Any eviction should be treated by the courts with the gravest concern for the tenant or borrower. I know in my experience and because of what I do for a living as a paralegal and an accountant, that there are times when people take advantage of a rental situation and merely enter into leases with the full intention of not paying the rent. I know of one man in our town who has made a bad reputation for himself and his family because he routinely defaults on rental leases. I am not like this person. Our family is not like this person. Up until this fraud started with the mortgage company we had never missed a mortgage payment, or any bill for that matter. Our credit was good, we both had good jobs, and we thought we had a home until it was paid off. But things change, sometimes quickly, and in 2009 our battle started with Wells Fargo only to end up in a further battle against foreclosing trustee HSBC Bank. We never had a chance at justice or a fair hearing, like so many other disillusioned homeowners we thought the courts would at least look at our reasons for being there.
We thought, stupidly, that a judge is supposed to hear both sides of a story and then make a fair and just and reasoned decision that provides an equitable relief to both parties. Whoops! Did I just say fair and equitable relief?? That's what the law says your supposed to to do if you are a judge. But if you are a judge who does not want to be bothered with all this, you take the easy way out and then you throw homeowners out on their heads, using the Colorado Rule 120 hearing as a tool to make your job easier and process a lot of cases. There's something wrong with a legal system if a homeowner has to sue the lender to get justice, and justice repays the homeowner by refusing to grant a hearing on the claims. There's something wrong with a legal system that is supposed to provide a fair hearing where both parties present their evidence and a judge decides that only one party can present it, the other party has to sit there and watch while they lose a 30 year financial investment with no remedy. There's something wrong with a legal system that allows a lender into the courtroom with "copies" of documents that should be blue ink signed originals as evidence of debt, and a "certification" by the lenders attorney that "all documents have been verified as accurate". Colorado judges are elected. I even voted for the one who is responsible for allowing my illegal foreclosure to go through. But I will not be voting for him again. In fact, I will be contacting the Colorado State Bar to file a complaint against him. I will be contacting the Attorney General in Colorado to complain about this judge's total lack of procedure in our case. I will be contacting each and every person I know to make sure this judge is not elected again. I have no idea how many people he was responsible for evicting from their homes, but I am sure if I do a little research the number will be in the thousands. We have a person who is in charge of whether we get to continue to live in our homes that we paid thousands of dollars of principal and interest on, improved, fixed, maintained, insured, fed kids in, entertained in, celebrated in, grieved in. A home is more than a mortgage payment, it is a dwelling for a family. Evicting someone from a dwelling is not something you rush into, through, or decide without great trepidation, and without examining all possible resources first to help the person stay in their home. Even a default should not cost a person their home. People have lives, they are human, events happen. People have lost their jobs, their health, had a death in the family, been victims of weather, floods, devastation, all kinds of things happen to people. A default with extenuating circumstances should not result in losing a dwelling. Millions of people have been victimized by predatory lenders in the last five years because of laws that allow the lenders to foreclose with the barest and shoddiest paperwork, when eviction should be treated with strict procedures and discovery. Putting lenders on notice that improper paperwork will not be tolerated, and allowing judges to use broader discretion when deciding a foreclosure issue would level the playing field, and make the idea of justice more real to the average person. It would result in an actual ruling that is truly "fair and equitable" for both parties.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Anger Sparks Initiative from a Roemer Volunteer
Anger Sparks Initiative from a Roemer Volunteer
Here's a candidate who can change our government, we need to get him in front of the debates! Buddy Roemer is a banker, the only banker in the last three years who did not foreclose on a single homeowner during the economic crisis. That's enough for me.
Here's a candidate who can change our government, we need to get him in front of the debates! Buddy Roemer is a banker, the only banker in the last three years who did not foreclose on a single homeowner during the economic crisis. That's enough for me.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Judges Need to Be Heroes
Hello All:
In the wake of millions of foreclosures, neighborhood destruction, county taxes that support vital community services all but eliminated, one has to wonder why Colorado judges continue to support the public trustee in enforcing foreclosures while homeowners are in the process of seeking relief through loan modifications. It's unfortunate that examples are being set by judges every day in Florida, California, and Massachusetts, examples that do not support lender fraud, illegal foreclosures, shoddy paperwork, and plain missing documents, and Colorado judges are ignoring those examples and precedents and slamming the gavel down on struggling homeowners. Today is January 2, 2012. I am still in my home and on my farm of thirty years. I expect any day that the same judge who heard my rule 120 hearing and refused to allow me to explain my situation with Wells Fargo, the same judge who presided over my lawsuit that I filed as a plaintiff and never got into the courtroom, the same judge who is now in charge of my fate, who will rule shortly on a motion for Reconsideration of the original rule 120 hearing, will again side with the lenders against me and I will still be evicted without ever having my day in court. How can this happen? In light of all the recent court rulings in favor of homeowners, in light of all the evidence of outright fraud (in my case a forged Note), and rulings that consistently uphold UCC law and property rights, why are judges still not erring on the side of caution and siding with the homeowner?
There is so much evidence the lenders lied, cheated, and stole from the American people. If you are one of those borrowers (as I was) who never missed a mortgage payment and think you are insulated from this treachery, think again. It does not matter how current you are on your loan, if a lender in Colorado wants your property, they can take it at any time. It's right in your Deed of Trust that you, the borrower signed. My problem is that Colorado laws and Colorado judges favor the lender. Even when the contract is clearly wrong, evidence exists that something is outright disreputable about lenders insisting on litigating against a borrower instead of working out a solution, judges are still taking the easy way out, not doing their homework, and not ruling justly. I was a witness to a homeowner in court one day waiting outside to enter at his appointed time for a Rule 120 hearing. The lender's attorney stepped outside the courtroom and sat down with the homeowner, who did not speak English very well. The attorney introduced herself to the homeowner, and proceeded to get the person to admit he was in default on his mortgage. Once she had that, she went into the courtroom and I watched in complete horror as this person's home was ordered sold at sale in less than 30 seconds. I don't think the homeowner knew what had just happened to him. He was very confused, and had to be told he could leave after the judge ordered the sale of the home. He never testified, he was never asked WHY he was in default, because Colorado doesn't care WHY you are in default. All Colorado cares about is if you are in default, you lose your home. Doesn't matter how many years you paid on time for your mortgage, how much money you spent improving your home, or how many years you kept the taxes current, what matters to Colorado is you are in DEFAULT. Sounds like a pretty good racket to me, average home $180,000 times 20 or 30 a day occurring in any given county, $3,600,000 a day, times even one day a week, $187,200,000 a year in real estate the lender is collecting. I wonder how much the judge gets for siding with the lender? Maybe he gets a free home out of the deal. Maybe he gets retirement funded completely, maybe he gets a lot of stuff we don't even come close to knowing about. Who knows?
Now, judges could be heroes here instead of jerks. Judges can demand proper paperwork in a rule 120 hearing and if the lender fails to provide it, the judge can demand more evidence to prove debt, default, AND judges can PREVENT FORECLOSURES AND KEEP PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES simply by making the lenders accountable for everything they do, including DECEPTIVE PRACTICES like inducing a homeowner into a loan modification, telling them they have to be three months behind to qualify, and using the dual tracking process of foreclosing on the hapless homeowner while they wait for a loan modification. Judges need to be heroes. They need to look beyond the language of the statutes that keep the lender from being accountable, and they need to look at these foreclosures as individual situations where each case is different. If a borrower applied for a loan modification, that should immediately suspend any foreclosure proceedings until a workout can be accomplished. A judge should look into why contracts should be voided, I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me if the lender encouraged a homeowner to be three months behind to do a loan modification and then forecloses, that practice alone should cancel a contract, and the judge should enforce it. Maybe then, lenders would stop stooping to this despicable, deceitful behavior, if they start losing homeowners and homes because of it.
And don't tell me nobody wants to work it out. That is an outright lie the lenders are continuing to promote. Most people do not want to leave their homes. In the words of Buddy Roemer, "lenders need to be held accountable for their actions". When Presidential candidate Buddy Roemer had a recent interview on MSNBC, he stated: our bank did not foreclose on a single homeowner, foreclosure should be the LAST RESORT, not the first one. Maybe judges should listen more to Buddy Roemer, a banker who gets it, and knows what needs to happen to prevent foreclosures.
I look forward in the coming months to being evicted, but I will not stop trying to change Colorado laws that favor lenders and are in violation of basic property rights of hard working homeowners. HSBC and Wells Fargo think they are going to make an example of me, but believe me, the battle has just begun. If they refuse to settle this illegal foreclosure by doing right by me, I will spend the rest of my life not only lobbying to change our laws, but also making it my life's goal to bring big banks down to their knees, and eliminating laws that favor corporations over people.
Wishing all my friends, acquaintances, and most of all, all you people out there working for lenders and are just trying to do your jobs, do your job better, EXPOSE THE FRAUD, BECOME A WHISTLEBLOWER, QUIT YOUR JOB AND DO SOMETHING ELSE, DO ANYTHING YOU CAN TO NOT SUPPORT THOSE LENDERS WHO HAVE BEEN SINGLED OUT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LAST APRIL AS COMMITTING FRAUD!!! DON'T WORK FOR THESE PEOPLE AND PERPETRATE THE ABUSES AGAINST PEOPLE! If you have a job with a lender identified by the Federal Government as a fraudulent lender, move your loans, refinance your vehicles, your mortgage, with someone local, and do not do business with your employer. I know, and you know, that someone close to you has been hurt by a lender, the only way to get this to stop is to start from within. If you are reading this, you must know that people are being hurt, ruined, damaged emotionally, have become sick from stress and worry, have committed suicide, have children who are emotionally damaged, all because of the loss of their homes that did not have to happen. There is no justification for a lender going forward with the robbery of someone's home, when they were already compensated for it. It is an attempt to clean up books and nothing more, why does nobody understand this???
In the end, we will all sleep better at night if we can eliminate this insidious and virulent force that is among us. We all know what to do, we just need to keep doing it. God Bless all those who have helped us so far, and those who are continuing in the fight for Justice. May you all have a peaceful, less stressful, prosperous and blessed New Year 2012.
Donna Fasi
Sweetwater Herb Farm
Help Save The Farm-Contribute to
Sweetwater Herb Farm
3856 Sweetwater Road
Gypsum, CO 81637
In the wake of millions of foreclosures, neighborhood destruction, county taxes that support vital community services all but eliminated, one has to wonder why Colorado judges continue to support the public trustee in enforcing foreclosures while homeowners are in the process of seeking relief through loan modifications. It's unfortunate that examples are being set by judges every day in Florida, California, and Massachusetts, examples that do not support lender fraud, illegal foreclosures, shoddy paperwork, and plain missing documents, and Colorado judges are ignoring those examples and precedents and slamming the gavel down on struggling homeowners. Today is January 2, 2012. I am still in my home and on my farm of thirty years. I expect any day that the same judge who heard my rule 120 hearing and refused to allow me to explain my situation with Wells Fargo, the same judge who presided over my lawsuit that I filed as a plaintiff and never got into the courtroom, the same judge who is now in charge of my fate, who will rule shortly on a motion for Reconsideration of the original rule 120 hearing, will again side with the lenders against me and I will still be evicted without ever having my day in court. How can this happen? In light of all the recent court rulings in favor of homeowners, in light of all the evidence of outright fraud (in my case a forged Note), and rulings that consistently uphold UCC law and property rights, why are judges still not erring on the side of caution and siding with the homeowner?
There is so much evidence the lenders lied, cheated, and stole from the American people. If you are one of those borrowers (as I was) who never missed a mortgage payment and think you are insulated from this treachery, think again. It does not matter how current you are on your loan, if a lender in Colorado wants your property, they can take it at any time. It's right in your Deed of Trust that you, the borrower signed. My problem is that Colorado laws and Colorado judges favor the lender. Even when the contract is clearly wrong, evidence exists that something is outright disreputable about lenders insisting on litigating against a borrower instead of working out a solution, judges are still taking the easy way out, not doing their homework, and not ruling justly. I was a witness to a homeowner in court one day waiting outside to enter at his appointed time for a Rule 120 hearing. The lender's attorney stepped outside the courtroom and sat down with the homeowner, who did not speak English very well. The attorney introduced herself to the homeowner, and proceeded to get the person to admit he was in default on his mortgage. Once she had that, she went into the courtroom and I watched in complete horror as this person's home was ordered sold at sale in less than 30 seconds. I don't think the homeowner knew what had just happened to him. He was very confused, and had to be told he could leave after the judge ordered the sale of the home. He never testified, he was never asked WHY he was in default, because Colorado doesn't care WHY you are in default. All Colorado cares about is if you are in default, you lose your home. Doesn't matter how many years you paid on time for your mortgage, how much money you spent improving your home, or how many years you kept the taxes current, what matters to Colorado is you are in DEFAULT. Sounds like a pretty good racket to me, average home $180,000 times 20 or 30 a day occurring in any given county, $3,600,000 a day, times even one day a week, $187,200,000 a year in real estate the lender is collecting. I wonder how much the judge gets for siding with the lender? Maybe he gets a free home out of the deal. Maybe he gets retirement funded completely, maybe he gets a lot of stuff we don't even come close to knowing about. Who knows?
Now, judges could be heroes here instead of jerks. Judges can demand proper paperwork in a rule 120 hearing and if the lender fails to provide it, the judge can demand more evidence to prove debt, default, AND judges can PREVENT FORECLOSURES AND KEEP PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES simply by making the lenders accountable for everything they do, including DECEPTIVE PRACTICES like inducing a homeowner into a loan modification, telling them they have to be three months behind to qualify, and using the dual tracking process of foreclosing on the hapless homeowner while they wait for a loan modification. Judges need to be heroes. They need to look beyond the language of the statutes that keep the lender from being accountable, and they need to look at these foreclosures as individual situations where each case is different. If a borrower applied for a loan modification, that should immediately suspend any foreclosure proceedings until a workout can be accomplished. A judge should look into why contracts should be voided, I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me if the lender encouraged a homeowner to be three months behind to do a loan modification and then forecloses, that practice alone should cancel a contract, and the judge should enforce it. Maybe then, lenders would stop stooping to this despicable, deceitful behavior, if they start losing homeowners and homes because of it.
And don't tell me nobody wants to work it out. That is an outright lie the lenders are continuing to promote. Most people do not want to leave their homes. In the words of Buddy Roemer, "lenders need to be held accountable for their actions". When Presidential candidate Buddy Roemer had a recent interview on MSNBC, he stated: our bank did not foreclose on a single homeowner, foreclosure should be the LAST RESORT, not the first one. Maybe judges should listen more to Buddy Roemer, a banker who gets it, and knows what needs to happen to prevent foreclosures.
I look forward in the coming months to being evicted, but I will not stop trying to change Colorado laws that favor lenders and are in violation of basic property rights of hard working homeowners. HSBC and Wells Fargo think they are going to make an example of me, but believe me, the battle has just begun. If they refuse to settle this illegal foreclosure by doing right by me, I will spend the rest of my life not only lobbying to change our laws, but also making it my life's goal to bring big banks down to their knees, and eliminating laws that favor corporations over people.
Wishing all my friends, acquaintances, and most of all, all you people out there working for lenders and are just trying to do your jobs, do your job better, EXPOSE THE FRAUD, BECOME A WHISTLEBLOWER, QUIT YOUR JOB AND DO SOMETHING ELSE, DO ANYTHING YOU CAN TO NOT SUPPORT THOSE LENDERS WHO HAVE BEEN SINGLED OUT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LAST APRIL AS COMMITTING FRAUD!!! DON'T WORK FOR THESE PEOPLE AND PERPETRATE THE ABUSES AGAINST PEOPLE! If you have a job with a lender identified by the Federal Government as a fraudulent lender, move your loans, refinance your vehicles, your mortgage, with someone local, and do not do business with your employer. I know, and you know, that someone close to you has been hurt by a lender, the only way to get this to stop is to start from within. If you are reading this, you must know that people are being hurt, ruined, damaged emotionally, have become sick from stress and worry, have committed suicide, have children who are emotionally damaged, all because of the loss of their homes that did not have to happen. There is no justification for a lender going forward with the robbery of someone's home, when they were already compensated for it. It is an attempt to clean up books and nothing more, why does nobody understand this???
In the end, we will all sleep better at night if we can eliminate this insidious and virulent force that is among us. We all know what to do, we just need to keep doing it. God Bless all those who have helped us so far, and those who are continuing in the fight for Justice. May you all have a peaceful, less stressful, prosperous and blessed New Year 2012.
Donna Fasi
Sweetwater Herb Farm
Help Save The Farm-Contribute to
Sweetwater Herb Farm
3856 Sweetwater Road
Gypsum, CO 81637
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