Bank Forecloses on Wrong House [BoA keeps being "Stuck on Stupid"]

Lakeland Ledger / St Petersburg Times ^ | 02/12/2010 | Tony Marrero

[SES1066]

SPRING HILL | Charlie and Maria Cardoso are among the millions of Americans who have experienced the misery and embarrassment that come with home foreclosure.

Just one problem: The Massachusetts couple paid for their future retirement home in Spring Hill with cash in 2005, five years before agents for Bank of America seized the house, removed belongings and changed the locks on the doors, according to a lawsuit the couple have filed in federal court.
...
Cardoso had to prove to police that he owned the house. The next day he broke in through a back door and used bolt cutters to remove the lock box. The water and electricity had been turned off, and pipes had frozen.

[SES1066]

Yes, there is a role for big banks and yes they have rights to protect their property BUT even in "It's a Good Life" Big Banker Potter lived in the same town. This is a not common but not all that rare example of what happens when a PRIVATE BUREAUCRACY goes amok.

Possessions are lost, fences are destroyed, renters are chased off and the faceless bank says "We are working with to resolve this situation (sic)".

Me, personally, I wouldn't do business with a national bank unless I had a national business or needed a really big business credit line (ha)! I will take the home town Credit Union that I can talk to. Anyway, more great publicity for the former NCNB.

[bvw]

The situation echos somewhat of the Irish potato famine.

[NonValueAdded]

The courts have to be complicit - there is no way the bank could have proved ownership of their property. Either that or it is flat out “serving the warrant on the wrong address.” An enterprising states attorney just might be convinced to file criminal charges.

[eyeamok]

In cases like this I believe The Bank Personnel invloved,from the moment their Realtor told them there was a mistake, Belong in PRISON for the rest of their life.

[antiRepublicrat]

A mistake would be the first time they came to the home and were told it’s paid for, then dropped the issue. This deserves severe punitive damages. People need to be arrested for trespass, damage to private property, grand theft (they effectively stole a house), and conspiracy to commit all of the above for the officers of the company.

I’m actually surprised the bank didn’t have the owner arrested for breaking into his own house.

[eyeamok]

I was just thinking the same thing, Didn’t a JUDGE have to sign off on this?? Court Clerk?? A lot of People need to go to PRISON including the Judge if he signed this order.

[4yearlurker]

Time for the home owners to contact their lawyer who handles the home closing. Dig out the deed and title insurance and sue the bank into the stone age.

[lack-of-trust]

things must be very different in Florida.

In Delaware we have (in each county) an elected Recorder of Deeds and and elected Sheriff.

For a bank to foreclose, they first go to the Recorder of Deeds and get proof of their authority to do so, then they go to the Sheriff who post’s the property and 60 days later auctions it off.

But most importantly! when strangers show up at your door and want to take all of your possesions, Call The Police and have them arrested. If a man knocks down your fence and starts cutting your grass... Call The Police and have him charged with tresspassing and vandalism. If you later end up in court, handing the judge a copy of the police report goes a long way to proving your version of what happened.

[Roses0508]

A lot of foreclosures are happening right now without proper paperwork. It has to do with the repeated re-sale of mortgages. They’ve lost track of the paperwork and they are not even really certain who has the authority to do the foreclosures. Usually whatever entity that is collecting the mortgage files the foreclosures. The Courts have been taking their word for it in most, but not all jurisdictions. There are some jurisdictions where foreclosure actions are on hold while the filing party comes up with the appropriate paperwork.

[palmer]

The banks are supposed to destroy as many houses as possible. The alternative is for them to dump houses on a saturated market. The government will find a way to use your tax money to reimburse them for their paper loss.

[ConservativeMind]

“We have reached out to the Cardosos’ representatives and hope to have the opportunity to work with them to properly assess and address their allegations,” the statement said. “We are reviewing the allegations in the lawsuit, the actual events that led to them and the causes of those events, and will consider any hardship that resulted.”

Ahem, “allegations?” As if there can be a question about the propriety of what happened?

I think it’s time for the bank to pay out the wazoo for this.

[ml/nj]

$30 mil to settle. (Lawyer gets $8 mil of that.)

ML/NJ

[NonValueAdded]

I’d be mad as hell and go scorched earth on the whole lot of them. Sovereign immunity probably protects the judicial players but the judge in Florida will eventually be up for retention election. The clerk of courts too. Hopefully the Cardosos can get the Portuguese community up in arms to oppose the judge. S/he failed to use a reasonable measure of care and failed to protect the rights of the homeowners. I don’t know if the erroneous statements would qualify as perjury. I doubt the Cardosos were served since this was an address error. This pressure might just make the judge an ally and make things happen.

[San Jacinto]

That retirment home will prove to have been a very lucrative investment for the Cardoso’s.

[Truth29]

I hope they have a PR savvy attorney. The bad publicity might go a long way toward a major settlement rather than years fighting a deep pocketed bank in the courts.

[eyeamok]

The only way I Would ever buy into the “Sovereign Immunity” crap, would be if The Judge and Court Clerk were FIRED for Incompetence, short of the they were COMPLICIT and Immunity doesn’t apply. There are ONLY 2 possible reasons for this happening. If they are that Incompetent why is this person a JUDGE?? IMMEDIATELY remove this person from the Bench for MALFEASANCE. If the Judge claims to be competent then the JUDGE by default is COMPLICIT in this FRAUD and THEFT and deserves to go to PRISON For LIFE.

By the way , this is how it works against us serf’s.

[the invisib1e hand]

i hope they take ‘em down but good.

[Brilliant]

They did not foreclose on the wrong house, they simply changed the locks on and took over the wrong house. The house they foreclosed on was down the street.

[SES1066]

They did not foreclose on the wrong house, they simply changed the locks on and took over the wrong house.

Yes, but more than that:

First, they rousted out the house renters with the threat of changing the locks and forced clearing of the house.
Second, an agent of theirs, the lawn care service, tore down a fence and convinced the renter to leave an unsettled ownership situation.
Third, they do put locks on the home and turn off utilities resulting in frozen pipes and ancillary damages. This forced the owner and son to drive down from the North to convince the local police that the Bank of America was WRONG and then he, the owner, had to do his own break-in (damage) and then destroy the Bank's property (their locks).

Thus the actions of BoA were not just the 'legalities' (the foreclosure) but the actions that surround the attempted foreclosure of the wrong house. Given that BoA had no authority over the property that they were damaging since the real and actual title was clear and unencumbered, their actions after the 1st notice, became notorious and impossible to defend. I would not be surprised if the owner's title company and their insurance weren't paying for the lawyer and the filings for this action.