Miami Foreclosure Defense

Bankruptcy Of Mark Stopa’s Former Firm, Stay In My Home PA Creates Mess For Thousands Of Former Clients There good news and bad news for former clients of Mark Stopa’s former law firm, Stay In My Home PA. Here’s the good news. The bankruptcy judge has ordered a temporary halt to all court proceedings for Stopa’s former clients. This includes all circuit court and appellate court actions that Stopa and his former firm are the counsel of record. The bankruptcy court overseeing the bankruptcy of Stay In My Home PA issued the emergency order effective until November 6th. This could give hundreds of Florida homeowners a temporary respite from the threat of foreclosure. Stay in My Home PA filed a petition for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation on October 2nd. Bankruptcy Trustee Meininger filed the emergency motion. He stated it has been challenging to identify the cases because paper records are incomplete. In addition, Meininger is unable to access Stay In My Home PA’s ...

The Florida Supreme Court’s Bartram Decision Was Nothing More Than A Bailout For Florida Foreclosure Mills Homeowners began beating Florida foreclosure mills about five years ago. Thus, they were able to keep their home mortgage-free. However, they were winning because of some dramatic court showdown reminiscent of  Roe v.  Wade or  Brown v. Board of Education. The argument was a pretty simple one and it started an avalanche of homeowner victories across Florida. Florida foreclosure mills and Florida courts had a backlog of foreclosure cases because of the financial crisis. It also didn’t help that David Stern’s office went belly up. The mismanagement of foreclosures cases handled by foreclosure mills was common throughout Florida. Then one day a foreclosure defense attorney had an idea. He argued that lenders were only allowed to file a foreclosure case against a homeowner within five years of sending them a letter of acceleration letter. The la...

Mark Stopa’s Former Law Firm, Stay In My Home PA Officially Files For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Stay In My Home PA  is officially bankrupt. The former law firm of Florida foreclosure defense attorney Mark Stopa declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy Tuesday. The petition by Stay In My Home PA estimates the number of people and businesses owed money by the firm to be between 1,000 and 5,000. It includes the names and addresses of hundreds of individuals from all over Florida. Most of these individuals appear to be homeowners who had hired Stopa’s firm to keep them from foreclosure. The petition estimates the firm’s assets at $50,000 to $100,000. The petition also states that its liabilities are between $100,000 and $500,000. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing for Stay In My Home PA means the firm is liquidating any and all assets. Attorney Richard Mockler took over Stopa’s practice in July and signed the petition. He wrote several creditors: I had high hopes for success. But, I had no...

Lawyer Mark Stopa Allegedly Scammed $5 Million Off Foreclosure Clients With Equity Skimming Scam Lawyer Mark Stopa painted himself as the foreclosure messiah after the housing crash. Thousands of distraught homeowners bought into it and hire Stopa to keep them in their homes. Lawyer Mark Stopa helped many people hold on to their homes. He also acquired millions of dollars worth of property from other clients through a years-long pattern of fraud and deception. The alleged scheme to defraud clients and mortgage lenders has had a ripple effect throughout Florida. the scam has left thousands of foreclosure cases in limbo and Stopa’s firm about to file for bankruptcy. Tampa attorney Richard Mockler has tried unsuccessfully to salvage Stopa’s law practice. He told the Tampa Bay Times: Read more at MFI-Miami

Former Bankrate CFO Gets 10 Years In The Slammer For Cooking The Books To The Tune Of $25 Million Edward DiMaria is going to prison for 10 years. Former Bankrate  CFO Edward DiMaria  is going to prison for 10 years. The former Bankrate CFO pleaded guilty to orchestrating a fraud scheme that caused more than $25 million in shareholder losses. Bankrate is a publisher and news aggregator of personal finance content. The company also is a key lead generator for the financial services industry. DiMaria  pleaded guilty  in June to a laundry list of securities and bank fraud allegations. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a public company’s accountants and falsify a public company’s records and accounts. He also pleaded guilty to one count of making materially false statements to the SEC. DiMaria admitted that he directed and conspired to commit a complex scheme to artificially inflate Bankrate’s earnings. He u...

Only The Most Aggressive Tampa Bay Foreclosure Defense Can Stop Tampa Bay Foreclosures Only the most aggressive Tampa Bay foreclosure defense can stop Orlando foreclosures. MFI-Miami has created the most aggressive Tampa Bay foreclosure defense team Florida has ever seen! We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge any mortgage lender in a Tampa Bay area courtroom. Our competitors show off one or two victories but they can’t beat our track record. How do we know this? Because   we have the track record in Florida to prove it . MFI-Miami has become a lender’s worse nightmare. Why? MFI-Miami has successfully challenged some of the most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers and lenders in Florida. Steve Dibert has also helped keep lenders from discriminating against Hispanics and people of African and Caribbean descent. In addition, he has helped keep combat veterans in their homes.  Read more at MFI-Miami

Only The Most Aggressive Orlando Foreclosure Defense Stop Orlando Foreclosures Only the most aggressive Orlando foreclosure defense can stop Orlando foreclosures. MFI-Miami has created the most aggressive Orlando foreclosure defense team Florida has ever seen! We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge any mortgage lender in an Orlando area courtroom. Our competitors show off one or two victories but they can’t beat our track record. How do we know this? Because   we have the track record in Florida to prove it . MFI-Miami has become a lender’s worse nightmare. Why? MFI-Miami has successfully challenged some of the most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers and lenders in Florida. Steve Dibert has also helped keep lenders from discriminating against Hispanics and people of African and Caribbean descent. In addition, he has helped keep combat veterans in their homes.  Read more at MFI-Miami

House Candidate Jennifer Suidan Accused Of Embezzling $100,000 From Elected Official’s Campaign Account A Michigan House candidate is accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from another politician’s campaign funds. Jennifer Suidan  allegedly embezzled more than $100,000 from Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner’s campaign account. Meisner made the allegations at a  news conference from the  Goodman Acker  law firm. Suidan worked at the law firm and was fired because of the alleged embezzlement. She worked as a nonlawyer managing the campaign funds at the law firm for Meisner and other Democrats. The prominent suburban Detroit law firm handles primarily personal injury claims. The firm also handles funds for a number of prominent Democrats. Read more at MFI-Miami

The Most Aggressive Miami Foreclosure Defense Stop Miami Foreclosures Only the most aggressive Miami foreclosure defense can stop Miami foreclosures. That is why MFI-Miami has created the most aggressive Miami foreclosure defense team South Florida has ever seen! We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge any lender in a Miami or South Florida courtroom. Our competitors show off one or two victories but they can’t beat our track record. How do we know this? Because  we have the track record in Florida to prove it .  MFI-Miami has become a lender’s worst nightmare. Why? MFI-Miami has successfully challenged some of the most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers and lenders in South Florida. Steve Dibert has also helped keep lenders from discriminating against Hispanics and people of African and Caribbean descent. In addition, he has helped keep combat veterans in their homes.  Read more at MFI-Miami

Credit Freezes aka The Equifax Rule Allows Consumers To Put A Freeze On Who Can Pull Information  Consumers can now freeze their credit at all three of the major credit reporting agencies for free. The new rule went into effect yesterday. Industry insiders are dubbing it the “Equifax rule.” The  massive data breach  at Equifax led to a  push  to ban credit reporting agencies from charging to freeze someone’s credit. Each state had different rules about credit freezes. Some states allowed agencies to charge up to $10 to place a credit freeze. States also allowed credit agencies to charge $10 to lift the freeze. Not anymore. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act bans the practice. The act was signed into law by President Trump  earlier this year. Read more at MFI-Miami

New York City Mayor de Blasio Has Discovered A Cure For The Zombie Homes Plague In NYC! It’s lawsuits! New York State has been plagued by zombie homes in the decade since the financial crisis. Zombie homes are abandoned foreclosed homes that are owned by banks and lenders. In 2016  New York State passed a law  allowing the state and municipalities to fine lenders for not maintaining the property.  NYDFS also has the ability to slap a $500 per day fine on the lender for each property. As a result of the law, NYDFS  successfully sued PHH last year  for $119,000 for a single property in the Hudson Valley. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development is using the law to sue Citimortgage and Wells Fargo. They are also suing three mortgage servers that represent the two lenders. The largest one being Ocwen. New York’s zombie homes law designates both lenders and their mortgage servicers as responsible parties for the safety and securit...

ATTENTION MARK STOPA FORECLOSURE CLIENTS: MFI-Miami and our partner lawyers Are Here To Help! MFI-Miami wants to help Mark Stopa foreclosure clients keep their homes. Many of these clients have been left shell-shocked by the   downfall of Mark Stopa’s law firm .  We want to help them find a new credible lawyer in their area.       Being in foreclosure is stressful enough. However, having  an attorney suspended and his office raided  by law enforcement is not the stress homeowners in foreclosure need.   Mark Stopa has left nearly   4000 clients without legal representation   in the middle of their fight to save their home. MFI-Miami finds this unacceptable. Therefore, MFI-Miami has pledged to assist any Mark Stopa foreclosure clients to find credible legal representation. So they can continue in their fight to stay in their homes.  Read more at MFI-Miami

South Florida Foreclosures Are Skyrocketing Thanks To The Florida Supreme Court South Florida Foreclosures By Numbers A new study by Attom Data Solutions  shows that South Florida foreclosures are skyrocketing.  Florida had one of the highest rates of foreclosure starts in the United States in August compared to the same period last year. The report shows one in every 1,180 households in Florida had a Lis Pendens and foreclosure action filed against it. This is a 35% increase from the same time last year. Only New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland had higher rates of foreclosure starts. The Attom study also shows the number of foreclosure starts in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach jumped 29% in August. This also is the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year spikes in foreclosure. The spike in foreclosure starts in markets such as Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade is plagued by  income inequality  and  stagnant wages  that continue to worsen. ...

Broward County Judicial Candidate Leonore Greller Faces Scrutiny Over Past Ties To Loan Modification Scam Broward County Judicial Candidate Leonore Greller has figured out that the  internet never forgets thanks to  Buddy Nevins at Broward Beat . Especially if you were once in the crosshairs of MFI-Miami. The story begins in 2009 when I operated a sister website for MFI-Miami named  MFI-Mod Squad . MFI-Mod Squad was nothing more than a blog that exposed scam loan modification companies that popped up in the wake of the financial crisis. The site soon became one of the most popular financial blogs on the web. Finance journalists and celebrities read my articles. Former cast members of the Aaron Spelling TV show,  Mod Squad  that inspired the name, even became fans. MFI-Mod Squad blogs were responsible for the Federal Trade Commission passing what is known as the  MARS rule . The MARS rule bars loan modification companies from charging an upfr...

Citimortgage Pursues Foreclosure Against Veteran With The Zeal Of A Fat Guy At An All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Citimortgage has pursued Tom and Sandy Lennon with the zeal of a fat guy at an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese buffet. All Tom and Sandy Lennon wanted to do in 2008 was retire to Naples, Florida and play golf. The last thing they wanted was a decade-long legal battle with Citimortgage. Unfortunately, that is exactly what they got thanks to the 2008 financial collapse. Overnight, they discovered their house in Warwick, New York had lost 75% of its value. The Lennons soon found they couldn't sell their home. So they asked their lender, Citimortgage (Citi) for a short sale or a Cash-For-Keys deal. Citi oddly enough refused. The decision was odd because it made no sense at the time. The federal government had just bailed out Citi and every other lender was cutting deals. One of the requirements to receive  TARP money  was that the recipients had to assist homeowners...

Miami Escort Service Owner Indicted For Allegedly Filing Fraudulent Corporate and Individual Income Tax Returns The Federal government had indicted Dennis Zarudny for making and subscribing false tax returns. Zarudny is one of the top Miami escort service providers. Zarudny faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for each of the eight counts.  He also faces a period of supervised release and restitution. In addition, he also faces paying monetary penalties. The indictment also alleges that from 2011 through 2014 Zarudny filed with the IRS fraudulent corporate and personal income tax returns that underreported his business gross receipts and the income he earned from the business. Read more at MFI-Miami

Mortgage Servicing Fraud: Lender Document Experts Are Clueless About The Loans They Are Testifying About Lender document experts are usually clueless about the loans they are testifying about Judges in Florida are beginning to take a hard look at mortgage servicing fraud. Judges have the time to spend on a case now that foreclosures have subsided in Florida. This became evident in a case playing out in Miami where  two foreclosure mill attorneys now face criminal charges . The issues revolve around the question of how much first-hand knowledge a lender document expert actually has. In many cases, these "experts" claim they viewed the document on a computer screen. The computer is connected to a camera placed in the vault. They also like to claim that "everybody uses the same system" even when they don't have first-hand knowledge. Judges used to allow these claims during the Rocket Docket days. However, the days of a judge turning a blind eye to mo...

Florida Foreclosure Mill Attorneys Facing Criminal Charges For Not Turning Over Ditech Training Manual Two attorneys for Ditech Financial and a company representative face criminal charges in Miami. A judge found them in contempt for failing to turn over evidence in a civil foreclosure case. The attorneys for Ditech Financial failed to comply with a Miami-Dade judge’s order to produce training manuals discussed by Ditech representative Christopher Ogden in a deposition. Tromberg Law Group attorneys  Yacenda Hudson  and Amina McNeil along with Ogden were ordered to show why they shouldn’t be held in indirect criminal contempt of court.  This case is part of broader issues facing homeowners in foreclosure. Are loan servicers misleading courts about the process they follow? Loan servicers testify their records are accurate.  Miami attorney Bruce Jacobs of Jacobs Keeley told Law.com: I have been arguing for quite some time that there is a proble...

Homeowner Body Slams Bayview Loan Servicing And Their Lawyers In Dual Tracking Case Maryland homeowner Sherry L. Weisheit handed Bayview Loan Servicing an embarrassing defeat in her foreclosure case. She filed suit against Bayview Loan Servicing and their law firm Rosenberg and Associates for violating RESPA and FDCPA. Weisheit's suit revolves around Bayview Loan Servicing's failure to give her a loan modification. Bayview Loan Servicing denied the loan modification while proceeding with foreclosure. However, Weisheit qualified for a HAMP modification. Bayview Loan Servicing just didn't want to give her one and used a debunked excuse typical of a mortgage servicer. Read more at MFI-Miami

Are You Armed With Enough Weapons To Take On Bayview Loan Servicing? MFI-Miami has created a foreclosure defense team exclusively for Bayview Loan Servicing. The team's focus will solely be on helping homeowners develop strategies to fight Bayview Loan Servicing!  We are the only foreclosure and mortgage experts with the strength to successfully challenge Bayview Loan Servicing. Our competitors show off one or two victories against Bayview Loan Servicing. They can't beat our track record. How do we know this? We  have the   10-year track record   to prove it!  MFI-Miami's Bayview Loan Servicing foreclosure defense team is Bayview's worst nightmare. Why? MFI-Miami has successfully challenged some of their most arrogant foreclosure mill lawyers. MFI-Miami CEO Steve Dibert has developed a reputation for staring down the Wall Street banks. He has even humiliated Bayview's lawyers and made their executives sob like babies during ...