Building an empire, one home at a time (Harmon Law - Foreclosure Mill)

Boston.com ^ | August 8, 2011 | Jenifer B. McKim

[Chunga85]

He operates the largest foreclosure law firm in the state, and these hard times have made Mark P. Harmon a very busy man. Some critics assail his tactics, but Harmon is unapologetic: Lenders, after all, need zealous lawyers, too.

Devenia Mack doesn’t know Mark P. Harmon personally, but the Newton lawyer is intimately involved in her housing crisis. His company, Harmon Law Offices, was hired by Wells Fargo Bank last year to seize Mack’s Westminster ranch house by foreclosure.

His son, Andrew, signed the paperwork that transferred the mortgage to Wells Fargo.

His title company stamped the document notifying Mack that the bank was taking her home.

And his auction company put the property up for sale.

Mack, a 46-year-old mother of five, went to court to fight back. She claimed Harmon’s law firm and auction company worked with Wells Fargo to begin the foreclosure process without technically owning the mortgage. Mack said she was in the midst of negotiating with the bank to lower her payments when she heard about the auction.

“I don’t know how it could have gotten that far when I did everything they told me to,’’ she said.

[Chunga85]

A few more fun snips from the article hidden on the front page...

"Indeed, the firm’s determination to get the job done can cause emotions to erupt, especially those of desperate homeowners. (It is why Harmon Law’s Newton offices are fortified with security glass.)

"But some legal specialists say Harmon Law’s role in moving mortgages around poses ethical problems. For instance, they say, the firm’s attorneys purport to represent the lender transferring a mortgage as well as the lender receiving it. They question how Harmon’s attorneys can call themselves vice presidents of a company that doesn’t pay them salaries."

"John L. O’ Brien, head of the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds in Salem, said he found five different versions of Andrew Harmon’s signature on foreclosure-related legal documents as part of an investigation into alleged robosigners - information he submitted to Coakley’s office."

[Chunga85]

Fortified Security Glass Ping.

[sinanju]

It was inevitable. A plethora of unclaimed corpses draws the scavengers. You have bounty hunters, repo men, skip tracers, private dicks, “foster parents” and now you have these...

I see a new reality TV show in the offing.

Or perhaps film maker Alex Cox could be persuaded to make a sequel to “Repo Man”.

Or maybe Fat Bastard (aka Michael Moore”) will make this the subject of his next Amerikka-hating documentary.

[_a_0_0_]

Fortified Security Glass Ping.

Karma is undaunted.

[Don Corleone]

Will You Sell Your House after 2012?

The National Association of REALTORS is all over this and working to get it repealed, before it takes effect. But, I am very pleased we aren’t the only ones who know about this ploy to steal billions from unsuspecting homeowners. How many REALTORS do you think will vote Democratic in 2012?

Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it? That’s $3,800 on a $100,000 home, etc. When did this happen? It’s in the health care bill and goes into effect in 2013.

Why 2013? Could it be to come to light AFTER the 2012 elections? So, this is “change you can believe in”?
Under the new health care bill all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax.

If you sell a $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax. This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes. Does this make your November and 2012 vote more important?

Oh, you weren’t aware this was in the Obamacare bill? Guess what, you aren’t alone.
There are more than a few members of Congress that aren’t aware of it either

http://www.gop.gov/blog/10/04/08/obamacare-flatlines-obamacare-taxes-home < ;http://www.gop.gov/blog/10/04/08/obamacare-flatlines-obamacare-taxes-home >

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it? That’s $3,800 on a $100,000 home, etc...

Only on the capital gains in excess of $500,000.

Of course, once Ubama's inflation kicks in, any shack will be worth that.

[Chunga85]

Here is a Handwriting Expert's Analysis of Andrew Harmon signatures.

Andrew Harmon Signatures Examined by Handwriting Expert

For some odd reason this "expert" explained away his analysis at the last minute...lol.

Pressured by TBTF perhaps?

[Texas Fossil]

You do realise that Carpet Baggers did this type of crap after the Civil War?

I know families who had family members murdered over the title to property stolen by this type of scum. It happened as close by as in Louisiana, but was frequent in all of the Deep South. I know of no case in Texas, it was a very unhealthy place for Carpetbaggers.

I do not believe this nation has had this degree of open political corruption since 1900.

[Neidermeyer]

I know families who had family members murdered over the title to property stolen by this type of scum.
**************************************************
Time for “we the people” to start getting busy and steal as much back from them as we can,, especially where the original owners have moved on and aren’t willing to fight.

[Texas Fossil]

Time for “we the people” to start getting busy and steal as much back from them as we can

Theft is never warranted.

What I described was property that was purchased, paid for, had clear title but was stolen by POLs. that was 150 years ago, but many POLs are still crooked. Some things don't change. But the law applies to all and must be abided by.

[Neidermeyer]

I meant to use the law to take it away from them ,, they’re getting 96% of it by default and with faked docs.

[Oceander]

"But some legal specialists say Harmon Law’s role in moving mortgages around poses ethical problems. For instance, they say, the firm’s attorneys purport to represent the lender transferring a mortgage as well as the lender receiving it. They question how Harmon’s attorneys can call themselves vice presidents of a company that doesn’t pay them salaries."

And those would be experts in what sort of law? Certainly not present-day American law. Dual representation as described above is not an unwaivable conflict of interest and therefore does not ipso facto present an ethical problem.

Furthermore, assuming that an ethical problem did arise, under the law of professional ethics, the issue would be a problem as between the attorneys and one of the two lenders; a third party stranger to that representation, such as the bally-hooed debtor in this piece, wouldn't have any legs to stand on. At least, that is, under the real law of professional ethics.

Finally, the last sentence is a non-sequitur: even assuming that there was something impermissible about being a vice-president of a company that doesn't pay you a salary, that doesn't, without more, make it an ethics problem. That, of course, assumes that there is something impermissible about someone being a vice president - or any other officer - for a corporation without pay; nothing could be further from the truth, however: almost every owner of an S-corporation has that sort of relationship to his or her s-corporation. In fact, most small business-owners who operate through an s-corporation are not only the VP without pay, they're usually also the President, the Treasurer, and the Secretary without pay.

Apparently, these "legal specialists" are specialists in law as it is practiced in some parallel universe.

[Texas Fossil]

they’re getting 96% of it by default and with faked docs

The last time I looked, forgery is a crime. I have read about the document factories and do not doubt what you say. The real problem is bigger than the foreclosure, it is the inability to convey clear title to a new buyer. Very serious problem and difficult to correct. Some people should go to jail over this mess, but they won't.

[longtermmemmory]

the transfer documents are all forged or intentionally shreaded. There is no chain of custody just a begining and dubious forged end.

These lawyers are protected by their bars. Law firms are not disciplined only lawyers. So as long as the big boys don’t acutually do the cases, only a few first or second years are sacrificed.

even the much vaunted investigations in FL of three or four forclosure mills are going nowhere because the AG is giving a wet noodle slap in order to protect the banks.