Shuster & Saben was not the first law firm hired by a
Viera, Florida homeowner to defend their foreclosure case. Their first lawyer handled their bankruptcy case
but when JP Morgan’s counsel began to aggressively move the case toward trial
their bankruptcy counsel suggested they consult with our firm to obtain counsel
that would fight their case through trial.
While the firm prepared for war by serving discovery requests
and conducting a thorough investigation of the case we also tried to make peace
by extending settlement offers. Our
position was that since the client discharged the debt in bankruptcy, JP Morgan
could still take the house but could not take the client’s money. The client owned nearly twice what their
house was worth. Before the client hired
our firm JP Morgan put the client in a terrible loan medication that locked the
client into a fixed rate of nearly 7% and removed the variable interest rate
feature of the mortgage less than a year before it would have adjusted to a
lower rate. We reasoned that if getting
the house was the best JP Morgan could ever do, a principal reduction loan
modification that would give JP Morgan a mortgage balance substantially above
the current value of the home but substantially lower than the current loan balance
would be a reasonable compromise and a win-win settlement. JP Morgan
rebuffed our efforts to settle by making only one take-it or leave-it offer
with a tiny interest rate reduction and no principal reduction. JP Morgan told us it was their way or the
highway. It was time to prepare for
battle.
On September 11, 2013, after JP Morgan’s attorney’s Choice
Legal Group failed to respond to requests for admission, our firm filed a
motion for summary judgment in favor of the Defendant homeowner. The motion for summary judgment was scheduled
for October 17, 2013. Choice Legal, even
after getting the motion for summary judgment failed to respond to the requests
for admission. When the motion was set
for hearing they continued to do nothing.
On October 17, 2013, the Court adjudicated our motion for summary
judgment. Since JP Morgan Chase never
responded to our requests for admissions the Court deemed that it was admitted
that JP Morgan did not own or hold the note.
The Court entered summary judgment and final judgment based on the
admissions. Our client has won the case
and has proven that JP Morgan does not own or hold the note. The Court’s order provides that JP Morgan
shall take nothing from this action meaning they will not get our client’s home
or one thin dime of our client’s money.
Our client as the prevailing party will recover attorney’s fees from JP
Morgan. To read the entire order click here.
About Shuster & Saben,LLC… Shuster & Saben aggressively
litigates foreclosure cases. Our active counter-attacks
on banks and loan servicers give foreclosure mill attorneys plenty of chances
to drop the ball. Lawyers whose goal is
delay might be content to wait for the bank’s lawyers to pick up the ball. Not us.
We play to win. We know its our
job to recover the fumble and head for the end zone. That is how we win cases
like this one.
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