December 30, 2016

In response to overwhelming demand, FDN’s Jeff Barnes, Esq. will begin his webinar series in January, 2017. The webinars will be held on Fridays and will last 90 minutes (60 minutes of presentation followed by 30 minutes for Q&A from participants). The cost is $99.00, which is paid through PayPal. Written materials will be provided to each paid participant in advance of the webinar.

The first installment of the webinar series will be Initial Case Analysis and Identification of Issues, which will cover what issues to look for in a case and basic matters of defense.

Details as to the dates and times of the webinars will be provided shortly after January 2, 2017. We wish everyone a happy, healthy, and successful New Year.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

December 13, 2016

FDN is pleased to announce the addition of Donna Douglas, Esq. of Brooklyn, New York to the attorney network. Mr. Barnes has been forging a relationship with Ms. Douglas for over a month, and met with Ms. Douglas for most of the day yesterday in New York reviewing cases and interviewing clients before attending Court in Brooklyn where Mr. Barnes was admitted pro hac vice.

Ms. Douglas will be working with Mr. Barnes handling foreclosure cases in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County at this time, with expansion plans being in the works.

Some of the cases reviewed involve mortgage documents with forged borrower signatures. This pattern is on the rise, especially in cases which were originally filed as “lost note” cases or where a copy of the Note was not attached to the Complaint. Several of the cases involve elderly borrowers, which is another disturbing pattern.

Mr. Barnes will thus be pursuing Fraud on the Court and other causes of action where borrowers signatures have been forged in an apparent attempt to lend credibility to an otherwise infirm foreclosure action.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

December 9, 2016

A Hillsborough County (Tampa) Circuit Judge has denied summary judgment in a case involving a WaMu loan origination which (allegedly) passed to JPMorgan Chase following WaMu’s demise and FDIC receivership and (allegedly) notwithstanding WaMu’s Bankruptcy filing the day after it went into receivership. The loan was then (allegedly) sold multiple times to three different entities. Each time the borrower amended his defenses to address a sale of the loan and substitution of Plaintiff, the loan was sold again. The 4th downline transferee, which is a private limited partnership, is now seeking to foreclose. The borrower is represented by Jeff Barnes, Esq., who prepared the formal opposition to the MSJ and argued it this week. The case is now set for trial in February, 2017.

Separately, FDSeminars’ foreclosure defense seminar series will be resuming beginning in February, 2017. The first seminar will be held on Friday, February 3, 2017 in Boca Raton, Florida at 1515 North Federal Highway (Atrium Building). The second seminar will be held in the Miami area on Friday, March 3, 2017. The third and fourth seminars will be held in Tampa and Orlando, Florida. One will be held on April 7, 2017 and the other on a date in early May which is being finalized. Locations will be announced shortly.

Attorneys will receive a minimum of 7 CLE credits. We are in the process of seeking to obtain CLE credits for both general and specific practice areas as well. We will also be videotaping the seminar so that interested parties who cannot physically attend may purchase the seminar in video format.

Details can be found at the website, www.FDSeminars.com.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

December 2, 2016

A Santa Fe County, New Mexico Judge has ordered the deposition of the representative of Bank of New York who signed an alleged “conflict wavier” which was prepared after the homeowner filed a Motion to Disqualify Plaintiff’s counsel due to a conflict of interest. Jeff Barnes, Esq. represents the homeowner together with local NM counsel Guy Beckley, Esq.

Bank of NY as the alleged trustee of a Countrywide home equity (HEQ) securitization Trust sued the homeowner for foreclosure. Counsel for BNY prepared an assignment which purported to transfer the loan to BNY as the trustee of a different Countrywide securitization trust (an ALT). The law Firm then sued its own client (BNY as Trustee for the HEQ Trust) and sought a default against its own client, doing so without proof of service on its own client, without evidence of a waiver of conflict, and as part of its Motion for Default and Summary Judgment.

The homeowner filed a Motion to Disqualify the law Firm based on the conflict of interest in the Plaintiff’s law Firm suing its own client and seeking a default against its own client in connection with the alleged transfer of the loan from one securitization trust to another. The law Firm thereafter filed an alleged “conflict waiver” signed by a representative of BNY which was not in affidavit form or otherwise authenticated.

At the hearing yesterday, Mr. Barnes requested, at a minimum, that the deposition of the BNY employee who signed the alleged conflict waiver be taken. The Court agreed over the vociferous objection of the attorney from the Plaintiff’s law Firm, and also ordered that the deposition be filed after which time the Court will review the testimony and rule on the disqualification motion

Under New Mexico law, a motion for disqualification must be ruled upon before any other proceedings go forward. Thus, the Plaintiff’s MSJ will not be entertained until the disqualification motion has been decided.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com