings for September climbed 144 percent since August in Fairfax County, Virginia; they more than doubled in Prince William, Loudoun and Fauquier counties.  New Jersey’s 55 percent monthly increase in foreclosure starts is the highest in the United States. Virginia is the second-highest in the US with a 52 percent monthly increase in foreclosure starts.  Virginia is likely to see another surge, and may surpass New Jersey, as an estimated 800,000 federal workers, including Defense Department inspectors and auditors who help certify invoices, were furloughed when the shutdown began at the beginning of October.   Full article.

In September, the number of properties that received a foreclosure filing in NJ was 55% higher than the previous month – and 55% higher than the same time last year. Home sales for August 2013 were down 4% compared with the previous month, and down 2% compared with a year ago. The median sales price of a non-distressed home was $298,000. The median sales price of a foreclosed home was $185,000, or 38% lower than non-distressed home sales.

Contact Shaffer & Gaier

To set up a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call our foreclosure hotline at 855-289-1660. Or call our office location in Philadelphia at 215-751-0100, or in New Jersey at 856-429-0970.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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