Affordable, Experienced Legal Representation by Attorney with Ivy League Training - Available for Defense of Mortgage Foreclosure Actions Anywhere in the United States: Admitted to New York Bar; Available to Work "Pro Hac Vice" in Courts of Other States with Local Counsel; and Available to Prepare Answer or Answer with Counterclaims on Hourly Basis for Review by Local Counsel

Although Millions Are Threatened, Your Concern Is a Single Foreclosure

THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT TO REMEMBER WHEN THREATENED WITH FORECLOSURE - HIRE A LAWYER NOW, NOT TOMORROW - DELAY OF ONE DAY COULD CAUSE YOU TO LOSE YOUR HOME!!!

CALL ME NOW FOR A NO-COST, IMMEDIATE DISCUSSION OF YOUR SITUATION - 212-307-4444

I have seen foreclosure clients before they were threatened with foreclosure; and homeowners who were served with foreclosure papers only one day earlier; and homeowners who waited until 21 days after service of foreclosure papers (when they should have acted no later than 20 days after service); and homeowners who waited until a date was set for sale of their home after a default was entered for their failure to appear to defend the foreclosure action. [Note: If your property is in California or other state using a foreclosure process known as non-judicial foreclosure, you should be reading my material on California's non-judicial foreclosures, at California's Non-Judicial Foreclosures. A 50-state analysis of judicial and non-judicial foreclosure procedures is available at 50-State Analysis of Judicial and Non-Judicial Foreclosure Procedures.]

Speaking from a lawyer's standpoint, I can almost cry at the failure of homeowners to hire a lawyer and defend a foreclosure within the normal 20-day period from the date of service. The risk of losing the home increases exponentially if the homeowner lets the foreclosure action go into default. The legal costs of trying to undo a default are far more (in many instances) than the cost of providing a timely defense.

Accordingly, the minute you receive notice of a foreclosure proceeding, and probably at some time earlier, when you know that a foreclosure action is going to be started, retain an attorney to deal with the problem. You would be surprised at the "tools" available to the attorney on your behalf if you retain the attorney on a timely basis.

You will have a much greater chance of obtaining some desired relief (such as a modification of your mortgage, forgiveness of a portion of the indebtedness, a lowering of monthly payments, a lowering of the interest rate and a possible elimination of the default rate of interest, and more. These are yours almost for the asking, but you have to do it the right way, which is by retaining an attorney on a timely basis.

I am not unmindful of the various alternatives offered, such as to hire someone who will call up the financial institution and try to restructure the loan on your behalf; or someone who would put you into bankruptcy; or someone who would take your money and in fact do nothing or next to nothing. I'm not even saying that you shouldn't use one or more of these approaches. What I am saying is that when you know a foreclosure action is going to be started, or if you have just been served with papers in a foreclosure action (or alternative action for payment of the note), IT IS TIME RIGHT AWAY (---TODAY---) TO HIRE AN ATTORNEY. DON'T WAIT. BY WAITING YOU MAY WELL LOSE YOUR HOME NEEDLESSLY.

I hope I have said enough about this most important issue. If you are reading this after your period to answer (in your opinion) has expired, HIRE AN ATTORNEY RIGHT AWAY - you may be wrong as to your conclusion that the period to answer has expired; there may be certain rules extending the time; the attorney you hire may be able to get an extension of time to answer or the attorney may be able to file an answer anyway, belatedly, without the answer being rejected. There are various things an attorney can do for you, so don't fail to hire an attorney, even if you are late in answering the foreclosure complaint. Even if a sale is being scheduled, see an attorney. The problem is, of course, that the longer you wait the more difficult it would be for you to obtain some needed relief.

WHAT IS YOUR FINANCIAL STATUS? - AN IMPORTANT ITEM FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

If you have enough money to handle the problem of an excessive monthly payment on your home mortgage, you have less reason to read this section. But if you are impoverishing yourself by making your monthly mortgage payments, you should keep reading. Try to put yourself into the position of the owner of a business who is faced with a monthly expense that he/she can meet, at the current level of anticipated income, for only 4 additional months - and after which he/she will have to file for bankruptcy or give up the business. What could you do now to save the business? You could stop making those expenditures which you know you can't keep making and stay in business. This would give you additional income during the next 4 months to try to do something else to save the business. At least it gives you a plan, a better one than doing nothing and watch your business go out of business in four months.

How does this apply to a homeowner's mortgage payments? First of all, if a homeowner sees that he/she can only continue making the monthly payments for 4 more months, and then face a default and subsequent foreclosure proceeding, the question to be answered now is what could the homeowner do four months from now to fight the expected foreclosure? When the homeowner's money is gone (handed over to the bank over that 4-month period), the homeowner will not have enough money to assert his/her legitimate defenses that may be available to fight the expected foreclosure action.

However, if the homeowner acts similar to the business person, and sees that 4 additional months of payments will still wind up with a foreclosure proceeding, but with no money to defend the action, the homeowner -- IF BELIEVING THAT THERE ARE LEGITIMATE DEFENSES TO ASSERT IN A FORECLOSURE ACTION -- should want to have the foreclosure start now, not later. This is done by the simple expedient of not paying the monthly payment while you still have some money left, instead of waiting until you have begged, borrowed and stolen everything you can to keep up with the onerous payments for that last 4 months. By starting now to stop paying, you will trigger a foreclosure action while you can still defend the action, instead of waiting until you are totally wiped out financially and can do nothing but watch the action result in a default judgment and sale of your property.

The difference between the two scenarios (pay until you are totally wiped out, or stop paying while you still have some money left) can and may well be the difference in saving your home.

If you want to talk about this approach, please give me (attorney Carl Person) a call, at 212-307-4444, and I can answer any questions you or your local attorney may have.

Your Answer May Be the Most Important Document Ever Used in Your Life, or At Least in the Mortgage Foreclosure Action - I Can Work With Your Local Lawyer to Prepare Your ANSWER with any COUNTERCLAIMS to the Foreclosure Complaint

I want to make it known to you right away, that I am able to work with your lawyer anywhere in the United States to prepare an appropriate Answer (or Answer with Counterclaims) for you, as your response to a mortgage foreclosure action, assuming (of course) that the facts justify such response. I would like you to look at an article I wrote a few years ago about the importance of well-drafted pleadings, see Importance of Pleadings.

My fee to prepare an Answer (or Answer with Counterclaims) would be on an hourly basis, and I could be (but do not have to be) co-counsel ("pro hac vice") with your own local attorney to stay on the case while it continues in the local court.

Important Statutes

Let me tell you about some important statutes that are involved, or might be involved in your own mortgage foreclosure situation. Some may apply; and some may not. But your lawyer should review every applicable statute to determine whether there have been violations of law concerning your situation which should be raised in defense of the foreclosure action.

Various Statutes for You and Your Lawyer to Consider in Defending a Mortgage Foreclosure Action, or an Action Upon a Mortgage-Secured Note

There is an ever-increasing number of statutes that need to be considered when deciding how to oppose a specific mortgage foreclosure action (or for a monetary judgment upon the related note). From now on I will merely refer to the action as a mortgage foreclosure action, a not distinguish between the two. [In New York State, the mortgagee must elect to sue on the mortgage or sue on the note, and wait until the first choice is completed before starting an action on the second choice. But whichever choice is made, the problems remain pretty much the same.]

Federal Statutes to Consider

• Truth in Lending Act ("TILA"),enacted in 1968, protects consumers in credit transactions by requiring clear disclosure of key terms and all costs. See Wiki on TILA

  Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA"), 12 U.S.C. §§ 2601, et seq., which requires disclosure in advance of the amounts being received by various participants, including mortgage brokers, and prohibits the non-disclosed increase of the interest rate to cover the mortgage broker's fee; also, RESPA, 12 U.S.C. § 2605(e), requires the lender or servicing institution to acknowledge and respond to "Qualified Written Requests" ("QWR") by the homeowner relating to the loan, and stops the bank or servicing institution from issuing a credit report until the QWR is answered. RESPA and HUD's Regulation X need to be considered when new fees are implemented, when a bank establishes relationships with mortgage brokers or real estate agents, when responding to borrowers' complaints, and when administering escrow accounts; and care must be taken when affiliates conduct settlement services, to ensure that the correct information is being provided, and timely. Also, you must consider HUD's Regulation Z thereunder, which imposes strict requirements on lenders to protect consumers.

  Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer credit information. See Wiki on FCRA

  Home Ownership Equity Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1641(d), which provides that assignees of mortgage loans are subject to all claims and defenses under any law that a borrower could have asserted against the original lender, thereby eliminating any "holder in due course" defense to the defendants. See Vandenbroeck v. ContiMortgage Corp., 53 F. Supp. 2d 965, 968 (W.D. Mich. 1999)

  New (July, 2008) federal law permitting some troubled homeowners to refinance their mortgage loans with a federally-insured agency

  State Statutes to Consider

  New York McKinney's General Business Law § 349 prohibiting deceptive acts and practices. See GBL Section 349

  New York McKinney's General Business Law § 350 prohibiting false advertising, an exceedingly short but powerful statute which states the following:

  False advertising in the conduct of any business, trade or commerce or in the furnishing of any service in this state is hereby declared unlawful.

  New York McKinney's Banking Law, §§ 6-I(d) and 6-I(g), sometimes called the "High-Cost Home Loans Act"; the New York statute is comparable to Missouri's Second Mortgage Loan Act ("SMLA"), Mo.Rev.Stat. §§ 408.231-.241, which prohibits certain fees in home mortgage transactions

  Counterpart statutes in other states - examples from California:

  California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, §§ 1770(a), see specific subparagraphs

  § 17200 of the California Business and Professions Code, the Unfair Competition Law

  §§ 17500-17509 of the California Business and Professions Code – False and Misleading Advertising

  Class action allegations under the California Unfair Competition Law; California Consumer Legal Remedies Act; and Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Foreclosure Discussion Continued

Future legislative help for millions of homeowners threatened with foreclosure is of little help to someone facing foreclosure proceedings today. The focus for the single threatened homeowner is what he/she can do now to protect his property interest. A foreclosure proceeding in New York State commences with the filing of a Notice of Lis Pendens, to provide notice to the world that the title to the real estate is in litigation. What can a home owner do to protect his/her interest in the property after a lis pendens is filed? There are various options (including bankruptcy; paying the bank all of the amount demanded, including the outrageously high default interest and late charges; renegotiating the terms of the mortgage and getting reinstatement on more favorable terms; walking away from the property; defending against the foreclosure lawsuit; bringing in other persons as defendants in the lawsuit when they helped to cause your difficulty). First I'm going to list various defenses which should be considered in a mortgage foreclosure action. Then, I'm going to discuss the major cause of mortgage foreclosure actions: the subprime rate mortgage.

Defenses to a Mortgage Foreclosure Action

The purpose of identifying legal issues for any specific subprime rate mortgagor (usually a family buying its first home) or other mortgage foreclosure defendant is to help the defendant and family decide what they can do, and when they can take such action.

Here are some important defensive issues to explore:

1. The first thing I would want to look at, as an attorney for a subprime-rate mortgagor (borrower) is all of the advertising and other information provided to you before you signed the mortgage papers. I would look for deceptive or fraudulent or untrue statements upon which the borrower relied.

2. Secondly, I would also look to see if there are any guarantees or promises that were made which have not been fulfilled by the lender. It is important to consider any non-written statements made to the borrower by the lender or its agent prior to the signing of the mortgage papers (and receipt of the loan proceeds).

3. A defense of intentionally causing the borrower to be unable to fulfill the requirements of the loan, so that the lender (or its assignees) can take back the property and still go after the borrower for a huge percentage of the value of the property, which can be called a "kicker", a hidden asset for the lender which kicks in down the line, for the benefit of the lender and extreme detriment to the borrower. But there is seldom any disclosure about this kicker.

4. Lender's liability for making a loan to the borrower which the lender knew the borrower had no capacity to repay.

5. Review the federal and state statutes listed above, to see if any violations have taken place.

6. Selling the loan to "vultures" without any disclosure to the borrower that this was the intention of the originating lender. Who the "vultures" are needs to be based on various legal doctrines designed to protect borrowers from unlawful activity of the lenders.

7. Are there any technical requirements that the Plaintiff has not met, which should result in dismissal of the action? The first of these technical requirements is whether service of the summons and complaint, and/or the Notice of Lis Pendens, was served upon you properly. All too often service is not done properly.

8. If the property has been sold, was it sold after appropriate advertising or was the sale price reduced by a failure to advertise the sale properly?

9. Consider the legal doctrine and defense of "unjust enrichment".

10. Consider the legal doctrine and defense of "breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing".

11. Consider the legal doctrine and defense of "tortious destruction of the borrower's business" (if this is a business loan).

12. Look at the state laws relating to deceptive and fraudulent advertising, such as New York General Business Law Sections 349 (deceptive acts and practices) and 350 (false advertising; bait and switch advertising).

13. [California foreclosures:] Look at California laws: (i) California Unfair Practices Act, §§ 17000, et seq. [§ 17045] of the Business and Professions Code – Secret Rebates Injuring Competition]; (ii) California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, §§ 1770(a);

14. Don't forget to look at the various banking laws, state and federal, to see any other possible bases for liability, including any new legislation attempting to deal with the millions of new foreclosures that are going to be commenced starting in 2008.

Subprime Rate Mortgages

"Subprime rate" mortgages are deceptively appealing. They have enabled families to buy a home (usually their first home) with little money down, an immediate low, affordable interest rate, and a hope that interest rates won't rise.

The immediate lenders (or "originating lenders") are banks, savings & loans, and companies licensed as banks to make mortgage loans. These companies include FNMA (Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fanny Mae), FHLMC (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, also known as Freddie Mac), MorganChase and Citibank.

Also, you might be dealing with someone not licensed as a bank, but licensed as a mortgage broker.

Because of the great appeal of lending to families not qualified to obtain a regular mortgage, the lenders set significantly higher interest rates (after expiration of the initial period of less than a year in which the interest rate is artificially low) than are being paid on regular mortgages. The originating lenders generally put together a group of recently-created home mortgages (together with the promissory note and personal guarantees) and sell them as a package or in "tranches" to investors or groups of investors often specializing in purchase of (i.e., investment in) home mortgages.

Most of the originating lenders (including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have no intention of holding the mortgages. They package and sell mortgages to investors of various types. Further information about Freddie Mac is available at Wikipedia: Freddie Mac and about Fannie Mae, at Wikipedia: Fannie Mae.

Also, you should look at the Wikipedia article "Subprime Meldown" at Wikipedia: Subprime Meldown.

Another interest obtained by the lender, and assigned to investors, is the right to take back your property in the event of a default, and (if they comply with various rules) wind up owning the property while you, the borrower, still owe them a sizeable amount on the loan, including default interest at a much higher rate, attorneys' fees for the foreclosure proceedings, costs and other expenses. It is not inconceivable that you could wind up owing far more than the principal amount of the loan and lose all interest in your property. This is a neat way for the lender or investor to have his cake and eat it too. The lender still has you owing at least as much and the lender winds up owning the property.

From 1938 to 1968, Fannie Mae was a government monopoly, and in 1968 the federal government created competition for Fannie Mae by authorizing the creation of privately-owned Freddie Mac.

An Associated Press article on March 25, 2007 entitled Senator "Schumer urges more regulation of subprime mortgage rates" stated that during the next two years there is going to be "the biggest foreclosure crisis ever", unless action is taken to prevent "economic forces" from pulling the trigger. The AP story explained that New York's

Sen. Charles Schumer warned ... that 91,000 New York families are at risk of losing their homes when the rates of their subprime mortgages increase.... "The subprime market is the wild west of mortgage loans, and it's time we bring a sheriff into town," Schumer said. "The first step is making sure that borrowers are protected from these usurious lenders. Subprime lenders peddle mortgages that often require no money down and are made at "teaser" interest rates that soon rise. They target marginal borrowers with weak credit or questionable incomes who previously might not have gotten a loan at all. Schumer said an analysis by his office found that an estimated 1.8 million American families, including 91,325 in New York state, are at risk of foreclosure when the rates are reset within two years. * * * ... Schumer said his bill would establish a suitability standard for borrowers so that lenders won't be able to issue a loan that the borrower cannot afford. * * *"

Should Suit Be Commenced Prior to Any Foreclosure Proceeding or After Foreclosure Has Started?

On the other hand, few people bring suit for "lender's liability" until they are in desperate need. This may be why you might want to consider going into court to obtain relief prior to going into default, to prevent you from having to go into default. It may be worth your while to consider this preemptive tactic, to strike first, before you are in default, so that the claims are heard as you have described them in your complaint, and not as a collection of "defenses" and "counterclaims" to a lender's lawsuit against your for foreclosure and later for recovery of a "deficiency judgment" for the amount of the judgment not satisfied by the distress sale of the mortgaged property.

Your House is Probably the Most Valuable Asset Your Family Will Have - and You Should Protect It as Vigorously as You Would Protect Your Employment or Retirement Funds

If you were illegally terminated from your job and now are facing a loss of $50,000 per year, you would be seeking to obtain relief in court for several years of lost income, or a longer period of reduced income, perhaps having a total value of $100,000 to $200,000.

If you were terminated illegally to be able to prevent vesting of your retirement income, you would go into court to protect that, which could amount to as much (or more) as the loss of employment just discussed.

Loss of your home is far more serious. If you remain in your home and pay off your mortgage over a 30-year period, you will generally wind up with an asset far more valuable than your retirement income. Over the past 50 years or so, home ownership has resulted in substantial values when retirement time comes around, and the time to protect that asset is right now, and not run the risk that the home be taken away from you because of illegal practices of the lender and others.

You should review all the facts and decide whether you have any claim, and if there is a claim whether you should pursue the claim now, or wait until you are facing foreclosure and eviction.

Papers to Collect and Take to Your Lawyer's Office

Lawyers will differ in what they want to see, but generally you should be ready to take at least the following documents to your lawyer's office (or the office of a lawyer you are thinking of retaining). For a distant lawyer, you could make a pdf file and email the documents to such lawyer:

1. Closing statement received at the closing;
2. Promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness
3. Mortgage or purchase money mortgage or other lien papers
4. Your own notes about what your bank and any mortgage broker or real estate broker told you before the closing
5. Documents you received about the purchase or mortgage, before the closing, from the bank, mortgage broker, real estate broker or other person
6. Any correspondence or notes from telephone conversations with the bank or loan servicing agent after the closing
7. Any notices or correspondence regarding the note or mortgage
8. Your payment record
9. Any written requests made by your to the bank or loan servicing agent regarding the loan or mortgage
10. The documents you were served such as a Notice of Pendency of Action, Summons and Complaint or Verified Complaint
11. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the date and manner in which you or someone was served or purportedly served with a copy of the summons and complaint

Consultation - No Fee, No Obligation

My initial discussion is without charge.

To make an appointment to discuss your problem with me, please call me at 212-307-4444.

Attorney Carl E. Person
Office 212-307-4444
Cell 917-453-9376
Fax 212-307-0247
Email carlpers@ix.netcom.com

Recently, I was interviewed by Harold Channer, "Conversations with Harold Channer", on MNN. Here are links to two YouTube 1-hour interviews with Harold Channer. You might be interested in spending a few minutes looking at one of the two interviews to let me introduce myself to you.

YouTube - Carl Person and Harold Channer - Air Date: 02-28-08

Carl E. Person and Harold Channer - Air Date: 02-28-08 - CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW

YouTube - Carl Person and Harold Channer - Air Date: 05-15-08

Carl E. Person and Harold Channer - Air date: 05-15-08 - CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW