Man Who Paid Cash For House Still Threatened With Foreclosure

[lame54]

http://crooksandliars.com/brad-reed/looting-america-continues

September 30, 2010 10:00 AM
The looting of America continues
By Brad Reed

Our financial overlords have come up with an ingenious new way to loot the American economy: Forging foreclosure documents. Here's Exhibit A:
When Jason Grodensky bought his modest Fort Lauderdale home in December, he paid cash. But seven months later, he was surprised to learn that Bank of America had foreclosed on the house, even though Grodensky did not have a mortgage.

Grodensky knew nothing about the foreclosure until July, when he learned that the title to his home had been transferred to a government-backed lender. "I feel like I'm hanging in the wind and I'm scared to death," said Grodensky. "How did some attorney put through a foreclosure illegally?"

Bank of America has acknowledged the error and will correct it at its own expense, said spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens.

Mr. Gordensky is actually fairly lucky, since he had a pretty easy case to make that the bank couldn't foreclose on a mortgage that never existed. Others aren't quite so fortunate:

Luis Fernandez's foreclosure documents never looked quite right. Critical papers regarding his Orlando home were missing dates, and some signatures appeared to him to be forged. The mortgage had been sold so often - including once in the middle of the foreclosure process - that at times it was hard to tell which company was trying to seize the house. He challenged the foreclosure in court but failed.

Now, as Fernandez seeks to appeal his eviction and get his home back, he has learned that the law firm representing the banks is under investigation for fabricating foreclosure documents.

For those wondering why the banks are resorting to forging documents to foreclose on peoples' homes, let's review what happened over the last decade:

[Dawson Leery]

1. TARP is one of the very few most infuriating policies.

The big "banks" needed to fail!

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. I don't resent the saving the banks nearly so much as the saving of the

banksters.

The banks needed saving, but there was no reason to let the criminals who ran them off with a multi-million dollar bonus, golden parachute or anything other than a jail sentence.

[phleshdef]

2. How is this hard to defend against? Can't you literally just present the "receipts"?

I have monthly statements from every mortgage payment I've ever made and if you pay something off or buy it in cash, it should be no problem proving that transaction happened. I'm perplexed.

[hugo_from_TN]

3. It's not.

From the story:

Bank of America has acknowledged the error and will correct it at its own expense, said spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens.

[wtmusic]

4. Avalanche of documents, mortgage repeatedly bought/sold...

No problem? One unscrupulous mortgage company can falsify a document, and suddenly the onus is on you to stop wheels already in motion.

That can be a big problem.

[grace0418]

6. I've never understood that for any kind of billing error. Whether it's a mortgage,

an electric bill, or a medical bill, if someone decides to send you a notice saying something wasn't paid (or was late), or decides to send you to bill collections, the onus is always on you to prove them wrong. I keep good records but I've had instances where I would've had to pay to get some kind of proof (not to mention the time and postage involved) and I think "Wait a minute, you're making the idiotic accusations, why do I have to spend time and money proving you wrong?

Grrrrrr..

[HereSince1628]

5. Isn't this why deeds are recorded, usually by Counties?

If you put in an eviction on someone, don't you need to prove you own or represent the proven owner?