A little payback for Bank of America

World banks have brought our economy to the brink of distruction. Whether it be the bad mortgages they wrote, the credit card debt they pushed like crack cocaine, or the refusal to modify mortgages and keep Americans in their homes, our banks have failed us. I thought I would share this article with you. It is a story of a couple that fights back for us all.

'Sweet Justice': A Florida Couple 'Forecloses' On Bank Of America

by Eyder Peralta


Over the past few years, we've heard plenty of horror stories about bungled foreclosures. The one of Warren and Maureen Nyerges, from the Naples, Fla. area, is just as bad. In 2009, they bought a home with cash, yet in 2010 Bank of America tried to foreclose on them. It took two months of phone calls and eventually court intervention to clear up the misunderstanding.

In December, a judge ordered the bank to pay the couple $2,500 in attorney fees. But months went by and the bank never cut a check. So, the Naples Daily News reports, Nyerges hired a lawyer, who pursued a levy, and this past Friday the showdown was on: The Nyergeses showed up to a local branch of Bank of America with the sheriff, the media and some movers with a truck:


"I'm either leaving the building with a whole bunch of furniture, or a check or cash or something," the attorney, Todd Allen, vowed.

It was a scene that turned the foreclosure crisis on its head, if briefly. Collier County sheriff's deputies entered the bank shortly after 9 a.m., located the bank manager and presented him with a court writ and a familiar choice: Pay the money or prepare to lose possessions.

Allen told local station WFMY that he had ordered the deputies to take photocopiers, desks, computers and even whatever cash was in the drawer to settle the debt. Allen said the bank manager on duty was "visibly shaken."

"Having two sheriff's deputies sitting across your desk and a lawyer standing up behind them demanding whatever assets are in the bank can be intimidating, but so is having your home foreclosed on, when it wasn't right," Allen said.

An hour later, the bank cut a check. Allen called it "sweet justice," because this case, he said, is a symptom of a larger problem. If you remember, Bank of America, GMAC and JPMorgan Chase were forced to freeze their foreclosures late last year, to evaluate whether they had made errors.

Stripping Your Second or Third Mortgage in Chaptr 13

For most individuals throughout the country their home values have dropped so dramatically that any equity that might have once existed has been wiped out. Additionally, many of the second and third mortgages that were taken out during the housing boom have become fully unsecured instruments which remain "secured in name only". For individuals who have seen a sudden drop in income, loss of a job, medical issues, or other unforeseen circumstances that have lead to financial trouble, this decline in housing value may actually be a good thing.

For individuals who own a home and are considering bankruptcy it is very important that you hire an attorney that is experienced with a specialized field in bankruptcy known as adversarial proceedings. It is through this process that an individual who has a "secured in name only" mortgage can strip this debt off their home and pay it back for pennies on the dollar while also discharging most of their other unsecured debts.

The process is simply but must be handled by someone who knows the ins and outs of the bankruptcy courts and the adversarial proceeding. For a lien strip to occur the attorney must first have sufficient evidence that the home is worth less than what is owed on the first mortgage. If the first mortgage "eats up" the total value of the home, then an adversary case can be brought within the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to strip the second or third mortgage. A well drafted adversary case often leads to a default by the second or third mortgage company who does not feel the need to fight a lean strip they know they will lose. Once the adversary has been successful and the lien is stripped, the individual MUST COMPLETE THEIR CHAPTER 13 PLAN. Failure to complete your Chapter 13 Plan will lead to the mortgage springing back into existence, at which point you will be significantly behind on your mortgage.

For more information on stripping your second or third mortgage please contact me at (248) 629-6367.

"No Big Deal" equals "Run Away Fast!!!!"

The other day I had a client come into my office for a free initial consultation. He sat down and the first thing he disclosed is that I was the second bankruptcy attorney he was meeting with. He went on to explain that the first attorney didn't listen very well and was very condescending. When he explained to the attorney that he had property up north that was owned free and clear with his three siblings he was told "that's No Big Deal, the creditors are not going to be interested in that property if you file a Chapter 7." The attorney then went about pressuring this man into signing up with him that day.

Luckily for my new client he felt very reluctant to believe that the property up north with an SEV of $32,000.00 and active mineral rights netting $150.00 a month would be "No Big Deal".

As we discussed his case it became abundantly clear that the client had assets that could not be protected in a Chapter 7 liquidation. The client did not want to put this property in jeopardy because the property was family property. Therefore we discussed putting the client into a low payment Chapter 13 to protect the property.

This client once again brought a disturbing trend to my attention. For some reason many bankruptcy attorneys in Michigan are becoming too specialized. They are only handling Chapter 7 OR Chapter 13 cases. The problem with this is that when an attorney only handles and only has knowledge about Chapter 7 cases and a client walks in the door, many of these attorneys are trying to fit a Chapter 13 client into a Chapter 7 hole so that they can gain another client. They have forgotten the fact that as lawyers we are hear to help the public, not line our pockets.

The bottom line is if you hear the term "No Big Deal" you should run away and find an attorney who can explain to you exactly what the risks are and let you decide what the best course of action is after you have received the best legal ADVICE available.