Go Davet GO!!!!!!
The Court House:
How One Family
Fought Foreclosure
By AMIR EFRATI
December 28, 2007; Page A1
BEACHWOOD, Ohio — Faced with the threat of foreclosure, many homeowners give up and abandon their homes.
Then there’s Richard Davet.
He and his wife, Lynn, lived in a six-bedroom home in this Cleveland suburb for nearly 20 years when, in 1996, he was served with a foreclosure lawsuit. Rather than turn over the keys, he hit the law books. Flooding the courts with papers, Mr. Davet staved off foreclosure for 11 years, until this past January, when a county sheriff’s deputy evicted the couple and changed the locks. They didn’t make a mortgage payment the entire time.
“Our four Scottish terriers are buried there,” says the 63-year-old Mr. Davet. “It was heaven on earth, an unbelievable property, and they took it from us like candy from a baby.”
Mr. Davet’s case is believed to be the longest residential foreclosure of its kind in the history of Cuyahoga County, which is at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis currently enveloping Ohio and many other parts of the country. Foreclosure actions are generally routine, typically taking from a few months to a couple of years to get the borrower out of the home. Companies turn the work over to so-called foreclosure-mill law firms, and generally cases are uncontested.
Mr. Davet’s argument — NationsBanc couldn’t bring the suit because it didn’t legally own his mortgage — is the same red-hot legal theory now being embraced by judges and regulators in Ohio and elsewhere to help give homeowners a chance against foreclosure. Is this all about a legal system at work, or not working? Discuss it here.
These days, more homeowners are digging in their heels. They delay foreclosures by filing for bankruptcy on the eve of a court-ordered sale of the property, or by refusing to answer the door when the plaintiff tries to “serve” them with a foreclosure lawsuit. They pay lawyers a few hundred dollars to file a motion that can buy them a little more time.
But few are as dogged as Mr. Davet. And his fight may not be over yet. Though ousted from his home for nearly a year now, he is trying to get the charming 1940s house back, plus damages. He’s relying on the legal argument — currently making headlines — that a financial institution can only file a foreclosure action if it can prove it actually owns and holds the mortgage and promissory note.
Filed under: CDO, currency, Eviction, foreclosure, GTC | Honor, Mortgage | Tagged: Davet, foreclosure defense, holder in due course, Ohio, ownership of mortgage, UCC Article 3 |
I TO HAVE FOUGHT FORECLOSURE FOR 4 YEARS. IN MY CASE THE BANK NEVER PRODUCE THE NOTE OR CALLED AND WITNESS. THE JUDGE WOULD NOT LET ME DO ANY DISCOVERY IN THE CASE. WHEN IT WAS ALL SAID AND DONE IT WAS JUST WHAT THE LAWER SAID AND NO EVIDENCE.
Great story.
Attacking standing is one of the most effective means of defending foreclosure. If in court, try this interrogatory: “State the date the plaintiff became holder of the mortgage and note.”
Regards,
http://www.foreclosure-fight.com
[…] Here is an amazing story of a family in Ohio that has been fighting a possible foreclosure for 11+ years while not paying a pennie of the mortgage (though that is not condoned). There me some interesting loopholes explored in the coming months to stave off foreclosure and work on remedy, here is one such story […]