KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
After a single mom from Saugus lost her home in an allegedly illegal foreclosure, a realtor in Santa Clarita is teaming up with his wife, a real estate attorney, in a pro bono fight for justice.
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When Sarah Adams* first contacted Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group in a desperate attempt to get her home back after it had been foreclosed on, Szerman admitted her story seemed strange.
“She tells me her house has been foreclosed on despite the fact that she got a loan modification,” Szerman recalled, noting that his initial response was that she must not have made her first payment as instructed by the bank. But Adams then told him that the foreclosure took place before the modification had even begun.
Related: Family With 2 Disabled Sons Facing Foreclosure Due To ‘Obscene’ Behavior By SLS Bank (VIDEO)
“I was very skeptical, because what she just described is a massive violation of the law on the bank’s part,” Szerman continued.
When Adams met with Szerman at his office, she showed him a letter from the bank informing her that they had received everything they needed to consider her loan modification request, and that all foreclosure activity had been postponed while the bank reviewed the request.
Adams explained that 10 days later, with no news of a decision on the modification from the bank, a stranger had knocked on her door, telling her that he had bought the house in foreclosure and she needed to leave immediately.
She continued that she had tried to fight her eviction for about three weeks, and during that time, in another strange turn of events, she had received a second letter from the bank telling her the loan modification had been approved and she could start making the adjusted payments.
While seemingly unethical foreclosures are far too common in Szerman’s line of work providing free foreclosure defense services to the public, he noted that this case goes one step further and blatantly violates the law.
“They’re rarely this black and white,” Szerman said. “There’s something in California called the Homeowner Bill of Rights. What it says is, if the mortgager and the mortgagee are working in good faith to resolve a problem, the bank cannot foreclose. The actual word that’s used in the law is ‘advance the foreclosure process.’”
By the time Adams sought out Szerman’s help, she had already been forced to surrender her keys to the new homeowner and move out, and she said she had even been advised by a representative at the bank to get an attorney because it appeared they had made a “mistake.”
But like most homeowners who have been unjustly foreclosed on by their banks, Szerman noted that Adams simply doesn’t have the estimated $50,000 or more in attorney’s fees needed to get her inside a courtroom.
“You have to have an attorney that’s willing to step up and do this, and luckily for me and for this client, we have my wife,” Szerman said, noting that Jane Szerman has volunteered to be Adams’ real estate attorney pro bono.
“This poor woman lost her house, and to top it all off, she had equity — quite a lot of it. She had about $200,000 in equity,” Szerman said. “They stole (her) equity, that’s what happened. They stole (her) house. It’s just that simple.”
And while the husband-wife team plan to fight for a monetary settlement for Adams in court, she unfortunately will not be given back her house no matter the outcome, according to Szerman.
“Judges will not undo foreclosures, even in circumstances like this,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘You have a judgement against the bank for a lot of money, but go buy a new house. You don’t get that one back, because the guy who bought it, it wasn’t his fault.’”
While Adams has a long road ahead of her before she sees any form of restitution from the bank, Szerman remains confident that he and his wife can ensure justice is served.
“We’ll work it out for her,” he said. “It’s going to take some time, but she’ll be alright.”
To contact Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group for free foreclosure defense services, call/text 661-714-1400 or click here.
* Name has been changed.
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Everyone, make a note of the mortgager. Who’s next ?
A few years ago, Bank of America, who held my mortgage loan, put me into foreclosure by mistake. My first clue was having too much money in my bank account. Investigated and found they had not accepted my most recent payment. Not only that, they would not allow me to make the payment then because I was in foreclosure. Whenever I called I would immediately be transferred to the loser department and treated as such. It was a nightmare. I never applied for a loan mod. All my payments were always on time and current. They said someone in the office made a mistake and she should not have done that, but the employees and managers I spoke with were not sure how to stop a foreclosure process once it has started. That was the scariest part. For two weeks, I went home every day expecting either an eviction notice on my door or one of those realty locks. I’m glad I discovered it early and kept on them until they fixed it. I could have lost my home by mistake. It happens.
Who is the bank?
After 11 years of litigation against Wells Fargo, which included two foreclosures, three bankruptcies, two adversary actions within the Chapter 13’s, two appeals, one fraud suit, one bribed judge, and a State Supreme Court that threw 200 years of real property law, the Uniform Commercial Code, and every other contract and fraud statute in the garbage, I can attest to the fraudulent actions of the alleged “servicers”, “trustees”, “attorneys in fact”, supported and indeed supported by the judiciary throughout the country.
Make no mistake, an undisclosed stranger to the mortgage transaction will take the home from you. Is it the US Treasury under TARP (Elizabeth Warren was the Chief Administrator of TARP)? A hedge fund? The lawyer that filed the foreclosure? One never knows….
The problem is she had defaulted on her original contract with the bank regardless. It’ll be a good fight but don’t plan on getting your house back, if anything goes her way she’ll be paid handsomely but won’t get the house back…she’ll be fighting the bank, the investor will be fighting the bank, and any compensation due will be without the house.
Illegal foreclosures are ENABLED by Judiciary across the Country. The real criminals are JUDGES, banks merely use a license to steal given to them by JUDGES.
Banks make about $12-$25 by stealing borrowers identities to trade on the open market as derivatives; and receive tax-free mortgage payments PLUS revenue from stolen homes, also tax free
Banks do not need our pathetic mortgage payments, they need our homes, this is how they can cover up for fatally damaged Titles – which JUDGES launder through the court, as well as banks tax evasion
Disgusting!!! Just like the Liberals/Democrats are doing to President Trump!! The demons have no conscience of what those creatures do—They worship Mammon!!