Tennessee Court Stops Wells Fargo Foreclosure -Banks Motion DENIED
Williamson County – Wells Fargo Bank’s Motion to Dismiss is denied. A Williamson County homeowner, who signed a Mortgage in 2006, to now bankrupt defunct lender New Century Mortgage Ventures, LLC, was given relief by a Williamson County Court. The homeowner had not missed a payment until she was instructed to stop paying by Wells Fargo bank. The Tennessee homeowner had previously received a notice to start making her payments to America’s Servicing Company (a division of Wells Fargo) who claimed they were the “servicer” of her Mortgage. The Tennessee homeowner, who is a single mother, lost her second job and called the Bank to see if she would qualify for any tax-payer funded loan modification programs (the Banks were given 30 Billion Dollars to help out Americans- to date less than 2% has reached eligible Americans).
The homeowner was instructed to fall behind on the payments in October of 2011 in order to qualify. In November 2011, the homeowner received a letter from Wells Fargo Bank telling her that they were going to institute Tennessee foreclosure proceedings on her home (after the Bank told her to stop paying!) The letter was referred to as “Notice of Right to Foreclose” but did not describe how Wells Fargo (or ASC) acquired any rights from her original lender New Century/Netco (the company that was registered with the Williamson County Clerk as the owner of said property at the time).
Homeowner was given a “reinstatement” quote to get current on the 2 payments they claimed she owed. The letter stated that she would need to pay Wells Fargo past due payments of $3,575.48, a late charge fee of $1,795.86, other fees of $260.00, all totaling $5,631.34, due in full in January, 2012 to avoid acceleration and default. Her mortgage payments were only around $1,000 to begin with ! (keep in mind Wells Fargo instructed homeowner not to pay). The Tennessee homeowner submitted a certified check to Wells Fargo before the January 2012 deadline for the full amount but the check was sent back to her. The Tennessee homeowner was informed that payments were not accepted while in the loan modification process. While the homeowner was sending correspondence to Wells Fargo for the “loan modification,” Wells Fargo made her resubmit paperwork, did not return her calls, and kept sending more and more paperwork for her to fill out stating that she had not done the paperwork correctly. While the Tennessee homeowner was doing this, she got a letter from Wilson and Associates, the Foreclosure Attorneys for Wells Fargo. The letter stated that Wilson and Associates was conducting a trustee’s sale on her home. The Tennessee homeowner was never provided any additional notice of who the foreclosing party was, or what, if any, right they had to foreclose.
The Tennessee homeowner received a Notice which stated that Wilson and Associates had been appointed as Successor Trustee of the property and was going to face a Tennessee foreclosure. The homeowner received a letter from Wells Fargo 2 days later that the Bank “would continue to review her paperwork for a loan modification.” The homeowner spent the next 4 months submitting paperwork, being told that her paperwork was defective, citing minor errors for the delay, weeks of resubmission of paperwork, asking the Tennessee homeowner for information that they previously did not ask for, and weeks of lapse of communication with Wells Fargo. During this time, she was not allowed to make payments to anyone. Wells Fargo then denied her a taxpayer government funded loan modification stating that her paperwork was incomplete (this was all because she was going to be late on one payment).
The foreclosure attorneys conducted a non-judicial “foreclosure” sale on behalf of US Bank National Association, as Trustee for Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust Inc. 2006- NCI, Asset Banked Pass-through Certificates Series 2006-NCI (their name was never mentioned before to anyone and didn’t appear anywhere in the public record). The Tennessee homeowner facing foreclosure contacted Tennessee State Attorney General’s office who contacted Wells Fargo directly and demanded they provide a reinstatement quote/modification review the “foreclosure” sale, After 2 months, the homeowner was provided with a reinstatement quote. The reinstatement quote was for $27,669.87! (all for asking what her options were to miss a $1,000 mortgage payment!!), and was to be paid directly to the foreclosure attorneys who would give the money to Premiere Asset Services (a company that is owned by Bank of America). The Tennessee homeowner who faced a non-judicial foreclosure was given a quote including many itemized costs, late fees, and attorney’s fees. Homeowner could not pay the full amount because it included late charges, attorney’s fees, and foreclosure costs incurred because of Wells Fargo’s instructions to the Tennessee Homeowner not to pay. The “foreclosing” Bank had refused payments from the homeowner while she was being considered for a loan modification.
Wells Fargo’s counsel (acting for US Bank) later made an admission that Wells Fargo (who was not listed on the foreclosure documents provided to the State) was the foreclosing party. Wells Fargo is not mentioned anywhere in any public documents, and their name is not registered to the property with the Williamson County Register of Deeds. (The “foreclosing” Banks attorneys “sold” homeowners property directly to US Bank National Association, as Trustee for Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust Inc. 2006-NCI, Asset Banked Pass-through Certificates Series 2006-NCI-confused yet?)
Amidst many allegations, including fraud, the homeowners original lender, the defunct non-party New Century Financial Corporation and its related entities filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. The Delaware Bankruptcy Court ordered that all claims related to the Bankruptcy had to be filed by April 2, 2007. There is no evidence of any authority having jurisdiction of the New Century Bankruptcy to permit one of its subsidiaries, or anyone, to assign a Mortgage loan out of the Bankruptcy (New Century has been closed since in Tennessee since October 29, 2007). There is no evidence that the property was ever assigned out of the Bankruptcy (as it wasn’t) and no claims to the property were ever made by Wells Fargo, US Bank, or Bank of America.
The Williamson County Court found that there wasn’t any evidence in the public record to show how Wells Fargo got an interest in the home. This is because they never did and had been taking the homeowners payments without any right to do so for years. The homeowner was required to post a cash bond (which she had saved up because she was honestly trying to make payments when they were denied). Wells Fargo’s motion to dismiss the proceedings and take the home were denied. The homeowner was granted a stay. If this story sounds familiar to you or you think you may be the victim of foreclosure fraud in Tennessee, please contact my office or email me at john@higginslawfirm.net for assistance.
A wise man (founder of the State of Tennessee and drafter of the Tennessee Constitution) said:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)
Please call your State and Federal Representatives and demand that the Banks stop these practices and to stop the legalization of the secret private mortgage database corporation Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS). The Banks are planning on passing laws that legalize these practices and use our tax money to do it. Don’t let this behavior continue- they are using our money to take homes they don’t own. I can only help one person at a time, but together, we can all make a difference.
Photo credit: morisius cosmonaut / Foter / CC BY