Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Video Blog: Why Trial Expereince Counts
In the video below Florida foreclosure defense attorney Richard Shuster explains the importance of trial experience in evaluating potential law firms to defend a foreclosure case and how consumers can evaluate whether a lawyer has adequate trial experience to properly defend their case.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Foreclosure Appeal Victory for Space Coast Homeowner
Shuster & Saben Defeats US Bank & Douglas Zahm PA in
Foreclosure Appeal
In 2011, firm attorney Richard Shuster obtained the
dismissal of a foreclosure case filed against a Brevard County law enforcement
officer. After the case was
dismissed our firm filed a motion for attorney’s fees to recover money from
U.S. Bank to reimburse as much as possible of the fees paid by the homeowner to
our firm and to recover payment for the portion for our time that was spent on
a pure contingency fee basis.
(Under our firm’s retainer agreement, a substantial portion of the time
spent on the case is on a contingency fee basis meaning unless we win the case
and recover fees from the bank we do not get paid for the time). On January 12, 2012, a fee hearing was
conducted before Brevard Circuit Judge John D. Moxley, Jr. to determine the amount
of attorney’s fees US Bank would have to pay. The case had numerous hearings after U.S. Bank’s lawyers,
Douglas Zahm, P.A. had objected to almost all of the homeowner’s discovery
requests, and our firm had to repeatedly go to Court to obtain orders
overruling the bank’s objections and ordering the bank to provide discovery.
The time sheet filed by Douglas Zahm’s office showed they
had worked approximately seventy hours by the time the bank moved for summary
judgment. Ultimately our firm
worked over 100 hours on the case before we obtained a dismissal. At the fee hearing the Court awarded 95
of the 101 ours we requested. After adding expert witness fees, costs, and
interest, the attorney fee judgment against U.S. Bank came to $46,878.20. This judgment was the largest fee
judgment rendered against a bank in Brevard County in 2012. The hours were much higher in this case
because both firms fought the case very hard and “went to the mat.”
 |
| Trial & Appellate Files Stacked On Top Of Each Other |
U.S. Bank brought in Lee L. Haas, a board certified business
litigation attorney to handle the appeal.
Firm attorney, Richard Shuster, who handled the case at the trial level,
fought on for the homeowner in the appeals Court. While this was the firm’s first foreclosure appeal,
Shuster had prior appellate experience in the First and Third District Court’s
of Appeal. The firm handled the
appeal on a pure contingency fee basis, meaning the client paid no fees to our
firm while the appeal was pending and the firm would only get paid if we won
the appeal and appellate attorney’s fees were awarded. During the fifteen months the appeal
was pending our client paid nothing for attorney’s fees and made no mortgage
payments. The firm will now
collect the original trial level fee award from the appellate bond paid by US
Bank and seek additional appellate fees for writing an appellate brief that was
approximately 40 pages long. To
view a redacted copy of the 5th DCA’s Per Curium Affirmed Opinion
clink here. A Per Curium Affirmed
opinion means the appellate Court unanimously found that the trial Court did
not commit any errors.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Beware of Bait and Switch Pricing by Foreclosure Defense Lawyers!
In February 2010, I wrote a blog post that explained the
four primary pricing methods ( hourly, flat fee, monthly and hybrid) used by
foreclosure defense firms. To read the
whole blog post on this subject click here.
I have recently noticed a trend where lawyers and law firms are using
marketing strategies that in my opinion are bait and switch tactics.
If a consumer sees a sign that says SALE – Unleaded Gas -
$2.00 per gallon, most consumers know that the price is to good to be true and
will be looking for the catch. Perhaps
the price is only good for the first gallon of gas or is only good with
purchase of an alignment job at an inflated price. Gas stations in 2013 can’t sell gas for $2.00
a gallon because it costs the gas station more than $2.00 to buy the gas.
Unfortunately, many consumers will not know that a the
promise of a $1,000.00 or $1,500.00 flat fee foreclosure defense is just about
always an offer that is to good to be true.
We are seeing consumers come to our office after either firing their old
lawyer or after their old lawyer withdrew from their case. In many cases the consumer saw advertising
material and thought they would pay a one-time fee of $1,000 or $1,500.00 and
would never need to spend another dime for the duration of their case. Once the consumer actually visited the law
firm they found out that the $1,000.00 was just an “initial” payment for the
first thee or six months of their case.
After the initial period was over the consumer had to “re-hire” the
lawyer for another six month or one year term ( it varies by firm) for an even
higher fee.
We think lawyers who advertise a flat fee price should offer
true flat fee prices. Nobody who comes
to a lawyer’s office and spends an hour in a consultation thinking the costs is
one number should find out when they read the fine print that over a two year
engagement the price will be three or four times higher than the price they saw
on the web.
At Shuster & Saben, we aspire to have a simple, clear,
understandable, and predictable billing method.
The client (on loans of under $500,000.00) pays $495.00 per month for
the first hour we work each month and any additional hours we work are on a
pure contingency fee basis, where we do not get paid at all unless we win the
case and get the fees paid as prevailing party attorney’s fees paid by the
losing bank. Our clients do not have to
worry about paying a few thousand dollars to renew for six months or a year when
their case is on the eve of settlement or trial and might soon we won or
settled in a matter of weeks. Our
clients can predict and budget for their legal expenses.
For the likes of me, I can’t figure out how a lawyer can
take a foreclosure case on for $1,500.00 and litigate the case for three years
and take the case to trial all for $1,500.00.
Some flat fee lawyers cut corners with short form answers, and do not
bother to conduct discovery, take depositions, or engage in trial
preparation. Perhaps other flat fee
lawyers can make it work by buying $2.00 gas.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Foreclosure Win Results in $17,500.00 Attorney Fee Recovery
After the Stern firm failed to respond to requests for
admission served by Shuster on behalf of a foreclosure defense client, Shuster filed a motion for summary judgment in favor of the
homeowner. The Stern firm did not
withdraw form the case and Wells Fargo did not assign the case to new
counsel. Shuster then set a hearing on
the motion for summary judgment.
Despite their receipt of the notice of hearing, David Stern
did not have an attorney present at the hearing.
When the judge called the firm to allow them to attend the hearing by
phone the lawyer who the receptionist directed the Judges call to did not take
the Court’s call. Since Wells Fargo's lawyers ( David Sern, P.A.) failed to
respond to requests for admission that Wells Fargo did not own the note and a
request for admission that Wells Fargo did not hold the note summary judgment
and final judgment were entered in favor of the homeowner. After the win the foreclosure defense attorney Richard Shuster filed a motion for
attorney’s fees.
Shuster was concerned if the firm immediately sought to collect
attorney’s fees Wells Fargo might move for relief from the judgment arguing
that they accidentally failed to send the file to new counsel. As such Shuster waited one year from the date
of judgment so that the time for Wells Fargo to seek relief form judgment ( 1
year under the rule) expired. Once the
time for Wells Fargo to seek relief from judgment expired the firm went forward
with its motion for attorney’s fees.
Wells Fargo’s new lawyers, Aldridge Conners argued that the homeowner
should not be entitled to attorney’s fees.
This argument was rejected by the Court which found for the Defendant on
attorney fee entitlement. The day before
the hearing on the amount of attorney’s fees Wells Fargo and their new counsel
agreed to pay $17,500.00 to resolve the attorney fee claim. Our client not only won their case ( a final
judgment win not a mere dismissal ) get money back from the fees recovered from
Wells Fargo.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Principal Reduction Loan Modification & Foreclosure Settlement in Under Sixty Days
Old Payment $1,596.31 – New Payment $954.17.
On April 26, 2012, a nervous couple sat down with
foreclosure defense attorney Richard Shuster, for a free consultation at
Shuster & Saben’s Melbourne
office. Ten days earlier the couple had
been served with a summons, lis pendis, and a complaint ( law suit) to
foreclose on their Viera, Florida
home. The couple had had not make a
mortgage payment in over fourteen months, and owed approximately $230,000.00 on
a home worth approximately $175,000.00.
The couple came to Shuster & Saben, at the recommendation of a
co-worker whose foreclosure case was won by Attorney Shuster.
The firm filed a notice of appearance for the homeowner on
April 30, 2012, and a fifteen page Answer to the complaint on May 7, 2012. At the same time he served the firm’s Answer,
Shuster opened lines of communication to Ocwen ( the loan servicer ) and to
opposing counsel to attempt an expedited settlement. Shuster fast tracked this case toward
settlement based on the fact that the loan servicer was Ocwen with whom the
firm has a large number of principal reduction settlements and because the
homeowners were only 25% upside down. The
plaintiff that had filed the foreclosure action was Bank of New York Mellon as Trustee
for the Certificate Holders of Poplar ABS Inc.
Shuster was further encouraged by the fact that this trust had no
prohibition against principal reductions and had made other principal reduction
settlements.
On June 8, 2012, the firm received an offer (dated June 5,
2012) from Bank of NY Mellon’s attorney.
Shuster forwarded the offer to the client the same day, and E-mailed the
bank’s lawyer that the offer was accepted.
Once the client was ready to wire their first payment the settlement
documents were executed and faxed to Ocwen and Bank of NY Mellon’s counsel on
June 27, 2012.
The settlement reduced our clients loan balance from
approximately $230,000.00 to $185,000.00 and reduced their interest rate from
7.5% to 3.78%. Our client’s monthly
payment went from $1,596.31 (principal & interest only) to $954.17
(principal & interest only). Over
the remaining 23 years of their mortgage term our clients will save $177,230.64
which is based on a monthly savings of $642.14 per month times 276 months. Our clients will not only keep their home and
the roof over their children’s beds, they will also be in a far stronger
position when they retire in a few decades.
Our clients’ return for their investment in foreclosure defense was over
$30.00 of savings for every dollar they invested.
To Review the Settlement Agreement Clink the Link Below:
About Shuster & Saben:
Shuster & Saben thinks that the best foreclosure defense lawyers are
problem solvers. We look at and discuss our
clients finances, home value, loan balance, and personal objectives before
explaining their options and helping our clients make well informed
decisions. We evaluate asset protection,
tax consequences, and the strengths and weaknesses of the banks' cases and look
at all potential solutions including litigation, deed-in-lieu, loan modification, short
sale and on very rare occasions referral to a bankruptcy lawyer. We charge more than those foreclosure lawyers
using cookie cutter, one-size fits all, stall tactics but we work our cases and
are proud of our results. See our older
post for court orders from our victories and other loan medication settlements.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Enormous Principal Reduction Loan Modification
Old Principal Balance:
$213,834.00
New Principal Balance:
$66,000.00
Percentage Savings:
69%
Old Principal & Interest Payment: $888.62
New Principal & Interest Payment: $312.06
Shuster & Saben, LLC recently obtained a principal
reduction loan modification for a Palm Bay, Florida homeowner that cut his
mortgage by over 69%. When the
client came to the firm in March of 2009 he already had a loan modification offer
in hand. Before he ever hired a
lawyer the loan servicer, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC offered the homeowner an
“Trial Modification” that after a successful trial modification would have
reduced interest rate on the loan to 3.95% for five years.
When the homeowner met with foreclosure defense attorney,
Richard Shuster for a free review of the loan modification offer he wanted to
know the pros and cons of accepting the offer versus defending the foreclosure
action. Shuster advised that the
offer was a band-aid the would, in the short term, make the home more affordable
but in the long term would do absolutely nothing to solve the client’s huge
negative equity problem. The
client owed over $215,000.00 on a home in Palm Bay worth about $80,000.00 (in
2009) that was continuing to lose value in a declining real estate market. Further, after five years the 3.95%
interest rate would end and the client would be stuck with a very high interest
rate of his original mortgage that was nearly 8%.
The foreclosure lawsuit filed against the homeowner alleged
that the loan on his home was owned by a securitized trust. Shuster explained to the homeowner
several of the weaknesses in the foreclosure action filed against him. Ultimately, the homeowner decided it was
better and far cheaper to fight the foreclosure than to accept a bad loan
modification offer.
For over two years the firm defended the foreclosure
action. Along the way the firm
obtained Court orders directing the lender to produce various documents that
the lender's counsel failed or refused to turn over. During this time the client made no mortgage payments and
therefore his loan balance grew from $213k to approximately $240k. While tightening a vice on the lender’s
case with discovery court orders, attorney Shuster sent out an olive branch to
the lender’s attorney and Ocwen offering to settle the case if they would cut
the client’s loan balance down to $66,000.00. Shuster ‘s settlement offer included the client’s current
property appraisal form the Brevard County property appraiser. Ocwen in turn sent back a settlement
offer that mirrored most of the terms set forth in Shuster’s offer. Unlike Ocwen’s first offer that had
3.95% interest for only five years, the new offer has a 3.92% interest rate for
the life of the loan.
Both the original 2009 offer and the 2012 offer are linked
at the bottom of this blog entry.
Please view both of these offers to see what a difference fighting a
foreclosure can make. During the two
and half years we defended this case our client saved over $18,000 that he
would have spent on rent or mortgage.
The principal reduction saved him an additional $147,834. For ever dollar invested in foreclosure
defense he saved over ten dollars in housing expenses. For obtaining this huge principal
reduction our firm qualified for a small contingent bonus that will be paid out
over a year. Our client thinks
this is a great deal and one he can easily afford with a principal and interest
payment of only $312.06 for the next twenty-four years.
SEE THE LOAN MOD OFFERS HERE
Shuster & Saben is a law firm for smart homeowners who
understand the difference between foreclosure defense and foreclosure
delay. We think a good outcome if
a foreclosure case is one where the bank’s case is dismissed or settled under
terms solve or substantially diminish the homeowners financial problems. A good foreclosure defense lawyer in a
problem solver with the ability, desire, and stamina to fight like heck for
their client. We are not the firm
for everyone and there are other foreclosure defense firms who change
less. To arrange a consultation to
see if your case meets our requirements and we meet yours please call offices
as follows: Melbourne (321) 622-5040, Fort Lauderdale (954)
423-0052, Miami/Doral (305) 629-8806 or e-mail foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Robin Hood Law Firm
One of the coolest things we get to do as a foreclosure
defense lawyers is write checks to clients. Most clients hire our firm under an arrangement in which
they pay us a flat fee each month for the first hour we work on the case and
any additional hours are worked on a pure contingency basis. Under such an arrangement if we want
to get paid for the rest of our time we need to win the case and recover
attorney’s fees from the bank.
When we get foreclosure cases dismissed or win cases on summary judgment
or at trial, we go after the banks and servicers to get paid for the rest of our
time and to obtain reimbursement for our clients for the attorney's fees they previously paid.
 |
| Redacted check issued to client after firm obtained dismissal of Wells Fargo's foreclosure case and obtained a judgment against the bank for attorney's fees. |
If you scroll though our blog you will find quite a few
attorney fee judgments that order banks and loan servicers to pay attorney’s
fees to our firm. One of our
clients asked why we put fee judgments and fee checks up on our blog. The reason is to let homeowners know
that that some of the time homeowners win and that when they go shopping for a
lawyer what law firm they choose makes a difference. Some lawyers who represent homeowners confuse foreclosure
delay with foreclosure defense. To
us foreclosure defense means fighting foreclosure cases with a goal of winning
a significant portion of our cases and finding solutions through settlement,
loan modification, short sale or deed in lieu for the rest of the cases when
possible. Our sophisticated
clients want more than knee-jerk, cookie-cutter, stall tactics. We evaluate our clients' cases with an
big picture view that considers asset protection and tax consequences.
When we win cases and recover fees from the bank our fee
judgments are usually sufficient to return to the client a substantial portion
for the fees the client previously paid.
This past week, I got to write a check for $2,651.00 to a foreclosure
defense client of our Melbourne office.
We obtained a dismissal without prejudice of the client’s case after Wells Fargo’s lawyers failed to timely comply with a Court order. For the past five months there has been
no pending foreclosure case against our client ( the bank has not re-filed),
our client has made no mortgage payments, and he has had no legal expenses. Now the client has received a check to
reimburse him for more than half of his prior legal expenses.
To see a redacted copy of the check to our client full size in a separate window click the link below:
Redacted Check
To see a redacted copy of the check to our client full size in a separate window click the link below:
Redacted Check
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