Copyright: | (c) 2010 PRWEB.COM Newswire |
Source: | PR Web |
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At the same time, Duran’s attorneys claim his mortgage has been sold in the secondary market to investors who paid a profit to
“Someone has to stand up for the rights of the defenseless and the oppressed,” said Duran. “People have to know the real story of how these banks were able to take the American dream and destroy it. We believe they reaped billions of dollars in profits by lying, falsifying documents, appraisals, applications engaging in predatory advertising and lending practices. They hide behind all the companies that are involved and the large law firms that represent them. They create layer upon layer of red tape to avoid being held accountable.”
Duran’s attorney,
“Even though my home is not in foreclosure and I continue to make regular, on-time payments, my case is similar to the plight of millions of homeowners across the country,” said Duran, a prominent
The case was immediately removed by the defendants to federal court in 2009, but has since been remanded back to the state court earlier this year after a tough and expensive legal battle. Duran also had to pay a
According to Duran’s attorneys, they have filed a motion to stay the proceeding because the arbitrator from the
“It is inevitable the Mr. Duran will have to begin the entire arbitration process from the beginning,” said Riveron. “This conduct on the part of the arbitrator calls in to question the entire integrity of the expensive arbitration process that
The lawsuit claims that this legal saga began when Duran tried to refinance his primary residence in 2005. He had purchased the home in
According to the lawsuit, Duran saw an ad in the
The lawsuit states Duran contacted
According to the lawsuit, Sierra told Duran to leave the income section on the application blank until such time as she could conduct a “pencil search,” a prohibited but common practice used by mortgage brokers and lenders in order to maximize the loan amount in which a mortgage broker would shop for an appraiser to support the highest value that the lender could hit in originating the loan. Initially, Sierra informed Duran that his home was worth
“Unbeknownst to me, she created my loan by adjusting the value of my home to my debt-to-income ratio,” said Duran. “They never considered my ability to repay the loan. All they cared about was the appraised value and my good credit score. What I also discovered was that a
According to the lawsuit, after haggling over the terms for several weeks, Duran and his wife were disheartened at the closing when the final Greenpoint loan agreement reflected a financed amount of
“None of these terms were disclosed throughout the entire process,” said Duran. “She attempted to fix the problem at the closing of the mortgage, but they lied to my wife and me, once again.”
Duran and Riveron claim in the lawsuit that this case stems from the common practice of securitizing loans and selling them in the secondary market for huge profits. These mortgages were underwritten primarily on the basis of an inflated appraisal and have basically no underwriting standard other than securing a signature on loan documents.
“Greenpoint and Wells Fargo’s profits are determined by the amount of and quantity of loans they successfully closed, not the quality of those loans,” said Duran. “The lender has an incentive to pressure appraisers and brokers to reach values that will allow the loan to close – without regard to whether the appraisal reflects the home’s actual value. Likewise, the independent broker is not tied to one lender, but has relationships with multiple lenders.”
Duran said since he began his investigation and even before filing of the lawsuit, his home mortgage was transferred from Greenpoint to Countrywide and now to
“They want me to go into foreclosure in order to say ‘he is just like all the other unsuccessful people who bring these predatory lending complaints in defense of their foreclosures,’” said Duran.
“But it seems like they are trying to force him into default,” said Riveron. “Bank of America flagged his account and they won’t even speak to him. They forced him to use a lawyer so he can spend even more money. They want to break his back. They admitted that there is no reason to have placed forced placed insurance on his home, but yet they won’t apply his payments and they won’t correct their own mistake.”
“Sadly, at the end of the day, after more than two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested into this litigation Duran (as many Americans) is still not clear as to who he is indebted to because they will not produce documents to establish or to prove who is the true holder of his mortgage. It is one roadblock after another,” said Riveron.
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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/12/prweb4871144.htm
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