While the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seemed to come from nowhere, the seeds of the collapse of the nation’s mortgage system were fairly obvious to those of us who represented bankruptcy debtors during the past ten years.  Time and time again, I would meet with honest, sincere and hardworking debtors who found [...]

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a front page article today about a defendant who will be sentenced today for setting up a mortgage fraud scheme that turned around 20% of the homes in a middle class minority suburb of Atlanta into empty shells.  The defendant, a 40 year old man named Kevin Wiggins, recruited straw buyers [...]

As a debtor’s attorney, my job is to counsel prospective bankruptcy clients about the bankruptcy laws and how to gain as much benefit as possible from a bankruptcy filing.  After 20+ years representing honest, hardworking people in bankruptcy court, I know that for the vast majority of bankruptcy filers, the decision to contact a lawyer [...]

In my Atlanta bankruptcy practice, I sometimes get calls from Tennessee residents who live in Chattanooga or smaller towns like Copperhill.  Many of these Tennesseeans work in Georgia but live in Tennessee.  I refer these folks to counsel in Tennessee but I recently decided to do a little research to see if Tennessee foreclosure laws [...]

Over the past year or so, I have noticed a disturbing trend in post-foreclosure problems reported by clients and potential clients in my Atlanta area bankruptcy practice.
Problem one relates to deficiency balances post-foreclosure.  This situation arises when a property is foreclosed but the sale generates less than the value of the property.  In such a [...]

The Atlanta newspapers have reported that former boxing heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is facing foreclosure on his 109 room mansion located on 235 acres in Fayette County, south of Atlanta.   Lender Washington Mutual initiated foreclosure following Holyfield’s alleged default on a $10 million loan.
On Friday, June 6, however, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the July [...]

Would you be surprised to learn that your mortgage company changed your mortgage payment and added fees during your Chapter 13 bankruptcy without telling you.  Apparently that’s what happened to a Mrs.  Hill, a resident of Pennsylvania.
After completing her five year Chapter 13 plan successfully and receiving a discharge, Mrs. Hill received a letter from [...]

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today that the Federal Reserve has released a proposal for new rules that impose “tough new restrictions meant to curb unfair and deceptive home-lending practices and prevent a recurrence of this year’s meltdown in subprime mortgages.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that foreclosures in the 13 county metro Atlanta area are up 29% in 2007 as compared to 2006. There were 58,076 foreclosures in metro Atlanta, which amounts to over 4,800 per month. By contrast, in 2001, the metro Atlanta area saw just over 20,000 foreclosures.
If you liked that [...]