GULFCOAST LEGAL SERVICES, INC. Current Trends in Civil Legal Aid

Hope for Homeowners by Sarasota County on Saturday December 5, 2009 in North Port

Elizabeth M. Boyle, Managing Attorney of  Gulfcoast Legal Services, Inc., and Stacey L. Basist of the Gulfcoast Legal Services, Inc.  Saraosta office with other volunteers will be presenting at the Saturday December 5, 2009, Hope for Homeowners Expo, 9 am to 2 pm,  in North Port, Florida:

Hope for Homeowners, Helping Families Survive the Housing Crisis
Date	12/05/2009
Time	9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Location	Heron Creek Middle School 6501 W Price Blvd
City	North Port
Contacts	941-861-5000
Topic	None

www.gulfcoastlegal.org

More information about the Expo can be found at Sarasota County’s web site, http://www.scgov.net/HomeHelp for online guidance in understanding what your options are.  Its Foreclosure Resource Assistance Network (FRAN) offers tips on avoiding foreclosure among other pertinent information.

Elizabeth M. Boyle, Managing Attorney of  Gulfcoast Legal Services, Inc., and Stacey L. Basist of the Gulfcoast Legal Services, Inc.  Saraosta office with other volunteers will be presenting at the Saturday December 5, 2009, Hope for Homeowners Expo, 9 am to 2 pm,  in North Port, Florida:

Hope for Homeowners, Helping Families Survive the Housing Crisis
Date	12/05/2009
Time	9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Location	Heron Creek Middle School 6501 W Price Blvd
City	North Port
Contacts	941-861-5000
Topic	None

www.gulfcoastlegal.org

More information about the Expo can be found at Sarasota County’s web site, http://www.scgov.net/HomeHelp for online guidance in understanding what your options are.  Its Foreclosure Resource Assistance Network (FRAN) offers tips on avoiding foreclosure among other pertinent information.

Bank of America Writes Down a $405,000 mortgage loan to $85,000 Reverse Mortgage Saving an Elderly Man's home of 40 years

Reported by The Wall Street Journal October 21, 2009 Edition

Michael Drawdy, Bank of America's senior vice president for home retention, says the bank has issued approximately 20 reverse mortgages with write-downs to borrowers like Mr. Garcia who have 'dire circumstances.'

Download Elderly Man Able to Keep Home After Bank Agrees to Write Down Loa

GLS case in the news: Jury finds Rechnitz defrauded widow of her home in a foreclosure scam

http://www.tampabay.com/news/jury-finds-rechnitz-defrauded-widow-of-her-home-in-a-foreclosure-scam/1041173

Sarasota County, Florida, Circuit Court Judge Charles E. Williams presided over the trial of this case.

Director's Corner

  ____________________________

John P. Cunningham, Esquire, Executive Director

Which is more painful, losing your home through foreclosure or through a scam? That is a real stress test.   I am reminded of the dilemma in Robert Frost's poem, “Fire and Ice”. Neither disquieting choice is one we would opt for if there were a viable third choice. Many area homeowners facing loss of their residence through foreclosure or a fraud in the guise of a rescue, have turned to us for assistance. Gulfcoast's attorneys specializing in foreclosure mitigation and defense are more engaged in saving homes than as at anytime in the past thirty years. Local government has responded with some funding to support our home preservation work, that is itself preventing homelessness, which recent well documented studies have shown is dramatically increasing.

Gulfcoast Legal Servicesis also about to begin an Affordable Housing project, with a grant from The Florida Bar Foundation's Interest on Trust Accounts program. Our attorney will seek to work with government to stop the loss of vitally needed affordable housing units, and to support the development of new or rehabilitated affordable housing units for Pinellas residents.

    These efforts certainly will not bring an end to the housing crisis affecting our local communities, but we hope that they will create greater awareness of the genuine needs faced by many around us and that other institutions and government will be willing to join in saving and creating affordable dwellings.

If your lender forecloses, how long can you stay in your home?

BY GERALD J. "Jack" ROBINSON

It depends on whether you live in a state which requires judicial foreclosures. For example, in Florida lenders are required to bring a lawsuit to foreclose a mortgage. Say your lender serves you with foreclosure papers. Can you be thrown out on the street immediately? No way. Depending on the circumstances you may be able to stay in your home for months, or possibly permanently. Here’s the story.Download Foreclosure Resistance . If your mortgage note has been lost, the plaintiff has a foreclosure problem. This is not a do-it-yourself undertaking. But be careful who you ask for help: There are firms out there that advertise  they can help you prevent foreclosure  for a fee up front but don’t perform. There are many scam artists in the field. It’s best to check with a lawyer you know who is familiar with foreclosure proceedings as to whether you have a good defense.

Gerald J. Robinson, Esq., formerly tax counsel to the New York City law firm of Carb, Luria, Cook & Kufeld, is a member of the New York and Maryland bars.  He has also been appoitned by the Supreme Court of Florida to serve as an Emeritus Attorney in the State of Florida. He is the author of the  treatise,  Federal Income Taxation of Real Estate, now in its sixth edition. © Gerald J. Robinson gjrobinson@optonline.net

FHA Lenders Required to Modify Troubled Loans over new 360 month term

Having discovered that FHA lenders are calculating loan modifications which do not appreciably lower borrowers' monthly payments, a new Mortgagee Letter issued September 23, 2009 by HUD, requires FHA lenders to extend modifications over  new 360 month term and sets guidelines for interest rates.Download FHAHUDMortgageLetterSept232009360month

MERS System Undermined by Recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling

The Mortgage Machine Backfires by Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times, September 27, 2009, at

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/27gret.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=todayspaper&adxnnlx=1254067272-0chf/zBeGhv1X3y06nDmIQ

The Kansas Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling that a lender's failure to register its interest with the county clerk barred it from asserting rights to the mortgage after the judgment had been entered. The court also said that even though MERS was named as mortgagee on the second loan, it didn’t have an interest in the underlying property.

Grab homebuyer’s tax credit before it vanishes?

By  GERALD J. "Jack" ROBINSON from

NewJerseyNewsRoom.com Download Grab_homebuyers_credit

"I don't want to put a family on the street unless it's legitimate," Justice Arthur M. Schack said.

 

The New York Times August 31 2009 reports: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/nyregion/31judge.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hpw

Judge Schack says "no" to plaintiffs who can't show they own the note.

Observations on the rise of social media by leading Realtor Michael Saunders

Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me.