Lenders' Begin Feeling The Heat As Demands For Loan Documentation In Foreclosure Actions Are Evidenced Across Florida

Buried at the end of a recent story in The St. Augustine Record is this excerpt on the difficulty lenders and loan servicers are having in proving they have standing to foreclose on a delinquent homeowner, and how evidence is showing up across Florida of homeowners going to court demanding the lender/servicer to produce the proper loan documentation in a foreclosure action:

• The [mortgage loan] ownership link was easy to follow when the transactions passed from one hand to another without repackaging for multiple sales. Things got confusing when individual loans became drops in large pools. And without that proof of ownership, service companies don't have "standing" to foreclose.

• Even if the companies are later able to provide the necessary proof, the delay may be all the homeowner needs to straighten out his financial problems. "They have to prove they have the right to bring a suit," said [Jacksonville attorney James] Kowalski.

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• "I've had lawyers with banks ... tell me they are seeing the motions filed around the state. Bankruptcy judges have picked up on this and have dismissed some cases."

For more, see Pooling complicates mortgages. KappaMtgDocsMissing