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Ohio Law Firm Facilitates Bad Bank Foreclosures
Lerner, Sampson, and Rothfuss’ staff signs mortgage assignments on behalf of defunct companies to support its client’s ability to foreclose in court.
Columbus, Ohio – One of the largest foreclosure law firms in Ohio, Lerner, Sampson, and Rothfuss (“LSR”), is contributing to the mortgage crisis plaguing homeowners by facilitating its clients’ use of mortgage assignments dated after companies have closed. In some cases, the law firm has used one of its paralegals, Shellie Hill, to sign mortgage assignments as an “Assistant Secretary and Vice President” of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”) on behalf of companies that no longer exist.
A lawful mortgage assignment transfers ownership of a mortgage from one entity to another. It gives the new mortgage holder rights to foreclose on the home if the homeowner defaults. It is legally required to rightfully take a person’s home through the court process.
The practice of assigning mortgages from one company to another is common, but the practice of transferring these documents on behalf of closed companies can be fraudulent. A company that no longer exists cannot give authority to another to act on its behalf. This means that a dead corporation cannot execute a mortgage assignment after it goes out of business. Whoever acquired the assets of the failed business would need to demonstrate paperwork showing a proper transfer, not make up documents for speed and ease of foreclosing.
For LSR’s clients, most notably BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP (now Bank of America, N.A.), showing proper ownership doesn’t seem important. Instead of showing a proper chain of mortgage ownership, Lerner, Sampson, and Rothfuss has assisted BAC in preparing and filing documents transferring mortgages from dead companies to BAC by having a paralegal sign on those companies’ behalf. One assignment signed by this paralegal purported to transfer mortgage ownership from Countrywide Bank, FSB on July 9th, 2010, but Countrywide ceasing being a banking institution in April, 2009. LSR has prepared multiple other mortgage assignments on behalf of companies that no longer exist, including one from Heartland Home Finance dated September, 2010 (Heartland dissolved in April, 2008), America’s Broker Conduit dated February, 2010 (dissolved in 2008), and an assignment from Ace Mortgage Funding dated October 10, 2010 (Ace went bankrupt in 2008).
These assignments indicate Lerner, Sampson, and Rothfuss facilitates foreclosures by preparing and using documents on behalf of companies that no longer exist. If your loan is being foreclosed by Lerner, Sampson, and Rothfuss, then you would be well-served to check the mortgage assignment filed in your case to ensure the assigning party was not closed at the time it was signed. If it was, you should contact legal counsel and present your evidence to the court.
See the assignments at http://www.foreclosure-fight.com/shop/product/bad-assignments-by-lsr:12
This Release Published by: Doucet & Associates, LLC
Doucet & Associates, LLC is a Columbus, Ohio foreclosure defense law firm that helps homeowners and small business owners in Ohio fight foreclosure. Visit http://www.troydoucet.com/