Mortgage Crisis

The Real Housewives of Orange County Effect: Lenders Less Likely To Foreclose On Luxury Homes

by Rich Vetstein 03.08.2013 Foreclosure

One of the perks of writing this blog is that I get called by business reporters from around the country who think I know a thing or two about real estate law. While that proposition is certainly debatable, this week I was contacted by a very nice reporter from the Wall Street Journal who was [...]

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The First Circuit Strikes Again in Culhane v. Aurora Servicing! Grants Borrowers Legal Standing To Challenge Mortgage Assignments, But Upholds MERS System

by Rich Vetstein 02.16.2013 Foreclosure

We introduce this subject with a riddle: What entity is not a bank but claims to hold title to approximately half of all the mortgaged homes in the country? The answer is MERS. –Circuit Judge Bruce Seyla in Culhane v. Aurora Loan Servicing of Nebraska, For the second time in a week, the U.S. Court of [...]

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Backdated Mortgage Assignment Comes Back To Haunt Foreclosure Lender in Juarez v. Select Portfolio

by Rich Vetstein 02.13.2013 Foreclosure

Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Borrower’s Wrongful Foreclosure Claim  Noted Massachusetts foreclosure defense attorney Glenn Russell is on a roll of a lifetime, yesterday winning a rare victory on behalf of a borrower at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston. The case is Juarez v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. (11-2431) (click [...]

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Land Court Paves Way For Clearing Defective Foreclosure Titles

by Rich Vetstein 01.28.2013 Deeds

Court Uses Novel Equitable Assignment of Mortgage Theory  In what could be the first test case of a new theory to clear up defective foreclosure titles — and much welcome news for property owners stuck with toxic titles — Massachusetts Land Court Judge Gordon Piper has ruled that the theory of equitable assignment of an [...]

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Breaking: Massachusetts SJC Issues Another Important Foreclosure Ruling In HSBC Bank v. Matt

by Rich Vetstein 01.14.2013 Foreclosure

Legal Standing For Mortgage Lender/Servicer Must Be Established To Start Foreclosure Today the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has issued what I believe to be another very important ruling involving foreclosures in the case of HSBC Bank v. Matt (embedded below). This case is the latest piece in the trilogy of recent landmark foreclosure opinions, starting with [...]

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Late To The Party Again? CFPB Issues New “Ability To Repay” Mortgage Rule

by Rich Vetstein 01.10.2013 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

New Rule Aims To Prevent Predatory Lending The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has just issued what it deems “one of its most important rules to date.” It’s called the Ability To Repay Rule. The rule will ensure that a borrower should be able to afford their mortgage payment. Sounds like common sense, right? Yes [...]

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Breaking: Congress Passes Extension of Mortgage Debt Relief Act In Fiscal Cliff Bill

by Rich Vetstein 01.02.2013 Foreclosure

It’s a Done Deal: Tax Forgiveness for Short Sales, Loan Modifications Remains In Effect Through End of 2013 Well, that didn’t take very long. Within 24 hours of the Senate’s late-night New Year’s Eve passing of the “Fiscal Cliff” bill, House Republicans caved, and passed the Senate version of the Fiscal Cliff bill, which extends [...]

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Senate Fiscal Cliff Bill Extends Mortgage Debt Relief Act, Awaits House Vote

by Rich Vetstein 01.01.2013 Massachusetts Real Estate Law

Breaking Update (1/2/12): House Passes Fiscal Cliff Bill, Extends Mortgage Debt Relief Act Fate of Tax Forgiveness for Short Sales, Loan Modifications Remains In Limbo As reported by the National Association of Realtors, short sale agents and sellers should breath a sigh of relief, but keep their fingers crossed with respect to the fate of [...]

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Massachusetts Real Estate Law 2012 Year In Review (And Predictions For 2013)

by Rich Vetstein 12.23.2012 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

I always look forward to recapping the year that was, and bringing out the crystal ball to predict the year ahead. This year, like years prior, was an active year for Massachusetts real estate law, with several important court rulings, legislative developments, and emerging legal trends. The year 2013 is expected to be just as [...]

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Hanging Off The Fiscal Cliff? What Will 2013 Bring To The Massachusetts Real Estate Market?

by Rich Vetstein 12.09.2012 Fannie Mae

High Anxiety Heading Into 2013 The term Fiscal Cliff should be as ubiquitous as “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” through the year-end, especially if President Obama and Congress cannot work out a deal to resolve the more than $500 billion in tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect after Jan. 1, 2013. If [...]

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Breaking: SJC Rejects Major Challenge to Massachusetts Foreclosure Procedures

by Rich Vetstein 10.26.2012 Foreclosure

Impact: Foreclosure Will Be Harder to Challenge The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s (SJC) ruling in Federal National Mortgage Ass’n v. Hendricks just came down, and it’s good news for the foreclosure industry and bad news for distressed homeowners. This case had the potential to change Massachusetts foreclosure practice, but the SJC rejected the challenge. The borrower, [...]

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Why Have Obama And Romney Ignored the Housing and Real Estate Market?

by Rich Vetstein 10.08.2012 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

All Politics Aside, It’s Time To Bring Housing & Real Estate Back To the Forefront In the most tweeted, Facebook-ed and instant polled Presidential Campaign ever, there is one topic which has been met with surprisingly deafening silence: the U.S. Housing and Real Estate Market. During last week’s debate, we heard a lot about tax [...]

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Massachusetts SJC To Decide Three Important Foreclosure Cases This Fall Term

by Rich Vetstein 09.26.2012 Foreclosure

Court Will Consider Mortgage Servicer/MERS Standing and Statutory Foreclosure Affidavits The Supreme Judicial Court has a busy Fall Term with several important foreclosure cases on the docket. Here’s a quick summary. HSBC Bank v. Jodi Matt (SJC-11101) The SJC is considering whether a mortgage servicer holding a securitized mortgage has standing to even begin a [...]

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Mass. AG Martha Coakley Fires Shot Across Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Bow Over New Foreclosure Law

by Rich Vetstein 08.24.2012 Fannie Mae

Coakley Expects Fed’s Compliance with New Loan Modification Law Attorney General Martha Coakley is picking a very public fight with federal mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in the wake of the new Massachusetts Foreclosure Prevention Act passed earlier in August. The new law requires that lenders first explore loan modifications before starting foreclosure [...]

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Help On The Way? New Massachusetts Foreclosure Prevention Law Passed

by Rich Vetstein 08.16.2012 Fannie Mae

Two Year Effort To Overhaul Foreclosure Practices On August 3, 2012, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law what’s been called the new Foreclosure Prevention Law. The text of the law can be found at House Bill No. 4323. The new law makes significant changes to existing foreclosure practices, and also attempts to clean up [...]

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Averting The Apocalypse: Foreclosing Lenders Avoid Disaster and Given More Options To Foreclose In Eaton v. Fannie Mae Case

by Rich Vetstein 06.22.2012 Fannie Mae

Score One For Lenders and Mortgage Servicers In Long-Awaited Eaton v. Fannie Mae Case The Massachusetts real estate community has been waiting 8 long months for a decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) in the much anticipated Eaton v. Federal National Mortgage Association (link) case. The decision came down June 22, and now [...]

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Massachusetts Legislature Set To Make Loan Modifications Part Of Foreclosure Process

by Rich Vetstein 05.24.2012 Foreclosure

More Help On The Way For Struggling Homeowners Additional foreclosure relief is one step closer to becoming law as the Massachusetts House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 4087, “An Act to Prevent Unlawful and Unnecessary Foreclosures.” The bill, sponsored by AG Martha Coakley, mandates that banks and foreclosing lenders enter into mandatory loan modification [...]

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Massachusetts Appeals Court Drops The Eviction Hammer On Post-Foreclosure Squatters

by Rich Vetstein 04.10.2012 Foreclosure

Common Eviction Defenses Ruled Unavailable To Squatters Who Lived Rent/Mortgage Free For 3 Years In a April 10, 2012 ruling, the Massachusetts Appeals Court just made it easier for foreclosing banks to evict squatters of foreclosed properties. This is one of the few pro-bank Massachusetts decisions coming out of the foreclosure crisis, and should help [...]

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Lawmakers To The Rescue? Legislation Filed To Fix “Ibanez” Foreclosure Title Defects

by Rich Vetstein 02.28.2012 Foreclosure
Thumbnail image for Lawmakers To The Rescue? Legislation Filed To Fix “Ibanez” Foreclosure Title Defects

Update (8/3/12): Foreclosure Prevention Act Signed, But Fails To Address Ibanez Title Problems Massachusetts Senate Bill 830 Addresses Toxic Foreclosure Titles Finally, Massachusetts lawmakers have taken action to help innocent purchasers of foreclosed properties in the aftermath of the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez and Bevilacqua v. Rodriguez decisions, which resulted in widespread title defects for [...]

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SJC Requests Friend-Of-The-Court Briefs In Important Foreclosure Case of HSBC Bank v. Matt

by Rich Vetstein 02.18.2012 Foreclosure
Thumbnail image for SJC Requests Friend-Of-The-Court Briefs In Important Foreclosure Case of HSBC Bank v. Matt

In yet another move evidencing the Supreme Judicial Court’s ongoing concern over the impact of the foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts, the SJC is soliciting friend-of-the-court briefs in the next important foreclosure case, HSBC Bank v. Jodi Matt. As we wrote about in our prior post here, the SJC is considering whether a lender holding a [...]

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