From the Hamlet
An Interesting Caller Holds Out a Bouquet of Foreclosure Mill Secrets
Earlier today, I got a spell binding call from a person with insider knowledge of a certain foreclosure mill, Florida Default Law Group.
This person recently fell wildly in love with someone whose birthday is coming up shortly. The “love object” used to be solidly middle class, with a well-paying, stable job, a home, a car, savings, 401K retirement, education fund for two children, and almost $60k invested in mutual funds. The job was eliminated due to the economy, and it’s been over a year of financial free fall since. Cashing in the mutual funds at the depressed value allowed the bills to be paid, food on the table, the mortgage to be kept current, COBRA health insurance premiums current, car kept full of gas and in good running condition, covered the costs involved in a new job search and for child care during interviews.
Then a several months ago, the mortgage payment jumped $600/month because the mortgage servicer dropped the previous property insurance policy by not paying the premium from the escrow. The servicer added on a new policy with a five fold increase in the premium. (This is a common way to manufacture a default. It’s called “loan packing” with “forced-placed insurance”.) This much higher monthly mortgage payment was paid for two months in a row, while questions and resolution attempts were met with canned platitudes after interminable hold times.
Finally, after realizing that there would be no answers or resolution, no loan modifications, no forbearance, and no reverting back to the previous property insurance policy & affordable premium, the mortgage payment in the amount that was owed prior to the loan packing was remitted to an account opened at a local bank specifically for deposit of the monthly mortgage payments. This information was documented and sent several times to the servicer.
Two months into this, the interest rate on two credit cards jumped from 6.59% to 20.99%, with a reason given as there is evidence of loss of credit-worthiness. Never had either of these two credit cards been paid late, nor had any payments been missed. There was no resolution, no answers, no willingness to revert back to the reasonable previous rate.
My caller’s beloved has now been newly served with an unverified (in direct non-compliance with the FL Supreme Court amended rule 1.110b) foreclosure complaint for a default & foreclosure that completely manufactured by the servicer. In our impossible job market, this person now will now have even greater difficulty finding employment because of the bomb that exploded the credit score and left it in smithereens. Many employers use the credit score as a determination of the character of the applicant.
And guess which law firm is representing the foreclosing bank?
Most the mill attorneys are bottom of the barrel quality legal minds… they do not realize the (potential) frauds on courts, abuse of processes, and sanctionable offenses (with disbarrment, maybe imprisonment,) they are committing.
I hope they are reading this and go look in the mirror. A cold chill will run up their spine and their nightmares are only beginning.
Blind ambition and greed demands a healthy price in the end. 🙂
The mills have become so big, and the economy so lousy, that I suspect we’ll be hearing from more insiders with a conscience. Some are bad but plenty just need a job and are anything but aligned with what they see happening.
A friend had a great aunt whose boyfriend joined the SS at 17 and was assigned to Sobibor death camp. Somehow her aunt (a Jew in the slave labor camp) fell in love. After a few weeks he said “f-this” and broke out her and a few dozen more. He died fighting with the French resisstance.
Mill workers: would you rather be remembered like him or the guards that stayed behind? There are no doubt some psychos who like their jobs but I suspect a great many more on the fence.