Deputy Gets Fired For Lying About Income On Mortgage App In 2007

May 19, 2012 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

JPMorgan Chase Not Pursuing Charges

Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami

Call me a cynic or maybe it’s just because I know more about the mortgage industry than most people but something doesn’t add up about the story that appeared the local news in Naples yesterday. It was about Collier County Sheriff’s Deputy, Michael Kovar being terminated for lying about his income on a mortgage application he filled out back in 2007 for a house he wanted to buy and flip. He claimed his income from his side business of flipping homes was an additional $510,000 a year when in reality it was $88,000. The house later went into default with a $500,000 deficiency. After the foreclosure process was completed, JPMorgan Chase stated they were not going to pursue the deficiency.

Soon after, the Collier County Sheriff’s Department began digging through Michael Kovar’s finances for an undisclosed reason and discovered his mortgage application and in March of this year Kovar for “unlawful or improper conduct” and “failing to pay just debts.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning Michael Kovar for misrepresenting his income on his mortgage application and he should be punished. However, unlike most cases where homeowners get caught misrepresenting their income, lenders are more than eager to convict but in this case especially on a loan this size but JPMorgan Chase refuses to. Why?

According to WINK News, JPMorgan Chase took a $500,000 loss on the property but did they? It may appear that way on the public record but as anyone who follows my blogs knows, looks can be deceiving. JPMorgan Chases says they’re not pursuing Michael Kovar for the deficiency. Did they really take a $500,000 loss on the file? Probably not. There are two probable reasons why Chase isn’t pursuing this. The loan was insured and JPMorgan Chase got paid off by the insurance policy or they felt that if the matter was litigated they couldn’t prove enough of an ownership interest in the note and/or mortgage under Florida law to legally foreclose. So that begs the question, is this debt legitimate?

The Collier County Sheriff’s office is sophisticated enough to know this. Michael Kovar’s termination sounds more like a case of the department wanting to terminate his employment using this as an excuse.

Michigan set to extend mortgage mediation process

December 20, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Kerri Panchuk, Housing Wire

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to sign three bills to extend and reform the state’s foreclosure mediation process through 2012, while changing some of the deadlines for homeowners and financial firms.

Attorney Michael Woods with Potestivo & Associates sent out an advisory, noting the Michigan House of Representatives approved three bills, which now await the governor’s signature.

When enacted, HB 4542 and 4543 will extend the foreclosure mediation process through next year, while adding a new guideline that allows a borrower or housing counselor to contact a servicer’s designee to schedule a pre-foreclosure mediation hearing.

In addition, the legislation extends the time period for a borrower or housing counselor to respond to a pre-foreclosure notice by three days, pushing the deadline to 30 days from 27.

Woods said after a borrower asks for mediation, “there continues to be a 90-day stay to the foreclosure process … borrowers are now required to return a completed financial package, if requested, no later than 60 days after the date of the mailed pre-foreclosure notice.”

However, the Detroit-based law firm said if a financial package is not returned by the deadline, a bank can proceed with the foreclosure by advertising the filing without having to wait the full 90 days.

Florida Supreme Court Admits Failure And Ends Foreclosure Mediation Program

December 20, 2011 By Steve Dibert 1 Comment

Jeff Ostrowski, Palm Beach Post

Florida’s foreclosure crisis lives on, but a statewide mediation program for troubled borrowers is dead.

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Canady issued an order Monday ending the effort to encourage lenders and borrowers to avoid foreclosure.

The program was a flop. Only 3.6 percent of cases referred to mediation statewide yielded a written agreement between the lender and homeowner. In Palm Beach County, which began its program in July 2010, a mere 1.6 percent of the 4,632 cases sent to mediation resulted in a written agreement.

Often, lenders couldn’t even reach borrowers to propose mediation. Of 78,076 cases referred to mediation statewide, lenders managed to get in touch with just 42 percent of borrowers.

“The court has reviewed the reports on the program and determined it cannot justify continuation of the program,” Canady wrote.

Lenders and borrowers can continue to haggle over loans already in the mediation program, but it will take on no new cases, he said.

Lenders blamed economic reality for the program’s failure. Home prices have plummeted and jobless rates have soared since the real estate bubble burst, creating financial obstacles that were just too great for many to overcome, said Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of government affairs at the Florida Bankers Association.

“It was a well-intentioned program that just didn’t work,” DiMarco said. “If someone’s lost their job, a substantial part of their income, I don’t know how they can work that out.”

But foreclosure attorney Tom Ice of Royal Palm Beach said the program failed not because of a moribund economy but because of the way it was designed.

PB Post Says Florida Barbie Has Wrong Priorities

November 14, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Bondi has wrong priority

Rhonda Swan for The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s effort to play catch-up and clear her name following the revelation that her office fired two highly praised foreclosure fraud attorneys suggests that she is more concerned with her image than her job.

In July, The Post’s Kim Miller broke the story of the firings, which happened in May. On Tuesday, Ms. Miller reported on emails related to the firings. In one, Ms. Bondi responds to a statement detailing that June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards were fired because of “shoddy legal work” by saying, “I can finally go to sleep now and quit worrying about how these women will attempt to destroy me.”

In another email, Ms. Bondi wrote that she learned about the firings during a “two-minute phone call” and that she “did not even know the details, nor should I have needed to know.”

Therein lies the problem.

Ms. Bondi wants to be too far removed from the firings, which the attorneys have suggested were politically motivated after foreclosure attorneys complained that Ms. Clarkson and Ms. Edwards were too aggressive. Our translation: They were doing their jobs. As attorney general, Ms. Bondi should have wanted to know the details. It shouldn’t take media attention to pique her curiosity.

Jennifer Meale, Ms. Bondi’s communications director, said the attorney general was upset by what she called “false accusations” by the attorneys. “The attorney general,” Ms. Meale said, “wanted to make sure that the record was set straight.” She also pointed out that the agency has more than doubled the staff dedicated to foreclosure improprieties.

Ms. Bondi’s defensiveness is telling. She never has adequately explained how Ms. Clarkson and Ms. Edwards went so quickly from receiving strong performance reviews to doing “shoddy legal work.” Ms. Bondi had been on the job for just four months when the women were fired. Rather than worry “about how these women are going to destroy me,” Ms. Bondi, who always notes that she is a former prosecutor, ought to wonder why she still can’t present a credible case for the firings.

Deputy Gets Fired For Lying About Income On Mortgage App In 2007

JPMorgan Chase Not Pursuing Charges

Michigan set to extend mortgage mediation process

Florida Supreme Court Admits Failure And Ends Foreclosure Mediation Program

PB Post Says Florida Barbie Has Wrong Priorities

Translation

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