Fourth Annual FALDP Conference

The Fourth Annual FALDP Conference this past weekend in Cedar Key, Florida was a huge success. Participants came away saying they were happy to have attended. One characterized the event as "priceless". Florida legal document preparers sometimes work in isolation. Many document preparation companies are one person operations, a few others are family businesses, and still others are partnerships. Our FALDP annual conference offers members the rare chance to meet their cohorts and colleagues to exchange ideas and information. FALDP as an association has persistently promoted the idea that we should be collaborative rather than competitive. There are many pro se litigants that need document preparation services. We are unlikely to run out of customers anytime soon. Helping each other learn how to prepare more documents, sharing business ideas, and teaching document preparers how to educate pro se litigants to help themselves are fundamental tenets of our association.

Despite a few minor challenges, the event went without a hitch. Cedar Key is pretty and quaint, but a little bit third world Florida. If you're not a Florida native, you may be surprised that this step back in time exists. (No chain restaurants, no MacDonalds, some places don't take plastic). We try to hold the FALDP conferences is out of the way or smaller coastal towns, hoping that attendees will see a part of Florida they have never seen before. The streets in Cedar Key empty early in the evening, you can walk down the center of main street and not get run over. The library and the post office are apparently one in the same.

The two guest speakers were humorous, inspiring, and informative. The group was small enough to allow for lively discussion, yet large enough to provide for alternative view points. We had fun!

To read more and see pictures about the conference - go to Conference 2013.  

Diligent Defense?

Homeowners in foreclosure seeking the help of a foreclosure defense attorney, do not always receive the diligent defense they so desperately need.  This is a letter from an attorney to his client. All names have been removed to protect the innocent and the guilty.

When a friend sent me the letter, my only response was an immediate OMG! Following is the text of the letter retyped verbatim:

"The purpose of this letter is to bring you up-to-date on the status of mortgage foreclosure cases in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties under a program in which retired Circuit Court Judges are handling these cases on an expedited basis. This means that it is no longer possible to allow years to go by before a foreclosure will occur as the Judges are insisting that their dockets be handled efficiently and promptly. This means that in the cases of modifying mortgages, mediation must be held promptly and the financial documents produced ASAP for the bank's review to see if you qualify for modifying the mortgage based on income formulas. In general you have to have monthly income a gross income basis of at least three times the amount of the new monthly mortgage payments and the best rates that we have seen recently are 4%  for 40 years with the default tacked on to the end of the mortgage as a balloon. You can calculate your monthly mortgage payments less taxes and insurance by looking at amortization schedules on your computer and in an amortization book maintained by most realtors. If modification is not going to work, the other preferable solution is a short sale of the property with a release of liability on the note and mortgage. This means that the properties have to be promptly listed for sale with an expert broker that we recommend and hustled through the system to avoid the foreclosure. The result is far better for your credit score and also a good solution if the property is worth less than its mortgage balance.

The summary judgments of foreclosure resulting in a forced sale of the properties can be heard at anytime the Court feels the paperwork is sufficient in the  file to allow the bank to proceed. This means that even at routine hearings such as hearings on discovery dispute or Motions to Dismiss that we have filed, the Court can grant summary judgment for the Plaintiff. This is not the result that we want and we certainly want to avoid if at all possible.

If you have any doubts about what you wan to do with this property, find a qualified broker, who will tell you exactly what the property will sell for in the market based upon its condition and the comparables, and call me so we can make a joint decision on the best way to proceed."

What's wrong with this picture?

My analysis is below:

The letter states:
"The purpose of this letter is to bring you up-to-date on the status of mortgage foreclosure cases in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties under a program in which retired Circuit Court Judges are handling these cases on an expedited basis. This means that it is no longer possible to allow years to go by before a foreclosure will occur as the Judges are insisting that their dockets be handled efficiently and promptly."

My take:

This expedited program to foreclose on homeowners is commonly known as the rocket docket. Retired judges/ senior judges have been assigned to hear these expedited cases. The problem with senior judges presiding over foreclosure cases is that senior judges do not have accountability. They have already retired, and do not need to care if their rulings are overturned on appeal. They have already retired, and are not subject to being voted out of office, as they are already out of office. Another issue regarding senior judges could be one of a conflict of interest. If the senior judges pensions are handled by the bank who is the Plaintiff in a foreclosure suit, this raises questions about the integrity of the proceedings. 

The letter states:

This means that in the cases of modifying mortgages, mediation must be held promptly and the financial documents produced ASAP for the bank's review to see if you qualify for modifying the mortgage based on income formulas. In general you have to have monthly income a gross income basis of at least three times the amount of the new monthly mortgage payments and the best rates that we have seen recently are 4%  for 40 years with the default tacked on to the end of the mortgage as a balloon. You can calculate your monthly mortgage payments less taxes and insurance by looking at amortization schedules on your computer and in an amortization book maintained by most realtors.

My take:

Really??? One of the biggest complaints about the mortgage modification process is the lenders dragging their feet, and not reacting to the documents which are repeatedly produced by the homeowner for the modification assessment. This situation persists despite Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi's stern letter to Bank of America earlier this year. Calculating a mortgage amount is easy. Amortization calculators are all over the internet. However, actually obtaining a 4% mortgage is another matter entirely. Particularly when the homeowner is in foreclosure and has already taken a hit on the credit score.

The letter states:

If modification is not going to work, the other preferable solution is a short sale of the property with a release of liability on the note and mortgage. This means that the properties have to be promptly listed for sale with an expert broker that we recommend and hustled through the system to avoid the foreclosure. The result is far better for your credit score and also a good solution if the property is worth less than its mortgage balance.

My take:

Again, really??? When was the last time you tried to arm wrestle a realtor into including a a release of liability on a short sale. Realtors will tell short sale sellers, no problem they won't come after you. But to actually get that promise in the documents -- good luck! And even better, "an expert broker that we recommend". I smell kick back.

The letter states:
The summary judgments of foreclosure resulting in a forced sale of the properties can be heard at anytime the Court feels the paperwork is sufficient in the  file to allow the bank to proceed. This means that even at routine hearings such as hearings on a discovery dispute or Motions to Dismiss that we have filed, the Court can grant summary judgment for the Plaintiff.

My take:

Hold on, hold up! A summary judgment is not proper if there are material issues in dispute. The last time I checked, Florida is still a judicial foreclosure state. That means that there are specific rules that the Court and the Plaintiff must follow to bring a foreclosure to auction. It is not when the Court "feels" the paperwork is sufficient to proceed. The Court is not supposed to feel. The Court is supposed to be an unbiased trier of fact. The letter was written by a foreclosure defense attorney, and somehow I don't think he is doing his job if "even at routine hearings such as hearings on a discovery dispute or Motion to Dismiss the Court can grant summary judgment. For starters the Plaintiff would have had to file a Motion for Summary Judgment. And there are defenses to that, such as an Affidavit in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment; and Affidavit of Denial of Debt.