Success Stories

It is unfortunate but there is a widespread belief held by many that the financial records that banks and other large corporations keep records are perfect that are utterly reliable. Our office has fought numerous cases against large corporations, nothing could be further from the truth. I am not referring to instances of intentional misconduct, people “cooking the books”, though such does occur, nor things like a cable company “accidentally” over-charging one month, nor documents being lost by mistake, checks not being cashed when they should have etc. Rather, many people believe that actual errors in the math by banks and other large corporations don’t happen. There is a common misconception that such large entities must always get fundamentals right, except when they get it wrong on purpose to try to cheat their customers.

A tiny error just won several cases worth thousands of dollars for one of our clients. A discrepancy of less than a dollar.

We recently questioned a bookkeeper for a “debt buyer”, a company that buys old credit card debts and then sues people for them. After examining hundreds of pages of documents we found there was a discrepancy in two of the pages on how much our client owed, a discrepancy of less than a dollar. Not all of the records matched. It is entirely possible, in fact it is probable that our attorneys were the first human beings to ever actually read the documents since they were all computer generated. Still, we found a discrepancy of less than a dollar and the bookkeeper we were questioning admitted that it was a discrepancy, that the numbers should have matched and that they had no explanation for it.

Approximately ten minutes later several cases settled, debts of thousands allegedly owed by one of our clients were wiped out and the debt buyer agreed to pay our client a substantial amount for harassing them.

All over less than a dollar?

Courts in Florida have to comply with what is called the “code of evidence” and a thorny legal issue called “hearsay”. It is not entirely right to say that hearsay rule provide that if a Court wants to review certain records, they need a person from the company that made them present to do so. That is not strictly speaking right, but it is a close enough description for a non-lawyer to understand what happened in this case. Do not use that definition in a court case, it is not correct. For a corporation to get records into evidence they have to prove that the records were made as part of a regular, common and consistent process. By finding a discrepancy of less than a dollar we demonstrated that either the credit card company made a mistake, or the debt buyer did which meant that it was highly unlikely they could get any of their papers into the official court record, which means their case would be lost because they would not be able to prove our client owed anything.

All over what was probably a minor computer glitch of less than a dollar.

If you are sick you go to a doctor.

If your car is not working you go to a mechanic.

If you need tax advice you go to an accountant.

If you are having legal problems, contact a lawyer and if not our firm, then another one.

Even if the error above was found by a non-lawyer, which is unlikely, it is unlikely it could be effectively wielded as a weapon to win the case. Our office offers absolutely free consultations and we would be happy to discuss what we might be able to do to help you.

Loan Lawyers has helped over 5,000 South Florida homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 1,800 homes from foreclosure, eliminated $100,000,000 in mortgage principal and consumer debt, and have collected millions of dollars on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations, negligence and fraud.

Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you.

Results may not be typical. You may not have as beneficial a result.

Client came to us anxious and crying because she was on the verge of losing her home, not because of missed mortgage payments, property taxes, or HOA assessments, but because ten years ago she had an air conditioning unit installed and had not realized that some of the documents she signed were indeed a mortgage against her home. What started off as a $14,000 loan turned into nearly $40,000 owed because of interest, attorney’s fees, and other charges. Due to missed payments on that loan, the creditor filed a foreclosure action against Client.

Since the fair market value of client’s home is slightly less than the balance owed on the first mortgage, we were successful in stripping the air conditioning loan, eliminating that debt completely in the bankruptcy and debtor was able to save her home.

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Loan Lawyers has helped over 5,000 South Florida homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 2,000 homes from foreclosure, eliminated more than $100,000,000 in mortgage principal and consumer debt, and have recovered over $10,000,000 on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations. Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you.

Clients Andreas and Claudia Goers came to Loan Lawyers in March of 2016 to represent them in a pending foreclosure action, having been previously successfully represented by our office in a prior FC action. The clients had lost stable employment and that they wanted us to help them get a loan modification. If that was unsuccessful, they wanted us to keep the case going until they could find employment and eventually qualify for a loan modification.

Shortly after our appearance in the foreclosure case, we filed our answer and affirmative defenses and began working with the Plaintiff’s counsel to attempt to get our client a modification.  We were able to get the Plaintiff to extend our clients a trial modification in early 2017 and the Plaintiff moved to have the case placed on inactive status. The terms of the trial modification were not beneficial to our clients and ultimately they determined that it was not in their best interest to accept the terms that had been offered.

The Case

The case became active again July of 2017.  In May of 2017, the Plaintiff propounded Requests for Production, Requests for Admissions, and Interrogatories upon our clients. We timely filed motions extending our response periods and we responded timely to the Plaintiff’s discovery requests. Depositions of our clients were noticed and at the end of 2017, after being reset, were taken at the end of January 2018. Prior to the depositions, we thoroughly prepared our clients for the questions that would be addressed and attended the scheduled depositions with them to protect their interests.

Overall, this foreclosure case was set for trial 4 times and our trial attorneys thoroughly prepared themselves and our clients for trial each time. The last time that the case was set for trial was on January 8, 2019. Several weeks prior to the trial, our clients were finally able to find full-time employment out of state and they determined that they wanted to surrender the property to the Plaintiff. We discussed with our clients how this decision should be presented to the Plaintiff,and we were able to negotiate a settlement of the foreclosure action where the Plaintiff actually agreed to pay our clients a significant cash amount for the settlement and that money is very helpful to them as they relocate out of state for their new jobs.

Our clients had retained us to defend their foreclose matter until they could locate employment and modify their loan and we worked diligently to help them realize this outcome for nearly 3 years. Obviously, this plan changed as the case progressed and our clients’ employment opportunities took them out of state to start over. Ultimately, we were able to negotiate a significant settlement agreement that worked better for them as their goals changed.

Loan Lawyers has helped over 5,000 South Florida Homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 2,000 homes from foreclosure, eliminated more than $100,000,000 in Mortgage Principle and consumer debt, and have recovered over $10,000,000 on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations. Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you.

“Results may not be typical. You may not have as beneficial a result.” Mandatory disclosure from The Florida Bar.

Our client recently tried to take out a loan and discovered that a judgment for tens of thousands of dollars had been entered against for a different loan which they had supposedly not paid in the past. Our client had no idea about the lawsuit or the judgment and had never been sent anything in the mail, nor were they ever served a copy of the complaint. While the actual procedure to notify someone of a lawsuit can be a little more nuanced, it is fair(but not entirely accurate) to say that before you can win a court case against someone, most of the time, you need a hand a copy of the lawsuit to them, or to someone who lives with them. That was simply never done to our client, despite papers being filed with the courthouse claiming that it had been done.

According to the documents filed with the courthouse, the “return of service”, (an unknown person with a physical description which did not in any way resemble our client or any member of their household) had been served a copy of the complaint years ago. We were able to contact the employer of our client and obtain documents proving that at the time our client was supposedly served, years ago, our client was at work. We also swiftly obtained sworn written statements from every member of our client’s household stating that no one who even remotely matched the physical description of our client had ever lived there. This seemed to be an instance of what is called “sewer service”, where a process server writes a generic description of a person, claims they did not share their name and just threw away the papers, though it is possible it was a clerical error.

In the end, we were able to vacate the judgment, reset the clock on an old case, and significantly improve our client’s situation.

Loan Lawyers has helped over 5,000 South Florida homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 1,800 homes from foreclosure, eliminated $100,000,000 in mortgage principal and consumer debt, and have collected millions of dollars on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations, negligence and fraud. 

Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you.

Results may not be typical. You may not have as beneficial a result.

Our client came to Loan Lawyers with the goal of modifying their loan before a foreclosure action was filed. During the loan modification application process, the bank filed its foreclosure action with the court. Loan Lawyers continued the loan modification application process while also defending the pending foreclosure court case.

The bank ultimately offered the client a loan modification with a Deferred Principal Balance of nearly 60% of the New Principal Balance. The client does not pay interest on the Deferred
Principal Balance. The client previously had entered into two loan modification agreements. The most recent previous loan modification required monthly payments in an amount that started out affordable but stepped up to an amount that was nearly double the initial monthly payment. The client could no longer afford the increased monthly payment under the previous loan modification.

Under the new loan modification that Loan Lawyers assisted the client in getting, the amount of the client’s new monthly payment is less than half of their payment under the original loan and even their payment on their most recent previous loan modification. Additionally, none of the client’s previous modifications included a deferral of any of the principal balance. With Loan Lawyers, this client was able to accept a loan modification with an affordable monthly payment, and the client is able to stay in their home.

Loan Lawyers has helped over 5,000 South Florida homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 2,000 homes from foreclosure, eliminated more than $100,000,000 in mortgage principal and consumer debt, and have recovered over $10,000,000 on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations. Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you.

“Results may not be typical. You may not have as beneficial a result.” Mandatory disclosure from The Florida Bar.

Client Jon Raleigh (not real name, client’s real name withheld for privacy) came to Loan Lawyers in December 2018 to represent them in a pending garnishment action. The client had purchased 2 acres of land in Southwest Ranches from the proceeds of the sale of his previous business as an investment. He decided to build a house and eventually got two mortgages to cover the cost. The initial intention was for the first mortgage to be paid off by the second, but due to circumstances beyond his control, this did not happen. The first Mortgage was ultimately paid off by their title insurance due to some issues and they eventually filed a release of that first mortgage. Unfortunately, the second mortgage was not satisfied and was sold to another entity who brought a foreclosure action in 2013. The client was represented by other counsel during the pendency of the foreclosure action which unfortunately ultimately resulted in a final judgment of foreclosure on January 31, 2018 in the amount of $6,913,086.61.  Following the entry of the foreclosure judgment a foreclosure sale took place on March 7, 2018 and the property sold for $100.00.

Subsequent to the foreclosure sale a deficiency action was initiated within the existing foreclosure action to collect on the difference between the $6,913,086.61 foreclosure judgment and the $2,500,000.00 appraisal value of the property which came to APPROX $4,448,697.53. Again the client was represented by the same counsel as in the prior foreclosure action who fought the deficiency action unsuccessfully. Unfortunately once again on August 13, 2018, a Final Judgment of Deficiency was entered against the client by the Court in the amount of $4,648,697.61.  Following the entry of the deficiency judgment, the Plaintiff moved to garnish the private and business accounts of the client and was moving to have the Court enter sanctions against the client and was also in the process of setting depositions to aid in the garnishment action.

It was at this stage that the client came to Loan Lawyers to determine if there was any help that we could provide so that the garnishment did not ruin his business.  We met with the client and evaluated him for all potential options including filing for bankruptcy protection or possibly liquidating his business interests. The client indicated that if at all possible he wanted to attempt to save his business but it was clear that if the Plaintiff was able to seize the business accounts that the business would ultimately fail. We determined to attempt to reach a negotiated settlement if this were possible. Shortly after our appearance in the case, we reached out to opposing counsel to halt the ongoing litigation to determine if there were some negotiations that could be reached to resolve this matter without the need for additional protracted litigation.

This began a 4-month process of negotiation back and forth with opposing counsel, his client and our client that at the time seemed to keep falling apart. We did not give up and we kept doggedly pursuing all possible settlement options. The result of these extensive negotiations was that the parties were eventually able to come to an agreement and the $4,648,697.61 deficiency judgment was settled for a cash settlement of just over 2.1% of that full amount. Our client had retained us to defend him in a garnishment matter and to attempt to save his business from being ruined and ultimately we were able to negotiate a significant reduction from the Deficiency Judgment and come to a settlement agreement that worked for our client and saved his business.

Loan Lawyers has helped over 5,000 South Florida Homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 2,000 homes from foreclosure, eliminated more than $100,000,000 in Mortgage Principle and consumer debt, and have recovered over $10,000,000 on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations. Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you.

“Results may not be typical. You may not have as beneficial a result.” Mandatory disclosure from The Florida Bar.