Archives

Washington, DC - March 18, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Brown made the following statement: “Assisting my constituents with their housing needs has always been one of my top priorities ever since I was first elected to Congress in the early 1990’s. In fact, I have held yearly housing conferences and workshops to assist my constituents to purchase a home of their own, as well as help Floridians to keep their homes if they fall into danger of foreclosure or having trouble paying their mortgage.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - March 14, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi will be meeting with the National Mortgage Settlement Monitor, Joseph Smith, and those on the front lines of assisting homeowners with the relief available under the national settlement, such as housing counselors and legal aid providers. The meeting is intended to facilitate a discussion on how the implementation of the settlement is working for Floridians and what elements of the implementation remain to be done or enhanced.

Reston, Virginia - February 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that Judge John C. Cooper of the State of Florida Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit held “[n]umerous courts have examined, and approved, the use of MERS as a mortgagee” and rejected a private citizen claim alleging violations of Florida False Claims Act (FCA)

Miami, FL - February 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24) and the U.S. Department of Treasury are hosting a “Help For Homeowners” event on Wednesday, February 27 and Thursday, February 28 to enable struggling homeowners to meet one-on-one with mortgage company officials and housing experts to receive free advice and assistance

TALLAHASSEE, FL - February 22, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Floridians have received more than $8.3 billion in relief under the national mortgage settlement, as reported by the five largest mortgage servicing banks that are parties to the settlement. According to the Settlement Monitor’s report released today, more than 100,000 Floridians have received more than $7.7 billion in relief, with an additional $600 million in loan modifications underway

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 18, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), a publicly traded mortgage servicing company based in Jacksonville, Fla., has agreed to pay $35 million in criminal penalties and forfeiture to address its participation in a six-year scheme to prepare and file more than 1 million fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage-related documents with property recorders’ offices throughout the United States. The settlement, which follows a felony guilty plea from the chief executive officer of wholly owned LPS subsidiary DocX LLC, was announced today by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 31, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Friday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Tampa Mayor Buckhorn and St. Petersburg Mayor Foster will host a press event to discuss the national mortgage settlement and the relief that is available to Floridians.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 31, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Friday, Feb. 1, at 9 a.m. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will host a press event to discuss the national mortgage settlement and the relief that is available to Floridians

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 2:15 p.m. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez will host a press event to discuss the national mortgage settlement and the relief that is available to Floridians

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 12:30 p.m., Attorney General Pam Bondi, Mayor Seiler and the Fort Lauderdale City Commission will host a press event to discuss the national mortgage settlement and the relief that is available to Floridians.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 24, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Thursday, Jan. 24, at 11:30 a.m., Attorney General Pam Bondi will host a press event with representatives of housing assistance and legal aid groups to discuss the $60 million of the national mortgage settlement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers that is now available to provide additional assistance to Floridians

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi announced today that $60 million of the national mortgage settlement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers will now be available to provide additional assistance to Floridians. Attorney General Bondi’s proposal to help Floridians, which was approved by the Legislative Budget Commission today, includes the following:

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 16, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office, working with Rust Consulting, Inc., has begun outbound calls to reach Florida borrowers who may be eligible for cash payments under the national mortgage settlement. Live operators will call those who lost their homes to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011 and had their mortgages serviced by Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Washington, DC - December 17, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) sent the following letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Deputy Director for Management Jeffrey Zients, urging him to maintain funding for homelessness programs as he considers discretionary spending cuts for the remainder of the Fiscal Year, and plans for the President's budget for Fiscal Year 2014. Hastings who is Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Congressional Homelessness Caucus was joined by 31 of his colleagues in sending the letter. (Please find below and attached a copy of the letter)

TALLAHASSEE, FL - December 12, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater released the following statement regarding his public comments to the Federal Housing Finance Authority regarding the proposed tax on Floridians. The FHFA proposal would increase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Guarantee Fee (“g-fee”) which could raise the total lifetime cost of mortgages by potentially thousands of dollars for aspiring homebuyers

TALLAHASSEE, FL - November 29, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi reminds Florida borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011 and who may be eligible for payment under the $25 billion national mortgage foreclosure settlement to file claims by Jan. 18, 2013.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 21, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former executive of Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS)—a publicly traded company based in Jacksonville, Florida—pleaded guilty today, admitting her participation in a six-year scheme to prepare and file more than one million fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage-related documents with property recorders’ offices throughout the United States.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - November 19, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi announced today that the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers that entered the federal-state settlement over foreclosure abuses and unacceptable mortgage servicing practices report that they have provided more than $3.6 billion in borrower relief to Floridians as of Sept. 30, 2012, with an additional $1.3 billion in modification relief in the pipeline. The servicers reported that 48,998 Floridians have benefitted from an average of $73,663 in relief per borrower. Nationally, the servicers report that more than 300,000 borrowers have received a total of $26.11 billion in relief and an average of $84,385 in relief per borrower.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - October 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Miami-Dade Police Department today charged seven people for their alleged involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme totaling nearly $5 million. The individuals allegedly defrauded lenders by using straw buyers, filing false liens with county officials, laundering money, and inflating prices quoted to lenders.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - September 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi's office has obtained a temporary injunction and asset freeze against a company that allegedly preyed on distressed homeowners, defrauding them out of thousands of dollars in a mortgage relief scam. According to the complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office, Edward Cherry, Lawrence Diodato, Paul Gellenbeck, Shane Frankovic, Anthony C. Pintsopoulos and their businesses charged homeowners $3,500 in up-front fees and, in return, falsely guaranteed that the defendants would “void” the homeowner’s “upside-down mortgage.” The Broward County Circuit Court today ordered the defendants to immediately cease operations and freeze their assets