Foreclosure Foul-Up Wins Florida Man a Free Home

AOL Real Estate:

Amid all the foreclosure horror stories, every now and then we hear about a good outcome, whether it's by winning a lawsuit through a homestead loophole, because the lender didn't properly serve the owners, or because it doesn't really own the mortgage. Or in the case of one underwater Florida homeowner once facing foreclosure, the bank is simply walking away. The house is his, free and clear.

Read the whole story: AOL Real Estate

Comments

[frank day]

08:14 AM on 04/17/2011

That anyone should have to live in that crapdump speaks volumes to where we are and where we've been.

[builderman55]

10:44 AM on 04/16/2011

And why is he not in jail?? He's probably working for the GOP. Florida may need another criminal Governor...

[Jeff Kelly77]

03:44 AM on 04/15/2011

We submitted a request for a mortgage quote and received 3 great offers at "Mortgage Refinance 123". Thank you for helping us lower our house payment with 3.14% mortgage refinance rate. Highly recommend and best place for mortgage refinance.

[BonnieDoon]

05:18 AM on 04/15/2011

Huh?

[cats530]

12:33 PM on 04/15/2011

Spam.

[saint bernard mom]

06:43 PM on 04/14/2011

"That's what happened to Perry Laspina and an investment property he owns in Jacksonville, Fla."
 
Most of the foreclosures in my area (central Tx) are not homes that the owners live in but investment property. Investors have had a big impact on the housing crash, if the houses they bought couldn't be sold or rented, they let them go into foreclosure.
 
Glad to see this article shed some light on another aspect of the housing crash.

[Maranda MassieGuthrie]

06:43 PM on 04/14/2011

maybe they will start doing this with all home owners if the prices just plummet..fat luck!..to bad it was not a family, and a flipper instead..none the less still happy for him!

[concerned21 2]

02:02 AM on 04/15/2011

agreed

[cdecisneros]

05:18 PM on 04/14/2011

some people have all the luck.

[Peter007]

05:03 PM on 04/14/2011

This guy got lucky/

From the looks of the house, it wasn't worth the banks aggravation to contest this. I've owned properties in places where I concluded that NO ONE would ever want to live there.
Visit Detroit or parts of Camden NJ and there are sections where you can't pay people to live in those homes.
The Gaza strip might be a better investment.

[ThePeacemakers]

04:52 PM on 04/14/2011

It's almost like no one knows what anything is really worth anymore.
The estimated prices for that home were all over the place in a span of 5 years.

[joe kim]

04:15 PM on 04/14/2011

So it is more do the wrong thing and get the reward. Why would papers print this rubbish? This is a horrible story.

No one wants to hear about a flipper getting bailed out.

[BonnieDoon]

03:30 PM on 04/14/2011

Shame it was one of those "Flippers" that got off scot-free instead of a family who lost their home of many years because their income was decimated by a job loss or a bankruptcy caused by a catastrophic illness or accident.

[fortressfountain]

02:20 PM on 04/14/2011

If the court awarded a few more awards such as this-would this cause the banks to be more careful?
This does not seem to work for medical-reqardless of all of the suits for malpractice-one out of every 3 people are victims of medical errors.

[J0E1]

02:47 PM on 04/14/2011

You should read the article before commenting.

[Mechelle Gray]

01:54 PM on 04/14/2011

Good for him!

[OldTulsan]

01:48 PM on 04/14/2011

That should be the outcome of all foreclosures involving robo-signing, MERSCORP, DOCX...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/l-randall-wray/why-mortgagebacked-securi_b_802600.html
L. Randall Wray: Why Mortgage-Backed Securities Aren't (Backed by Securities): How MERS Toasted the Banks

"In a series of pieces I have argued that MERS, a creation of the mortgage banking industry, has effectively destroyed the institution of private property in America. Ironically, MERS was created to facilitate quick and easy and cheap securitization of mortgages -- what are called mortgage-backed securities. In fact, what it did was to eliminate any backing of the securities by mortgages. Of the total securitized asset universe, something like $7 trillion are (supposedly) backed by residential mortgages. However, MERS helped to delink the securities from the mortgages. At best, they are unsecured debt -- there is no property backing the securities. What this means is that foreclosure is not permitted. As I have said before, it is likely that most or even all foreclosures occurring in the US are illegal seizures of property -- home thefts. We are talking about 100,000 completed home thefts per month, with another 250,000 new foreclosures started to steal homes every month. Projections are that 13 million homes will have been "foreclosed" (read: stolen) by 2012.

Worse, from the perspective of the banks, they've got to take back all the fraudulent MBSs, most of which are toxic..."

[Jen Celli]

05:21 PM on 04/14/2011

Thanks for the links OT.

[OldTulsan]

05:34 PM on 04/14/2011

You're welcome.

[cats530]

01:36 PM on 04/14/2011

“You have stated in your letter that it was never your intent to circumvent your legal obligations,” Blanc wrote. “Your legal obligations are clearly spelled out in the law. The alternatives you suggest for terminating your representation in your most recent letter are not legally recognized.
Blanc has called case management status hearings for all of Stern’s cases. If no one shows up to represent the plaintiffs in the case, the foreclosure could be dismissed."

http://4closurefraud.org/2011/04/14/chief-judge-peter-blanc-objects-to-foreclosure-mills-ie-david-sterns-proposals/

[lrobb]

01:33 PM on 04/14/2011

Wouldn't it be nice to think banks were finally understanding discretion is the better part of valor.

If this property appraises for $42k, it would probably sell in the $20k range as an REO. The bank would have more than that in holding costs--maintenance, taxes and legal fees--even suppoing they could sell it at all within a year in today's market.

The owner probably has at least that much currently tied up in renovations, downpayment, taxes and holding costs so no one is making out like a bandit here. It is just that the owner can now afford to rent it at the low market rate until the economy improves.

[Peter007]

05:06 PM on 04/14/2011

If an appraiser says a property is worth $42,000, then it should sell for $42,000.
They could say, it would sell for $42,000 if it were repaired, but usually, the condition and the poor market is factored into the value.