NYC Foreclosure Fraud Lawyers

When you go to purchase a home, you sign papers with the agreement that you will pay back the loan according to the terms described and agreed to in the document. You are informed of the due date of each payment, interest rate, and all other information pertaining to the money involved in this home buying agreement. As a homeowner, you must make your payments in a timely manner and do everything you can to not skip payments. If you fail to hold up your end of the bargain, the lender is able to come in and take possession of your home if certain criteria are met. When this happens, the homeowners are usually left devastated and think that they have no other option but to pack up their things and vacate the premises. If foreclosure fraud occurs, however, they might be in a slightly different, albeit more complex situation.

Foreclosure fraud occurs when a lender makes the promise to grant you the loan needed for the home when they know that the buyer will not be able to make the payments and will be foreclosed on soon. While all states have slightly varying laws in place, it is comforting to know that they all do have ways to protect homeowners and lenders when dealing with such huge financial commitments.

Foreclosure fraud consists of a variety of different cases, but here are a few. If a lender sets up a subprime mortgage as a conventional mortgage, they will get more money faster by the way the loan is processed – this is not honest and will only hurt the buyer in the end. If a lending company knows the buyer cannot afford the monthly payments on the home, they often times will approve them anyways so they can make a little bit of extra cash off of the deal. If the home ends in a foreclosure, they don’t care because the amount of money they will make is not affected. In other words, they don’t have the buyers best interest in mind when foreclosure fraud occurs.

If a subprime loan is concealed as a conventional mortgage, sometimes the buyer will go in and make adjustments to the monthly rate so they are able to afford the home they are buying. This can end with them having to foreclose on the home because they cannot afford the programs or the mortgage.

Fraud Defense
When it is time to foreclose on a home, there has to be a paper trail to make sure everything is done is right and not a situation where fraud is present. Included in this paperwork is proof that the loan was not paid, no paperwork between the lender and buyer to adjust the mortgage rate, and all the rules stated by the Federal Government must be followed.

This is a very messy issue and has resulted in a number of people being foreclosed on who didn’t actually meet the qualifications of a foreclosure situation. When foreclosure fraud occurs, there is paperwork submitted that is false and illegal, false information presented to the homeowners and the lenders doing illegal things to force the homeowner into this state of having to foreclose on their home.

DEFENSE TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Todd Spodek

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Featured on Netflix's "Inventing Anna," Todd Spodek brings decades of high-stakes criminal defense experience. His aggressive approach has secured dismissals and acquittals in cases others deemed unwinnable.

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A foreclosure fraud lawyer is very familiar with this process and is educated and able to help you through these sticky situations. If your home is truly being foreclosed on, you will get a letter stating your denial of payment, then the lender will be asked to work with you as a homeowner to adjust your mortgage requirement so you are able to pay it on time and in full. Fraud can be a result of you being bullied or forced into making payments you don’t truly owe. Educating yourself on the laws of your local state will help you when you are dealing with this type of situation.

Legal Scenario: What Would You Do?

Scenario

You received a notice of default on your mortgage, but when you reviewed your payment records, you discovered that your loan servicer had been misapplying your payments and charging unauthorized fees that pushed your account into delinquency. Now a foreclosure action has been filed against your home, and you suspect the plaintiff may not even hold the valid note and mortgage assignment.

Can I fight this foreclosure if my lender committed fraud in how they handled my mortgage payments and may not have proper standing to foreclose?

Attorney's Answer

Under New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) Article 13, a foreclosing party must demonstrate valid standing by proving possession of the original note and a proper chain of assignment at the time the action is commenced. If your servicer engaged in fraudulent practices such as misapplying payments, imposing unauthorized fees, or filing false documents with the court, you may have strong defenses under both state consumer protection statutes and federal laws like the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). An experienced NYC foreclosure fraud attorney can challenge the plaintiff's standing, demand production of the original note, audit your loan history for servicing violations, and potentially file counterclaims that could result in dismissal of the foreclosure or a favorable settlement. Time is critical in these cases, so you should seek legal counsel immediately to preserve all available defenses before any court deadlines pass.

This is general information only. Contact us for advice specific to your situation.

For those people who are knee-deep in foreclosure situations, you need to research and make sure you are aware of your rights as an individual and as a homeowner. Because of the increase in foreclosure fraud, you need to verify that your situation is valid and that you are not being taken advantage of or kicked out of your home for no reason. Hiring an attorney to help you review your situation will help give you peace of mind and help you to make the best decisions moving forward in regards to your home and mortgage payments. New York City Foreclosure Fraud Attorneys are there to help you protect your rights as a homeowner and help you to handle fraud if you are being dealt wrongly or being unrightfully kicked out of your home. Due to the fact that fraud is illegal, your attorney will help you to make the situation right and take the person behind the fraud to court where justice will be served.