Ohio Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Fight Back; Claim Lender Has No Right To Sue; Seek Class Action Status

In Sandusky County, Ohio, the Toledo Blade reports:

• Facing the loss of their home in the tiny northwest Ohio village of Gibsonburg, Jeffrey and Katrina Weickert pleaded for more time. Instead, lawyers for their mortgage holder asked a judge in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court to expedite foreclosure proceedings.

• Now, Mr. and Mrs. Weickert are using the court system to fight back. They are among thousands of homeowners nationwide who are challenging the right of mortgage servicing companies and trustees to commence foreclosure proceedings. "We have 20 of these cases pending all over northwestern Ohio," said John Murray, a lawyer with the Sandusky firm of Murray & Murray.

• Few of the complaints deny that homeowners have fallen behind in mortgage payments. Rather, they typically question whether mortgage servicing firms and trustees seeking foreclosure have the right to sue. It's often a legitimate question, said Lauren Saunders, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center in Washington. In the mortgage craze that led to the economic crisis, proper documentation sometimes wasn't finished on behalf of investment trusts that own most mortgages, she explained.

For more, see Toledo area couple fighting foreclosure in court (More homeowners resist mortgage firms).

For posts that reference the failure of mortgage lenders and their attorneys to file the proper paperwork when bringing foreclosure actions, Go Here, Go Here, Go Here, Go Here, and Go Here. KappaMtgDocsMissing