PA SUPREME COURTS ALLOWS DEFAULT TO STAND AGAINST BANK OF AMERICA

September 10, 2014 By Shaffer & Gaier

As an update to a blog I posted in January, 2014, in which I discussed a default judgment I secured for my client against Bank of America, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just ordered that the default judgment shall remain in place. I filed a lawsuit against Bank of America in Delaware County, PA for predatory lending and unfair trade practices. The bank failed to answer the lawsuit and I moved for a default judgment. Of course, the bank appealed, asking the trial judge to allow it to file an Answer, but the trial judge refused. The bank unsuccessfully appealed to the Superior Court and then to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, also unsuccessfully.

This means that the case can now proceed to a jury trial to determine the amount of my clients’ monetary damages. Certain discovery issues need to be worked out; primarily I am in the process of securing testimony from a Bank of America Corporate Representative regarding the net worth of the company in 2012 and 2013.

This is because I included a claim for punitive damages, which are used to punish the defendant for wrongful conduct. One of the ways that a jury is allowed to and able to determine an appropriate dollar amount for damages is to consider the net worth of the defendant. The Bank is, of course, objecting to such an inquiry, and is not agreeing to produce such a representative; again, the trial judge will decide the scope of the deposition testimony. I am hopeful for trial in January/February 2015. I will keep you posted.

Contact the law firm of Shaffer & Gaier, LLC

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: Bank of America, Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Settlements Tagged With: bank foreclosures, bank of america attorney, bank of america predatory lending, cherry hill new jersey mortgage foreclosure, foreclosure abuse by banks, Foreclosure defense attorney, foreclosure defense camden county new jersey, Foreclosure defense new jersey, Foreclosure defense new jersey attorney, mortgage crisis foreclosures, mortgage foreclosure defense, pa mortgage attorney, pa predatory lending attorney, predatory lending attorney, predatory loan practices, unfair trade practices bank of america

Foreclosure Defense in PA and NJ

March 26, 2014 By Shaffer & Gaier

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.

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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: Foreclosure defense, Foreclosure defense attorney, Foreclosure defense attorney philadelphia, Foreclosure defense new jersey, Foreclosure defense new jersey attorney, Foreclosure defense philadelphia

COMPLICATED LITIGATION RESULTS IN FAVORABLE SETTLEMENT

February 10, 2014 By Shaffer & Gaier

On June 30, 2005, my client took out a $104,000 loan and mortgage on his family’s home in Southwest Philadelphia. The original lender was Indy Mac Bank, a sub-prime lender, whose operations were essentially taken over by the FDIC for what many believed were shoddy lending practices. The loan carried a low interest rate for the first two months, and then increased to an exorbitant interest rate for the next 29 years and 10 months. The mortgage broker, however, told my client at closing that he would be able to refinance the loan within a matter of months. This false promise never materialized, leaving my client with a deceptive, unfair and unreasonably high interest rate for the life of the loan.

One West Bank acquired the mortgage loan, which was later serviced by Ocwen Loan Servicing. One West filed a foreclosure lawsuit, and we filed a counterclaim and cross-claim against other lenders. The bank’s attorneys and I engaged in written discovery and multiple depositions, and in the fall of 2013, the Court scheduled a series of settlement conferences. The case was scheduled for trial in March, 2014.

By the time the case would be presented for trial, however, the balance on the loan was going to be approximately $187,000, almost twice as much as the original mortgage loan. The parties, however, reached a settlement, which lowered the principal balance by nearly $100,000, to $93,000. The settlement also called for an interest rate of 2% for the first 5 years, and for the remaining 5 years at 4.35%. While the case took almost 3 years to wind its way through the court, we were able to reach a favorable result.

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, Predatory Mortgage Practices, Sub - Prime Lending Tagged With: bank foreclosures, Foreclosure defense, foreclosure defense lawyer, Foreclosure defense new jersey, Foreclosure defense new jersey attorney, Foreclosure defense philadelphia, Indy Mac Bank, Ocwen Loan Servicing, One West Bank, predatory lending attorney, sub - prime lenders, sub prime lending, subprime lenders

Favorable Settlement During Trial in Philadelphia

November 28, 2013 By Shaffer & Gaier

Our client had been sued by HSBC, one of the world’s largest banks (its initials stand for Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation). In 2010, my client’s employer cut back on his overtime hours, and this caused a decrease in take-home pay. During the build-up to the housing bubble, HSBC acquired hundreds of thousands of U.S. mortgages from smaller lenders. Many banks got bailed out, but HSBC did not, and now claims that since it did not take any federal bailout money, it does not have to adhere to federal guidelines to modify mortgage loans, or engage in what I call reasonable settlement/resolution practices.

HSBC, therefore, demanded that the only way to reinstate my client’s delinquent loan was for the him to come up with 40% of the arrears. For homeowners that have been in foreclosure for a year or more, this often means that HSBC will not modify the mortgage unless the homeowners has tens of thousands of dollars to put down towards the new loan. In my client’s case, as in the case of most homeowners, this was not possible.

This scenario causes, in my view, more trials than are necessary since it is so difficult to settle by a loan modification. In this trial which started on November 27, 2013, the results ended favorably for my client. In this Philadelphia County case, HSBC was demanding that my client come up with over $60,000 in order to reinstate his mortgage loan (which already contained a 10.9% interest rate). My client rejected the offer, and the case proceeded to trial. Midway through the trial, HSBC made an offer to let our client remain in the home for almost another 12 months, and to waive the entire unpaid loan amount of $177,000. The case has been in litigation for nearly 3 years so this was a fantastic result for my client. The terms of the settlement were put on the record in front of the judge.

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Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Lending, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: attorney foreclosure lawsuit, foreclosure abuse by banks, Foreclosure defense attorney, Foreclosure defense new jersey, Foreclosure defense philadelphia, Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation, Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation foreclosures, Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation lawsuits, HSBC, mortgage foreclosure defense, mortgage lender practices

Little Known Foreclosure Abuses

October 4, 2013 By Shaffer & Gaier

In early 2012, the nation’s five big banks settled with state and federal regulators over widespread foreclosure abuses, including the seizure of homes without due process. Many of the abuses keep coming to light, but one little-known and rarely-discussed violation is becoming more widespread as banks foreclose on more homes.

After a homeowner is delinquent in their mortgage, the lender is allowed to hire a property management company to determine whether the homeowner had abandoned his or her home. If so, the management company is allowed to secure the vacant property, within reason. It does not always happen that way, and the nation’s largest property management company, Safe Guard, has been accused of breaking Illinois law, with allegations that it broke into homes despite evidence of occupancy, even damaging and removing personal property in the process. There are also charges that Safe Guard changed locks, cut off utilities and bullied occupants into leaving their homes when they actually had a legal right to stay there.

In mid-September, 2013, the Illinois attorney general filed a lawsuit against Safe Guard to hold it accountable for these violations. Under the 2012 Foreclosure Settlement, lenders became responsible for supervising and auditing the contractors, including ones like Safe Guard. There is certainly profit motive for the bank to take control of these vacant homes, since the sooner the house can be sold and the more the home is worth, the better. The banks are not able to make any money on occupied homes that haven’t yet forged their way through the foreclosure litigation process.

The bottom line is that eviction is only permissible after the legal process has concluded. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania, this means after a Final Judgment of Foreclosure has been entered and the property has been sold at a lawful Sheriff’s Sale.

For its part, Safe Guard claims that its work meets the highest standards in the industry. As these abuses keep coming to light, it remains to be seen how it will all affect the nearly 3 million homeowners who are in or near foreclosure.

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Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Abuses, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: foreclosure abuses, Foreclosure defense attorney philadelphia, foreclosure defense lawyer, Foreclosure defense new jersey, foreclosure eviction, new jersey foreclosure, safe guard foreclosure

Mortgage Deliquencies Remain High in New Jersey

September 26, 2013 By Shaffer & Gaier

Even though there is an improving nationwide real estate market, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures continue to be a problem in New Jersey. The national mortgage delinquency rate – defined as borrowers who are at least 60 days past due on their payments – shrank by 26% in the Second Quarter of 2013, when compared to the same period one year ago, according to TransUnion, the credit information service. The delinquency rate in August, 2013 was approximately 4.1%, still double what it was in the pre-recession period, but it is still on a downward trend.

Locally, however, things are not so good. While Florida and Nevada have the highest delinquency rates (9.9% and 8%, respectively), New Jersey is right behind them, at 7.2%.

In New Jersey, there were 4455 mortgage foreclosure lawsuits filed in July, and 4222 foreclosure lawsuits filed in August, 2013, a dramatic rise from 2012 and early 2013. In New Jersey, the nation’s biggest lenders have recently filed motion papers that are paving the way and allowing a greater number of foreclosure lawsuits to be filed. In New Jersey, it is expected that the number of foreclosure lawsuits will continue to increase through the end of 2013.

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Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: attorney foreclosure lawsuit, Foreclosure defense new jersey, foreclosure lawsuit, foreclosure rate new jersey, homeowners foreclosure somerset county new jersey, mortgage foreclosure lawsuits

‘Don’t Lose Your Home’ – Foreclosure Seminar Being Held September 4

August 20, 2013 By Shaffer & Gaier

Foreclosure Defense Seminar

foreclosure-seminar-sept-13

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Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: Foreclosure defense attorney philadelphia, Foreclosure defense new jersey, foreclosure defense seminar, foreclosure defense workshop

Foreclosure Fraud Against Deutsche Bank Yields $30,000

July 29, 2013 By Shaffer & Gaier

Shaffer & Gaier’s client agreed to a $30,000 cash settlement with Deutsche Bank in an action filed by the banking giant to foreclose on his New Jersey investment property. When purchased in 2006, the property was worth approximately $110,000, but at the time of the trial the value had fallen to $65,000. Shaffer & Gaier’s review of the loan documents uncovered fraud committed by the Lender in the underwriting process.

After Deutsche Bank filed its foreclosure action, Shaffer & Gaier filed a counterclaim based on fraud and misrepresentation (the lender grossly inflated our client’s federal tax return income when qualifying him for the loan and failed to disclose that to the client). During pretrial discovery and trial preparation, Shaffer & Gaier proved that the bank’s assignment documents (which give the Lender the right to bring the foreclosure lawsuit) were defective and therefore it did not have the right to foreclose.

Along with the counterclaim, this allowed the client to successfully settle the claim on the third day of trial. As part of the terms of the settlement, our client was entitled to retain the property and collect the rental income for an expected period of 18 months, free of mortgage payment obligations.

Interest – Only Loan Settlement

July 19, 2013 By Shaffer & Gaier

Shaffer & Gaier’s clients owned a vacation home on the Jersey Shore since 1989, and in 2007 a mortgage broker qualified them to refinance into an “interest-only, negative amortization loan”. While our clients’ loan allowed them to make “interest-only” payments that were lower than a traditional monthly mortgage payment, the loan was misleading because the balance of the loan increased each month, even though a payment was being made. This is often because the Truth in Lending document does not appear consistent with the true terms of the loan.

These loans are so deceptive for the homeowner that they have been outlawed in many states while many of the big banks have even stopped offering the loans to prospective homeowners. Shaffer & Gaier filed a lawsuit in Cape May County, NJ against the lender and secured a confidential settlement in July, 2012 for money damages which allowed our clients to recoup the amount of interest they had paid since the loan’s inception.

Filed Under: Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: Foreclosure defense, Foreclosure defense attorney, Foreclosure defense attorney philadelphia, Foreclosure defense new jersey, Foreclosure defense new jersey attorney, Foreclosure defense philadelphia, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Modification attorney, Mortgage Modification attorney new jersey, Mortgage Modification attorney philadelphia

Foreclosure Defense Workshop

July 17, 2013 By Shaffer & Gaier