Mortgage Cancellation Rackets That File Suits To Obtain Default Judgments To Wipe Out Banksters' Liens Gain Steam In Florida

In West Palm Beach, Florida, The Palm Beach Post reports:

• More companies are jumping into the land trust business. At least two new firms in Florida are trying to cancel mortgage debt with lawsuits that lenders call “baseless” and “nonsensical” but that some borrowers say are their last chance at keeping their homes. The companies, including one with a Jupiter address, are in addition to the Fidelity Land Trust Company that opened last year in Boca Raton. Together, they have filed scores of lawsuits statewide and collected hundreds of deeds from homeowners, who are typically solicited by phone because they have underwater mortgages. And desperate borrowers are biting.

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• [P]roponents of the trusts point to a Levy County case they say proves it works. A press release issued Tuesday by one of the trust referral companies says Boca Raton attorney Howard Feinmel, who is under a Florida Bar investigation for issues relating to quiet title lawsuits, won a judgment in November that canceled a mortgage. It was a default judgment, typically awarded when the defendant fails to respond within 20 to 30 days and can be reopened if there are legitimate reasons for missing the deadline. The plaintiff in the Levy County case was Levy County Partners, which had the homeowner deed his house to it before filing the lawsuit, according to property appraiser records. The deed has since been transferred from Levy County Partners to Fidelity Land Trust Company. The foreclosure lawsuit against the homeowner was voluntarily dismissed in June by the lender. The dismissal was done without prejudice, meaning it can be re-filed. Bank of America, the servicer on the loan, did not respond to a request for comment. Fidelity Land Trust Company, which was incorporated in December and is believed to be one of the first firms to make widespread attempts to cancel mortgages by suing the banks, has amassed about 240 deeds statewide, including 100 in Palm Beach County.

For more, see More Florida companies try to cancel mortgage debt with lawsuits.