“A plan set forth to deprive the people of the benefits, blessings, and ends of contract, to subvert the foundations of the constitution, to deprive them of all participation in the making and execution of laws, will justify a revolution.John Adams, Novanglus Papers, 1774
AM I SUPPOSED TO PASS SIDE?
AND THAT THE LENDER TAKES MY HOUSE?
Originally there were twelve of us working freely as a group researching individually and then sharing that knowledge. We then operate as members of a club all with similar interests. While we were learning much faster than any individual borrower could have, each of us was making our way in court representing ourselves. That’s wrong? We are going to lose? I have felt confident and anxious at different times over the past seven years. But, our members have won seven cases in the last eight months, so the answer is yes, it is possible. In fact, I do it full time. In some weird but good way, I feel like it’s my civic duty.
I’ve sat in court and heard many judges admonish borrowers who try to represent themselves as pro se parties that they “need to get a lawyer.” Almost all of my clients for seven years believed that because the judge told them that was the law. It is not. However, the judge generally felt that the borrower had a better chance of having their side of the story represented by competent counsel. This is generally good advice. However, today’s judges are missing some details about a new type of fraud that was virtually unknown until around 1999, and that can make paying a lawyer a sure way to lose your family’s home.
However, the Borrower cannot afford an attorney at this time. Also, there are almost zero attorneys who even know mortgage finance law. There isn’t enough space here to go into detail, but it’s pretty easy to understand if you’re lucky enough to meet someone who knows what has changed over the years in the relationship between lawyers and judges. I wish someone had told me in 2011.
Actually, if it’s a fraudulent foreclosure, why does a borrower have to lose their home because they can’t afford to hire an attorney? They are victims of a crime. They are not criminals.
So if you’re a borrower who’s threatened with foreclosure, the question is, if you can’t find a good lawyer and even if you did, you couldn’t pay him, do you just give up the biggest, most expensive possession you have? will you ever own? Maybe. But, I say no. Every day I know more than the day before and I am an expert on this subject.
I’ve taken this whole business of “imposter” lenders fuming from behind the courthouse and robbing houses without “lending” a dime to the borrower very seriously. Yes, in the days of the real world (before 1994 or so) everything was very simple.
He borrowed from a banker he knew. He signed a promissory note detailing the amount he owes and the payment terms he agreed to. The banker needed to know that if you couldn’t make your payments, the bank wouldn’t lose the money it was lending you, so he put up the house he was buying as collateral. The document he signed that contained the terms that you and the bank agreed to is called an instrument of guarantee. In states that use judicial foreclosure rules, that collateral is called a mortgage. In states that use nonjudicial foreclosure rules, the security instrument is called a deed of trust, in these states there is nothing called a mortgage. Since we all use the term mortgage to refer to home loans, we get confused. The executing party is counting on confusing you and the judge. (I cover that more fully in another article.)
Now those documents and the agreed terms is your mortgage loan. The Promissory Note is essential to the deal and is the most important document you signed. You made these fair monthly payments. You and the banker kept track of the payments, and when your loan was paid off, the Note was marked as paid and returned to you. The original Promissory Note was returned to him. Every time. You could trust the financial industry to do so. But to any borrower, lawyer, or judge born after 1980, this sounds like fantasy, because following banking laws and statutes hasn’t been an active idea since 1995 (that’s when Microsoft first provided free email to the public). literal speed of light).
But, since very few borrowers know their rights, and since these same corrupt financiers ruined the economy of most of the world, very few borrowers can afford to pay $5,000 to have a lawyer inform them of their rights. The vast, vast majority of borrowers who are subject to wrongful foreclosures simply tell their children that they have to change schools and that they are renting a truck they can’t afford and heading to a rental house or apartment they can’t afford. They’ve been approved because not only did the fake foreclosure party take your home illegally, they also reported the foreclosure to the credit rating companies, which ruined your credit.
Folks, this is not the America I grew up in!
It is my intention to stick around to tell these borrowing victims that not everything has to go so fast. That the “Bank” that threatens to seize has no case. This “executing party” cannot and will not show actual proof that it is the true party that owes you. That’s because they’re not the party they owe you.
But if you don’t stop spinning and fighting, they will and get away with it. Your case is very good, you just don’t know it yet.
I do that. I’m working hard to be someone who can tell you why you have more than just hope to help you stand up for yourself. I am a long-time real estate broker, real estate developer, home builder, mortgage broker, and consultant on very large real estate deals across the country. I’m supposed to be a really smart guy, and you know what?
Yeah, GMAC Mortgage burglarized my house and it pissed me off. very crazy. I have been angry every moment since November 11, 2011. But I did not rent a truck. I defended myself. But, like so many Americans in all walks of life, the economy had seriously hurt my income, so I couldn’t afford a lawyer. Back then, I just knew I had to have a lawyer.
I’ve kept my own house crippled in court for seven years, while dealing with the most outrageous lies from lawyers in court that I could never have dreamed anyone would be brazen (or stupid) enough to tell. Fortunately, now I know why I was able to stay, and if I stayed, neither side would win. The explanation about what is different today is too long for this article, but I think that very soon I will make the seven years worthwhile.
OK, above I’ve explained much of the problem (not in detail, of course) of how a borrower tries to protect their home without the money or information to hire an attorney.
The answer is to do it Pro Se. Pro Se means “I am representing myself.”
That will sound incredibly intimidating at first. Everyone I’ve talked to has had a hard time even thinking about it. But it is possible. it’s legal. In fact it’s your constitutional right.
First of all, you need information. What has your “lender” done wrong? What have you done well? How can I find my way around the judicial system? You can’t lie. You have to really know what the truth is and what is going on. If we try to mislead the court with misleading statements, we will be no better than the characters we are up against. The truth is a very powerful weapon when used correctly.
Whoever is threatening to foreclose on your mortgage is not the entity that financed your loan. You’re not going to claim that you didn’t get a loan, because you did. But, not from the lender named in your loan documents. It came from an unknown source illegally. (Just go with that thought, you may learn what I mean later.)
This means that whoever you think you have closed with does not have the right to collect money from you, nor to “assign” the loan to another entity. Therefore, your loan could not have been sold. The Seller and the Buyer of your Note could not have entered into a contract and transferred your loan through a sale because the Seller had no interest (ownership) in your loan to sell.
But, if you don’t protest in court, they will claim your loan has been sold and now an impostor/fictitious beneficiary (real legal terms in all 50 states) will rob your house. If they make a claim that is not true, but you do not object, then the judge must take the lie as truth by law. Watching borrowers in court, or reading the motions and answers in their cases, it amazes me how little borrowers think they can object to. Hell, what did Perry Mason do? Object. What did Barnaby Jones do? Object. What did Captain Kirk do at Boston Legal? Yes, he objected long and loud. The court is not a church. You should act professionally, but you have every right to have an opinion.
The way you start taking your case to court is by filing a lawsuit (a silent title action is common for mortgage loan fraud, but today we have something much better. The average cost across the country to file a lawsuit for foreclosure fraud is $100 to $200 or so.
You are now the Plaintiff and no longer the Defendant. You will not go to trial for a while, but you will have to demand your rights and the party that claims to have the right of execution will try to block you with lies. But, all of this is on paper through motions using the appropriate laws and not before a judge in court right away. Possibly never, which is how we won 5 times recently. It is my belief because we stay and fight, the executing party decides to mess with someone who has the strength that knowledge brings.
We can organize your documents and strategize to prove you did not receive money from the impostor lender who claims you did. We can answer your questions and help your presentation. That is what we have done for ourselves and we can do it for you. At a fraction of what a full-time attorney charges. When the time is right, you may be using a lawyer for a short time in court when you can show the lawyer why he can win for you. This will cost you a fraction of what you think to save your home. Did I mention that we can help reduce your anxiety with this knowledge?