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Archive for July 13th, 2010

Who is harming the economy – BANKS, not my clients

With all the recent media attention that Stopa Law Firm has received, I’ve gotten a TON of positive feedback from clients and prospective clients in Florida and many other states.  Thank you to everyone who has encouraged the fight against the systemic fraud being perpetuated by banks every day. 

I’ve also gotten some criticism, too, allegedly because what I’m doing by defending homeowners facing foreclosure is ”harming the economy.”  The criticism typically goes something like this: “Your clients are living for free, dragging down the value of my property, and you’re helping them do it.” 

Respectfully, people who say things like this are wrong.  It’s not a matter of opinion – they’re wrong.  And I can prove it. 

First off, my clients care about their homes.  Whether they’re living in them or renting them out, my clients haven’t abandoned their homes – they’re maintaining them.  My clients’ homes aren’t the vacant houses you see with foot-high grass that haven’t been inhabited in a year.  My clients are living in their houses (or, in some instances, renting them out), and actively trying to keep their houses via a loan modification.  I dare anyone to explain, in any intelligent way, how the economy is harmed when people live in their homes, maintain their homes, and try to enter a loan modification.  Who is harmed here?  Some CEO at a bank who gets an $800,000 bonus instead of $850,000?  Please.   

Nothing my clients are doing reduces the value of their neighbors’ houses.  You know what affects that value of these homes?  Abandoned houses.  And why are houses abandoned?  Because banks scare people into leaving their homes, making it easy for them to obtain a foreclosure judgment, but then banks don’t schedule a foreclosure sale because they don’t actually want the home.  What results is the property sits in limbo – the homeowner stopped paying and abandoned it long ago, but the bank won’t set the foreclosure sale, so nobody else can buy the property, either.  The homeowner is not living in it, and the bank doesn’t own it … the property just sits, empty, abandoned, for months, even years.    

Don’t believe me?  Go check the public records.  I’ve been doing that recently in Pinellas County, and it’s scary what I’ve found.  

For instance, there was a foreclosure sale scheduled tomorrow, July 13, 2010, in Case No. 08-2426-CI-08.  But the sale isn’t going forward because the bank cancelled the sale – for the third time.  In fact, the Court entered final judgment in September, 2009, yet the foreclosure sale has still not taken place.  It’s not because the homeowner has put up a fight, either – the homeowner never appeared in the case and lost by default – the bank just refuses to proceed with the foreclosure sale.  Sound impossible to believe?  Don’t take my word for it – here’s a cut-and-paste of the docket, from the clerk’s website: 

Reset Original Sort Link To Activity Code Date P/D Docket Entry Ver
1 Link to Case-related Persons DUMB 07/07/2010 CLERK FORECLOSURE SALE CANCELLED: PER FAX(KENB) N
2 Link to Case-related Persons FAXC 07/07/2010 PLAINTIFF FAX COPY OF CORRESPONDENCE: REQUEST CANCEL SALE F
3 Link to Case-related Persons DATC 06/15/2010 PLAINTIFF ORD RESCHED SALE CLW FOR: 071310 OR16947PG2397-002 F
4 Link to Case-related Persons MOTN 06/15/2010 PLAINTIFF MOTION FOR NEW SALE DATE F
5 Link to Case-related Persons MOTN 06/14/2010 PLAINTIFF MOTION FOR NEW SALE DATE F
6 Link to Case-related Persons DUMB 03/04/2010 CLERK FORECLOSURE SALE CANCELLED: NO REP AT SALE N
7 Link to Case-related Persons ORGR 03/03/2010 PLAINTIFF ORDER GRANTING MOITON TO SUBSTITUTE PARTY PLAINTIFF F
8 Link to Case-related Persons NOTH 02/01/2010 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF HEARING 030210 9:00 (TELEPHONIC) F
9 Link to Case-related Persons DATC 02/01/2010 PLAINTIFF ORD RESCHED SALE CLW FOR: 030410 OR16822PG1961-001 F
10 Link to Case-related Persons REFE 01/27/2010 PLAINTIFF RE-OPEN FEE PAID – $50.00 N
11 Link to Case-related Persons MOTN 01/25/2010 PLAINTIFF MOTION FOR NEW SALE DATE F
12 Link to Case-related Persons REOP 01/25/2010 PLAINTIFF REOPEN CASE/OTHER N
13 Link to Case-related Persons MOTN 01/15/2010 PLAINTIFF MOTION SUBSTITUTE PARTY F
14 Link to Case-related Persons ASIG 10/28/2009 PLAINTIFF ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGMENT OR16739PG1512-001 R
15 Link to Case-related Persons DUMB 10/23/2009 CLERK FORECLOSURE SALE CANCELLED: PER FAX(KENB) N
16 Link to Case-related Persons FAXC 10/23/2009 PLAINTIFF FAX COPY OF CORRESPONDENCE: REQUEST CANCEL SALE F
17 Link to Case-related Persons PBNS 10/09/2009 PLAINTIFF PUBLISHERS AFFIDAVIT NOTICE OF SALE F
18 Link to Case-related Persons NSGC 09/28/2009 CLERK NOTICE OF SALE/COPY TO GULF COAST BUS REV F
19 Link to Case-related Persons HOMC 09/17/2009 PLAINTIFF SALE SCHEDULED IN CLEARWATER FOR: 102309 OR16705PG0007-006 F
20 Link to Case-related Persons HOME 09/17/2009 PLAINTIFF FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE/JDMT AMOUNT $ 112143.45 F
21 Link to Case-related Persons DEJD 09/17/2009 PLAINTIFF DEFAULT JUDGMENT N
22 Link to Case-related Persons ATTY 09/17/2009 PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY COVER LETTER RCVD BY COURT 091009 F
23 Link to Case-related Persons NOTH 08/13/2009 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF HEARING 091709 9:30 F
24 Link to Case-related Persons CCOU 05/01/2009 PLAINTIFF CORRESPONDENCE TO COURT RE: FROM COURT-RESET HEARING F
25 Link to Case-related Persons CCFP 05/01/2009 PLAINTIFF CERTIFICATION-COMPLIANCE W/FORECLOSURE PROC F
26 Link to Case-related Persons NOTH 02/20/2009 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF HEARING 043009 9:30 (TELEPHONIC) F
27 Link to Case-related Persons NOTH 12/22/2008 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF HEARING 043009 9:30 (TELEPHONIC) F
28 Link to Case-related Persons DEBT 09/15/2008 PLAINTIFF AFFIDAVIT OF INDEBTEDNESS F
29 Link to Case-related Persons FEES 07/10/2008 PLAINTIFF AFFIDAVIT OF ATTORNEY FEES F
30 Link to Case-related Persons FILE 06/30/2008 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF FILING ORIGINAL NOTE AND MORTGAGE F
31 Link to Case-related Persons TEXT 05/08/2008 CLERK KALANI UHATAFE F
32 Link to Case-related Persons DEFA 05/08/2008 CLERK DEFAULT ENTERED /NAVITALAI UHATAFE/UNKNOWN SPOUSE NKA N
33 Link to Case-related Persons MODE 05/07/2008 PLAINTIFF MOTION FOR DEFAULT F
34 Link to Case-related Persons ARMY 05/07/2008 PLAINTIFF AFFIDAVIT AS TO MILITARY SERVICE F
35 Link to Case-related Persons DUPE 05/02/2008 PLAINTIFF UNKNOWN TENANTS IN POSSESSION F
36 Link to Case-related Persons DUPE 05/02/2008 PLAINTIFF JANE DOE F
37 Link to Case-related Persons DUPE 05/02/2008 PLAINTIFF JOHN DOE F
38 Link to Case-related Persons DROP 05/02/2008 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF DROPPING : F
39 Link to Case-related Persons SURN 03/10/2008 CLERK SUMMONS RETD NOT SERVED JOHN DOE F
40 Link to Case-related Persons SURN 03/10/2008 CLERK SUMMONS RETD NOT SERVED JANE DOE F
41 Link to Case-related Persons SURS 03/10/2008 CLERK SUMMONS RETD SERVED NAVITALAI UHATAFE 022108 F
42 Link to Case-related Persons DUPE 03/10/2008 CLERK 022108 N/K/A KALANI UHATAFE F
43 Link to Case-related Persons SURS 03/10/2008 CLERK SUMMONS RETD SERVED UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF NAVITALAI UHATAFE N
44 Link to Case-related Persons NOTC 03/06/2008 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF SCRIVENERS ERROR RE: PARTY PLTFF F
45 Link to Case-related Persons SUPP 02/20/2008 CLERK SUMMONS TO PROCESS SERVER – PICK UP HEAVEN SENT (4) N
46 Link to Case-related Persons LPRF 02/20/2008 PLAINTIFF LIS PENDENS RECORDING FEE PAID – $5.00 N
47 Link to Case-related Persons 02CI 02/20/2008 PLAINTIFF CIRCUIT CIVIL FILING FEE PAID $255.00 N
48 Link to Case-related Persons NOLP 02/19/2008 PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF LIS PENDENS OR16157PG0506-001 F
49 Link to Case-related Persons CCST 02/19/2008 PLAINTIFF CIVIL COVER SHEET F
50 Link to Case-related Persons COCS 02/19/2008 PLAINTIFF COMPLAINT AND COPY(S) F
51 Link to Case-related Persons SECT 02/19/2008 PLAINTIFF THIS CASE ASSIGNED BY CLERK TO SECTION 008 BY 3777 – RANDOM MF N

Lest you think this is an aberration, it’s not.  Check for yourselves.  Every day, whether it’s in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, or anywhere in between, banks are obtaining foreclosure judgments throughout Florida, then refusing to set the foreclosure sales.  This is what causes houses to remain abandoned and not maintained.  This is what drags down property values and harms the economy, not my clients.  The banks are causing houses to be abandoned, not my clients.   So next time you see a house that’s abandoned, don’t blame me.  And certainly don’t blame my clients.  Chances are, the bank owns the property – or scared the owner into moving out, got a foreclosure judgment, but doesn’t want to set a foreclosure sale, so the remains abandoned indefinitely. 

Am I the only one who thinks this is absurd?  How can banks get away with this?  Why are judges so quick to enter foreclosure judgments, and throw their neighbors on the streets, when banks are so slow to set foreclosure sales?  Why do my clients get cricitized in the media (which refuses to report about banks’ refusals to enter loan modifications), yet banks cause properties to be abandoned all over Florida and get off scot-free?  This is yet another illustration of how banks are harming the economy to help themselves.  Banks don’t care if the property is abandoned – if they don’t want to pay the insurance or property taxes, they won’t set the foreclosure sale.  

Here’s an idea for you, banks:  if you don’t want the properties, I’ve got 400(+) clients who will take them, maintain them, and make good use of them.  Better yet, if you’re not going to set the foreclosure sale, don’t scare away the homeowner.  Let the homeowner continue living in the home, maintaining the home, taking care of the home – just as my clients are doing.

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