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DannLaw COVID-19 Update 12–Finally, a New Stimulus Package

Foreclosure Defense

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Hello, happy holidays, and welcome to DannLaw COVID-19 update 12. In this edition, I’ll unwrap the details of the long-overdue stimulus package that was just passed by Congress and signed by the President.

While the 5,600-page bill doesn’t contain anything that would set 12 lords to leaping or qualify as tidings of great joy, it does provide some much-needed financial relief and protection for consumers, workers, and homeowners impacted by the ongoing pandemic.

Direct Payments

Like the CARES Act, the new bill funds direct payments to individuals and families. Single adults with adjusted gross incomes of up to $75,000 in 2019 will receive $600. Couples earning up to $150,000 will receive $1,200. People who earn up to $112,500 and file as “head of household” will also receive $600. The payment will increase by $600 for each child under the age of 17 in a family.  People with incomes above these levels will receive a partial payment that declines by $5 for every $100 in income.

If you earned less in 2020 than 2019 and would be eligible for a payment as a result, you will be able to claim the money as a refundable credit when you file your tax return for 2020. Be on the lookout for instructions on how to request the payment when your tax forms arrive—if you don’t ask for it you won’t get it.

According to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, payments via direct deposit should start showing up in bank accounts within two weeks. If yours is being delivered via the USPS it may take much longer to arrive.

Extended Unemployment Benefits

The bill extends unemployment benefits until at least March 14, 2021, for people receiving state-level benefits as well as those who are receiving checks from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program which covers the self-employed, gig workers, part-timers, and others who are typically ineligible for regular unemployment payments. Everyone who qualifies for unemployment checks will also get an additional weekly payment of $300 through March 14.

Although it is half the amount provided by the CARES Act, the extra $300 per week will be critically important for families struggling to keep their heads above water as the third wave of the pandemic washes over the U.S. and the wait for vaccines to become widely available continues.

If your benefits have run out, log onto your state’s unemployment website to see if you must do anything to receive the extended aid. According to experts, most states should automatically restart your payments, but I strongly urge you to be proactive and check for yourself.

And I know this will come as a surprise, but you will probably have to wait a few weeks for new payments to arrive.

Mortgage Forbearance

As we’ve noted in previous updates, the CARES Act provides for up to 12 months of payment suspension/forbearance for borrowers with federally-backed loans owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or insured by the FHA, VA, or the Department of Agriculture. While forbearance is a valuable tool that is helping many families remain in their homes, there are some important things to keep in mind about forbearance:

First, forbearance is not automatic—you must apply. Fannie and Freddie have not set a deadline for accepting applications but if your loan is insured by the FHA, VA, or USDA you must contact your servicer and request an initial Covid-19 forbearance on or before February 28. Click here to learn more about the Fannie/Freddie forbearance process and here for info if your mortgage is backed by the FHA, VA, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Second, and I know I’ve said this numerous times, FORBEARANCE IS NOT FORGIVENESS. At some point, you will be required to make the principal, interest, and escrow payments that have been deferred. Whether you have been in forbearance for some time or intend to apply, you should consult with an experienced mortgage attorney to discuss the financial challenges you will face when forbearance ends. I invite you to contact DannLaw to arrange a free consultation so we can evaluate your situation and begin planning an exit strategy that will enable you to preserve your equity and keep your home.

Third, if you are in forbearance look closely at your monthly statement to make sure it is correct. You should also check your credit report. If your servicer is entering negative information or you notice discrepancies contact us so we can help protect you and determine if you have legal claims that may entitle you to financial compensation.

Fourth, If you haven’t been able to make payments because you lost your job or were laid-off when the COVID-19 crisis cratered the economy but are now back to work you should consider taking your loan out of forbearance before the amount of delayed interest, principal, and escrow you owe becomes unmanageable.

Foreclosure Moratoriums Extended

I’m pleased to report that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the VA, FHA, and USDA have extended the moratoriums on foreclosures enacted earlier this year. Single-family homeowners with loans backed by Fannie, Freddie, or the VA are now protected from foreclosure through at least Jan. 31. The FHA moratorium will remain in effect until February 28.

In addition to the CARES Act moratorium, the governor of New Jersey issued an executive order in March that prohibits foreclosure-related evictions. Under the order, homeowners cannot be removed from a residence even if a final judgment of foreclosure has been entered and a sheriff’s sale of the property has taken place. The order will remain in effect until two months after the governor declares the COVID-19 crisis has ended. In addition, more than 150 private lenders in the state have agreed to offer relief to homeowners impacted by COVID-19. You can learn more about the programs being offered in New Jersey here.

You can find a complete list of states that have imposed foreclosure/eviction moratoriums here.  Ohio is conspicuous by its absence–the state has done nothing to assist homeowners.

Unfortunately, the CARES Act forbearance and foreclosure programs do not apply to borrowers whose loans are not “government-backed.” That means unless you live in a state that has enacted protections that apply to private lenders foreclosure remains a very real threat. If you are being threatened with or are already in foreclosure, I urge you to contact DannLaw today to arrange a free consultation. We may be able to take steps to slow down the process and help you save your home.

Eviction Relief

The bill extends the CDC-ordered moratorium on evictions until January 31 and provides $25 billion that will be distributed by state and local governments to people who have fallen behind in their rent.

To receive assistance a renter’s household income for 2020 may not exceed more than 80 percent of the area median income, at least one household member must be at risk of homelessness or housing instability, and individuals must qualify for unemployment benefits or have experienced financial hardship — directly or indirectly — because of the pandemic.

We will provide details on how to apply for this critically important aid as they become available.

Student Loans

The Department of Education has extended the federal student loan relief included in the CARES Act, including zero-interest-rate forbearance and a moratorium on collection activity, until January 31.  Here’s an important tip: make your payments if you can because every dollar will be used to reduce the principal on your loan. Follow my advice and you will owe considerably less when the relief programs end.

I do have bad news for people with private student loans: you don’t qualify for the relief programs. That means debt collectors can continue to pursue and torment you during the pandemic.

Renewal of Paycheck Protection Program

Most of the funding in the new stimulus package is devoted to renewing and strengthening the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) created by the CARES Act. Unlike the original version of the PPP, the revised edition focuses on small businesses, including those with ten or fewer employees, minority-owned firms, and companies located in low-income areas. You can find more info about the restructured program here.

We will provide details of how and where to apply for the new, improved version of the PPP in the coming weeks, but I urge any and every business owner who may be eligible to explore and participate in the program.

Thanks for taking a few minutes to read DannLaw Covid-19 Update 12. As always, we are here to help homeowners and consumers so please feel free to contact us if you need help or advice.

Happy New Year to you and yours and best wishes for a great 2021.

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Elliot Feltner lost $80,000 in equity when the Cuyahoga County Board of Review seized his property. DannLaw has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if the foreclosure violates the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Three years ago, Elliot Feltner of Cleveland, Ohio, lost a building he inherited from his late wife’s father along with nearly $80,000 in equity when the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision (BOR) used an obscure Ohio law to seize the property in order to satisfy a tax delinquency. A team of attorneys representing Mr. Feltner has now asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the administrative foreclosure process that has had a devastating impact on residents of Ohio and more than a dozen other states.

In a Petition for Certiorari filed with the Court, former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann of DannLaw, Lawrence G. Salzman, Joshua W. Polk, and Christina M. Martin of the Pacific Legal Foundation, and Andrew Engel assert that the BOR foreclosure process violates the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, and sections of the U.S. Code because it does not give property owners the opportunity to seek and receive the equity that remains after a property is sold and the taxes, interest, and penalties due are paid.

“It’s well established that governmental entities have the power to take properties via public domain,” Dann said. “But government was never permitted to do so without compensating the owner for its value until states implemented administrative foreclosure procedures like the one used to confiscate Mr. Feltner’s property.”

“Under long-standing Ohio law, property foreclosed due to delinquent taxes is sold to the highest bidder at a public auction. The property owner is given notice of the impending sale, has time to pay the debt if they can, and receives any funds that remain after the amount owed is paid,” Dann noted. “The process the BOR uses to acquire properties for the county land bank eliminates the auction, significantly shortens the time afforded owners to resolve the delinquency and allows the land bank to keep any excess value. That’s both patently unfair and, as we are prepared to argue, blatantly unconstitutional.”

Dann and Engel first raised the constitutional issues when they petitioned the Ohio Supreme Court to order Cuyahoga County to compensate Mr. Feltner for the equity he lost in the sale. The Court denied the petition on procedural grounds, but Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Patrick Fischer and R. Patrick DeWine all stated in concurring opinions that the Court should have addressed the constitutionality of the BOR foreclosure process. Justice Fischer called the situation “disconcerting” and said “the whole scheme is unsettling and just seems wrong.”

While disappointed with the Ohio Supreme Court decision, the comments made by the justices spurred Attorneys Dann and Engel as well as the Pacific Legal Foundation to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. “The principle that citizens should receive just compensation when government takes their property stretches all the way back to the American Revolution,” Dann explained. “And the Supreme Court has ruled on numerous occasions that withholding surplus proceeds from a property owner is a violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Taking Clause. We believe that historic principle and those rulings clearly make the BOR process unconstitutional.”

He noted that the High Court has allowed governments to keep excess proceeds from tax sales if mechanisms were in place that enabled property owners to contest the sale or seek compensation. But the Court has never ruled on whether a foreclosure process that does not offer people like Mr. Feltner a way to recover their equity passes constitutional muster. In addition, Supreme Courts and federal district courts in five states have held that governmental entities must distribute excess proceeds to property owners while federal and state courts in six others have ruled government can keep the money.

“This case gives the Court a perfect opportunity to determine if governmental entities violate the Takings Clause when they seize property worth far more than what is owed in tax debt and refuse to remit excess funds to property owners after the debt is paid,” Dann said. “Given the importance of the issue and the conflicts between state and federal courts we’re cautiously optimistic that the Justices will agree to accept the case and bring clarity to this extremely murky and contentious area of the law.”

For more information please contact Atty. Marc Dann at 216-373-0539 or via email: [email protected]

BACKGROUND

Mr. Feltner’s case shines a distressing spotlight on the BOR foreclosure process. In 2017 after enduring years of personal tragedy and severe health issues, he began the arduous work of putting his affairs in order. That is when he learned the body shop he had inherited from his late father-in-law was encumbered by more than $65,000 in delinquent property taxes, penalties, interests, and costs he could not afford to pay. Fortunately, the property was worth more than he owed. So, he put it on the market and found a buyer willing to pay an amount that would enable him to satisfy the tax debt and earn a profit on the sale.

As he prepared to close, however, the deal fell apart because the BOR had, without his knowledge, foreclosed on and seized the property, which was valued at $144,000. The BOR handed it over to the land bank which then gave it to a private company for nothing. Mr. Feltner never had the opportunity to stop the foreclosure or recover the nearly $80,000 in equity that remained after the tax debt was paid. But, as his attorneys note, Mr. Feltner was not the only loser. The BOR seizure also wipes out the property tax debt so schools and other local governmental entities did not receive one penny of the $65,000 they were owed.

The Petition, media reports, as well as a number of academic studies reveal that what happened to Mr. Feltner is not an isolated incident. Research conducted by the Ohio Center for Journalism found that more than $11.25 million in taxes and $77 million in equity were erased by administrative foreclosures in Ohio in 2019 alone. That figure is dwarfed in the state of Massachusetts where, according to U Mass law professor Ralph Clifford, approximately $56,000,000 is unconstitutionally appropriated from taxpayers each year. The situation is similar in the other states that permit administrative foreclosures.

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Marc Dann - Marc Dann Consumer Fraud & Foreclosure Defense AttorneyA lot has happened since we issued our first COVID-19 on March 13. In our tenth update we’ll take a look at recent developments, discuss impending challenges and opportunities, issue a couple warnings, and dispense some sage advice…

Involuntary Forbearance can threaten your financial future

Let’s start with a cautionary tale about involuntary mortgage forbearance. As we’ve said repeatedly, while it can be a lifesaver for people who are facing financial disaster as a result of the pandemic, forbearance is NOT forgiveness. Homeowners will eventually have to make the interest, principal, and escrow payments they have been delaying.

In addition, forbearance may jeopardize court-approved bankruptcy repayment plans and could make it difficult to buy a new home or refinance an existing loan. That’s why we urged homeowners to think carefully before taking advantage of the forbearance programs made available by the CARES Act and many private lenders.

Unfortunately, a number of banks and servicers didn’t give borrowers a choice. Back in May we warned that a number of banks and mortgage servicers were putting homeowners into forbearance by “mistake.” One of the offenders, and I’m sure this will shock no one, was Wells Fargo. According to a CNBC report, borrowers who called servicers seeking information about forbearance and other relief programs were put into forbearance without their consent by swamped call center workers.

At that time we doubted that Wells, perennial winner of the worst bank in the world award, was really doing this by accident. Turns out we were right. NBC News reported on July 16 that Wells was purposely placing borrowers into forbearance without seeking or receiving their permission.

The story focused on Troy Harlow of Buchanan, Virginia who filed personal bankruptcy in 2017 after a kidney transplant put him on permanent disability. Troy never missed a house payment because his primary goal was to stay in his home.

Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo is among the banks and servicers who have placed borrowers into forbearance without their consent.

That didn’t matter to Wells. Without his knowledge or permission, on April 29 the bank told the bankruptcy court overseeing Harlow’s payment plan that he had asked to pause his mortgage payments because he had been hurt by COVID-19. Harlow who never even thought about asking to be placed in forbearance continued to forward the full amount owed on his mortgage to Wells.

Harlow’s attorneys soon learned that he wasn’t the only victim. Wells had played the same dirty trick on homeowners in 11 states.

That news set off alarm bells here at DannLaw and led us to launch an investigation to determine if borrowers in Ohio and New Jersey have been scammed by Wells and other lenders. With that in mind, we’re asking homeowners to do two things:

First, contact your lender to determine if they have placed you in forbearance without your permission.

Second, if they have you should contact us right away so we can help rectify the problem and determine if we should file a class-action suit on behalf of every borrower who has been abused by Wells and other lenders. You can reach us by calling 216-373-0539 or filling out and submitting our contact form. Please do this right away because involuntary forbearance can cause real problems for years to come.

Is it time to take your loan out of forbearance?

If you chose to place your loan in forbearance, it’s time to start thinking about an exit strategy. If you haven’t been able to make payments because you lost your job or were laid-off when the COVID-19 crisis cratered the economy but are now back to work you should consider taking your loan out of forbearance before the amount of delayed interest, principal, and escrow you owe becomes unmanageable.

To determine if you should begin making your house payment again, consider the amount you owe on your home relative to its value. If your home is worth more than your mortgage balance it is an asset that you should protect. If it is worth less than you owe it is a liability so your mortgage payment should be viewed as a housing cost and compared to alternatives like paying rent. You should also evaluate other factors including the state of the housing market in your neighborhood, the company that owns your loan, and whether you intend to sell your house sometime in the next few years.

The moratorium on foreclosures is about to end

OH Foreclosure TimelineThe moratorium on foreclosures imposed at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis are coming to an end in some Ohio counties and will lapse for federally backed mortgages at the end of August. That means sheriff’s sales will resume soon.

If you were in foreclosure when the pandemic struck you should contact your attorney right away. If you have not retained a lawyer contact us to arrange a no-cost consultation so we can review your case and discuss ways we may be able to help save your home. To learn more about the options available to you click here to visit the Foreclosure Defense page on Dannlaw.com.

Evictions set to resume

Dann Law Firm - Foreclosure DefenseToday it is estimated that more than 8 million Americans, including tens of thousands of Ohioans, are behind on their rent payments and may soon be evicted from their homes. This number could rise substantially when the CARES Act’s Pandemic Unemployment Insurance payments sunset at the end of July.

While distressing, the situation is not hopeless if renters and landlords communicate with each other and work together to overcome the challenges caused by the pandemic. Here are some important steps to take:

    1. Renters should communicate in writing with their landlords about their ability to pay, partially pay, or not pay rent. Both renters and landlords are trapped in a dilemma they did not cause, so landlords may be willing to work out payment arrangements. No one benefits from a vacant apartment.
    2. Check this list to determine if your landlord has a federally backed mortgage and is therefore prohibited from evicting tenants. If you are a landlord with a federally backed mortgage you may apply for forbearance if your tenants are unable to pay their rent. The eviction moratorium/forbearance program will end in late August unless Congress extends it.
    3. If you reach an agreement with your landlord regarding late or partial payments put it in writing. We will soon post a form on our website that will make it easy to create written versions of tenant/landlord agreements.
    4. Do not ignore letters or emails you receive from a court and always attend hearings when ordered. While there are legal defenses available to renters and strict procedures that must be followed before a landlord can evict a tenant, ignoring notices and/or failing to appear just about guarantees that your belongings are going to end up on the street.
    5. Retain legal counsel. If you cannot afford an attorney call your local legal aid office. As a service to people impacted by COVID-19, we are making DannLaw’s Cleveland and Cincinnati offices available if you need a computer or internet access to participate in a virtual eviction hearing. A member of our legal team will also be on hand to answer general questions about evictions.
    6. I and Jeff Watson, General Counsel to a number of real estate investor groups will conduct a virtual seminar for landlords and tenants on Thursday, July 23 at 8:00 P.M. This informative session, titled, “The Eviction Tsunami: Facts and Strategies that Lawyers, Landlords and Tenants Must Know,” will feature a discussion of the growing eviction crisis as well advice and strategies that will help landlords avoid insolvency and tenants escape homelessness. To register for the seminar click here.

Collection firms are up to their old (dirty) tricks

While debt collectors are typically shameless, there has been noticeable slow-down in activity since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in March.  But as states take steps to restart their economies and courts begin to reopen, we’ve received reports that collection lawyers, debt buyers and creditors are ramping up operations.  That means debtors must be on the lookout for and pay close attention to any legal notices they receive.

As we noted in our discussion about evictions, the quickest way to lose a case and have a judgement entered against you is to ignore the problem. Trust me, it’s not going to go away simply because you toss a letter in File 13 or don’t show up for court. So please, respond in writing to communications you receive and appear in court when ordered.

In addition, you should contact us to arrange a no-cost consultation. We’ll be happy to discuss your situation and your options. We’ll also determine if debt collectors have violated any of the laws and rules that protect consumers. If they have, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Here’s a brief overview of the rules that govern the collections industry:

  • The Fair Debt Collections Act (FDCA). Enacted in 1978, the FDCPAis the most well-known federal consumer protection statute. Its primary purpose is to prevent third-party debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, false, or deceptive practices to collect debts. To put it simply, collectors may not lie to or mislead consumers in the course of attempting to collect a debt. Violators of the Act may be liable for statutory damages, actual damages, and attorney’s fees.
  • Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) The TCPAlimits the use of automatic telephone dialing systems (ATDS) and artificial or prerecorded voice messages by telemarketers. Since its passage in 1991, the TCPA has been expanded to cover the use of ATDS’s and voice messages by debt collectors and now applies to cell phones if an affected consumer does not have a landline. Under the law collectors may not call a cell phone unless the owner gives consent. That means it’s important for consumers to deny consent verbally during the initial call and then to immediately withdraw consent in writing.

Statutory damages under TCPA range from $500.00 to $1,500.00 per call and may be applied to each and every call made if it is found that a debt collector willfully violated the Act. The ability to “stack” damages serves as an effective deterrent and provides just compensation for consumers who have been victimized by aggressive debt collectors who willfully violate the law.

Check Your Credit Report Weekly

The CARES Act allows you to obtain copies of your credit reports from annualcreditreport.com on a weekly basis. You should take advantage of this opportunity because a number of state unemployment computer systems have sustained massive data breaches.  DannLaw has filed class-action lawsuits in Ohio and Arkansas related to those breaches.

In addition, several provisions of the CARES Act are inconsistent with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Please reach out to us right away if you notice inaccuracies on your credit report because you can sue credit reporting agencies and entities that furnish information to them if they refuse to correct mistakes.

The Con Premieres August 5

Marc Dann - "The Con" Documentary ScreenshotFinally, I would like to extend a personal invitation for you to join me on August 5 for the premiere of “The Con,” a four-part series about the 2008 fraud and corruption-fueled collapse of America’s housing market. I’m both proud and humbled to say the series highlights the steps I took as Ohio Attorney General and at DannLaw to hold those responsible for the crisis that led to 10,000,000 families losing their homes accountable for their actions.  The series provides a lesson for the risks we face as we hurtle toward a pandemic-related recession.

“The Con,” like all movies being released in the midst of the pandemic, is being released direct to video via independent theatres. To receive your invitation to the free live premiere, click here and then click on “Follow” above the video. If you like The Con on Facebook, you’ll be invited to the free live premiere on August 5. We’ll be posting more news about “The Con” in our blog and on our Facebook page in the weeks to come.

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Today, we’re going to tell you story about good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. The main character in the tale is Riad Ghosheh who owns a home that Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC and PHH Mortgage Services tried to steal. They’re the bad guys.

How bad?

Ocwen/PHH: The bad guys who tried to steal Riad Ghosheh’s home. Nearly 12,000 consumers have lodged complaints about the company with the CFPB.

As of this year, more than 11,000 complaints against Ocwen had been lodged with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). PHH, which Ocwen acquired in 2018, has been tagged 781 times. Ocwen, a company we’ve fought and written about many times, is truly among the worst of the bad actors that populate the mortgage servicing industry. It won’t come as a surprise that the company no longer operates under the Ocwen name. They decided to hide behind PHH’s relatively clean reputation. But believe us, Ocwen’s back there pulling the strings.

Those are the bad guys. Who are the good guys?

Well us, of course, the DannLaw legal team. When Riad learned that Ocwen/PHH was about to steal his home he contacted us. Here’s a spoiler alert: we saved his house. On October 30, Federal District Court Judge Mark Norris issued a temporary restraining order that stopped the bad guys from moving forward with a foreclosure that was scheduled for November 1. In the wake of Judge Norris’ ruling, Ocwen/PHH has decided to abort its attempt to swipe Riad’s residence. You can read Judge Norris’ order here: tnwd-2_2019-cv-02710-00015 (1)

Talk about riding to the rescue just in the nick of time…

But the saga doesn’t end there. Simply saving Riad’s house didn’t seem like justice to him or us. Ocwen/PHH had put him through a horrible ordeal. They broke the law—in fact, they broke a bunch of them. So we’re using those laws, in particular the Real Estate Sales Practices Act (RESPA) to hold Ocwen/PHH accountable and make them pay for nearly wrecking Riad’s finances and disrupting his life. You can read the complaint we filed against the companies in Federal District Court for the Western District of Tennessee here: Ghosheh Riad 2019 10 18 TS Complaint

Truth be told, we’ve helped hundreds of people like Riad over the years. But his story is both especially compelling and infuriating, so we thought we’d share it, both as a cautionary tale and to illustrate the strategies we use to fight giant banks and mortgage servicers—and WIN.

Here’s our story…

The home Ocwen/PHH tried to steal from Riad Ghosheh.

Riad Ghosheh, who is legally deaf and partially blind, owns a home in Cordova, Tennessee, a community just east of Memphis. Earlier this year, Riad went to Israel for an extended period of time to take care of family business. Before leaving he asked his son to make the mortgage payments on the home and gave him the money to do so.

You can probably guess what happened next: his son didn’t make the payments. Riad returned to the United States and learned that his loan had gone into default. Needless to say, this was not the homecoming gift he expected.

In order to stop the home from going into foreclosure, Riad filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on June 3, 2019. As we’ve noted in our blogs and on our website, filing Chapter 13 immediately brings foreclosure actions to a dead stop.

On or about the same day, Riad received a “Streamline Modification Trial Period Plan” (TPP) from Ocwen his loan servicer. Loan modification plans like this are designed to give homeowners the opportunity to prove they can make their mortgage payments and resolve arrearages. They are also supposed to stop foreclosures. Note the use of the word “supposed.” This will be important in just a bit.

The TPP Riad signed and returned to Ocwen well before the deadline set by the company. Ironically, the letter opens with the word “congratulations” and contains the phrase “We’re here to help!” The former was a cruel joke, the latter an outright lie.

If he accepted the proposed TPP, Riad would be required to make three payments of $1,418.15 beginning July 1. If he made the three payments on time, the company would offer him a permanent loan modification plan. Riad signed the TPP on June 18, 2019, and mailed it to Ocwen the same day.

Because he knew he could afford to make the payments called for in the TPP and because the agreement was supposed to prevent Ocwen from foreclosing on his home, Riad allowed his bankruptcy petition to be dismissed. After all, his main reason for filing was to save his home from foreclosure—a threat he supposedly no longer faced.

There’s that word again.

On June 24, Riad, as required by the TPP, made the July payment of $1,418.15. Records show Ocwen received the payment on June 28. He made the August payment on July 24 and the September payment on August 26. Three payments required. Three payments made—early.

So far so good, right?

Look, we told you this was a story of good vs. evil, not a fairy tale. Things were far from good.

Here’s what happened to the three payments:

Ocwen kept the July payment but never applied it to Riad’s loan;

On September 22, PHH, which had taken over the loan, sent the August payment back along with a letter notifying Riad that he had violated the terms of the TPP;

The September payment, which was made nearly a month before PHH sent back the August payment, is MIA. No one at Ocwen/PHH can find it.

Riad was, to say the least, alarmed by these events, so he asked the person who held his power of attorney to contact the bankruptcy lawyer who had filed the Chapter 13 petition on his behalf earlier in the year.

This was a good call on Riad’s part because the bankruptcy attorney was the person who notified him that his house was slated to be sold out from under him on November 1. Ocwen/PHH had never contacted him or his counsel. The lawyer only knew the sale was about to take place because he saw it advertised in the newspaper. It appears the fine folks at Ocwen/PHH who forgot to apply Riad’s July payment to his mortgage then forgot to notify him that they were about to steal his home did remember to advertise the attempted theft in the paper.

At this point, put yourself in Riad’s place. You trusted your kid to make your house payments. He didn’t.

You trusted your mortgage servicer to play by the rules and honor the terms of a mortgage modification plan they offered you. They didn’t.

You assumed that Ocwen/PHH would abide by the laws that govern the mortgage servicing industry. Of course they didn’t. Abiding by the law is not part of their business model.

And as a result of it all, you came within days of becoming homeless—even though you did everything you were supposed to do.

And Riad, like thousands of other people who have been victimized by Ocwen, would have been homeless had he not contacted the DannLaw team.

As we mentioned above, we’ve already saved Riad’s home. Now we’re suing Ocwen/PHH in Federal Court to make them pay for the emotional and physical distress their sordid behavior caused, for damaging Riad’s credit, and for violating both RESPA and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Our filing alleges that Ocwen/PHH did the following:

Count One: RESPA Violations

Count Two: Breach of Contract

Count Three: Promissory Estoppel (OK, we know you don’t know what that is, and the explanation is really long and complicated, but take our word for it, Ocwen/PHH did it.)

Count Four: Conversion

Count Five: Unjust Enrichment (This one is easy to understand, it basically means Ocwen/PHH stole Riad’s cash.)

Count Six: Violations of the FDCPA

The best thing is, Riad doesn’t have to pay us to wage this battle on his behalf. If we win the case, Ocwen/PHH will be required to pay our fees and we will receive a small percentage of any damages the court awards.

And the damages part is no fairytale—we’ve won significant financial awards for people like Riad numerous times in courts across the U.S.

That’s our story. We’ll let you know how it ends. But in the meantime, if you or someone you know is facing foreclosure or is being abused by a bank or mortgage servicer, don’t be a victim. Fight back like Riad, by contacting the experienced foreclosure defense attorneys at DannLaw. You can reach us by calling the office near you or by completing the form on our Contact page.

We’ll be happy to schedule a no-cost consultation, provide you with sound legal advice, and help you save your home and win the financial settlement you deserve.

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Wells FargoWe have the honor of representing three people who lost their homes because they were unjustly denied a loan modification by Wells Fargo.

One of those clients, Jose Aguilar, recently told his story to a reporter from American Banker, a financial industry trade journal:

Jose Aguilar was shocked, but also angry, when he received a letter of apology earlier this fall from Wells Fargo.

Aguilar and his family lost their home in Chittenango, N.Y., in 2015 after trying time and again to get a mortgage modification from Wells. “I was denied, denied, denied, denied, denied, denied,” he recalled.

Now the San Francisco bank was saying that it made a mistake. Aguilar’s application should have been approved.

The 41-year-old father recounted how the foreclosure upended his kids’ lives, who moved to Florida after being uprooted from their home in upstate New York. Aguilar and his ex-wife have two boys, ages 9 and 15. Wells Fargo sent a $25,000 check, an amount that Aguilar saw as inadequate.

“To me, it’s a slap in face,” he said. “It’s not going to repair my life. I mean, my kids have been traumatized.”

The scandal-plagued bank blames a computer glitch. We blame the companies carelessness and unfettered greed. We’re working hard to secure justice–and just compensation–for Mr. Aguilar and his family as well as others whose lives have been devastated by Wells Fargo.

If you or someone you know has been harmed by Wells, contact DannLaw immediately at 216-373-0539 to arrange a free consultation. You may be eligible to receive significant damages from Wells.

The entire American Banker article follows below:

‘I lost my home because of a computer glitch’: Wells’ victims seek answers

By Kevin Wack

Jose Aguilar was shocked, but also angry, when he received a letter of apology earlier this fall from Wells Fargo.

Aguilar and his family lost their home in Chittenango, N.Y., in 2015 after trying time and again to get a mortgage modification from Wells. “I was denied, denied, denied, denied, denied, denied,” he recalled.

Now the San Francisco bank was saying that it made a mistake. Aguilar’s application should have been approved.

The 41-year-old father recounted how the foreclosure upended his kids’ lives, who moved to Florida after being uprooted from their home in upstate New York. Aguilar and his ex-wife have two boys, ages 9 and 15. Wells Fargo sent a $25,000 check, an amount that Aguilar saw as inadequate.

“To me, it’s a slap in face,” he said. “It’s not going to repair my life. I mean, my kids have been traumatized.”

Aguilar is one of hundreds of homeowners that Wells has identified as victims of a calculation error involving foreclosure attorneys’ fees. He took the $1.9 trillion-asset bank to court on Tuesday, filing a petition that aims to compel Wells to disclose additional information that could be used as the basis for an eventual lawsuit.

The mortgage servicing errors add to the list of woes at scandal-plagued Wells. The bank’s critics say the mistakes are emblematic of a company that devotes insufficient resources to back-office operations and then litigates the resulting customer grievances aggressively.

“This is a problem that goes back to the beginning of the Great Recession, and continues to plague customers of Wells Fargo,” said Timothy Blood, a San Diego attorney who filed a class-action lawsuit in 2010 that alleged the bank improperly denied applications for mortgage modifications.

“They seem to constantly be making errors in processing loan modifications. That’s what their job is.”

The class action that Blood brought in 2010 alleged that Wells did not follow through with its obligations under the post-crisis program that used federal taxpayer dollars to pay for mortgage modifications. Seven years later, the case was settled for $750,000 plus attorneys’ fees, which worked out to $65.45 per affected borrower.

In July 2018, Wells disclosed in a securities filing that it had identified a calculation error that affected certain accounts that were in the foreclosure process. The bank said at the time that the problem was corrected in October 2015, and that approximately 625 customers were incorrectly denied loan modifications, of whom roughly 400 lost their homes.

Three months later, Wells Fargo revised its previous disclosure, stating that the errors actually persisted until April 2018. The bank also raised its estimates of the number of customers affected, stating that roughly 870 borrowers were incorrectly denied mortgage modifications, and that foreclosures were completed in approximately 545 of those cases.

In recent weeks, Wells has been sending apology letters to affected borrowers. “We have some difficult news to share,” the letters begin.

The letters state that a payment enclosed will help make up for the borrower’s financial loss, and note that Wells Fargo is reaching out to consumer bureaus to ask that any negative reporting be removed. They also offer mediation at no cost to borrowers who feel the bank’s compensation is inadequate.

Tom Goyda, a Wells Fargo spokesman, declined to provide the range of financial sums that the bank is sending to borrowers, or to provide details about how the bank calculated its offers. The bank said in August that it accrued $8 million for customer remediation, which would amount to an average of less than $13,000 per victim.

“We’re trying to work with each customer to arrive at a solution that addresses their personal situation,” Goyda said.

Goyda noted that affected customers can request mediation even if they cash the checks that Wells sends to them. And if they are unsatisfied with the results of mediation, they have the choice to pursue other legal options, he said.

But the bank’s offers to harmed customers fall short, according to 20 pro-consumer organizations that are writing to the Federal Reserve on Tuesday. In their letter, the organizations argue that Wells should be required to make affected homeowners whole as a condition of lifting the nine-month-old cap on asset growth at the bank.

Organizations that signed the letter include Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, the National Fair Housing Alliance and the Consumer Federation of America.

“Until proper compensation is provided and Wells Fargo demonstrates that it has reformed its systems and practices to prevent problems like this in the future, Wells Fargo’s apologies are hollow and insufficient,” said Linda Jun, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform.

Some of the borrowers who recently received letters from Wells Fargo are now exploring their legal options. Marc Dann, an Ohio attorney, said that he has three such clients, including Aguilar.

Because the bank’s letters did not include details about what went wrong, Dann recently wrote to Wells Fargo to request additional information about what happened to one of his clients. He cited federal mortgage servicing rules that in certain circumstances require the disclosure of information to borrowers.

A lawyer for Wells Fargo declined the request, stating that the regulation’s requirements are not applicable in situations where the information is being sought more than one year after the mortgage was discharged.

“They’re like a stone wall on this issue,” Dann said.

So Dann has resorted to asking courts to order Wells Fargo to provide additional information prior to the filing of a lawsuit — an unusual step that he says is necessary because he does not know enough to determine which laws may have been violated.

“There’s no question, there’s a wrong that happened here,” Dann said. “The question is, how do we properly litigate it?”

When Goyda, the Wells Fargo spokesman, was asked whether the bank intends to fight efforts by affected borrowers who want to go to court, he said: “I don’t know that there’s one single answer that we could give to that question.”

“It may very well depend on the circumstance, but we would approach each legal action individually,” he added.

Aguilar said in a recent interview that he bought his home outside of Syracuse, N.Y., in 2005. The problems began after the discovery that the house had mold; health concerns prompted the family to move.

Thinking that they might never return, Aguilar fell behind on the mortgage. But the family later decided that the mold could be remediated and moved back in.

Aguilar said he that spent many months trying to get a mortgage modification from Wells, and was repeatedly told that his paperwork had been lost.

Aguilar estimated that houses in Chittenango comparable to the one his family lost are selling today for around $130,000 to $140,000. He said that he owed $92,000 on the mortgage before losing the home.

But it is difficult to put a price tag on a wrongful foreclosure.

“It’s been hard for me. It’s been hard for my kids too,” he said. “I lost my house, I lost my family, all because of a computer glitch.”

By

DannLaw attorneys suspect troubled bank has understated number of victims, urges Wells borrowers who received loan modifications between 2010 and 2015 to seek legal advice.

Earlier this year Wells Fargo revealed in an SEC filing that a “software glitch” caused the bank to improperly deny mortgage loan modifications to 625 homeowners between 2010 and 2015. At the time, Wells said it had set aside eight million dollars to compensate borrowers impacted by the mistake, including the 400 families who lost their homes to foreclosure.  Now victims of the incident are receiving checks from Wells. Attorney Marc Dann, founder and managing partner of DannLaw, is urging them to seek legal advice before accepting the money.

“A number of borrowers who received checks from Wells have contacted us to ask if the amount being offered is fair,” Atty. Dann said. “Obviously, families who went through the trauma of losing or almost losing their homes due to Wells’ incompetence deserve more than a few thousand bucks—especially if the company violated federal lending laws and rules. We’ve launched an investigation to determine if that’s true.  No one should cash a check they receive from the company or sign a settlement agreement until our inquiry is complete.”

That investigation is likely to reveal Wells has understated the number of people damaged by the glitch. “Company officials admit 625 borrowers were improperly denied modifications,” Atty. Dann noted. “But that’s only part of the story. The same software error may have caused loan mods that were granted to be miscalculated. As a result, thousands of homeowners may be making payments that are much higher than they should be.”

“Wells has no intention of telling them about the problem, so we’re making a concerted effort to alert anyone whose mortgage was modified by Wells Fargo between 2010 and 2015 that they may have been cheated,” he said noting that borrowers with “conventional” loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac comprise the pool of potential victims.

“Talking to those folks will enable us to assess whether and to what extent Wells violated lending laws and regs, including the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)” Atty. Dann explained. “If we discover the law has been violated, borrowers could receive thousands of dollars in compensation from Wells whether they are a member of the group of 625 homeowners the bank admits to abusing or someone whose loan mod was miscalculated. In either case, we’re able and eager to take legal steps that will hold Wells accountable for its actions and make victims whole.”

Borrowers who receive a compensation/settlement check from Wells, as well as those who received a loan modification from the bank between 2010 and 2015, may call 877-475-8100 to arrange a free consultation with DannLaw.