Even Our Troops Can Be Victims In Foreclosure Fraud

The foreclosure crisis has touched just about everyone in some fashion, including our troops. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on a federal lawsuit alleging that Minnesota National Guard member had his home illegally foreclosed upon while he was serving in Iraq.

Army Staff Sgt. Phillip Harry learned his home had been foreclosed upon and sold via a letter forwarded to him in Iraq in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The lawsuit alleges that Illinois-based HSBC Mortgage Services alleges that the company foreclosed on service members mortgages while they were on active duty and evicted them and their families without giving them a chance to challenge the foreclosures in court. It also claims that HSBC recklessly filed papers that said Harry was not a member of the military at the time of the sale despite the fact that an easy check of public records would have shown he was serving overseas.

The U.S. Treasury launched an investigation last year into 10 leading banks that may have illegally foreclosed on the mortgages of almost 5,000 members of the U.S. military, some of them activated to duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to the suit, Harry bought his house in Minneapolis in 2005 and the mortgage was later assigned to HSBC. On March 25, 2008, Harry was ordered to report to the National Guard training site at Camp Ripley and then to active duty on April 15 for training to deploy to Iraq. He served in Iraq until June 2009. On the day he reported for training at Fort Sill, Okla., HSBC began a foreclosure sale, and attempted to serve Harry the notice on April 21, according to the suit. The suit alleges that without Harry’s knowledge, HSBC bought the house at sheriff’s auction for $32,602.

As a result, Harry lost his house, personal property, the equity he had built up and suffered damage to his credit rating, the suit said.

Sadly, these stories are not unique. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a wrongful foreclosure, contact the experienced foreclosure attorneys at Lord & Faris for a free consultation.

Next Wave of Foreclosure Litigation? | Minneapolis, St Paul MN Forclosure Attorneys

It is literally impossible to scan the news and avoid a story of some homeowner being taken advantage of or being treated very poorly in connection with the housing crisis and foreclosure fraud scandal. So far the reports have focused primarily on the lenders and those working on the behalf of such lenders, but now comes news of attorneys acting poorly and looking to capitalize on the crisis rather than help struggling homeowners. If this has happened to you or someone you love, contact our Minneapolis Foreclosure Law Firm as you may have a claim.

A Los Angeles-area law firm was sued this week for allegedly collecting illegal fees for a “forensic loan audit” from a California couple as part of a promise to stop the foreclosure of their property–a promise that was quickly broken. According to the suit, the attorneys promised that the audit would induce the couple’s lender to modify their loans, another promise that never materialized. And according to the complaint, the attorneys making these promises never had any intent to try and stop the foreclosure process and were just interested in collecting fees.

Many think this suit is a sign of many more to come. As we learn more about the depth of the bad behavior it is hard to imagine that more claims against attorneys, accountants and real estate agents won’t follow. Real estate transactions are complicated transactions, even if there are some people who, at the height of the boom, argued the opposite. Furthermore, the foreclosure process as it currently stands offers only limited protections for struggling homeowners, leaving open the possibility that homeowners can be taken advantage of at many points in the process.

Bank of America Sued in Foreclosure Scandal | Minneapolis and St Paul MN Attorneys Lord and Faris

As the foreclosure crisis deepens both beleaguered homeowners and frustrated members of Congress have turned toward the banking industry for answers as to just how the situation has gotten so bad. Predictably, as the calls for accountability increase, the lawsuits have begun to appear. Our Minneapolis foreclosure attorneys at Lord and Faris are appalled by the behavior of those involved in these foreclosure cases. Attorneys do not have the option of obeying the laws and procedures, especially for something as serious as taking someone’s home away from them. As this story continues to unfold we hope that those who did flout the law are held fully accountable and that the result is a serious and long-lasting change that once and for all protects American consumers.

The most recent is a class action against banking giant Bank of America. The suit was filed on behalf of homeowners and accuses the bank of disregarding foreclosure process rules. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in New Jersey, says the bank and two subsidiaries followed an “undisciplined rush to seize homes” through “pervasive and willful disregard of knowledge, facts and statutes.”

In support of the suit the plaintiffs cite a recent and well-publicized admission by a Bank of America official in a Massachusetts foreclosure case that she signed thousands of foreclosure complaints without reviewing them. They also point to the bank’s self-imposed foreclosure moratorium as another admission that literally thousands of homeowners lost their homes without regard to the facts or the laws.

Foreclosure Crisis Brings Acts of Desperation | Minneapolis Attorneys

The foreclosure crisis has hit Minnesota hard, but in many ways our state is lucky in that while it has certainly affected our area, we have not been utterly devastated by it the way states like California, Florida and Nevada have been. And while the news reports focusing on the falsified affidavits and robo-signers have cooled as other stories grab our attention, the reality is the crisis still affects hundreds of thousands of Americans on a daily basis.

For those struggling in the depths of the foreclosure crisis it may seem at times like nothing short of the most drastic measures can help salvage homes and personal finances. Even for the Minneapolis foreclosure attorneys at Lord & Faris we understand the sense of desperation many of our clients feel. That may be what was going on after a California judge held a lawyer in contempt after he advised his clients to go an reclaim their foreclosed property.

The attorney was fined $2000 and will have to pay more than $34,00 in legal fees incurred by the investment company that bought his clients’ home. The judge did not fine the attorney’s clients who had moved back into their home and, after an eviction, threatened to break in again.

This case is a perfect example of why the foreclosure crisis is just so difficult to deal with. People have their emotional lives wrapped up in their home and to lose it, perhaps in part because of fraud by the lenders, is unacceptable. While we would never endorse the actions described above, we can empathize with the sense of frustration that led these people to take such drastic measures.

New Foreclosure Partnership Announced

A Minnesota non-profit, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center, is partnering with mortgage lender Fannie Mae in an attempt to help troubled homeowners modify existing mortgages. Fannie Mae will have staff in Minnesota work directly with Minnesota Home Ownership Center to get the application process down to under 30 days for those seeking help.

The move comes in response to the stories of thousands of homeowners who have faced the uncertain prospect of potential foreclosure while they tried to modify their home loans.

The move is also designed to streamline a process that has been criticized as unnecessarily cumbersome and confusing. In so doing they hope to reduce homeowner frustration and confusion, and hopefully the number of people forced out of their homes.

While this is great news for many homeowners, the program will only apply to those loans owned by Fannie Mae. That means that thousands more remain in the challenging and frustrating position of trying to work out a modification with their lender.

The Minneapolis St Paul Foreclosure Lawyers at Lord & Faris have witnessed many Minnesotans struggle to stay in their homes. While the news suggests the economy is improving slowly, for many, this is just too little too late. But if even a handful of homeowners have the opportunity to stay in their homes then at the very least this project deserves our support.

Homeowners who are interested in scheduling an appointment should call the Minnesota Home Ownership Center at 866-462-6466. Assistance is free of charge. Or contact the attorneys at Lord & Faris and let us help you through the foreclosure process.

Let Us Help You Through Bankruptcy

Just starting out in life, no one imagines themselves having to go through the process of declaring bankruptcy. Yet, as we’ve heard in the the thousands of stories to come out of the recession, bankruptcy is exactly where so many Americans find themselves.

Bankruptcy is always the last resort option when a person can no longer pay their obligations with their current assets. And with so many people just barely getting by, the question of whether or not a person should declare bankruptcy is one the attorneys at Lord & Faris get asked frequently.

Sometimes the answer is obvious: a person is getting notices that their mortgages or other loans are in default and being foreclosed on, they’ve lost their job or been out of work for a long time. Or, just as tragic, they’ve faced a medical emergency and cannot pay for their care and their bills. In those situations bankruptcy is often the only realistic resolution.

But it is important to remember that bankruptcy won’t get rid of all your debts. For example, you can’t avoid alimony and child support payments through a bankruptcy proceeding. Nor can you avoid paying on most student loans and any back taxes by declaring bankruptcy. And while it will give you the option of clearing up most of your financial troubles, it will make accessing credit much more difficult in the future.

At Lord & Faris, we understand that no one dreams of declaring bankruptcy one day and will help counsel you through the difficult legal and emotional process of doing so.

North Minneapolis’s Deadly tornado… How To Prevent Even More Loss After A Natural Disaster

Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents of North Minneapolis and the surrounding area as a deadly tornado ripped through the area leaving hundreds without power and seeking shelter. The devastation was so bad that the city called for a curfew so emergency crews could go out and tend to downed power lines, leaking gas mains and checking on residents.

The damage from the storms is significant and hit an area already devastated from the foreclosure crisis. As we begin to sift through the rubble it is a good time to take stock of what measures can be done to protect yourself in the future from the kind of financial devastation losses associated with large storms can bring.

For starters, if you are a homeowner, make sure your homeowner’s insurance policy is up-to-date. That includes keeping an inventory of all assets and valuables, with pictures, somewhere like a lock-box that can survive significant trauma. Make sure and have copies of other important documents such as birth certificates and passports as well.

These kinds of steps can’t stop a tornado from tearing through a neighborhood and flattening your home, but they can make the unthinkable process of rebuilding after a loss a little less chaotic. Insurance companies are less likely to challenge home-owners claims if the assets of the home are well-inventoried in advance.

When facing the kind of devastation like the kind some of our friends in North Minneapolis are dealing with the last thing you want to do is fight with an insurance company over a claim. Contact the attorneys at Lord & Faris and we can advocate for you while you focus on putting your life back together.

More Bad News In Housing

Over the past two years we’ve heard a lot about the drag housing foreclosures have played on economic recovery and the impact of foreclosures not only for individual homeowners but for entire communities. As the economy starts to pick up the last thing we would want to hear is that housing once again threatens to drag the recovery back down.

But according to The New York Times, that may be exactly what happens as banks sit on massive amounts of foreclosed properties and continue to be reluctant to lend to consumers again, despite raking in record profits yet again.

This growing inventory of distressed homes threatens to keep housing prices low which then results in more homeowners ending underwater in their homes and forcing more distressed sales. It’s a downward spiral with only one actor seemingly able to stop the slide: the banks.

Right now experts predict it would take the banks about three years to sell off the glut of their inventory. Given the depth of that inventory homeowners could expect to see property values drop by another 5% at least before the housing market truly stabilizes.

This latest insult really illustrates the depth and the reach of the foreclosure crisis. Many innocent homeowners have found themselves upside down in their home through no fault of their own while bankers did very little to help solve the problem.

Foreclosures can happen to anyone. If you or a loved one is struggling to keep your home, or if you are trying to navigate the foreclosure process, contact the attorneys at Lord & Faris and let us work through that process with you.

Tornado Complicates Foreclosure Picture

On May 22, 2011 the unthinkable happened as a tornado ripped through the north metro, flattening homes in North Minneapolis, leaving a neighborhood hard hit by foreclosures to figure out what happens next. Even Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak noted the potential crisis unfolding when he remarked that the exact area hit by the storm was the one bearing the brunt of the foreclosure crisis.

So what happens when a home that is in foreclosure gets destroyed in some kind of natural disaster. For starters, clean-up becomes a little more complicated.

According to the Business Journal, there are about 200 foreclosed homes and businesses that were completely destroyed in the tornado. In a normal situation, private homeowners insurance would take care of the costs of repairing a home damaged in a storm. But if a property is encumbered with a mortgage lien, rather than issue a check directly to the property owner for any covered losses, that check will be made jointly to the homeowner and the lienholder.

More often than not that means that insurance proceeds will go first to pay off the mortgage debts. Should there be any proceeds remaining after the mortgage gets caught up then that money will go to repairs.

So it could be that the city, state and even federal government will need to come in and offer some assistance to rebuild North Minneapolis which is of little comfort to the hundreds of families immediately impacted by the storm. If you or a loved one have suffered a loss related to the storm, contact the Minneapolis Foreclosure Lawyers attorneys at Lord & Faris for a free consultation.

Tornado Cleanup Brings New Opportunities For Fraud

As if the problems facing North Minneapolis in the wake of May’s destructive tornado were not challenging enough, the Star Tribune is reporting a rash of questionable contractors have targeted the area for scams and quick work related to the neighborhood rebuild.

With nearly 4000 damaged properties it is easy to see why the area is a prime target for those with less-than-ideal motives. But despite the risks, there are some ways to protect yourself in the short-term.

First, always get a written estimate and check the background of any contractor you consider hiring. When a contractor first approaches you, do not sign anything, no matter how it is characterized. Sometimes individuals will be told what they are being asked to sign is an authorization to speak with an insurance company when in reality is is a contract for the rebuild.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry as well as the Better Business Bureau is a great place for homeowners to start their search of whether a contractor is legitimate or not. Also, do not be afraid to ask for customer referrals. Any reputable contractor should have at least a handful of satisfied customers to refer you too prior to hiring them on.

But even those steps may not always be enough to protect yourself. If you or a loved one are working through the process of trying to rebuild and have had a problem with a contractor or your insurance company, contact the Minneapolis Injury attorneys at Lord & Faris as you may have a claim.