FDN attorney Jeff Barnes, Esq. has just been successful, with the assistance of local counsel, in halting, at 1:58 p.m. today (January 29, 2009), an eviction order in Washington State which would have, as of 6:00 p.m. this evening, caused four tenants to be literally thrown out into the cold and the street as a result of an eviction order which was procured illegally by the “lender” who wrongfully foreclosed in violation of state statutes. The property owner has also sued the lender for damages and other relief.

[Lender’s name redacted] through its attorneys in Washington, obtained stay relief in the borrower’s bankruptcy proceeding to pursue a foreclosure. Washington, which is a non-judicial “trustee” state, requires that a Notice of Sale be not only recorded but sent to the borrower by certified mail 90 days prior to the date of the sale in order to place the borrower on notice of the lender’s intent to sell the property. The statute provides that if no challenge to the sale is made prior to the sale that the borrower waives any right to challenge the sale.

In blatant and deliberate violation of the Statute and in an apparent attempt to manufacture an alleged “waiver,” [lender name redacted] conducted a “sale” less than 4 days after obtaining stay relief and “sold” the property to itself without ever providing any notice to the borrower. It then sought to evict the tenants of the property incident to the wrongful foreclosure.

Swift and decisive action by FDN attorney Barnes resulted in the Superior Court entering a Temporary Restraining Order today which halted the eviction of the 4 tenants, who include a single mother with a 2 year-old child, a single man with disabilities and two other tenants with difficulties as well.

[Lender’s name redacted] has also recently engaged in fraudulent conduct in another case in Florida. After previously selling a borrower’s mortgage and note to [lender’s name redacted] as of the date of the closing in 2005, [lender’s name redacted] allegedly “assigned” the mortgage to an entity called “Liquidation Properties, Inc.” in 2008. Written confirmation has been obtained that Citimortgage still owns the subject mortgage and thus the “Assignment” filed with the Court by [name redacted] and [name redacted] attorneys (which assignment was drafted by the same attorneys) was per se fraudulent and utilized to fraudulently obtain a foreclosure. The borrower has filed for post-judgment relief and the actions of the offending attorneys are being investigated by regulatory authorities.

Tiffany Goldwater

FDN Professional Assistant