Estoppel: When the Bank Tells You to Stop Making Payments

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Neil Garfield

IMPORTANT PRACTICE NOTE: The use of the doctrine of estoppel on the facts presented in this article is only a temporary solution. If a representative of the bank told you to stop paying and then declared you in default and foreclose  it is unfair and that is exactly why we have the doctrine of estoppel. However, on these facts, the doctrine can only be applied for as long as the issue of modification or settlement is on the table. Whether it can be bootstrapped into an action for slander of title or breach of contract is an issue that will be decided by the courts.

My opinion is that on these facts the doctrine of estoppel will not serve as the foundation for an action for slander of title or breach of contract.

However, my opinion is that a lawsuit for intentional interference in the contractual rights of another could be brought if an intermediary between you and the servicer or between you and the creditor instructed you to stop making payments if you wish to seek a modification or settlement. 

If you are making that allegation you obviously want to say that the party who made that representation fraudulently induced you to believe that they have the authority to do it, but in fact lacked that authority inasmuch as  the sub servicer is almost certainly going to deny that they had the authority to make such representations.  In discovery the truth will come out —  the representative had been instructed to make those representations to homeowners by a sub servicer who lacked actual authority to make collections or decisions concerning the disposition of the loan because the entire paper trail of the securitization chain was false. This will enable you to sue both the representative and the sub servicer who gave the instruction. (Make sure you seek the advice of an attorney who is licensed in the jurisdiction in which a property is located and is familiar with these issues and does research to corroborate and fortify the arguments).

If you then received a declaration of default, notice of sale or a foreclosure lawsuit it could be argued that the intermediary was not a party with whom the homeowner was in privity. This argument would be fortified by a denial from the sub servicer that the intermediary had any authority make that statement.

If you are seeking legal representation or other services call our South Florida customer service number at 954-495-9867 and for the West coast the number remains 520-405-1688. In Northern Florida and the Panhandle call 850-765-1236. Customer service for the livinglies store with workbooks, services and analysis remains the same at 520-405-1688. The people who answer the phone are NOT attorneys and NOT permitted to provide any legal advice, but they can guide you toward some of our products and services.

SEE ALSO: http://WWW.LIVINGLIES-STORE.COM

The selection of an attorney is an important decision  and should only be made after you have interviewed licensed attorneys familiar with investment banking, securities, property law, consumer law, mortgages, foreclosures, and collection procedures. This site is dedicated to providing those services directly or indirectly through attorneys seeking guidance or assistance in representing consumers and homeowners. We are available to any lawyer seeking assistance anywhere in the country, U.S. possessions and territories. Neil Garfield is a licensed member of the Florida Bar and is qualified to appear as an expert witness or litigator in in several states including the district of Columbia. The information on this blog is general information and should NEVER be considered to be advice on one specific case. Consultation with a licensed attorney is required in this highly complex field.

EDITOR’S ANALYSIS AND COMMENT:  Judges seem to find it hard to believe that a creditor would tell the borrower to stop making payments. It sounds ridiculous. But the fact remains that the majority of the homeowners who have been declared in default were told exactly that by a representative with apparent authority to speak for the sub servicer and apparent authority to speak for the creditor.

I would suggest that anyone reading this article who has received that instruction from a person, party or institution draft an affidavit that is notarized that can be used by other parties to show the judge that this is a pattern of conduct that permeates the entire foreclosure industry. You can send those affidavits to me at NeilFGarfield@Hotmail.com  and without charge we will make those available to any lawyer or pro se litigant in need of those affidavits.  And by the way, let your lawyer draft the affidavit and retain an original copy which means you should be signing two of them each of which is notarized separately.

Those affidavits should include any information regarding subsequent correspondence, telephone calls or instructions from the same or different representative of the alleged sub servicer or creditor. And it should include any events in which the  sub servicer claim to have lost your submission of documents that were requested. As a practice hand, it is my opinion that no such submission should be made without a specific offer from the homeowner certified by a real estate professional.

This can subsequently be used as corroboration of the allegation that sub servicer neither considered the modification request or the modification proposal.  In addition it will fortify the allegation that the creditor was never informed of the offer and that therefore the sub servicer or representative is in violation of the laws of the nation and potentially of the state in which the property is located.

The Wall Street banks have created the illusion that they don’t want to foreclose but they have no other choice. In fact they have engaged in a pattern of conduct that made foreclosure an inevitable conclusion. Most people believe that the banks don’t want the property and therefore they would not foreclose if there was a real opportunity to settle or modified below with the assistance of the federal government under HAMP and HARP. Of course when you are dealing with Wall Street strategies the situation is  always more complex than the simplistic arguments used by attorneys seeking foreclosure or defending claims from borrowers.

It is hard to argue that the banks don’t want property when they have walked away from hundreds of thousands of homes that were emptied as a result of the wrongful foreclosure and eviction of the homeowner. In places like Cleveland and Detroit tens of thousands of homes were literally bulldozed because entire neighborhoods lost all of their residents and the homes became headquarters for drug deals and other illicit activities.

The simple truth is that the banks are not nearly as interested in the property as they are in the foreclosure. It is the foreclosure sale that creates the illusion of a stamp of approval from the state government that the entire securitization scheme was valid and it creates the reality of a presumption of the validity of the deed issued at the so-called auction of the property upon submission of  false credit bid from a non-creditor who is a stranger (not in privity) to the transaction alleged.

Their motivation is also quite simple, to wit: they have already received insurance proceeds and the proceeds of credit default swaps far in excess of the principal supposedly due on the note. If the loan were converted from “nonperforming” to “performing” it is highly likely that the Wall Street banks and their affiliates would be responsible for refunding the insurance money and proceeds of credit default swaps, all of which frequently amounted to multiples as high as 42 times the amount of the note.

The Dodd-Frank Law  makes it illegal for any servicer or representative of a creditor to engage in the consideration of a modification or settlement regarding the loan and at the same time pursue foreclosure. But even without that law, the doctrine of promissory estoppel accomplishes the same result.

I would point out that the reason that provision was made part of the Dodd-Frank  law was that there was no dispute as to the fact that servicers were encouraging people to stop making payments if they wanted to see an approval on a modification of their loan, a short sale of the property, or any type of settlement whatsoever.

The doctrine of promissory estoppel can be used both offensively in the nonjudicial states and defensively in the judicial states. It is important for a lawyer who is licensed in the jurisdiction in which the property is located to do the research on the statutes and case law dealing with promissory estoppel. The state and federal system do have differences.

In general, the elements of promissory estoppel consists of a promise or representation from one party that leads another party to reasonably rely on that promise or representation and act to their own detriment.  Generally it is not important that the benefits of the statement or action by the first party result in a benefit to that party. It is generally understood that the detriment to the homeowner as a result of the promise or representation may be all that is required in order to establish promissory estoppel, which of course must be properly alleged in a lawsuit or affirmative defenses depending upon whether the case is in a nonjudicial jurisdiction or a judicial jurisdiction.

There is no legal or business reason to tell a homeowner to stop paying if they want their loan modified, or if they want their property approved for short sale, or they want to settle with the creditor or creditors, the identity of which is closely guarded by the Wall Street banks and all of the parties in the securitization chain that turns out to be more of a paper chain of sham transactions than anything else.

The reason why homeowners are being told to stop making payments and why they are given trial modifications that are subsequently denied status as permanent modification is that the goal is foreclosure in order to keep the illicit proceeds of insurance and credit default swaps. As soon as the homeowners are told to stop making payments, and subsequent payments are often returned, the securitization parties are slowly edging the borrower into a position where it is impossible for them to make up the payments and therefore inevitable that the foreclosure will proceed. And the reason why becomes impossible for them to make up the payments is that they are told  that the back payments at worst will be added to the end of the loan. They are told this to make sure that the borrower spends the money and no longer has the money to bring the loan current.  It is a perfect storm for the Wall Street banks.

If the borrower is taken the trouble to send a qualified written request or a debt validation letter and will fortify the claim because the sub servicer or other representative will have failed to  provide proof of payment or funding for the acquisition or the origination of the loan and will have failed to provide proof of authority to represent the creditor and further failed to identify the creditor so that the authority to represent could be confirmed.

Sitting on the desk of the governor of the state of Florida is a crazy bill that would make it impossible for most homeowners to defend wrongful foreclosures. If he signs the bill into law the banks will be cheering, but not for long. Using the doctrine of estoppel the foreclosure will be stopped dead in most cases assuming the homeowner was in fact instructed to  cease making  payments and was promised that if they follow the rules their request for modification would be considered —  which is something which is required under existing federal law dating back to the time of TARP.

If the homeowner takes the position in litigation that all payments that were due were in fact paid, and that in fact the homeowner believes he has overpaid, a question of fact emerges that probably cannot be handled in the summary proceedings under what might be the new Florida law and similar laws passed in other jurisdictions.  If the homeowner also takes the position that he is neither in privity with nor does he owe any money to either the party bringing the foreclosure proceedings, this raises additional questions of fact that must be dealt with under the rules of evidence in a properly noticed hearing.

PRACTICE NOTE: Procedurally I have come to the opinion that in order to take control of the narrative away from parties who are essentially strangers to the transaction, lawyers should issue subpoenas rather than notices under the Rules of Civil Procedure. Those subpoenas should go out immediately upon receipt of any notice of foreclosure or any lawsuit seeking foreclosure. The subpoenas should ask for a competent witness to testify at deposition and require the witness produce proof of payment or consideration in the acquisition or origination of the loan. The subpoena should specify the type of information you are seeking, to wit: a canceled check, wire transfer receipt, and ACH confirmation, or check 21 confirmation. The failure of the opposing party to respond even if they file timely objections are motions to quash will raise issues as to the amount of any payment alleged to have been missed in the amount of any principal alleged to be unpaid. If I am right, the Florida law may well turn out to be a landmine for the banks from which they cannot recover.

Don’t Take Advice from Banks! It’s All Scripted to Get You in Foreclosure and then Default

Filed under: CDO, CORRUPTION, Eviction, foreclosure, GARFIELD GWALTNEY KELLEY AND WHITE, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments »

Keystone Fraud by Banks: Business Records Exception to Hearsay Rule

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Neil Garfield
Practice Note: Hearsay is not evidence and should not be used as the basis for any conclusion of facts that would support any conclusion of law. While the banks are extremely vulnerable to having all testimony and documents barred by the hearsay rule, this is ONLY true if the proper objection is made at the proper time — and objections should be made when opposing counsel makes reference to the content of those records as though they were already established. Although representations by counsel are not evidence, the attorney’s failure to object to the representation is a failure to bring to the Judge’s attention the fact that you contest those assertions. The objection could be phrased that counsel is attempting to get his own representations on record based upon facts that are in dispute and not in the record. A good record of those objections — including the use of a court reporter — is the basis for appeal. Without that record the Judge is inclined to do whatever he or she wants and while it is possible to re-establish the record in the absence of a court reporter it is very difficult and time-consuming. The reviewing court looks only to the record. If the objection does not appear, then the reviewing court has no choice but to affirm the lower court decision. An appeal is NOT an opportunity to retry the case. on substantive grounds. It is primarily a vehicle to contest the procedures and rulings in the court below as to procedure and the admissibility of evidence.

see http://livinglies.me/2013/04/29/hawaii-federal-district-court-applies-rules-of-evidence-bonymellon-us-bank-jp-morgan-chase-failed-to-prove-sale-of-note/

If you are seeking legal representation or other services call our Florida customer service number at 954-495-9867 and for the West coast the number remains 520-405-1688. Customer service for the livinglies store with workbooks, services and analysis remains the same at 520-405-1688. The people who answer the phone are NOT attorneys and NOT permitted to provide any legal advice, but they can guide you toward some of our products and services.
The selection of an attorney is an important decision  and should only be made after you have interviewed licensed attorneys familiar with investment banking, securities, property law, consumer law, mortgages, foreclosures, and collection procedures. This site is dedicated to providing those services directly or indirectly through attorneys seeking guidance or assistance in representing consumers and homeowners. We are available to any lawyer seeking assistance anywhere in the country, U.S. possessions and territories. Neil Garfield is a licensed member of the Florida Bar and is qualified to appear as an expert witness or litigator in in several states including the district of Columbia. The information on this blog is general information and should NEVER be considered to be advice on one specific case. Consultation with a licensed attorney is required in this highly complex field.

Editor’s Analysis: Business records are ALWAYS hearsay and barred by the hearsay rule in state and Federal courts. The question is not whether the business records are hearsay but rather whether the records are deemed reliable enough to waive the requirement of testimony from those with knowledge of the facts offered to prove the case of the proponent of those records. If they are deemed reliable by the Judge then they are allowed to be admitted as evidence to prove the truth of the matters asserted in those records. The tests for reliability are in the statutes of each state and the Federal rules of evidence that allow for exceptions to hearsay in order to allow the business records into evidence, which ARE hearsay and otherwise barred as evidence, under the “business records exception.”

The general rule is that evidence consists of testimony from a knowledgeable witness competent to testify as to the matters asserted. Competency of witnesses is determined by oath, personal perception of events, memory and the ability to communicate the facts as personally experienced, viewed, or heard by the witness. The business records exception requires the custodian of records to provide the foundation for asserting the business records exception. This is the starting point.

The custodian of records must be established by foundation testimony and should not be allowed without testimony that demonstrates the witness’ scope of employment, knowledge and authority. Objection should be made when the leading question is asked “Are you the custodian of the records?” An objection is required that the question is leading and lacks foundation — showing the facts and circumstances under which the witness should be accepted by the court as the custodian of the records.

The records must be from a source that is relevant to the proceedings. If the party seeking foreclosure is an asset pool, represented by a trustee, then the business records of the trustee are the only thing that is relevant unless the foundation is laid by opposing counsel to show that the records of the servicer matches the records of the trustee.

TESTIMONY OF THE SERVICER: Without the custodian of records for the trustee, it seems impossible to establish the proper foundation showing that the trustee asserts that the records of the trustee are the same as the servicer. And if that is true, there may be no reason for the servicer to testify as to the business records since it is only the trustee who can account for all money paid out and all money received, directly or indirectly on account of the subject loan.

[NOTE: THE TRUSTEE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TESTIFY THAT IT IS THE TRUSTEE OF THE TRUST THAT OWNS THE SUBJECT LOAN AND TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS SHOWING THE SALE OF THE LOAN TO THE TRUST OR ASSET POOL. REMEMBER THAT A SALE REQUIRES CONSIDERATION AND THUS THE RECORDS SHOULD INCLUDE A RECORD OF THAT SALE, THE AMOUNT PAID, AND THE DOCUMENTS MEMORIALIZING THAT TRANSACTION.]

The witness who testifies for the proponent of the documents sought to be admitted into evidence must be competent to testify as records custodian that the trust has been and still is the owner of the loan. The banks will vigorously oppose your effort to hold their feet to the fire because all indications are that the trustee has no records and doesn’t even have a bank account for the “trust’ or asset pool, much less evidence of the amount paid for the loan, and the documents memorializing the “transaction.”

In many cases, the case for ownership or foreclosure collapses completely because in fact the trust or pool never did acquire ownership because there was no sale and the trustee never had any records showing the money paid by the homeowner or other parties who may have paid down the loan under non-subrogated obligations to payoff the debt. The creditor only being entitled to recover once on the debt, must show that there were no mitigating payments received by the trustee or anyone on its behalf as agent, servant or employee or affiliate.

In truth the relevant records are either wholly within the records of the MASTER SERVICER and neither the subservicer that the proponent wishes to offer nor the trustee has a complete record who who funded the origination or purchase of the loan. Thus while the business records of the sub-servicer might eventually be admitted over objection of the homeowner, it can and should be argued that this is only a partial picture; this accomplished on cross examination or if possible voir dire, where the witness is questioned as to what they don’t know, to wit” the details of the origination, purchase or funding of the loan together with all receipts relating to the loan account directly or indirectly.

Having started with the question of whether the witness is in fact a records custodian, the question then becomes whether the proffered witness is the only records custodian. At one trial recently conducted the witness was (a) not a custodian, (b) declared that the records came from numerous “clients” and other departments, the identity of the custodian of those records never being mentioned.

[Practice Note: When the witness is from the “loss mitigation department” or some similar division or department, they are by virtual definition not the records custodian, and cannot be a competent witness to testify as to the records. On voir dire conclusion the objection should be made that the witness is not the records custodian for any or all of the records sought to be introduced and is therefore not competent to provide the foundation for the business records exception to the hearsay rule.]

The first requirement (see Florida statutes below for example) to test the reliability of the records is that the the record entry be made at or near the time of the event.

If the servicer is testifying, then the servicer cannot testify as to the either the origination or sale of the loan, both having preceded the involvement of the servicer virtually by definition. While the impulse of the court is going to be presume that the closing was completed, this is overcome by the denial of the homeowner that the closing was in fact completed because the named payee on the note and mortgage never fulfilled their obligations — to fund the loan. It is not enough to be the party who caused the loan to be made —- that is a mortgage broker who obviously has not rights to ownership or foreclosure. This leaves the proponent with the requirement of proving up the completion of the initial transaction showing the funding by testimony of a competent witness (custodian of records of the relevant parties) to show payment and receipt of the funding of the origination or sale of the loan.

The second test relates to competency of the witness which is that the person offering the testimony or even the affidavit must show that they are a person with personal knowledge sufficient to be either the records custodian or a witness to the event.

The banks in Florida will attempt to get around this problem by offering a certification, but the certification must contain sworn statements as to the personal knowledge of the person who executes such certification. The requirements of testimony on the stand are NOT waived by virtue of submitting a certification. Without establishing the competency of the person to be admitted as a witness custodian of the records, the certification is a sham. And such certification should be determined before trial in a motion in limine before trial begins or objection to certification (see below).

The “certification” must contain the same required statements of fact that would otherwise be required on the stand as a live witness. Timeliness of objections is the key to trial practice. Failure to object and take the offensive on this issue will result in documents being admitted into evidence that establish a prima facie case when no such case exists.

If a certification is intended to be used, the homeowner must receive notice of such intent, the identity and contact information for the person signing the certification and an opportunity to challenge the veracity of the statements contained in the certification and the authenticity of the documents itself given the constant practice of robo-signing and surrogate signing.

Discovery is appropriate to require the proponent of the certification to show the employment record and other indicia that the person is indeed a custodian of all the records and that all the records sought to be introduced at trial are within the custody of the witness. A trick often used in court is that the witness will testify as to custody of one document and without an alert objection from the homeowner, the rest of the documents, which are hearsay, are then admitted into evidence without the certification or the foundation because the homeowner failed to object.

Failure to give notice of the intent to use certification in lieu of live testimony is fatal at trial — if the homeowner objects. Certification should ALWAYS be met with a well written objection — and fee free to plagiarize anything in this article. In most cases in an abundance of caution, the Judge will require live testimony in lieu of certification.

Conversely, failure to object to the certification may well leave the homeowner in the cold, because by the time the trial begins all acts necessary to the prima facie case of the proponent of foreclosure or ownership of the loan will have already been established.

Florida Statutes 90.803 et seq: in pertinent abstract is as follows:

(6)  RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED BUSINESS ACTIVITY.–

(a)  A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any form, of acts, events, conditions, opinion, or diagnosis, made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make such memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, all as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness, or as shown by a certification or declaration that complies with paragraph (c) and s. 90.902(11), unless the sources of information or other circumstances show lack of trustworthiness. The term “business” as used in this paragraph includes a business, institution, association, profession, occupation, and calling of every kind, whether or not conducted for profit.

(b)  Evidence in the form of an opinion or diagnosis is inadmissible under paragraph (a) unless such opinion or diagnosis would be admissible under ss. 90.701-90.705 if the person whose opinion is recorded were to testify to the opinion directly.

(c)  A party intending to offer evidence under paragraph (a) by means of a certification or declaration shall serve reasonable written notice of that intention upon every other party and shall make the evidence available for inspection sufficiently in advance of its offer in evidence to provide to any other party a fair opportunity to challenge the admissibility of the evidence. If the evidence is maintained in a foreign country, the party intending to offer the evidence must provide written notice of that intention at the arraignment or as soon after the arraignment as is practicable or, in a civil case, 60 days before the trial. A motion opposing the admissibility of such evidence must be made by the opposing party and determined by the court before trial. A party’s failure to file such a motion before trial constitutes a waiver of objection to the evidence, but the court for good cause shown may grant relief from the waiver.

(7)  ABSENCE OF ENTRY IN RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED ACTIVITY.–Evidence that a matter is not included in the memoranda, reports, records, or data compilations, in any form, of a regularly conducted activity to prove the nonoccurrence or nonexistence of the matter, if the matter was of a kind of which a memorandum, report, record, or data compilation was regularly made and preserved, unless the sources of information or other circumstances show lack of trustworthiness.

(8)  PUBLIC RECORDS AND REPORTS.–Records, reports, statements reduced to writing, or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies, setting forth the activities of the office or agency, or matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to matters which there was a duty to report, excluding in criminal cases matters observed by a police officer or other law enforcement personnel, unless the sources of information or other circumstances show their lack of trustworthiness. The criminal case exclusion shall not apply to an affidavit otherwise admissible under s. 316.1934 or s. 327.354.

Filed under: Eviction, foreclosure, GARFIELD GWALTNEY KELLEY AND WHITE, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage, securities fraud | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 48 Comments »

non-judicial sale is NOT an available election for a securitized loan

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Neil Garfield

NON-JUDICIAL STATES: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORECLOSURE AND SALE:

FORECLOSURE is a judicial process herein the “lender” files a lawsuit seeking to (a) enforce the note and get a judgment in the amount owed to them (b) asking the court to order the sale of the property to satisfy the Judgment. If the sale price is lower than the Judgment, then they will ask for a deficiency Judgment and the Judge will enter that Judgment. If the proceeds of sale is over the amount of the judgment, the borrower is entitled to the overage. Of course they usually tack on a number of fees and costs that may or may not be allowable. It is very rare that there is an overage. THE POINT IS that when they sue to foreclose they must make allegations which state a cause of action for enforcement of the note and for an order setting a date for sale. Those allegations include a description of the transaction with copies attached, and a claim of non-payment, together with allegations that the payments are owed to the Plaintiff BECAUSE they would suffer financial damage as a result of the non-payment. IN THE PROOF of the case the Plaintiff would be required to prove each and EVERY element of their claim which means proof that each allegation they made and each exhibit they rely upon is proven with live witnesses who are competent — i.e., they take an oath, they have PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE (not what someone else told them),personal recall and the ability to communicate what they know. This applies to documents they wish to use as well. That is called authentication and foundation.

SALE: Means what it says. In non-judicial sale they just want to sell your property without showing any court that they can credibly make the necessary allegations for a judicial foreclosure and without showing the court proof of the allegations they would be required to make if they filed a judicial foreclosure. In a non-judicial state what they want is to SELL and what they don’t want is to foreclose. Keep in mind that every state that allows non-judicial sale treats the sale as private and NOT a judicial event by definition. In Arizona and many other states there is no election for non-judicial sale of commercial property because of the usual complexity of commercial transactions. THE POINT is that a securitized loan presents as much or more complexity than commercial real property loan transactions. Thus your argument might be that the non-judicial sale is NOT an available election for a securitized loan.

When you bring a lawsuit challenging the non-judicial sale, it would probably be a good idea to allege that the other party has ELECTED NON-JUDICIAL sale when the required elements of such an election do not exist. Your prima facie case is simply to establish that the borrower objects the sale, denies that they pretender lender has any right to sell the property, denies the default and that the securitization documents show a complexity far beyond the complexity of even highly complex commercial real estate transactions which the legislature has mandated be resolved ONLY by judicial foreclosure.

THEREFORE in my opinion I think in your argument you do NOT want to concede that they wish to foreclose. What they want to do is execute on the power of sale in the deed of trust WITHOUT going through the judicial foreclosure process as provided in State statutes. You must understand and argue that the opposition is seeking to go around normal legal process which requires a foreclosure lawsuit.

THAT would require them to make allegations about the obligation, note and mortgage that they cannot make (we are the lender, the defendant owes us money, we are the holder of the note, the note is payable to us, he hasn’t paid, the unpaid balance of the note is xxx etc.) and they would have to prove those allegations before you had to say anything. In addition they would be subject to discovery in which you could test their assertions before an evidentiary hearing. That is how lawsuits work.

The power of sale given to the trustee is a hail Mary pass over the requirements of due process. But it allows for you to object. The question which nobody has asked and nobody has answered, is on the burden of proof, once you object to the sale, why shouldn’t the would-be forecloser be required to plead and prove its case? If the court takes the position that in non-judicial states the private power of sale is to be treated as a judicial event, then that is a denial of due process required by Federal and state constitutions. The only reason it is allowed, is because it is private and “non-judicial.” The quirk comes in because in practice the homeowner must file suit. Usually the party filing suit must allege facts and prove a prima facie case before the burden shifts to the other side. So the Judge is looking at you to do that when you file to prevent the sale.

Legally, though, your case should be limited to proving that they are trying to sell your property, that you object, that you deny what would be the allegations in a judicial foreclosure and that you have meritorious defenses. That SHOULD trigger the requirement of re-orienting the parties and making the would-be forecloser file a complaint (lawsuit) for foreclosure. Then the burden of proof would be properly aligned with the party seeking affirmative relief (i.e., the party who wants to enforce the deed of trust (mortgage), note and obligation) required to file the complaint with all the necessary elements of an action for foreclosure and attach the necessary exhibits. They don’t want to do that because they don’t have the exhibits and the note is not payable to them and they cannot actually prove standing (which is a jurisdictional question). The problem is that a statute passed for judicial economy is now being used to force the burden of proof onto the borrower in the foreclosure of their own home. This is not being addressed yet but it will be addressed soon.

Filed under: CASES, CORRUPTION, Eviction, expert witness, Fannie MAe, foreclosure, foreclosure mill, Forensic Analysis Workshop, GTC | Honor, HERS, investment banking, Investor, MODIFICATION, Mortgage, Motion Practice and Discovery, securities fraud, Securitization Survey, Servicer, STATUTES, trustee, workshop | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

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