Lawyers To Lawmakers: Reject Anti-Consumer Foreclosure Bill
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Released
on: April 13, 2010, 12:04 am
Author:
Matt Weidner
Industry:
Law
TALLAHASSEE - A group of attorneys who represent foreclosure defendants around the
state is calling on lawmakers to reject a proposed new law deceptively titled "Homeowner Relief and Housing Recovery Act" designed to change Florida's
foreclosure process from that is supervised by the courts, to a non-judicial process
that would be entirely in the hands of the banks and mortgage companies from start
to finish. Lawyers for Homeowners Rights or LHR-FL, a statewide coalition of
consumer attorneys, will travel to Tallahassee on April 21 with homeowners to speak
out against this anti-consumer legislation. According to Chip Parker, a Jacksonville
attorney, "every Florida homeowner should be worried about passage of this bill".
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The two bills, HB 1523 by Rep. Tom Grady, R-Naples, and SB 2270, by Sen. Michael
Bennett, R-Bradenton, will be considered this week by legislative committees. These
two lawmakers want to allow mortgage companies to obtain foreclosure quickly so the
home owned by a borrower who falls behind on their payments can be sold only after
two letters sent by mail. If the homeowner does not respond or cannot pay what has
been demanded by the bank, the house can be s sold -even if the homeowner is still
living in it. There would be no independent review of any amounts claimed to be
owed, or whether there has been a default under the mortgage, or even if the
mortgage company has the right to foreclose even if there has been a mistake.
"It offends me that bankers can convince our lawmakers to use such blatantly
misleading titles to legislation in a concerted effort to fool consumers," said St
Petersburg attorney Matt Weidner, who represents hundreds of homeowners across the
state in foreclosure proceedings. "I see first-hand, every single day the profound
effect the foreclosure crisis is having on consumers, institutions and our
communities. This bill will do nothing to help homeowners."
LHR-FL opposes the legislation saying that these institutions cannot be trusted with
the foreclosure process pointing to a federal probe, recently reported in the Wall
Street Journal, that is now underway and looking into alleged fraud by a
Jacksonville, Florida company known as Lender Processing Services and its subsidiary
Docx, LLC. These companies regularly prepare thousands of documents for banks and
mortgage companies to be used in foreclosures all over the U.S., including at least
one document that was prepared and filed in a Florida county showing that "bogus
assignee" owned the mortgage. "Our lawmakers should not vote to trust the same
people involved in that kind of activity. That is not good judgment in our view",
says Weidner.
Dominick Salfi, a former Circuit Court Judge in Seminole County, says "passage of
this law would only worsen the abuse by mortgage companies". He continues, "mortgage companies, banks and their lawyers are taking advantage of our overworked
judges and their support staff who do not have sufficient hours in a day to
thoroughly review each file." LHR-FL argues that lawmakers who vote to put the
foreclosure process in the hands of an industry that has shown little regard for the
law, our courts and homeowner rights themselves risk being someday at the mercy of
these institutions if mortgage payments are missed. "It's a sobering thought. Even
if you have faithfully paid for years into your mortgage, if something unexpected
happens to you and cannot pay, or if the mortgage company mistakes you for someone
else, it's two notices and you're out. That could happen to anyone, and it's just
not safe at all." says Parker.
LAWYERS FOR HOMEOWNER RIGHTS
Commuted to protecting the rights of Florida's homeowners and ensuring citizens
have access to a fair, elected and properly funded judicial system.
For Information Contact:
Chip Parker, Esq. Parker & DuFresne, P .A. 8777 San Jose Boulevard Churchill Park,
Suite 301 Jacksonville, FL 32217 904/733-7766 Email: parker@jaxlawcenter.com;
http://www.jaxlawcenter.com
Matthew Weidner, Esq. Matthew Weidner, PA 1229 Central St. Petersburg FL 33705
727/894-3159 Email: weidnerlaw@yahoo.com; http://www.mattweidnerlaw.com
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