Alabama Consumer Law Blog

NorthJersey.com has posted an article that discusses how "short sales" can actually take quite a long time. A short sale becomes an option when the seller's lender agrees to accept less in payment than the homeowner owes on the mortgage.

As a buyer, you can get some amazing deals from short sales. However...

"It's like a gamble," said Jan last week. "You have to go through multiple stages, and at the end they [the seller's lender] can say no. You can win; you can lose."

People who are interested in buying a home through a short sale often find that lenders make the process exceptionally difficult. They can ignore you for months, argue behind your back and in the end try ask you to give more money that originally.

This month, the federal government aims to limit those behaviors as it rolls out guidelines to streamline the short-sale process. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program – or HAFA — would require the seller's lender to agree on what price it would accept before the house is listed for sale; would set clear and short deadlines for the seller and lender to respond; and would offer cash incentives to get the deal done.

To qualify for this, homeowners must be a part of the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, which is one of the government's loan modification efforts. Homeowners who applied for but were turned down by HAMP, or are still unable to meet the requirements of their mortgage modification, are qualified for HAFA. HAFA is looking to institute a concrete deadline to force short sales to move along at a reasonable pace and reduce fighting amongst lien holders.

Yet another difficulty with the short sale is that many sellers have not only primary mortgages, but also multiple home equity loans.

"Some of the problem is dealing with second mortgages and third mortgages," said Nick Tselepsis of Nicholas Realty in Clifton. "They [secondary lien holders] have to agree to the short sale to clear the title, and they play so tough."

Giannantonio said: "Sometimes the second-lien holder holds things up. The first-mortgage holder may say, 'Give them a thousand,' and the second says, 'No, we want $5,000.' "

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

This is a copy of our Consumer Power Newsletter today as we know some people like to read blog posts on their Google Reader or other newsreader and since we are including a video we thought it might be helpful to have everything in one place. So, here is our newsletter this morning:

Good morning . . . I hope you are having a nice week and I appreciate you allowing us to visit with you for a few minutes this morning.

I decided to shoot a short video that covers the same material as this email so if you would like to see that you can watch it below. I did shoot this video late one day so I'm a little bit scruffy and don't have on a tie so you'll have to overlook that . . . :)

Let me know if you find the video helpful and if so I'll include one for each week's newsletter.

OK I have two main topics for the day.

The first is to document calls from collectors and I want to share with you a reason why.

The second is to let you know about three books that you can request at no charge.

Importance Of Documenting

This week Heather and I met with a nice lady who is dealing with collection calls. She was very thorough in documenting the calls and as we looked through the calls she pointed something out to us. The calls came approximately every 30 minutes. So the two or three calls a day would be something like this: 10:18; 10:48; 11:18.

This is significant because it shows that we are probably dealing with computer generated calls as few human collectors would be able to call exactly thirty minutes apart day after day.

If you have been reading our newsletter you know that computer generated calls (or pre-recorded messages) to your cell phone is a big red flag. Unless you gave permission to the company calling - either the collector or the original creditor - then whoever is making these calls to you is likely violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This exposes that company to potential damages of $500 or $1500. Per call.

I share this story with you of this pro-active consumer to remind you to carefully document calls. Document who called, when they called, keep voicemails, keep a picture of your caller ID, etc. This is true whether you are dealing with a mortgage company, a credit card company, a bill collector, a car finance company, etc.

If you would like some more information about the TCPA - calls to cell phones - you can read our article here. You can also read a short article on how to use a simple collection log to track calls.

The system you use is not important - what's important is that you do have a system for keeping up with the calls as it may reveal options to you that you otherwise would not see.

Three Books

As you may know, we have held several tele-seminars on debt collection and foreclosure issues. We have started the process of getting those recordings transcribed and put into book form. That process is finished on three books and they will be available by Monday.

If you would like to receive a copy of any of these books, let me know. You can call us at 205-879-2447.

If you live in Alabama, let us know if you would like only the ebook format (PDF) or if you would like a printed version. If you live outside of Alabama, we are happy to send these to you in PDF. Do keep in mind these are focused on Alabama consumers which is where Stan Herring and I practice so you'll need to consult with a local lawyer in your area to see if the general information we provide in these books is applicable to you.

Our books that are available now include:

1. Little Known Ways To Stop Abusive Debt Collectors;
2. Four Secrets To Stopping Wrongful Foreclosure In Alabama; and
3. Five Mistakes Consumers Make When Facing An Ejectment Action In Alabama.

Next Tele-Seminar - Questions To Ask Your Potential Alabama Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

Our next tele-seminar will be in a few weeks (exact date coming next Thursday) and it will be on the Seven Questions You Should Ask Any Potential Alabama Foreclosue Defense Attorney Before You Hire. There are more and more lawyers who say they are foreclosure defense lawyers which is good as there are so many foreclosures and most foreclosures that we have seen have been improper. But how do pick the right one for you? What questions should you ask before you make a decision on your home and who will help you save your home?

If this is of interest to you, plan on joining us for our next tele-seminar where we will discuss these issues to offer you some suggestions on what you might ask about.

Final Thoughts

I'll close this email today and I want to thank you for being interested in consumer issues and taking the time to read this (or to watch the video).

Best wishes and have a wonderful weekend as we (amazingly) start a new month on Saturday....

See you next week!

John Watts

PS - You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The CL&P Blog has posted an article about a recent Supreme Court ruling that gives consumers the upper hand when facing involvement in a lawsuit against abusive debt collectors.

In a 7-2 ruling, the Court has decided that debt collectors who violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can't escape consequences by claiming to have been ignorant of or misunderstanding the laws that prohibit abusive tactics in debt collection. Claiming a mistake-of-law defense often makes enforcement more lenient and inhibits the development of the case.

Justice Breyer wrote a brief concurrence to stress that the dilemma lawyer-debt collectors may face--between zealous representation of their clients and fear of personal liability--can be cured by the FTC advisory opinion process. He notes that the FTC hasn't issued many such opinions, but says that he "would expect" the FTC to issue more opinions if the dilemma proves serious, and joins the majority opinion "[o]n this understanding." Justice Scalia writes separately to say that the Court could have rested on textual analysis alone.

If you have had problems with abusive debt collectors or have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Homeowners often wonder "Why won't the mortgage company (or servicer) agree to modify my loan so I can avoid foreclosure and still make payments every month? It just doesn't make any sense."

There are many reasons but I'll just give you . . . oh . . . say . . . 10,000 reasons . . . .

Once a loan is 90 days or more overdue, servicers charge processing and foreclosure fees along with markups for attorneys, appraisers and other services. That’s on top of monthly late fees that can run as high as 5 percent of the mortgage payment. A foreclosure on a $200,000 mortgage may result in $10,000 or more of income for servicers, who get paid before mortgage investors, according to Glenn Russell, a real estate attorney in Fall River, Massachusetts.

“Servicers can easily make 10 times any of the government stipends being offered by simply foreclosing on the house,” Russell said.

To put it bluntly and accurately without any fluff:

“Servicers love loans that are in default for an extended period of time,” McDonnell said. “They are cash cows.”

These enlightening quotes are from a fantastic story by Kathleen M. Howley entitled "Mortgage Servicer Profits May Threaten Obama Housing Programs"

So, if you ever wonder why your mortgage company seems so unwilling to help . . . so dead set on seeing you lose your house in this market where your house is not worth what you owe . . . remember -- $10,000 is what the servicer makes. As people often say - "follow the money". . . good advice here.

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The Wall Street Journal has posted an article about a "fraud" committed by a major national bank in a foreclosure lawsuit. The Florida case began in December 2007 when U.S. Bank N.A. sued Ernest Harpster, a homeowner, after he defaulted on a $190,000 loan from January of the same year.

The lawyer who represented the bank drafted up an "assignment of mortgage" document that said the bank acquired the mortgage in December 2007. The document was also dated December 2007. Circuit Court Judge Lynn Tepper looked into it and found that the document couldn't have been written until 2008 and thus the bank couldn't prove that it owned the mortgage when they sued Harpster. She dismissed the case because she felt that the document...

"did not exist at the time of the filing of this action…was subsequently created and…fraudulently backdated, in a purposeful, intentional effort to mislead."

The mistake was blamed on "carelessness" and that the document was drafted up and signed in 2007 but wasn't notarized until a few months later. After several other similar suits were noticed with the same bank, the firm withdrew the suits and re-filed them later after using "appropriate documents."

Some of the problems stem from the difficulty banks face in proving they own the loans, thanks to the complexity of the mortgage market.
The Florida ruling against U.S. Bank was also a critique of law firms that handle foreclosure cases on behalf of banks, dubbed "foreclosure mills."

"The pure volume of foreclosures has a tendency perhaps to encourage sloppiness, boilerplate paperwork or a lack of thoroughness" by attorneys for banks, said Judge Tepper of Florida, in an interview. The deluge of foreclosures makes the process "fraught with potential for fraud," she said.

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

Philly.com has posted an article about how not reading the fine print when signing a contract can really backfire. Lester Griffin, a preacher in Philadelphia, found this out the hard way and has been fighting a $430 fee that DirecTV says he owes for "early termination."

DirecTV says he owes the fee for cancelling early on a two year contract, but Griffin says he didn't know he signed a contract and has refused to pay. DirecTV sent the bill to a collection agency, but Griffin still isn't giving in.

DirecTV says Griffin had formally agreed to its terms - including the early-termination fee - on the day of installation, when the installer handed him paperwork to read and sign.

Spokesman Robert G. Mercer says Griffin should have already known about the fee, which he says would have been mentioned in his sign-up call with Verizon and was outlined in a preinstallation "Congratulations" letter that confirmed his appointment and said, "Please take a moment to review your order."

Griffin says he doesn't recall anything mentioned about a contract, even when DirecTV came to his house to set up the equipment. He said he signed something for the technician, but assumed it was for the equipment.

Mercer graciously provided me a copy of DirecTV's preinstallation letter, and also a blank copy of the contract the company says Griffin signed. But rather than confirm that Griffin had simply made a careless error and was paying for it, the documents raise more questions - as did the fact that over the last three years, the company has amassed more than 35,000 complaints to the Better Business Bureau, most of them involving its contracts.

DirecTV still insists their conditions and terms were properly and clearly stated, but has agreed to waive Griffin's cancellation fee.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

In Alabama the foreclosure is a private matter without court intervention. Then if you don't leave, you get sued. Its called an "Ejectment" suit because the mortgage company is trying to eject or evict you from your home.

Let's look at this and see if this is smart or dumb for most mortgage companies to do and how getting sued (not normally a good thing!) for ejectment can actually be a blessing in disguise.

MORTGAGE COMPANY - YOU BETTER HAVE BEEN RIGHT WHEN YOU FORECLOSED
There are actions we can take in life that "magnify" or "multiply" the good or the bad of previous actions. Take foreclosure in Alabama. The mortgage company forecloses.

Let's say it did not have the right to foreclose (a common occurrence in Alabama). This is bad enough, right? An improper and illegal foreclosure. This leads to damage to your credit report. Public ridicule as the false foreclosure is advertised to everyone in your county through 3 weeks of public newspaper articles.

But, if the foreclosure was wrong, and then the mortgage company has the audacity to sue you. The audacity to try and kick you and your family out on the street. The complete lack of shame and remorse for doing an illegal foreclosure.

Well, this makes a bad situation for the mortgage company much . . . much . . . worse. It amplifies or magnifies the damage to you. It exposes the mortgage company as being an arrogant . . . unrepentant . . . hypocrite as the mortgage company all the time screams in the media about consumers following the law and their obligations but this does not apply when the mortgage company wants to break the law and then sue to kick your family out on the street.

SO IS IT ALWAYS BAD FOR A MORTGAGE COMPANY TO SUE FOR EJECTMENT AFTER AN ILLEGAL FORECLOSURE?
No.

Sound odd after what I just said above?

Well, let me explain. Most people who get an ejectment lawsuit . . . do . . . nothing. Except start to pack their bags and then leave. They give up on their home and they let the mortgage company win.

You see - when there has been an illegal foreclosure and then the mortgage company sues you ("adding insult to injury") but you do nothing except give in . . . then the mortgage company does win. It does make money. It does profit from its evil conduct.

And since most people do this . . . it actually is good business for mortgage companies to act in this evil way.

Unless.

Unless you actually stand up for your family, for your self respect, for your neighborhood . . . and say "I'm not going to take this from Bank of America or Wells Fargo or Deutsche Bank or whoever it is. I'm not going to let them get away with stealing my home. I'm not going to have my family life turned upside down. I'm not going to have my neighborhood start to fall apart with empty houses as a monument to the arrogance of these mortgage companies."

YOU STAND UP BY TAKING ACTION AND FIGHTING BACK AGAINST ILLEGAL FORECLOSURES
Take action.

First step. Find out if the mortgage company had the right to foreclose on your home. Here are some examples - but ultimately you will need to meet with a foreclosure litigation lawyer to know the answer to this question.

1. Were you really behind on your payments?
2. Did the mortgage company follow the terms of the note and mortgage in "accelerating" the amount due?
3. Were the advertisements and the mailed notices regarding the foreclosure sale date handled properly?
4. Was there any fraud or breach of contract as you discussed your situation with the mortgage company prior to the foreclosure?
5. Did the foreclosing company have the right - or the "standing" - to foreclose on you? Or did they not own or otherwise have the "capacity" to foreclose?
6. If your note was owned by a Wall Street Trust (as close to 80% of loans this past decade are) - or "supposedly" owned - was the note properly transferred to the Trust? Often it is not and that destroys the ability of the Trust or anyone acting on behalf of the Trust to foreclose on you.

Now, if everything was done properly in the foreclosure sale then you have nothing to do except to discuss with the mortgage company how and when you will move out.

But.

If it looks like the foreclosure was improper - as so many Alabama consumers have faced - then you need to take the next step.

The next step is to fight back by counterclaiming against the mortgage company in the lawsuit it has filed against you. You will often want to add other defendants to your counterclaim - maybe the servicer - maybe the "asset preservation company" that tried to steal your property by breaking down your doors - maybe some other entities.

We can't go over all of the possible counterclaim defendants but the point is . . . sue the responsible parties who acted so irresponsibly towards you.

Now you have a court looking at the actions of the mortgage companies. Judges who are not amused by fraud. Not amused by companies trying to steal homes without any basis to do so.

HAVE YOU REALLY TAKEN ACTION? HAVE YOU REALLY MADE A DECISION?
"A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided." Anthony (Tony) Robbins.

This is the ultimate test. You can say "I've decided I'm going to stand up for my family. I've decided to not let these mortgage companies run over me."

But.

Have you really? The test is if you take action. If you do - wonderful! Congratulations! There are no guarantees you will be successful but since when do we test things by whether there is NO CHANCE of failure? Something about taxes and death are guaranteed. Nothing else.

But if you fight back, you give yourself and your family a chance to save your home. To save your dignity. To hold the bad guys responsible for how they have tried to run over you and steal your home.

OK I UNDERSTAND I NEED TO TAKE ACTION. BUT HOW CAN AN EJECTMENT LAWSUIT IN ALABAMA AGAINST ME BE A GOOD THING?
Part of what we do is figure out ways to turn a bad situation into a good one. Or to find the positive in a negative situation.

About 80 years ago one of the "fathers" of the "self help movement" named Napoleon Hill coined an expression that is very true - when you face adversity (and being illegally foreclosed on and then sued would qualify as "adversity") . . . here's what you should do - remind yourself that "within every adversity is the seed of an equal or greater benefit."

Let's be honest. Being sued is lousy. But if you have faced a wrongful foreclosure and you have been sued, there are advantages to being the defendant:

1. It means the mortgage company has to explain to the jury why it sued you after it had no right to foreclose.
2. You normally will stay in your home while the suit and countersuit are pending.
3. The plaintiff mortgage company has to bring its representative here for deposition instead of trying to make you go to its home office to take the deposition. This makes a big difference in the expense of taking the deposition. It also is a psychological factor to make some New York "suit" come down to Birmingham or where-ever your case is pending to raise his or her hand and testify.
4. The mortgage company normally cannot remove the case to federal court - it is stuck in state court which these mortgage companies like when suing to kick you out . . . but they hate it when they are being sued.
5. You have the moral high ground because not only was the foreclosure wrong, but then the mortgage company went to court to try and have a judge order you out of your house.

There are other advantages but the bottom line is from these difficult situations - foreclosure and being sued - there are times when you can turn this to your advantage to obtain justice from a mortgage company that has illegally foreclosed.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Being sued is a difficult situation but there are ways to take this tough break in life and turn it to your advantage. But the only way to do this . . . the only way to transform something bad into something good . . . is by taking smart and decisive action.

If you know all of your legal rights then this is wonderful. USE that knowledge and take action. You can be a law school professor or a judge and if you don't take action, the knowledge is worthless.

If you don't know all of your legal rights - start learning them. You can research all of this on your own or you can consult with a lawyer who does this type of work.

If you live in Alabama, feel free to contact us at 205-879-2447 or through our website. If you live out of state, contact a lawyer in your area - here is a good place to start.

I wish you the best of success in your difficult situation.

John Watts

PS - If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The Huffington Post has posted an article about JPMorgan Chase's pitiful argument against mortgage modifications. They're saying that the "sanctity of contracts" should require borrowers to repay their full loans without modification.

The company is against the Obama administration's attempts to get investors and lenders to decrease a home mortgage's outstanding debt and basically says that borrowers don't deserve the help and should just deal with the consequences of the plummeting housing market...which is really ironic since they had to be bailed out with taxpayer money.

Like all loans, mortgage contracts are based on a promise to repay money borrowed," Lowman's prepared remarks read. "Importantly, there is no provision in the mortgage contract, express or implied, that the lender will restore equity or reduce the repayment amount if the value of the collateral -- be it a home, a car or a stock market investment -- depreciates.

Banks claim that the sanctity of contract requires the home owner to repay in full; however, "the contract isn't absolute" and should be looked at differently when the market has been in such a crisis. Contracts can also be written and rewritten again and again.

If a borrower loses his home to foreclosure, the first lien is repaid first off the subsequent sale. Whatever proceeds are left go to second and subsequent liens; if nothing is left -- for instance, if an underwater borrower is foreclosed on and the sale of the foreclosed home doesn't even satisfy the outstanding first lien -- then the second and subsequent liens are worthless. They don't get a penny.

Based on that priority of payments, holders of first lien mortgage debt argue that those holding junior liens should take the first hit when it comes to modifying mortgages -- after all, if the home enters foreclosure, that's how it will play out.

Since nearly all mortgage modifications involve homeowners who are likely to default, investors argue that the second-lien holders should write down their holdings, take their losses, and get out of the way so troubled homeowners -- free of junior-lien debt obligations -- will have a chance to stay in their homes. Investors, after all, want homeowners to stay in their homes so they can continue getting paid; a foreclosed home rarely results in a profit to investors.

The sensible thing is for these megabanks to just reduce the amount owed on junior liens. But banks don't want to give up their holdings so easily, especially since there's $448 billion at stake. If banks were to write down their propositions and just accept the profit losses, a second bailout might be inevitable. A second bailout certainly wouldn't be a popular option with taxpayers...if they don't want to give the borrower a second chance, why should they get a second one with the borrowers' money?

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The New York Times has posted an article about the end of a 30 year decline in the cost of borrowing. This is due to a combination of inflation due to the recession and the nation's "ballooning debt." Interest rates are currently as low as they'll be for quite a while.

The higher interest rates will probably be noticed first in the housing market. Each raised percentage in interest rates adds 19% to the cost of a home. The rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage has risen half a point since December, hitting 5.31%...which is the highest it's been since last summer.

“Mortgage rates are unlikely to go lower than they are now, and if they go higher, we’re likely to see a reversal of the gains in the housing market,” said Christopher J. Mayer, a professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School. “It’s a really big risk.” The Mortgage Bankers Association expects the rise to continue, with the 30-year mortgage rate going to 5.5 percent by late summer and as high as 6 percent by the end of the year.

Credit cards will also feel the rise. The national interest rate on credit cards topped out at 14.26% last week, which is the highest it's been since 2001 and also adds $200 in interest payments alone to credit card bills. That totals to a 12.03% increase since the fourth quarter of 2008.

With losses from credit card defaults rising and with capital to back credit cards harder to come by, issuers are likely to increase rates to 16 or 17 percent by the fall, according to Dennis Moroney, a research director at the TowerGroup, a financial research company.

“The banks don’t have a lot of pricing options,” Mr. Moroney said. “They’re targeting people who carry a balance from month to month.”

Washington, too, is expecting to have to pay more to borrow the money it needs for programs. The Office of Management and Budget expects the rate on the benchmark 10-year United States Treasury note to remain close to 3.9 percent for the rest of the year, but then rise to 4.5 percent in 2011 and 5 percent in 2012.

The run-up in rates is quickening as investors steer more of their money away from bonds and as Washington unplugs the economic life support programs that kept rates low through the financial crisis. Mortgage rates and car loans are linked to the yield on long-term bonds.

Besides the inflation fears set off by the strengthening economy, Mr. Gross said he was also wary of Treasury bonds because he feared the burgeoning supply of new debt issued to finance the government’s huge budget deficits would overwhelm demand, driving interest rates higher.

Nine months ago, United States government debt accounted for half of the assets in Mr. Gross’s flagship fund, Pimco Total Return. That has shrunk to 30 percent now — the lowest ever in the fund’s 23-year history — as Mr. Gross has sold American bonds in favor of debt from Europe, particularly Germany, as well as from developing countries like Brazil.

Different firms are predicting that the rate will rise as much as half a point to one and a half points.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The Associated Press has posted an article about the drastic increase of foreclosures so far this year. In just the first three months of 2010, a "record number" of homes were foreclosed. More homes were seized by banks and put into the category of foreclosure sale than in any other quarter since January 2005.

This sudden rise is due to banks beginning to tackle the massive backlog of troubled home loans that have been piling up waiting to be processed. It's estimated that banks will repossess between 900,000-1 million homes this year alone, or about 1 in every 138 homes.

Foreclosures began to ease last year as banks came under pressure from the Obama administration to modify home loans for troubled borrowers. In addition, some states enacted foreclosure moratoriums in hopes of giving homeowners behind in payments time to catch up. And in many cases, banks have had trouble coping with how to handle the glut of problem loans.
These factors have helped slow the pace of foreclosures, but now that trend appears to be reversing.

The Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program has only helped a small number of homeowners. Only 231,000 homeowners have completed loan modifications through the program, which is just 21% of the original 2.1 million people who signed up for it last year. Another 158,000 homeowners have dropped out of the program by failing to complete paperwork or not making payments, which is up from 90,000 just a month ago. The administration has since "expanded" the program, but the new details will take months to hammer out.

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

PaymentsSource.com has posted an article about how credit card charge-offs should reverse declining and increase to peak at 12%-13% about mid-year in 2010 if delinquencies continue to rise.

Earlier this week, Moody's reported that U.S. credit card charge-off levels eased in October for a second straight month from a record in August, while delinquencies rose for a third consecutive month. Payment rates also improved after two months of declines.

Delinquencies give the credit card companies an estimate of how much they should set aside in reserves to counteract potential losses. The rate was 6.12% in last October, up from 5.79% in August. The total percentage of six to nine month delinquencies is up 11% from September 2008.

Moody's October credit card index showed a drop to 10.04% in the charge-off rate, below the 11.49% all-time high set in August. The charge-off rate measures those credit card account balances written off as uncollectable by credit card firms.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

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ForeclosureIndustry.com has posted an article that discusses the changes to Fannie Mae that were decided upon on March 30th of this year. Beginning May 1, 2010, MERS cannot be named as a plaintiff in any foreclosure case whether it's judicial, non-judicial or if the mortgage was securitized or if the loan was/is owned by Fannie Mae.

MERS is the mortgagee of record when either a mortgage names MERS as the original mortgagee and is recorded in the applicable land records, or a completed and recorded assignment names MERS as the mortgage assignee. Therefore, when MERS is the mortgagee of record, the servicer must prepare a mortgage assignment from MERS to the servicer, and then bring the foreclosure in its own name, unless Fannie Mae specifically requires that the foreclosure be brought in the name of Fannie Mae. In that event, the assignment must be from MERS to Fannie Mae, in care of the servicer at the servicer’s address for receipt of notices. In all cases, the assignment from MERS to the servicer or Fannie Mae must be recorded before the foreclosure begins.

Fannie Mae also won't reimburse for any expenses from preparing or recording from the "assignment of the mortgage loan from MERS to the servicer or to Fannie Mae."

If an assignment has been recorded from MERS to either the servicer or Fannie Mae and the borrower reinstates the mortgage loan prior to completion of the foreclosure proceedings, the servicer need not re-assign the mortgage to MERS and re-register the mortgage with MERS. Re-assigning and re-registering the mortgage with MERS is not required by Fannie Mae and any such action will be at the discretion and expense of the servicer.

The servicer should consult its foreclosure attorney to determine if any other legal requirements apply when conducting foreclosures of mortgage loans in which MERS is the prior mortgagee of record.”

A servicer, in this case, Fannie Mae, isn't a "real party of interest" and doesn't have the right to issue the assignments. If the homeowner were to attack the assignment, the entire foreclosure could be "derailed."

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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The New York Times has posted an article that discusses how lenders are adding to the problem of identity theft by still giving someone credit even if there are indicators of fraud. About 10 million Americans are victims of identity theft annually, partly because personal information (like Social Security numbers) is so easily accessible.

Chris Jay Hoofnagle, a lecturer at the University of California at Berkley, put out a report in which...

the Fair Credit Reporting Act that allows victims of ID theft to ask creditors for the fraudulent applications submitted in their names, Mr. Hoofnagle worked with a small sample of six ID theft victims and delved into how they were defrauded.

Of 16 applications presented by imposters to obtain credit or medical services, almost all were rife with errors that should have suggested fraud. Yet in all 16 cases, credit or services were granted anyway.

One victim found that out of the fake applications submitted in her name, four of the six had listed the wrong address, two had the wrong phone number and one had the wrong birthday. Another victim found that an identity thief had obtained a copy of his driver's license and was using the photo for identification, even though the two didn't look similar. Another man found that a Kohl's credit card was opened in his name, even though on the application his name was spelled wrong.

Increasing the penalties for imposters and identity thieves would certainly help curb the problem, but for that to be effective lenders also have to pay more attention and be willing not to give credit when there are blatant errors on an application that indicate fraud.

If you have had problems with identity theft and have questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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Keep in mind that every case is different but we hope you enjoy this video of this nice young lady who took the time to talk about what her experience was with us.

Please remember every case is different and no one can tell you the result you will receive or what your options are until we sit down with you to discuss your case in detail.

If you would like to talk with us, please call us at 205-879-2447 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              205-879-2447      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or you can fill out a contact form on our website.

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Attorney General Jerry Brown, a candidate for California governor in 2010, has posted an article on his website about how he shut down two fraudulent foreclosure-assistance companies and provided $1 million in restitution for the victims used by the companies.

Last July, Brown filed suit against U.S. Foreclosure Relief Corp. and H.E. Servicing, Inc., and the companies' executives, George Escalante and Cesar Lopez, and legal representative Adrian Pomery claiming that they "used their loan-modification companies to sell false hope to hundreds of Californians facing foreclosure."

The suit was filed jointly with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the State of Missouri as part of "Operation Loan Lies," a massive federal-state crackdown on loan-modification fraud.

An investigation found that both companies used "aggressive telemarketing tactics" to convince underwater homeowners to pay anywhere between $1,800-$2,800 in fees or loan modification services that they claimed included reductions in principle and lower interest rates.

In sales calls, H.E. Servicing, for example, claimed it had successfully negotiated 10,000 loan modifications. However, a full review of internal records found the company opened only 2,960 loan-modification files and completed only 311. It is estimated that California homeowners accounted for 15 to 20 percent of the company's opened loan-modification files.

Brown's judgment shut down the two companies and permanently barred those individuals from working in the loan modification or real estate industries again. Brown's decision also distributes $1 million in restitution to repay victims of the scam. The restitution money came from the freezing of company funds and the sale of Escalante's 2 Mercedes, Toyota and jewelry. Lopez declared bankruptcy last June and sold off various expensive cars as well.

The full judgment requires total payment of $8.6 million from Escalante, US Foreclosure Relief and H.E. Servicing as well as $3.3 million from Lopez and $3.4 million from Pomery.

If you would like more information on foreclosure, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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As you may know, foreclosure litigation is much more frequent in Florida than here because Florida is a "judicial" state (all foreclosures have to go through court) and here in Alabama we are a "non judicial" state (foreclosures are private and don't involve the court). I want you to read a blog post - link below - that discusses the sloppiness of foreclosures by the banks.

Here's a bit of background. . . .when we have opposed bogus debt buyer lawsuits, the lawyers say "But Judge we must truly own the debt or we would not have brought the suit!" We point out that not only can they not prove they own it but sometimes multiple debt buyers try and collect the same debt . . . and they all argue they own it . . . at the same time!

In foreclosures, it is even worse. These banks can't figure out if they own the note or not. They just like to say "Well, the borrower didn't pay so don't worry, Judge, that we can't prove we own the note."

We've had multiple lawfirms in the same case (where we sue to stop a foreclosure) because the bank has hired two different competing firms to file different answers to our lawsuit. They can't even figure out which lawfirm is supposed to represent them. Different banks (or Trusts) will claim to own the loan . . . at the same time. That's impossible folks....

Read this blog post from Florida - it has a transcript and is mind boggling. The Judge talks about the problems with foreclosures in Florida and gives a startling example.

Two different banks sued on the same note. . . different cases . . . But each had an affidavit "proving" each bank owned the debt.

The affidavits were identical . . . except they said two different banks owned the note.

That's horrible.

That's bogus and gives you insight into what is happening in the world of foreclosures.

But guess what - the person who wrote and swore to the first affidavit - that Bank "A" owned it . . . and the person who swore in the second affidavit that Bank "B" owned it . . .

Yep, the same person!

At the same foreclosure law firm.

Ridiculous.

[Much thanks to Michael Alex Wasylik who handled this case so well!]

So, if anyone ever says to you "Do you really think these banks - who took billions of our tax payer dollars - would ever lie to you? Would ever commit fraud?"

Uhhh.... yes.

If you want to read about some options to stop foreclosures in Alabama then read our article about bogus and legitimate defenses to foreclosures.

Amazing stuff, isn't it?

John Watts

PS - If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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You have come to this blog post because you are searching for ways to defend against a foreclosure in Alabama. First let me say if you are not willing to take action . . . to do something . . . then there is no defense that I know of that will help you save your home. Those who are looking for a magic bullet will not like this post and should move on.

But if you are still reading then this shows me that you are interested in taking serious action to defend yourself against the foreclosure that you are facing.

But here's the catch - many of the defenses that people talk about are not real defenses . . . they don't really help you the vast majority of the time. So let's deal with these false defenses first, and then we'll pick up with legitimate defenses.

What about bankruptcy?
Some think of this as a magic bullet. But let me tell you - its not . . . unless you think paying more than your mortgage payment is a magic bullet . . . and wrecking your credit is a magic bullet. Something like 95% of all people who start a chapter 13 - what bankruptcy lawyers use to "defend" against a foreclosure - fail. . . they can't make the payments.

What does this mean? You not only have a bankruptcy on your credit report, but now the lender forecloses against you and you have that on your credit report also. You literally just paid an incredibly high price to buy yourself a few months but you still end up losing your home.

OK, but what about these companies that promise a "loan audit" or "Truth In Lending Act (TILA)" analysis?
These companies are notorious for promising to find errors in your loans and then they claim they will be able to intimidate your mortgage company into giving you a great deal out of fear of being sued.

Here's the problem . . . the mortgage companies know these places are normally scams and they don't live in fear of these audit companies. Normally all that happens is the audit company tells you to stop paying your house payment. You get further behind. And then as you face foreclosure, the audit place stops taking your calls. Instead of the paradise they promise (lower the amount owed and no foreclosure) - you find yourself out of the several thousand dollars "fee" and with a home being sold at foreclosure next week.

OK, but what about a HAMP modification?
This is the big dream of our government - that all of the servicers and alleged owners of our loans will gladly and voluntarily agree to help you out when you are in a bind on making your mortgage payments. Occasionally we have seen this work but it is rare. I encourage you to try it - because you "never know" - but don't stop seeking other answers.

Here is my advice - keep a signed copy of everything . . . and I mean everything . . . that you send to the mortgage company. Carefully confirm everything - receipt of the modification package, when a decision will be made, that the foreclosure sale has been postponed (if they promise you this), etc. This is because the mortgage companies are infamous for throwing away your package so they can say you never sent it. They will keep you on hold for an hour at a time to discourage you from calling. You have to protect yourself by documenting all of this.

(This might surprise you) - what about making a deal with the mortgage company?
The mortgage companies hate seeing our name on lawsuits against them. We'll talk more about this later but trust me when I say I have no love for the mortgage companies. So it might surprise you to find out that I think it is a good idea to talk to your mortgage company to see if you can work out a deal with them.

Often they will promise to work out a deal or promise that you do have a deal. That's great! Either they will, amazingly, honor their promise - keep their word - or they won't. If they do, fantastic. You have worked things out and you don't have to worry about a foreclosure or lawsuit or bankruptcy (if you wanted to dive into that mess). But if the company promises you one thing - the foreclosure sale is canceled - and then does the opposite, you likely can sue the dishonest company....

Final option - suing the mortgage company that is breaking the law....
If you are dealing with a loan made in the last ten years, and if you are dealing with a national bank, then in my experience there will either be fundamental problems with the loan itself and/or with the way that the loan servicer (the company sending you bills, paying escrow, etc) has treated you. If that is correct, then an option to defend against foreclosure or to stop a foreclosure, or to use as a counterclaim in an ejectment action (ejectment is after foreclosure - the lender sues to "eject" or evict you) may be the best choice for you.

We don't do "loan modifications" . . . but we do sue mortgage companies for wrongful conduct and usually they come to us and ask about settling a case while making modifications to the loan. Rather than some uncaring person in a cubicle who is miserable with his life trying to make you miserable also, we deal with companies who are paying 300-400 an hour to their lawyers and who have an interest in coming up with a fair and reasonable settlement to the case. When a company faces a jury trial, they usually get more serious about resolving a case.

Bottom line - which method is best for you?
You want to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titantic? Then choose bankruptcy. Maybe you'll be the unusual case where it actually saves your home long term but for most people it does not.

You want to pay some out of state company a thousand bucks or two thousand bucks to give you a bogus "TILA analysis" that is worthless? All the while losing your home to foreclosure?

How about putting your hopes and dreams in a HAMP modification? I hope it works for you and recommend that you try it but I would not let that be my only efforts to save my family's home.

Talk to your mortgage company about modifying the loan or entering a forebearance or doing something to get you back on track. If they say "No" then you haven't lost anything. If they say "Yes" then either they will honor it (and obviously you must honor the agreement) or they will break it. Either way you will have stopped foreclosure or you will have a potential lawsuit for breaking the agreement and lying to you.

Finally, on suing - remember we sue when we have a legitimate basis to do so. When we do that, we can create an incentive on the part of the mortgage company to finally do the right thing . . . not out of any concern for you - they don't care about you - but solely out of concern . . . for themselves. Any settlement will be purely and utterly selfish . . . on the part of the mortgage company.

That's ok. We don't care why they suddenly start treating you with respect and dignity . . . as long as they finally do treat you that way.

So, if you are facing foreclosure, carefully explore your options and make the best short and long term decision for you and your family when it comes to your home.

Best wishes . . .

John Watts

PS - If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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American Banker has posted an article that discusses an underway FTC study about the accuracy of debt-buying firms. Collection agencies buy debts from organizations like banks for a fraction of the debt's value and then pursue full payment from the debtor.

The FTC says that many collection firms frequently contact the wrong consumers or try to collect the wrong amounts. The question is whether or not the companies buying the debt are contributing to the problem by supplying inaccurate information from the beginning, such as...

What information do they have before deciding to purchase a portfolio? And what information do they receive from sellers and seek from consumers after the purchase?

When buyers are not paid, they often sell the accounts to other buyers. Many debts are purchased and resold several times over a period of years before all collection efforts finally cease.

The FTC also wants to understand how resales are handled and whether data on accounts is being transferred.

Nine companies ( Arrow Financial Services LLC in Niles, Ill.; Asta Funding Inc. of Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; B-Line LLC of Seattle; eCast Settlement Corp. of Whippany, N.J.; Encore Capital Group Inc. of San Diego; NCO Portfolio Management Inc. of Horsham, Pa.; Portfolio Recovery Associates of Norfolk, Va.; Sherman Financial Group of New York; and Unifund Corp. of Cincinnati.) were selected for the study, not because the FTC suspects them of wrongdoing, but because they buy about 75% of consumer debt.

If you have had problems with collection agencies, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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The lure of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can be very tempting for homeowners facing foreclosure. Bankruptcy lawyers bombard homeowners with advertisements to use bankruptcy to save your home.

We will discuss whether chapter 13 is a good option for most homeowners in a future post but those who take the plunge into bankruptcy often do so thinking they will not be facing foreclosure. When it hits them while in a bankruptcy, it is very upsetting and jarring.

Here is how this works. Once you file chapter 13, the mortgage company (and all other creditors) are under an "automatic stay" which means they cannot take collection action against you. But if you don't make your regular mortgage payment and you don't make your bankruptcy court payments, you will be faced with a "motion for relief from stay" from your mortgage company. This motion asks the bankruptcy court to "relieve" or "lift" the stay so that your mortgage company can foreclose.

Here's the bottom line - chapter 13 bankruptcy can be effective if you can afford your regular mortgage payment PLUS paying off the arearage and other debts you have but if you can't afford all of these payments, you are just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titantic.

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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Credit report errors can cause us serious problems with credit, employment, insurance, and housing. The five steps to correcting credit report errors are:

1. Pull your credit reports;
2. Review your credit reports;
3. Dispute false entries;
4. Meet with a consumer lawyer to review the results; and
5. If appropriate, file suit.

If you would like to talk with us, please call us at 205-879-2447 or you can fill out a contact form on our website.

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Debt collectors in general, and debt buyers specifically, will often lie about receiving a payment from us that we never made. Why would they do this?

The answer is the statute of limitations as they believe that if you make a payment it restarts the statute of limitation so they can sue you on it.

This is why they often come into court with no proof but they will wave around a piece of paper that claims you made a payment. Of course they don't have the check or any proof but they say to the judge "Why would we make this up?" The answer, of course, is they want to sue you and don't want you to be able to sue them for filing a case against you after the statute of limitations has expired.

If you would like to talk with us, please call us at 205-879-2447 or you can fill out a contact form on our website.

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The Bankruptcy Law Network has posted an article about a recent case where debt collectors tried to hold a man responsible for a debt that was discharged through bankruptcy fifteen years before.

The sale of debt that was discharged in bankruptcy is a violation of the bankruptcy discharge. In this case, the seller of the debt was held "liable for attempts by its unrelated buyer some 15 years after the bankruptcy to collect a discharged account." The debt buyer didn't know anything about the bankruptcy because the bank (the seller) sold it without telling the buyer the debt wasn't enforceable. The discharged debt/account that reappeared is called zombie debt.

Judge Lamoutte presided over the case and concluded that the very act of selling the debt to someone who would attempt to collect on it was a violation.

This decision highlights one of the functional failures of the bankruptcy discharge to bring real peace to a debtor. Even though unenforceable, the discharged accounts get passed from collector to collector, for decades, with each collector attempting to squeeze money from the hapless debtor. Kudos to Judge Lamoutte who refused to absolve the original creditor from the foreseeable consequences of the sale of its claim against Mr. Laboy.

We don't file bankruptcies for consumers but we do litigate bankruptcy issues including when a creditor or collector tries to collect a discharged debt. If you have questions or concerns feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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The New York Times has posted an article about the Obama administration's new anti-foreclosure plan that will (hopefully) prevent many more foreclosures and do more to prevent housing prices from continuing to decline.

The improved plan addresses many issues the first plan didn't take into consideration. For example, the first plan focused on reducing troubled homeowners' mortgage payments, ignoring the fact that unemployed homeowners probably can't make the reduced payment to begin with and that "underwater" homeowners (those that owe more than their home is worth) don't really have any motivation to keep up with payments, even reduced ones. Also, the whole program was voluntary for homeowners.

Under the new plan...

borrowers receiving unemployment benefits, lenders will be required to lower payments to no more than 31 percent of gross income for at least three months, provided the borrower is not more than 90 days’ delinquent. Unpaid amounts will be added to the loan’s principal, to be repaid later. After several months, the hope is that the borrower will have found new work and will qualify for a loan modification in which payments will stay at the reduced amount.

For borrowers "deeply underwater" lenders will be "required to consider reducing the loan's principal." They will be encouraged to do the same thing for homeowners up to date on payments as well.

If lenders participate in the new plan it can prevent about 1.5 million foreclosures from now until 2012 versus just 650,000 under the old plan.

Many foreclosures will also be delayed, though not ultimately prevented, as lenders assess whether borrowers qualify for help under the new plan. Taken together, preventing and postponing foreclosures would help stabilize house prices in the near term and thus reduce the threat that foreclosures pose to the nascent economic recovery.

Foreclosures will still continue to be a problem, however. While this should save 1.5 million homes, about 3.6 million homes are estimated to be foreclosed on in the next 2 years even with this new plan.

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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John was sued by two different debt buyers which is a huge problem in Alabama - as these companies routinely sue with no evidence or basis to sue consumers.

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Our friend Denise Richardson of givemebackmycredit.com has posted an article about the continuing problem of free credit reports and scores still not being completely free. The FTC has posed new regulations on companies claiming to give free credit reports but really come with expensive hidden fees. Experian and other companies have come up with a clever way around the FTC's rules. They are no longer advertising free credit reports, but have instead moved on to pushing "free credit scores."

They no longer are advertising "Free Credit Report!" -- a pitch that drew complaints from thousands of consumers because the offers typically came with costly strings attached. Instead, some of the top sites are now offering "Free Credit Scores." And the best-known site, FreeCreditReport.com, says it's still in the business of supplying credit reports, but that they'll now cost $1 (that it will donate to charity).

The company is being partly truthful. Once you give your credit card information, you really are charged just $1...but you have to cancel your membership or else you'll be charged a $14.95 monthly fee. You have a 7 day trial period to cancel your membership before being charged the fee. Be sure and read the fine print before signing up for a free credit report or score and be on the lookout for hidden service fees.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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The Wall Street Journal has posted an article about a recent investigation into a subsidiary company of Lender Processing Services. The company is responsible for providing (that is making up fraudulent documents) banks with the documentation necessary when preceeding with foreclosures. Federal prosecutors began looking into the company, Docx, after the dismissal of several foreclosure cases...

in which judges across the U.S. have found that the materials banks had submitted to support their claims were wrong. Faulty bank paperwork has been an issue in foreclosure proceedings since the housing crisis took hold a few years ago. It is often difficult to pin down who the real owner of a mortgage is, thanks to the complexity of the mortgage market.

A spokeswoman for Lender Processing Services said that the processes under review had been "terminated" and that the company intends to cooperate with the investigation.

During the housing boom many mortgages that were originated by lenders were quickly sold to Wall Street firms and then were bundled into "debt pools" and sold again to investors as securities.

The loans were supposed to change hands but the documents and contracts between borrowers and lenders often weren't altered to show changes in ownership, judges have ruled.

This has made it hard for banks, which act on behalf of mortgage-securities investors in most foreclosure cases, to prove they own the loans in some instances.

LPS has software that tracks the majority of US mortgages for banks from the origination of the mortgage until the borrower defaults or the debt is settled. When the bank needs to foreclose because of borrower default, LPS helps process the paperwork that is used in court.

Some lawyers representing homeowners have claimed that banks routinely file erroneous paperwork showing they have a right to foreclose when they don't.

Firms that process the paperwork are either "producing so many documents per day that nobody is reviewing anything, even to make sure they have the names right, or you've got some massive software problem," said O. Max Gardner, a consumer-bankruptcy attorney in Shelby N.C., who has defended clients against foreclosure actions.

The wave of foreclosures and housing crisis appears to have helped LPS. According to the annual securities filing, foreclosure-related revenue was $1.1 billion last year compared with $473 million in 2007.

LPS has acknowledged its paperwork problems and admitted to finding an "error" in how Docx handled the notarization of some documents. They have also processed documents with "Bogus Assignee" as the loan owner. The name was supposed to just be a placeholder, but unfortunately, several times processing continued before the field could be updated.

"Unfortunately" because now there is absolute proof that LPS makes up "bogus" documents. They are so arrogant that they are blatant about these being false documents. This is what you are up against when you are fighting a wrongful foreclosure. The banks and mortgage companies will make up documents, will lie, will cheat . . . all to steal your home. So be prepared to fight back and don't expect any mercy out of these greedy companies that helped themselves to our tax money so they can stay in business . . . the business of cheating you.

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

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A husband and wife discuss their experience with us after they were dealing with an abusive debt collector.

Please remember every case is different and no one can tell you the result you will receive or what your options are until we sit down with you to discuss your case in detail.

If you would like to talk with us, please call us at 205-879-2447 or you can fill out a contact form on our website.

Joseph mentioned our foreclosure defense seminar - you can read some of our articles on foreclosure to get a sense of what consumers learn at our seminars. The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

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Please remember every case is different and no one can tell you the result you will receive or what your options are until we sit down with you to discuss your case in detail.

If you would like to talk with us, please call us at 205-879-2447 or you can fill out a contact form on our website.

Joseph mentioned our foreclosure defense seminar - you can read some of our articles on foreclosure to get a sense of what consumers learn at our seminars. The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

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PBS has posted an article that discusses new credit card regulations and their immediate affects. A new credit card act was passed last year and the rules took effect in February of this year. Some of the new regulations that protect consumers include:

• no retroactive rate hikes;

• statements must be mailed 21 days before payment due date;

• payment dates can't suddenly be shifted;

• statements must say how long it will take to pay off balances and the total interest costs if paying just the monthly minimum;

• 45 days notice required for changes in terms and conditions.

For debit cards -- now more popular than credit cards -- the Federal Reserve issued new rules (effective summer 2010) on overdraft fees. So,too, have some large banks:

• card issuers can't charge fees for debit card overdrafts at stores and ATMs unless the cardholder has agreed;

• some large banks (see list) are limiting the number of debit card overdraft fees that can be charged in a day, and changing other policies.

However, issues still abound concerning several types of fees. Some of them include:

-the tricks in late fees;

• fees involving prepaid debit cards;

• inactivity fees, foreign exchange fees, gift cards, etc.

In addition, there's no ceiling on interest rates nor on penalty/service fees for debit, credit and prepaid cards. And small business credit cards aren't covered by the new regulations; their credit limits are being slashed.

You should feel free to shop around and go with the credit card company that gives you the best offer, but it's always a good idea to read the fine print about hidden fees and other charges.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

You can also join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

To learn more about what it is like to be a client of our firms, please take a look at this one minute video testimonial.

Please remember every case is different and no one can tell you the result you will receive or what your options are until we sit down with you to discuss your case in detail.

If you would like to talk with us, please call us at 205-879-2447 or you can fill out a contact form on our website.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

This is a video from a wonderful lady who came to us with a problem of being sued for a debt she did not owe. We were thrilled to be able to represent her and she was kind enough to give us this video which we appreciate it so much.

Please remember every case is different and no one can tell you the result you will receive or what your options are until we sit down with you to discuss your case in detail.

If you would like to talk with us, please call us at 205-879-2447 or you can fill out a contact form on our website.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The New York Foreclosure Law Blog has posted an interesting story about a woman who saved her home from foreclosure in an unexpected way. Angela Logan, an aspiring actress, actually baked and sold enough "Mortgage Apple Cakes" to make her house payments. She began doing this last summer and in less than a year the idea has really taken off.

Logan's now signature Mortgage Apple Cake is being marketed by Bake Me A Wish and a percentage of the profit goes to a non-profit debt counseling service.

The Mortgage Apple Cake saga has gotten a second wind in 2010 as several national magazines have told how Logan creatively found a way out of a dire situation — an economic hardship story with a happy ending.

We certainly applaud Ms. Logan for her amazing initiative!

If you would like more information on foreclosures, please check out our articles The Three Stages Of Foreclosure In Alabama and Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama.

If you have further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:

The California Debt Blog has posted an article about a recent poll that shows most consumers don't know or fully understand the rights they are entitled to under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The results of the poll showed:

-Only 25% of respondents were familiar with the FDCPA; -10% of respondents think that consumers have too much protection; -Over 40% of respondents had been contacted by a debt collector in the past 5 years; -Almost 90% of respondents said that the debt collector did not inform them of their rights; -Only a quarter of respondents were treated respectfully by the debt collector; -Almost half of the people said that they were threatened in some way by the collector; -More than three quarters of people were contacted by the collector after telling the collector not to call them.

It's important to remember that once you tell a debt collector to quit calling you, they are required to. If they then threaten you then it's a debt collection violation and grounds for a harassment lawsuit.

Debt collectors, not all of them, but a large number, do not seem to care about the law. The reasons: it is hard for the government to enforce and few individuals want to enforce their rights. They are usually intimidated and pushed into letting the debt collector run roughshod over them.

If you have had problems with debt collectors and have questions or concerns, feel free to contact us either through our website or by calling 205-879-2447.

You can join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.

You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below: