Ditched And Left To Rot In Florida

[Crewleader]

October 5, 2008

The Tampa Tribune reports from Florida. “Ernie Harpster fell behind on his mortgage payments last year. The lender filed a foreclosure lawsuit. Harpster then did something troubled homeowners may never think of doing: He fought back. Harpster has been living payment-free for nearly a year in his Wesley Chapel home. His case is trickling through court, and there are no signs he will be kicked out anytime soon. ‘Not having a mortgage payment meant I didn’t have to file for bankruptcy because I could pay other bills, like credit cards and the electric bill,’ said Harpster, whose income as a real estate agent dried up along with the market. ‘But I’m not trying to take advantage of the situation. I tried to do what I thought was right. To me, it’s the bank’s fault this has stalled.’”

“‘A lot of people just roll over because they know they’re wrong, they haven’t paid their mortgage,’ said Timothy Kingcade, a Miami lawyer. ‘If you’re accused of a crime, do you walk in court and say, ‘I did it!’? You have a right to make the bank prove its case.’”

“Homeowners who protest sometimes find their cases pushed to the bottom of the pile, said Lutz lawyer Ralph Fisher. These lenders ‘are freaking out,’ he said. ‘We’re asking them how they own this mortgage, and they can’t answer.’”

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=4988

[fed_up_mother]

1. ROFLOL

:rofl:


"“Homeowners who protest sometimes find their cases pushed to the bottom of the pile, said Lutz lawyer Ralph Fisher. These lenders ‘are freaking out,’ he said. ‘We’re asking them how they own this mortgage, and they can’t answer.’”

That is too funny. Well...I think it is, anyway.

[bbgrunt]

2. Randi has been telling people in trouble that they

should demand to face the owner of the mortgage in court. The problem is, nobody knows exactly who the owner is. Thus the foreclosure cannot proceed.

[Crewleader]

3. At the mercy of more than nature's whims

When Florida lawmakers expanded the state’s hurricane fund in 2007 to force lower premiums, they tied the ability to deliver billions in insurance coverage to something as volatile as tropical storms: Wall Street.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081005/ARTICLE/810050347/2055/NEWS?Title=Hurricane_fund_crisis_could_put_homeowners_at_risk

[hendo]

4. K&R!

great post

[tosh]

5. K&R.

[progressoid]

6. Yeah, that's worth a healthy K&R.

[OakCliffDem]

7. Kick

[dana_b]

8. good for him! an acquaintance of mine is going through something similar

He and his partner rent a fairly nice place. Well, the owner couldn't afford to pay the mortgage anymore so he gave up. The bank owns the house but doesn't know what to do about the tenants so they've been there, living rent free, for 8 months. It's too bad that the owner couldn't have gotten that benefit insead, but so it goes.