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TEXAS v. AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE SERVICING , Inc.

TEXAS v. AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE SERVICING , Inc.


Monday, August 30, 2010

Attorney General Abbott Charges Home Loan Servicer With Violating State Debt Collection Laws

American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. failed to properly process requests

AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged Coppell-based American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. (AHMS) with using illegal debt collection tactics and improperly misleading struggling homeowners.

According to state investigators, AHMS collections agents used aggressive and unlawful tactics to collect payments from Texas homeowners who had difficulty meeting their payment obligations. The defendant also failed to credit homeowners who properly submitted their payments on time.

LAWSUIT COMPLAINT

TEXAS v. AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE SERVICING, INC

In other cases, AHMS agents falsely claimed that homeowners did not make payments so the agents could justify profitable late fees or escrow accounts. The defendant also failed to properly credit homeowners after AHMS agents withdrew funds from the homeowners’ checking accounts. Because of the defendant’s unlawful conduct, homeowners defaulted on their loans, leading to foreclosure proceedings.

Additionally, the defendant claimed to have a “Home Retention Team” to assist distressed homeowners. Many customers found that AHMS could not qualify homeowners and that they were of no help to halt the foreclosure process. Some homeowners who actually obtained loan modifications found that their monthly payments increased rather than decreased, which worsened their problem with foreclosure.

Today’s enforcement action charges AHMS with multiple violations of the Texas Debt Collection Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). The State is also seeking civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation of the DTPA.

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DinSFLA here: A little more on AHMSI

Recently, Judge Arthur Schack said this in ARGENT MTGE. CO., LLC v. Maitland, 2010 NY Slip Op 51482 – NY: Supreme Court, Kings 2010

Successor plaintiff AHMSI is one of several companies controlled by billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. through his firm, W. L. Ross & Company. Louise Story, in her April 4, 2008 New York Times article, Investors Stalk the Wounded of Wall Street, described Mr. Ross as “a dean of vulture investing.” She wrote:

Almost two centuries ago, as Napoleon marched on Waterloo, a scion of the Rothschilds is said to have declared: The time to buy is when blood is running in the streets.

Now as red ink runs on Wall Street, the figurative heirs of the Rothschilds — bankers, traders, hedge fund gurus and takeover artists — are plotting to profit from today’s financial upheaval. These market opportunists — vulture investors in the Wall Street term — have begun to swoop. They are buying up mortgages of hard-pressed homeowners, the bank loans of cash-short businesses, and companies that seem to be hurtling to bankruptcy. And they are trying to buy them all on the cheap. . . .

“The only time you really know you’ve reached the bottom is when you’re back on the other side and things are going back up,” said Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., a dean of vulture investors, who made a fortune buying steel companies when no one else seemed to want them.

Such caution aside, his firm, W. L. Ross & Company, recently spent $2.6 billion for two mortgage servicers [AHMSI and Option One] and a bond insurance company. He said he planned to buy more as hedge funds and other investor sell at bargain prices.


© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in conspiracy, CONTROL FRAUD, corruption, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosures, investigation, judge arthur schack, mortgage, note, servicers, stopforeclosurefraud.com, Violations, Wall StreetComments (0)

Short sales not immune to debt collectors

Short sales not immune to debt collectors


DinSFLA here…take note on this “Banks usually have four years in which to file a deficiency judgment, but they can sell it to a third-party collection agency — “and the collection firms can chase you down for 20 years,” Davis said.”

This being said any of these fool third-party collection agencies that DO NOT do their due diligence will be in a world wind of a surprise! Now not only are they buying of fraud they will have a hard time getting repaid on fraud!

They are going to try to suck the living day lights out of us…Do NOT let your guard down.

ORLANDO, Fla. – July 6, 2010 – With more than half of the Central Florida’s homeowners owing more for their homes than the properties are worth, the question for some has become: How do I get out of this?

Of all the existing-home sales reported by Realtors in the core Orlando market in May, 23 percent were short sales. They are called “short” sales because the sales price come up “short” of, or less than, the amount owed on the mortgage.

What these homeowners, whose loans are “underwater,” may not realize is that they could successfully complete a short sale of their house but then face a lawsuit from their lender for not paying off the entire loan, a shortfall known as a “deficiency.”

At particular risk of being hit with such a debt judgment are owners of second homes and investment properties, homeowners who haven’t faced any kind of financial hardship, and owners who have a second mortgage.

“That’s going to be a huge problem moving forward in the next few years,” said Orlando lawyer Matt Englett, who specializes in home foreclosures. “These people who use Realtors to advise them on the transactions can end up facing deficiencies, and the deficiency notes will go to third-party collections agencies, and they will start suing and progressively pursuing those people.”

Homeowners have several options if they wish to avoid getting calls and lawsuits from debt collectors.

In a mortgage document called the “payoff letter,” a lender may include a blanket provision stating that it reserves the right to sue the seller at any time for unpaid mortgage debt. At the very least, Englett said, sellers need to make sure they do not give lenders that right.

Some lenders, particularly smaller ones, have been willing to state just the opposite — that they will not pursue any mortgage debt from the seller, he added.

Simply asking the lenders to cooperate by removing any wording about collections isn’t enough, Englett said. The seller is usually faced with building a case that details errors and omissions made by the lender in its mortgage documents, to gain leverage and force the lender to forgive the debt.

A new option that emerged in June is a federal program that calls on banks to forgive some of the mortgage debt of certain, qualified short-sale sellers. To qualify, sellers must:

Meet the criteria of the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program.

Have the house as their primary residence.

Face a financial hardship, and their mortgage payment must be more than 31 percent of their gross income.

The new program makes short sales a good option for homeowners facing a financial hardship, though it’s not meant for homeowners who can afford their mortgage but want to walk away from an upside-down loan, said Frank Rubino, vice president of the Chase Homeownership Center in Orlando.

“It’s not right. It’s not moral. It’s not the right thing to do,” Rubino said. “Why should customers look to the bank to substantiate a loss for the house they bought? … If they bought the house and sold it for $100,000 more than they paid, they wouldn’t share those profits with the bank.”

The decision of whether to pursue a former homeowner for outstanding debt varies from mortgage servicer to mortgage servicer, Rubino said, and can hinge on such things as whether the customer mismanaged his or her finances, Rubino said.

Sellers with a second mortgage face particular challenges if they try to walk away from a short sale without any remaining debt.

Jennifer Davis, a real estate agent for Lifestyles Home Sales Inc. of St. Cloud, said she recently almost lost a sale because of outstanding debt the seller owed on the house. Fortunately, she said, the buyer wanted the house badly enough to cover the outstanding note.

Banks usually have four years in which to file a deficiency judgment, but they can sell it to a third-party collection agency — “and the collection firms can chase you down for 20 years,” Davis said.

In cases where the seller has a second mortgage or can’t qualify for the federal programs, Davis said, she usually directs them to a real estate lawyer and a tax adviser.

Copyright © 2010, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Mary Shanklin, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.



Posted in Bank Owned, deficiency judgement, deficiency judgment, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosures, mortgage modification, walk awayComments (1)


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