Planning on Challenging NFCU over a Wrongful Foreclosure

[TerriS]

I wanted to ask if anyone has ever challenged their mortgage lender over a wrongful foreclosure.  We had a mortgage with NFCU, and in 2018 they foreclosed on our home.  My husband foolishly hid the first notices, thinking he would straighten out our late payments, and by the time he told me what he had done we were on our way to being foreclosed on.  My husband had been layed off twice in the year before our foreclosure, so we had already had a modification a year earlier. 

 

Still, I told NFCU  that there were Federal laws stating that there was no longer restrictions on how many modifications a borrower could receive.  I also told them that they had dual tracked our file - they had moved for a foreclosure while also claiming to look into our options.  When we finally heard back from their representative, she said we would need to pay $11,000 immediately and our new mortgage payment had doubled.  Again, she said NFCU knew nothing of the right to another modification. 

 

They foreclosed three months later, and when I looked at the paperwork I noticed a sheriff signed a document stating he had served my husband, but that I was not able to be served.  He checked a box stating that I had been left documents - not the box stating direct service.  When I flipped to the next document, it was a statement signed by the attorney saying I had been served directly by a sheriff.  I called NFCU's foreclosure mill and stated that by law I needed to be served before foreclosure hearing, and the lawyer I spoke with said he would advise NFCU accordingly, that he was sorry for the oversight and that NFCU would be in touch soon.  When they didn't call, I called them and they passed my call around repeatedly in a stonewalling manner. 

 

One woman heard me crying on the phone, and said "maam, please understand that your situation is being taken seriously - our managers have been in a closed door meeting discussing your situation all morning!"  After speaking with her, all the others said they were unable to discuss our foreclosure further.  We then hired an attorney who reached out to the foreclosure mill, and was immediately in touch with the top of the firm. 

 

The top attorney mocked me in an email I am in possession of, saying he was about to check out our file - but was certain I was just an angry woman over reacting over nothing.  After this email he refused to respond to the attorney we hired - our attorney said "I don't know what happened - he refuses to return my calls or emails..." 

 

Soon after we removed our possessions from our home, the BBQ munching moron of an attorney had the nerve to ask if I wanted to "settle with $5,000 - just to help us get back on our way."  This was not a "Cash for Keys" as we were already out of our home.  I told him to pound sand and that I was well aware that the wrongful foreclosure was now a fraudulent one.   

 

So as I prepare to go after NFCU on all the laws they broke, does anyone have any experience in going it alone without an attorney?  I am a journalist and have researched our situation extensively - they broke many Federal laws and I have plenty of documentation to back up my accusations against this nasty lender..  My thought is they will choose to settle - especially given we have emails showing that the top attorney ceased contact after discovering the serious miss step of failing to serve me and documenting that it was done in a document that serves as the whole legal basis for the foreclosure hearing.  

Edited April 20, 2020 by TerriS

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[cv91915]

Welcome.

 

There is a lot of emotion in your post, which makes it hard to separate out the facts.

 

If you defaulted on the terms of your note, the lender has the right to foreclose.  It's written right into the contract you signed before you accepted their money.

 

They were not under any obligation to extend you the courtesy of one modification, much less a second. 

 

It's extremely expensive for NFCU to service a perpetually-delinquent loan and at some point they had to cut their losses.

9 hours ago, TerriS said:

they broke many Federal laws

If you take a step back and strip out just the facts, specifically which laws were broken?

 

9 hours ago, TerriS said:

does anyone have any experience in going it alone without an attorney?

If laws were broken and you have actual meaningful damages that resulted, you shouldn't haven't a problem finding an attorney to take your case.

 

I am putting this in white text so it's hidden until we know for sure that this isn't a troll.

[hegemony]

welcome to CB!

 

I am curious why, if there are so many violations, you waiting so long? Also which specific statutes did NFCU violate?

[TerriS]

It has been 17 months and we waited to focus on becoming financially stable before going after NFCU.

 

The Federal laws they broke were ones regarding Dual Tracking and not offering a modification.  And the biggest issue involved not serving me notice of the foreclosure hearing and stating on the record that they had done so.

 

And we were not perpetually-delinquent - in over a decade we had only missed seven payments.  The delinquency followed layoffs my husband experienced at the hands of two major US banks being sued for Wrongful Foreclosures on a large scale.    

[centex]

4 hours ago, cv91915 said:

Welcome.

 

There is a lot of emotion in your post, which makes it hard to separate out the facts.

 

If you defaulted on the terms of your note, the lender has the right to foreclose.  It's written right into the contract you signed before you accepted their money.

 

They were not under any obligation to extend you the courtesy of one modification, much less a second. 

 

It's extremely expensive for NFCU to service a perpetually-delinquent loan and at some point they had to cut their losses.

If you take a step back and strip out just the facts, specifically which laws were broken?

 

If laws were broken and you have actual meaningful damages that resulted, you shouldn't haven't a problem finding an attorney to take your case.

 

I am putting this in white text so it's hidden until we know for sure that this isn't a troll.

Many words of wisdom in CV's post...

 

I would add, however, that finding counsel to take the case is NOT going to be the same as expecting them to take a case pro bono or on any manner of contingency.  MOST litigation is going to require the client to pony up a substantial amount to get the ball rolling.  While the attorney may ultimately prevail and see fees included in the ultimate disposition, there are still bills to be paid in the interim.  We have overhead and are, at a very basic level, in the same boat as a landlord who needs to be paid by the tenant...when the tenant stiffs the landlord, the property often goes by the wayside.  Same with counsel who isn't being paid...if we cannot pay our bills, we cannot function as an ongoing entity...

[IndyPoolPlayer]

14 hours ago, TerriS said:

hid the first notices

So you didn't deal with this right away when you were in trouble.

14 hours ago, TerriS said:

Federal laws stating that there was no longer restrictions on how many modifications a borrower could receive

Yes, but that doesn't mean NFCU is required to give you one. You already had one loan mod and couldn't maintain that note.

14 hours ago, TerriS said:

Soon after we removed our possessions from our home

You abandoned the house. I recall somewhere that once you abandon the house you lose your rights to recourse in the matter, but I might be wrong. Regardless, looking at my own mortgage documents (standard FHA mortgage) there's a clause in there that says if I abandon the property and leave it unoccupied an automatic default and immediate foreclosure will result.

14 hours ago, TerriS said:

I noticed a sheriff signed a document stating he had served my husband, but that I was not able to be served.  He checked a box stating that I had been left documents - not the box stating direct service.

14 hours ago, TerriS said:

does anyone have any experience in going it alone without an attorney

Box checking is a minor technical detail. If your husband was served, and he is the co-maker on the mortgage then you both were served.

If you really expect to be taken seriously, you should hire competent counsel. Otherwise the court will see you as just another homeowner that is angry over losing their home.

[JunkDebtBuyer69]

On 4/19/2020 at 10:17 PM, TerriS said:

Still, I told NFCU  that there were Federal laws stating that there was no longer restrictions on how many modifications a borrower could receive.  I also told them that they had dual tracked our file - they had moved for a foreclosure while also claiming to look into our options.  When we finally heard back from their representative, she said we would need to pay $11,000 immediately and our new mortgage payment had doubled.  Again, she said NFCU knew nothing of the right to another modification. 

 

They foreclosed three months later, and when I looked at the paperwork I noticed a sheriff signed a document stating he had served my husband, but that I was not able to be served.  He checked a box stating that I had been left documents - not the box stating direct service.  When I flipped to the next document, it was a statement signed by the attorney saying I had been served directly by a sheriff.  I called NFCU's foreclosure mill and stated that by law I needed to be served before foreclosure hearing, and the lawyer I spoke with said he would advise NFCU accordingly, that he was sorry for the oversight and that NFCU would be in touch soon.  When they didn't call, I called them and they passed my call around repeatedly in a stonewalling manner. 

 

One woman heard me crying on the phone, and said "maam, please understand that your situation is being taken seriously - our managers have been in a closed door meeting discussing your situation all morning!"  After speaking with her, all the others said they were unable to discuss our foreclosure further.  We then hired an attorney who reached out to the foreclosure mill, and was immediately in touch with the top of the firm. 

 

The top attorney mocked me in an email I am in possession of, saying he was about to check out our file - but was certain I was just an angry woman over reacting over nothing.  After this email he refused to respond to the attorney we hired - our attorney said "I don't know what happened - he refuses to return my calls or emails..." 

 

Soon after we removed our possessions from our home, the BBQ munching moron of an attorney had the nerve to ask if I wanted to "settle with $5,000 - just to help us get back on our way."  This was not a "Cash for Keys" as we were already out of our home.  I told him to pound sand and that I was well aware that the wrongful foreclosure was now a fraudulent one.   

 

So as I prepare to go after NFCU on all the laws they broke, does anyone have any experience in going it alone without an attorney?  I am a journalist and have researched our situation extensively - they broke many Federal laws and I have plenty of documentation to back up my accusations against this nasty lender..  My thought is they will choose to settle - especially given we have emails showing that the top attorney ceased contact after discovering the serious miss step of failing to serve me and documenting that it was done in a document that serves as the whole legal basis for the foreclosure hearing.  

Okay, take a deep breath. Breathe In............. Breathe Out!

What state are you in? This answer is going to be highly dependant on that.

 

Now, to address your questions:

On 4/19/2020 at 10:17 PM, TerriS said:

Still, I told NFCU  that there were Federal laws stating that there was no longer restrictions on how many modifications a borrower could receive.  I also told them that they had dual tracked our file - they had moved for a foreclosure while also claiming to look into our options.  When we finally heard back from their representative, she said we would need to pay $11,000 immediately and our new mortgage payment had doubled.  Again, she said NFCU knew nothing of the right to another modification.

Okay. There may not be restrictions but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

On 4/19/2020 at 10:17 PM, TerriS said:

They foreclosed three months later, and when I looked at the paperwork I noticed a sheriff signed a document stating he had served my husband, but that I was not able to be served.  He checked a box stating that I had been left documents - not the box stating direct service.  When I flipped to the next document, it was a statement signed by the attorney saying I had been served directly by a sheriff.  I called NFCU's foreclosure mill and stated that by law I needed to be served before foreclosure hearing, and the lawyer I spoke with said he would advise NFCU accordingly, that he was sorry for the oversight and that NFCU would be in touch soon.  When they didn't call, I called them and they passed my call around repeatedly in a stonewalling manner.

What did you do in that three-month span? Did you try to approach their attorneys' with some sort of settlement? Did you apply for any loan mods? As to the service of process issue, an answer can't be given as you have not said which state you're in. Here in FL, your husband being served on your behalf would be fine. It's quite likely the people you talked to didn't know any better and were trying to calm the situation.

On 4/19/2020 at 10:17 PM, TerriS said:

One woman heard me crying on the phone, and said "maam, please understand that your situation is being taken seriously - our managers have been in a closed door meeting discussing your situation all morning!"  After speaking with her, all the others said they were unable to discuss our foreclosure further.  We then hired an attorney who reached out to the foreclosure mill, and was immediately in touch with the top of the firm.

It's highly unlikely they spent ALL MORNING discussing your case. What's more likely is they had a meeting to discuss how hundreds of files (yours included) are progressing. In other words, they were probably doing a file review. It's good that you retained counsel, let them do their jobs. I know it's not easy to let go, but trust your attorneys. Trust me when I say that they know a lot more than you.... And for good reason.

On 4/19/2020 at 10:17 PM, TerriS said:

The top attorney mocked me in an email I am in possession of, saying he was about to check out our file - but was certain I was just an angry woman over reacting over nothing.  After this email he refused to respond to the attorney we hired - our attorney said "I don't know what happened - he refuses to return my calls or emails..."

That's definitely unprofessional of him to do. Your remedy would be to file a bar complaint, though I don't recommend it. Honestly, and please don't take this the wrong way, but it does seem like you were in contact with them rather frequently.... And possibly did overreact. As to your attorney, I get the feeling he was just trying to be nice.

It's very probable that attorney was sincere in wanting to settle and help you move on in your life by offering $5,000. It's a 'nuisance value' settlement offer as you probably don't have as good of a case as you think. Somewhere around there is what it's going to cost them to retain 'escalation' counsel if need be..

On 4/19/2020 at 10:17 PM, TerriS said:

So as I prepare to go after NFCU on all the laws they broke, does anyone have any experience in going it alone without an attorney?  I am a journalist and have researched our situation extensively - they broke many Federal laws and I have plenty of documentation to back up my accusations against this nasty lender..  My thought is they will choose to settle - especially given we have emails showing that the top attorney ceased contact after discovering the serious miss step of failing to serve me and documenting that it was done in a document that serves as the whole legal basis for the foreclosure hearing.  

Can you please cite the specific laws? Remember, all of this is going to come down to those laws and if you can't articulate them now, you probably won't be able to when it's too late and you're before the Court. Seriously: If you want our advice (or the advice of your attorney for that matter), please provide the documents (redact them if need be) and laws that they 'broke'. I will say that the mere fact that they stopped responding to you means nothing.

 

I'm sorry for what you've had to go through. It sucks to loose your home. My family has been there. Many others on this site have been there. If you've already moved out, maybe you should consider moving on. Let your attorney do all that he can to help you while you focus on other things.