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Foreclosure lawsuits are built on lies: Shapiro & Fishman admits foreclosure claims cannot be verified The Florida Foreclosure Fraud Weblog

The Florida Foreclosure Fraud Weblog

Where Florida homeowners fight back against foreclosure fraud

Foreclosure lawsuits are built on lies: Shapiro & Fishman admits foreclosure claims cannot be verified
by MIKE on MAR C H 25 , 2010

New foreclosure lawsuit rules require plaintiffs mills to tell the truth -and boy, are they mad!
On February 11, the Florida Supreme Court amended the rules of foreclosure proceedings in a radical way: they want someone to swear that the allegations in the complaint are actually true. (Buncha bomb-throwers, arent they?) The amended rule says: When filing an action for foreclosure of a mortgage on residential real property the complaint shall be verified. When filing an action for foreclosure of a mortgage on residential real property the complaint shall be verified. When verification of a document is required, the document filed shall include an oath, affirmation, or the following statement: Under penalty of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing, and the facts alleged therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Plaintiffs foreclosure mills cant handle the truth

For the plaintiffs law firms, the foreclosure mills filing all these lawsuits, the new rule is a disaster because they cant possibly confirm the truth of what they file with the courts. How do we know this? One of them actually told the Florida Supreme Court so. Shapiro & Fishman, one of Floridas largest foreclosure mills, has asked the Court to back down from the verification requirement, with the astonishing reason that its impossible to get anyone to swear to the truth of a foreclosure complaint.

Plaintiffs lawyers dont know the truth

In their Motion for Rehearing, [PDF] Shapiro explained that their lawyers cannot ethically swear to the truth of the papers they file with the court, because they rely on information from others: It is also unclear whether an attorney or law firm representing a lender can verify a mortgage foreclosure complaint based upon information he/she/it obtained from the client or other parties, including the holder of the note and the servicer.

Plaintiffs dont know the truth

Well, ok. If the lawyers cant do it, how about their clients, the plaintiffs who claim to own the loan? Nope, says Shapiro: [W]hile the holder of the note may have some limited knowledge in order to verify portions of
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Foreclosure lawsuits are built on lies: Shapiro & Fishman admits foreclosure claims cannot be verified The Florida Foreclosure Fraud Weblog

the complaint, it may not have the necessary knowledge to verify the remainder of the complaint. For example it may not have personal knowledge of when the last payment on the note was made or if a default notice was mailed to the client.

No one knows the truth!

So the supposed owner of the note ordinarily has no idea when or if theyve been getting paid? That may sound crazy, but many lender hire servicing agents in essence, bag men to collect their money for them from borrowers. So, why couldnt the servicing agents swear to the truth of the complaint? Shapiro says, its because they dont know enough, either. and what they dont know will surprise you: who these bag men work for. The loan servicer would, presumably, have that knowledge [about payment status of the loan] but likely would not have personal or direct knowledge of other factual allegations. What other factual allegations? Simple things, like who owns the note the very people these bag men are supposedly collecting for. (If they dont even know, then who does?)

Ripping the mask off foreclosure plaintiffs lies

Theres one giant, gaping hole in Shapiros argument to the Supreme Court. In every foreclosure action, these law firms submit to the court evidence in the form of affidavits sworn written statements which are supposed to swear to the truth of all the elements of the plaintiffs claim. These affidavits are the basis for judgment in more than 99% of all foreclosure cases where the house is sold. And Shapiro has just admitted that they are false. Because the one person signing them cannot possibly have personal knowledge of all the facts of the case at least, thats what Shapiro has said. And for the first time in a long time, I believe them. ( Photo source / Photo rights )

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