January 18, 2023

A New Mexico District Judge has today denied Fannie Mae’s motion to reinstate a case which was dismissed for lack of prosecution. The homeowner is represented by Jeff Barnes, Esq., who previously vacated a judgment in favor of FNMA. Although FNMA claimed that it was going to ask the Court to reinstate the case, the Court declined to do so, ruling that FNMA had not demonstrated excusable neglect or good cause for its ignoring the case for an extended period of time without prosecuting it.

FNMA claimed that the delay in prosecution was due to “pending receipt of a client executed Affidavit attesting to the accuracy of the amounts Plaintiff will seek in Judgment.”

New Mexico law permits the dismissal of an action where 180 days pass with no activity. Here, the Court did not dismiss the action for lack of prosecution until 394 days had passed with no activity, which was the period beginning from the date that the Final Judgment was vacated (that being May 10, 2021) to the date that the Court issued its Notice of impending dismissal for lack of prosecution (which was on June 8, 2022).

New Mexico case law requires a party to demonstrate “exceptional circumstances” to support a request for reinstatement of a case after a dismissal for lack of prosecution. Mr. Barnes cited to a case from the Supreme Court of New Mexico which affirmed the denial of a request for reinstatement where there was no significant activity for 1.5 years.

The homeowner was and is represented by Jeff Barnes, Esq. together with local New Mexico counsel Ana Garner, Esq.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

February 22, 2022

The Foreclosure Defense Nationwide network has formally teamed up with Dr. Andre Larabie, who has spent over 25 years as a professional debt negotiator in connection with commercial, business, and residential loans. W.J. Barnes, P.A. has worked with Dr. Larabie for over 22 years in many different litigation matters across the United States, and continues to do so.

Dr. Larabie is a member of Foreclosure Resolutions and Solutions LLC (website: www.foreclosureresolutionsandsolutions.com), and is currently working with Mr. Barnes on the formation of another entity and website to assist homeowners with resolving mortgage loan issues including negotiation, document review and preparation, mediation assistance, and expert witness services.

Dr. Larabie is also the President and founder of Commercial Debt Negotiation which was founded in 1994. He has authored many books on the subject. The website is: www.commercialdebtnegotiation.us.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., Foreclosure Defense Nationwide

January 6, 2022

Today, a St. Johns’ County, Florida Circuit Court Judge denied a Motion to Dismiss the homeowners’ Second Amended Complaint against Ocwen Loan Servicing and Homeward Financial which seeks to enforce what the homeowner Plaintiffs assert is a settlement agreement reached as the result of a confirmed Chapter 13 Plan by which Ocwen, as the secured creditor, accepted less than the amount claimed by Ocwen. Jeff Barnes, Esq. represents the homeowner Plaintiffs and argued the Motion via Zoom today.

The matter arose out of a foreclosure. The homeowners assert that Ocwen and Homerward, through their actions in accepting the Plan and Plan payments and inactions as well in failing to object to the Plan, failing to appeal the Plan Confirmation Order, and failing to make the appropriate filings in the Bankruptcy Court to preserve alleged rights, resulted in a compromise and settlement of Ocwen’s claim. Ocwen admitted that it “assumed” that the Proof of Claim “covered” Ocwen without Ocwen having to undertake any further action. The Judge ruled that the matters in the Motion to Dismiss were appropriately matters of defense.

Ocwen and Homeward have taken the position that the Plan payments constituted “adequate protection” payments. The homeowners have asserted that once the Plan was confirmed, the payments made under the Plan were payments to creditors on their claims, and not “adequate protection”. Ocwen and Homeward have never denied that they did not object to the Plan, did not appeal the Plan Confirmation Order, and did not file any other papers in the Bankruptcy to place anyone on notice that they intended to seek additional monies from the homeowners over and above.

The Judge stated that the matter now proceeds into discovery.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

October 13, 2021

W.J. Barnes, P.A. now accepts payments by standard credit cards such as MasterCard, VISA, and American Express through a company which offers this service to law Firms at no cost to clients. Please e-mail our paralegal Tiffany at [email protected] for information.

Clients had requested the ability to pay by credit card for years, but the fees and quotas made this impracticable until now, as the service we have contracted with has no minimums, quotas, or fees to clients.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., ForeclosueDefenseNationwide.com

August 11, 2021

A phenomena has recently emerged in mortgage loan situations across the United States involving homeowners’ attempts at loan modification and other forms of loss mitigation where servicers are engaging in what appears to be intentional misconduct, such as first advising homeowners that their applications are complete but thereafter advising, on some occasions the next day, that their application is “incomplete” without advising what information or documentation is missing and notwithstanding that correspondence from the servicer states that it will notify a homeowner of what information or documentation is missing.

In other situations, denials are being issued on the alleged ground of “exceeding the number of times you can request modification” where there has been no prior request to the specific servicer and where the prior application was made over 10 years ago, and notwithstanding the fact that the modification request was made due to a change in financial circumstances and where the servicer’s guidelines provide that applications for modification may be made due to a change in financial circumstances.

In one case, the servicer changed its position no less than 4 times in as many months, first advising the homeowner that the application was complete, then stating that it was incomplete, then reversing itself again to state that it was complete, and on and on.

In another case, the homeowners applied for a loan modification over 15 years ago and there was never a decision on the application. The servicer’s principal, a “trustee” of a securitization Trust, then filed a second foreclosure action which has taken the position that the recent loan modification application cannot stand as there was a prior application.

In yet another case, the servicer was provided with a complete loan modification application no less than five (5) times. The servicer never advised that the application was incomplete, and the homeowner never received any letter from the servicer as to the application. An alleged “denial letter” was first produced over a month after the homeowner filed a Motion in the foreclosure case asserting that applicable Code of Federal Regulations precluded the advancement of the foreclosure once the completed loan modification application was submitted, with the letter being dated less than one week after the homeowner submitted his complete application to the servicer. The letter claimed that the application was denied because there was a prior application and thus the homeowner had “exceeded the maximum number of opportunities” to seek loan modification even though (a) no prior loan modification had been submitted to that servicer, and (b) the prior application was submitted to a different entity over 13 years ago.

It thus appears that it is time to sue these servicers for their misconduct including violating the very provisions of their own documents upon which homeowners rely in applying for a loan modification in the first place; failing to provide information which their own documents say they will provide; and to stop the nonsense which appears to be interposed for no other reason than to permit foreclosures to proceed. Significant here is that there is evidence that servicers are paid a fee for helping a foreclosure to proceed (by denying a request for loan modification), thus indicating that servicers may be part of a corrupt enterprise.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

July 15, 2021

A Charlotte County, Florida Circuit Judge has today entered an Order which vacated a Judicial Default and Final Summary Judgment of Foreclosure on the granting of a Sworn Motion of the homeowner prepared and filed by Jeff Barnes, Esq. The July 7, 2021 sale was previously cancelled.

The homeowner filed a pro se appearance in the case and requested additional time to respond to the Plaintiff’s Complaint and Amended Complaint. The Plaintiff thereafter moved for a judicial default. The Court entered a judicial default one day after the receipt date of the request for judicial default given Florida’s 5-day mailing rule.

The Court conducted a hearing, and ultimately found that the judicial default was entered in contravention of law as it was entered without affording the homeowner a reasonable time to respond to the request for a judicial default. The homeowner’s Answer and Affirmative Defenses, which were filed with the Sworn Motion, have been deemed filed.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

April 29, 2021

A District Judge in Albuquerque, New Mexico today granted a homeowner’s motion to vacate a default judgment of foreclosure and to void the foreclosure sale. The homeowner is represented by Jeff Barnes, Esq. who prepared the motion and briefing and argued the matter this morning.

The homeowner had suffered years of health problems both personally and as to her family. Her mother passed away in her arms, and she had also been the victim of domestic abuse. Fannie Mae filed a foreclosure action and obtained a default judgment. All of this occurred while the homeowner was being devastated with personal tragedies and monumental life crises of her own and as to her family, and she was also under the understanding that foreclosures had been abated due to COVID.

The property was sold to a third party. Fannie Mae must now return the proceeds paid at the sale, and the property will be deeded back to the homeowner.

The Motion was predicated upon New Mexico rules of procedure which permit the Court to vacate a judgment and orders where there is a reason why the lawsuit was not responded to and where there is a defense, and also where exceptional circumstances exist to vacate a judgment or order.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

March 12, 2021

Today, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal, which handles appeals from Circuit Courts in the southwestern part of Florida (Naples, Ft. Myers, etc.), issued its decision in the matter of Gwen E. Christ v. Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Fla. 2d DCA Case No. 2D19-4131. The 10-page opinion reversed a final judgment of foreclosure with directions to enter final judgment in favor of Ms. Christ, who was represented both at trial and on appeal by Jeff Barnes, Esq.

The opinion is the second Florida victory for Mr. Barnes on what is known as the “paragraph 22” condition precedent issue in a foreclosure case. Paragraph 22 of the Mortgage has certain specific requirements as to a default/acceleration letter which must be complied with in order for a foreclosure judgment to stand. The opinion clarifies that it is the foreclosing party’s burden to prove that it complied with paragraph 22, and not the burden of the homeowner to demonstrate any specific deficiency; the Court held that if the foreclosing party alleges in the Complaint that it complied with conditions precedent and the homeowner denies that allegation and asserts a defense of noncompliance, this places the foreclosing party on notice that it has to prove its compliance at trial.

In this case, the paragraph 22 letter did not have any letterhead; the Plaintiff’s representative admitted that he did not work for the prior servicer (which was claimed to have generated the letter); and had no knowledge of the prior servicer’s business practices as to sending out such letters, and there was no evidence that the letter was ever sent to Ms. Christ.

The Court of Appeals also granted Ms. Christ’s Motion for Appellate Attorneys’ Fees as well.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

December 11, 2020

Several months ago, Mr. Barnes predicted to his network attorneys and associates that a foreclosure and eviction avalanche was on the way due to COVID-19 and its affects, and that the deluge would hit beginning in January of 2021 when the CDC eviction ban expired.

Today, a major news network announced that an “avalanche” (their word) of foreclosures and evictions are poised to be filed as of January 1, 2021. The news network previously reported that the CDC moratorium on foreclosures and evictions will in fact expire on December 31, 2020 and will not be extended as the banks’ position is that they have “waited long enough” and are not agreeing to continue to halt foreclosures and evictions.

In Florida alone, more then 12,000 new evictions are scheduled to be filed as of Monday, January 4, 2021. Another source has advised that in Las Vegas, Nevada, over 200,000 (yes, two hundred thousand) eviction cases are slated to be filed beginning in January.

As with the mountain of foreclosures and evictions which were filed after the economic crash of 2008, there will be new defenses to the foreclosures and evictions to be filed in January which have their roots in contract law when an event like a pandemic causes those being foreclosed and evicted from being unable to make their rent and mortgage payments. As those of you who have followed this website over the years are aware, Mr. Barnes spent years developing and presenting new defenses to foreclosures and evictions which arose out of the circumstances of the 2008 crash. He intends to do so again with the current oncoming onslaught of foreclosures and evictions caused by an event which no one in this lifetime has ever seen before.

Our national attorney network and our affiliated full-service company, Foreclosure Resolutions and Solutions LLC, are ready to assist with defense of foreclosures and evictions, debt negotiation and resolution (commercial and residential), mortgage loan services (e.g. refinancing), short payoff negotiations, and relocation services as well.

Please visit the website at www.ForeclosureResolutionsandSolutions.com.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., Foreclosure Defense Nationwide

October 6, 2020

W.J. Barnes, P.A. has joined Foreclosure Resolutions and Solutions, LLC, which is a multi-service company providing debt and loan negotiation services, business management services, defense to foreclosure and eviction actions, real estate services, and relocation services to clients worldwide. The LLC was established by Dr. Andre Larabie and Jeff Barnes, who have worked together for over twenty (20) years.

The website is www.Foreclosureresolutionsandsolutions.com. Profiles of the Team are displayed on a dedicated page. Narratives describing specific aspects and events in a foreclosure are also on separate pages under their respective titles.

Dr. Larabie is an internationally recognized expert in debt restructuring and negotiation and business management, and is the author of several books. Mr. Barnes has been a full-time litigator for over 32 years who has litigated in 39 states and at both the trial and appellate levels in state and Federal Courts and has established law in several states. Dianne Jennings is a real estate expert and financial strategist and a Certified Financial Education Instructor who works with the National Financial Educators Council and served as an instructor at the Brookshire Professional Training Institute.

FRS LLC has already received numerous requests for assistance, and testimonials have been provided from satisfied clients of members of the Team, some of which are posted on the homepage of the website.

Mr. Barnes will continue to represent homeowners and renters through W.J. Barnes, P.A. as he has done for over 12 consecutive years to date.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com