South Beach Foreclosure Dismissed in Three Months.

 

In November of 2011, Shuster & Saben filed an Answer on behalf of an owner of an oceanfront condominium in Roney Palace in Miami Beach.  In February of 2012, the Plaintiff and alleged owner of the note, Kondaur Capital Corporation dismissed their case against our client.  Another day… another dismissal for Shuster & Saben.  Our client was happy to hear the news that he will have no bill for our services in March because his case is now over. 

Our client, an out of state condo owner, had his personal attorney in New York screen top foreclosure firms to find an agile, aggressive, cost effective foreclosure defense firm that would go on the attack from the get-go.  After interviewing firm attorney Richard Shuster and researching our case results, the client’s personal attorney recommended that he hire our firm. 

Shuster & Saben does not use stall tactics like motions for extension of time.  We hit Kondaur with a answer that was nearly fifteen pages long and discovery into the questionable transfers of the loan from on financial institution to the next.  After Kondaur received our answer they put the mortgage up for sale.  Kondaur did not wait around and try to substitute some new or future buyer of the loan into the lawsuit they filed.  Instead they decided to cut and run. As U.S. Bank recently learned, banks without airtight cases can incur judgments for enormous fees when they go to the mat and lose against our firm.  Kondaur’s decision will limit the amount of their fee exposure. 

To see the redacted dismissal please click the link below

Redacted Dismissal

When other lawyers ask why is it that our firm obtains so many foreclosure dismissals, I let them know it is because we work our cases.  Pushing back hard takes a little more work but when it results in a quick dismissal it saves our clients money.  Some prospective clients are only concerned about the fees of a foreclosure firm charges and might pick one lawyer over another because they change $100.00 less a month or have a one time flat fee change.  We believe that hiring the best lawyer that will take the homeowner’s case is the best way for the homeowner to maximize the value of their foreclosure defense budget.  If a homeowner is unsure how tell how good a job a foreclosure lawyer will do in their case, they should look at the lawyer’s results in the lawyer’s prior cases and interview more than one lawyer.  For more information about our firm’s results please see the last fifty (50) blog posts on this site or our 5 Star Client Reviews on AVVO. 

Shuster & Saben Sues Heritage Pacific Financial, LLC

 

When a Satellite Beach resident hired Shuster & Saben to defend the foreclosure case filed by Deutsche Bank (as Trustee) against his home, firm attorney Richard Shuster wrote both the servicer for the client’s first mortgage and Heritage Pacific the servicer of  the client’s second mortgage.  The firm wrote both servicers so that calls and letters from both servicers to the client would stop.

The firm’s letter to Heritage Pacific told Heritage point blank and in bold type “All future contact relative to this debt must take place solely through this office.  Please cease and desist all communications with our clients.”

Shuster even said “Please” but only once.  When Heritage wrote our client nearly one year later to offer a lump sum payment “option” to make single payment of $93,446.98 when our clients balance was on $93,446.98 ( a whopping discount of 0% ), the firm did not repeat their warning.   The firm filed suit against Heritage for both the illegal contact with a person they knew was represented by counsel , a violation of the FCCPA,  (Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act) and Heritage’s failure to properly respond to a Qualified Written Request, a violation of RESPA,  (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act).  Now this Texas loan servicer will have to hire a lawyer to defend a Brevard case where the homeowner is the Plaintiff.   

To see a redacted copy of the lawsuit filed against Heritage Pacific please click the link below:

Redacted Lawsuit  

About Shuster & Saben:  Shuster & Saben loves to sue banks.  See our older blog posts about cases where we sued banks and won.  Shuster & Saben has a zero tolerance policy for lenders and loan servicers who call our clients.  The firm handles FCCPA, FDCPA, and RESPA claims against banks on a pure contingency basis.  The firm accepts referrals from other foreclosure lawyers whose clients are called by banks.  We believe that when a consumer hires a lawyer they should enjoy peace and quiet that is not interrupted by collections calls from banks. Speak softly and carry a big stick.

Shuster & Saben defeats Florida Default & Wells Fargo

Poor Florida Default Law Group,  once against they have lost yet another case to Shuster & Saben, LLC.   This foreclosure case began when Wells Fargo decided to hire Tampa foreclosure mill Florida Default Law Group to prosecute a foreclosure case in Brevard County.  Florida Default assigned the file to a young lawyer handling a very large caseload.  The homeowner hired the Melbourne office of Shuster & Saben, where firm partner Richard Shuster immediately went on the offensive against Wells Fargo. 

Shuster, an experienced civil litigator practicing three times as many years as his opponent, moved to dismiss the case because the complaint was not properly verified.

The motion to dismiss  set forth that the person who “verified” the complaint had an illegible signature and the verification page did not state whether the unknown person signing the verification even worked for Wells Fargo.  The Court granted the motion to dismiss but granted leave for the Florida Default Law Group to fix the problem by filing an amended complaint within twenty days.  Florida Default and/or Wells Fargo then dropped the ball by letting nearly two months go by before they got around to complying with the Court’s order. Apparently they thought a Court order directly them to do something within 20 days meant 20 days or whenever they got around to doing it.

When Shuster received Wells Fargo’s amended verified complaint he immediately moved to strike the complaint and for the entire case to be dismissed.  Following a January 23, 2012, hearing the Court granted the firm’s motion to strike the amended complaint and dismissed the case.  Perhaps this order will teach Florida Default that Court orders need to be complied with and that when a judge orders you to do something you move it to the top of your to-do pile. 

After the case was dismissed Shuster filed a timely motion for attorney’s fees and will now prosecute an attorney fee claim against Wells Fargo.  The firm looks forward to obtaining fees from Wells Fargo and using such fees to reimburse our client’s legal expenses.

To review or download the entire order with our client's name redacted click the link below.

REDACTED ORDER

About Shuster & Saben:  If you are being sued for foreclosure chances are quite high that your bank or your bank’s law firm has lost a case to our firm.  Perhaps your bank or their lawyer will be angry that you hired Shuster & Saben.  We think they want you to bring a knife to a gunfight.  If you would rather bring an assault rife give us a call or e-mail foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com. 

Shuster & Saben obtains $46,878 fee judgment against U.S. Bank

J.R. Ewing of TV drama Dallas was fond of saying “revenge is a dish best served cold.” In January of 2012, our firm obtained a judgment for attorney’s fees and costs against US Bank for in excess of $46,000.00. Our client’s revenge was served cold, approximately six months after a judge dismissed US Bank’s foreclosure case. In a foreclosure case when the bank loses the bank has to pay the prevailing homeowner’s attorney’s fees and costs. In this case, firm attorney Richard Shuster, spent 101 hours defending the case, and the Court, found that 95 of the hours were reasonable. The Court ordered U.S. Bank to pay the firm 95 hours at $450.00 per hour ($42.500.00) together with $3,562.50 of expert witness fees, $500.00 of interest, and $65.00 of costs.

This was the largest attorney fee judgment against a bank or loan servicer the firm has ever obtained and is one of the largest fee awards awarded in Brevard County in a foreclosure case. In this case U.S. Bank went to the mat. At mediation the lender offered our client a token interest rate reduction of less than 1% that would have cut the clients mortgage by less than $50.00 a month. Our client, a county employee, had lost most of his overtime compensation in the wake of government cutbacks that were widespread in the Space Coast, after the housing bubble burst causing property tax revenues to fall off a cliff. Our client owed nearly double what his home was worth. At mediation, we tried to convince U.S. Bank that their case was not a slam dunk but the attorney for U.S. Bank was a “coverage” attorney brought in just for mediation because he had an office in Melbourne. The banks coverage attorney saw the file for the first time the day of mediation. For more than two hours, attorney Shuster pointed out to bank several of the serious obstacles they would face if they proceeded and some of the wholes in their case. US Bank was cocky and complacent. Their position was that they would win and that the homeowner’s choice was to either take the banks crappy offer or lose their house. Our client made another choice. He choose to stay the course and fight.

Shuster & Saben Defeats Wells Fargo & Florida Default Law Group

One of the greatest thrills for a foreclosure defense attorney is to call their client from the courthouse parking lot and tell them the judge has thrown out the bank's case and that the bank’s lawsuit is now over. Firm attorney Richard Shuster, got such a thrill after his first Court appearance of the new year on Thursday, January 5, 2012.

Shuster was in Court in Brevard County, Florida on a motion to dismiss filed on behalf of a Space Coast foreclosure client. Unlike attorney Shuster, who appeared in person at the hearing, the attorney for Wells Fargo, an associate of the Florida Default Law Group, appeared at the hearing by phone. The issue addressed at the hearing was whether Wells Fargo’s foreclosure complaint was properly verified as required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 1.110(b). Our position was that verification must be part of the complaint and cannot be made on a separate piece of paper. Wells Fargo argued that their separate verification pleading satisfied the requirements of the rule. Mr. Shuster was one of the first lawyers in Florida to “make new law” on this issue in the case PNC v. Peckham which appeared in the Florida Law Weekly Supplement in January of 2011. The Court agreed with our arguments and entered an order granting the motion to dismiss without leave to amend.

This lawsuit against our client is now over. The firm has already served a motion for attorney’s fees against Wells Fargo and will look forward to recovering attorney’s fees from Wells Fargo to reimburse legal expenses incurred by our client.

The client was overjoyed to know that there is no longer a case pending against him, that next month he will have no legal expenses, and that our efforts will now turn to recovering money from the bank to pay his legal expenses. To review the actual order in Adobe Acrobat / PDF format click the link below:

Redacted Order of Dismissal

About Shuster & Saben: Shuster & Saben, LLC is not like other foreclosure defense firms. We do not file motions to dismiss as a stall tactic. We file motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment to win foreclosure cases. We believe that a good foreclosure defense attorney builds and arms torpedoes and puts them in the water with the goal of sinking the lender’s case. Going on offense takes more work. Winning foreclosure cases requires going to Court, usually several times. This costs us more to do in terms of time, energy and resources and what we change reflects this. We are certainly NOT the cheapest foreclosure firm to hire but we strive to deliver superior results at a price that is clear, fair, predictable and an excellent value. To speak with an attorney to see if the foreclosure cases against you have a weakness or vulnerability that we can exploit please E-mail foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com.

Shuster & Saben Recovers $8,717.50 from Bank of America.

A previous blog post described how Shuster & Saben, LLC sued Bank of America for violations of the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, ( FCCPA) on behalf of a Brevard County foreclosure defense client. The firm filed a separate lawsuit against Bank of America rather than filing a counterclaim in the underlying foreclosure case. After Bank of America failed to show up for Court the firm obtained a default and a default final judgment for $2,000.00 of damages for our client. When Bank of America failed to show up for the fee hearing the firm obtained an award of attorney’s fees, costs, expert witness fees and interest of over $6,700.00. When Bank of America failed to pay the judgments within ten days, firm attorney Richard Shuster, wrote Bank of America’s in-house legal department and threatened to levy on the judgment and seize bank assets in Melbourne, Florida if the judgment was not paid by November 23, 2011. Earlier this week, as the firm prepared to levy on the judgment, a check arrived by Federal Express at the firm’s Melbourne office. Our client will now receive $2,000.00 in damages plus interest for Bank of America contacting the client after a notice of attorney representation was sent to the bank. All of the attorney’s fees and costs for the litigation have been paid by Bank of America. While Bank of America’s foreclosure action against our client continues, our client’s case against Bank of America was won in under six months.

About Shuster & Saben: Shuster & Saben accepts referrals from other law firms whose clients have been directly contacts by lenders and loan servicers after such companies were put on notice that the consumer is represented by counsel. We also co-counsel with firms that have not previously sued banks and loan servicers. Shuster & Saben has a zero tolerance policy for lenders, loan servicers, and bill collectors who harass firm clients with letters or calls. Consumers with questions about the FCCPA or who want calls from bill collectors to stop can contact the firm by E-mail at foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com.

Shuster & Saben wins another foreclosure case against Bank of America

Shuster & Saben won another foreclosure case against Bank of America subsidiary BAC Home Loans. This victory in Brevard County, follows a trial victory for the firm, in another case against Bank of America pending in Miami-Dade. The firm’s victorious foreclosure client was a family living in Palm Bay. At the onset of the case, the firm diligently assisted the client in submitting a complete loan modification request under HAMP. When the firm’s efforts to reach a reasonable settlement were not countered with a single loan modification offer, firm lawyer Richard Shuster knew it was time to go on the attack. The firm served requests for admission on Bank of America that asked the bank to admit that the bank did not own the note and mortgage on our clients home and did not hold the note.

When Bank of America failed to reply to the requests for admission within thirty days the requests were deemed admitted by operation of law. The firm then filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of the homeowners. The firm expected that the bank’s lawyers would files responses to the requests for admission prior to the summary judgment hearing but the bank's lawyers never filed responses to the requests for admission. At the hearing on the Defendant / Homeowner's motion for summary judgment, the bank, for the first time made an oral motion for relief from admissions. The motion was untimely and was denied by the Court. The Court then granted Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and adjudicated that Bank of America did not own or hold the loan. Since this was an adjudication on the merits Bank of America will NOT be able to re-file the case. The firm will now seek prevailing party attorney’s fees on behalf of its client to be paid by Bank of America and will commence an action to quiet title to the client's property.

Lawyers and scheduling staff at Shuster & Saben are often told by judges and Court scheduling assistants that very few foreclosure defense lawyers go on the attack and file offensive motions for summary judgment. Often foreclosure defense lawyers are content to simply file a motion to dismiss. Unfortunately, when a motion to dismiss is granted, it is usually either with leave to amend or with leave to re-file a new lawsuit. When a homeowner wins a motion for summary judgment on a pertinent issue, the losing bank will not be able to prosecute a new lawsuit under the principals of res judicata. Shuster & Saben has won other cases with this aggressive strategy and encourages other foreclosure defense lawyers to give this technique a try.

To view a redacted copy of the entire order please click the link below:
REDACTED ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

About Shuster & Saben: Shuster & Saben, LLC is firm of eight civil litigators, practicing foreclosure defense, insurance litigation, and consumer protection law, from four Florida offices in Miami, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, and Melbourne. The firm passionately defends foreclosure cases pending in counties within two hours drive of the firm’s 4 offices. The firm can be reached by E-mail at foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com