If the bank illegally tries to wrest the house what is the cost to put up a fight? There are thousands who have lost their properties and failed to follow up their rights to pursue a financial understanding because they were afraid of the costs and legal expenses.
But the fears are exaggerated. Consumer lawyers do not charge anything for some of the case. There is the likelihood of paying upfront fees on monthly basis – it being linked to the lawyer’s calculation of the ability of the borrower. Moreover if the case is won then they will wrest it from the bank.
Hearing this some may jump into the fray attacking "greedy lawyers" for taking up the case of "deadbeat" borrowers who failed to keep their mortgages alive. For them the landmark decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court could be an eye opener.
The court negated foreclosures of two banks who were trustees of investors. They failed to prove their ownership of the mortgages. Judge Robert J. Cordy exonerated them for "utter carelessness". He wrote that the point was not about the borrowers owing money but about the right to take away the homes from householders – it is a powerful factor and hence banks have to prove they have the legal right to do so.
USA law cannot permit the taking away of a property founded on an incomplete document that is backdated; neither can forged documents be entertained under any circumstances. If allowed then the homes of none are safe. The courts implement rights of property through the cases that are brought by lawyers.
The case of Massachusetts was initiated not by the borrowers but by the banks. They asked the courts to agree to the validity of the foreclosures so that they could avail of title insurance. This incidentally drew the borrowers into the centre stage. When the shocked courts saw how the foreclosures had been operated with, the verdict was a strong ‘no’. The properties were returned to the former owners.
Ibanez, one of the borrowers, a teacher had purchased the house for investment purposes in 2005 and defaulted from 2007 on a loan worth $103,500. Since then the house was lying vacant and boarded up.
Ibanez sought Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and thus he now has the property’s title without any debt obligation. It is the investors who will have to swallow the loss. The fight is not over yet because Paul Collier, the attorney of Ibanezthinks that the bank will go to the Supreme Court of USA.
Karen Anne, has been working on ForeclosureListings.com studying the foreclosures market, helping buyers on the finer points of foreclosures. Try to visit ForeclosureListings.com and search foreclosure homes.
Tags: likelihood, fears, validity, carelessness, borrowers, eye opener, foreclosures, title insurance, legal expenses, centre stage, owing money, upfront fees