Econintersect: Barbara Ann Jackson founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization for community service in New Orleans, Law & Grace, Inc, in 1998. Most recently she and her organization have focused a great deal of effort on fraud that is executed within various foreclosure proceedings. Foreclosure proceedings have increased radically as a result of the bursting housing bubble.
The Grace & Law Blog has several articles that claim to document specific cases were foreclosure fraud has been committed.
Jackson is circulating a petition which is to be directed to the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives
The Congressional Oversight Panel excluded an essential component from its examination of the foreclosure crisis: foreclosure lawyers. Rather than mortgage lenders, lawyers are the ones who file judicial proceedings.
For every foreclosure, property deeds are filed and recorded by lawyers; and lawyers, not lenders, are the ones who file petitions to seize and sell properties in states that require judicial foreclosures. Moreover, lawyers are the persons who are required to know applicable laws and civil procedure.
The November 2010 report by this Oversight Panel proves that Congress understands the alarming economic and social factors associated with illegal foreclosures. The goals and interest of Congress to change the disastrous mortgage and foreclosure situation cannot be met without including an investigation into the function and practices of foreclosure lawyers in the mortgage crisis.
The following facts and reasons demonstrate why it is imperative for foreclosure lawyers to be examined as thoroughly as this Honorable Congress has done for the banking industry:
– With deliberate use of defunct lenders or lenders without “standing,” certain foreclosure lawyers intentionally execute false foreclosure proceedings. With the identity of a defunct lender, some lawyers carry out “simulated” foreclosure auctions, and instruct auction sheriffs to record property deeds into the names of defunct lenders.
– Some foreclosure lawyers purposely create delays –which are not authorized by their lender clients, of home foreclosures. Blatant misrepresentation to conceal those delays often succeeds by falsely portraying to the courts and to their clients, that homeowners caused the delays through schemes to get ‘free houses’. However, the reason that some free houses were ordered by judges to be awarded in certain cases was due to egregious fraud on the courts and sanctions against those lawyers. These lawyer falsehoods cause courts to be hostile to homeowners –also known as deadbeats, when such fabrication enable foreclosure lawyers to engineer foreclosure litigation which generates additional legal fees from lender clients.
– Various illegal activities, as well as actionable wrongs committed by foreclosure lawyers give rise to lawsuits for damages. Most of those wrongs are malpractices that are concealed from lender-clients and Investors, who incur the legal tabs. An example of conduct for which foreclosure lawyers are being sued is, Unfair Debt Collection Practices associated with acts of fraud, civil torts, and unconstitutional wrongs.
– Certain foreclosure lawyers file appalling, fraudulent proceedings in U.S. bankruptcy courts –including deliberately false “Motions to Lift Automatic Stay,” on behalf of non-existent lenders, and lenders that do not own “secured interests” in mortgage notes. Fraudulent bankruptcy filings by foreclosure lawyers violate federal bankruptcy law, illegally conceals the fact of “unsecured” mortgage debt, and unfairly deprives bankruptcy debtors from specific rights under Bankruptcy Statutes, namely, “avoidance.”
– Some foreclosure lawyers obtain unjust profit from foreclosure fraud when they falsely file “deficiency judgments” against former homeowners. Unconscionable deficiency judgments from “simulated” auctions include foreclosures that were executed in the name of non-existent lenders. Use of defunct lenders’ identity also enable ‘straw buyers’ to “credit bid” and walk away owning those homes!
– Until recently, courtroom judges have utterly disregarded the legal requirement of “standing.” Instead, almost all judges formerly demanded that homeowners cure their mortgage arrears or their homes would be auctioned. Most judges still ignore laws of standing, and thereby facilitate the ease of foreclosure fraud, and the injustice of numbers of people becoming illegally homeless.
In the same manner, as mortgage lenders have been examined concerning its mortgage and foreclosure activities and practices, foreclosure lawyers must also be made to explain their foreclosure performances.
Lastly, please allow me to suggest to you a testimonial: “Foreclosure Fraud Assault – A Cry For Help”
http://newsblaze.com/story/20101116120222nnnn.nb/topstory.html
Sources: http://www.lawgrace.org and Jackson’s petition document.
