The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, announced last week that it’s selling off non-performing loans to private investors. Freddie Mac is a public government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) headquartered in Virginia. Freddie Mac was created in 1970 to help expand the mortgage market alongside the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). Previously, from 1938 to 1968 Fannie Mae was the only institution that bought mortgages leading to and enco

Under normal circumstances, when your home mortgage debt is either all or in part cancelled you will be taxed on that amount. However, The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualifies for the relief. This provision applies to debt forgiven from 2007 to 2014. Up to $2

In yet another settlement, JPMorgan Chase has admitted to filing tens of thousands of documents that were not reviewed by the people who had signed and authenticated to their accuracy. Many in the banking and legal community are shocked that Chase would admit to such wrongdoing in more than 50,000 fraudulent payment change notices. In court documents, it was stated that Chase “improperly signed, under penalty of perjury, by persons who had not reviewed the accuracy of the not

Ocwen Financial Corp. (OCN) subservices all the mortgage loans for Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS). Mangrove Partners is an investment manager (hedge funds) and one of the largest shareholders of HLSS. HLSS is an affiliate of Ocwen. Mangrove Partners sent HLSS a letter demanding HLSS terminate its business relationship with Ocwen. Mangrove Partners sites a “dereliction of duty” and said it is “imperative” HLSS terminate its servicing relationship with Ocwen “without dela

Attorneys Keith Gantenbein and Matthew Coombs are deeply honored to have this special opportunity to offer their pro-bono (free) services helping the Spanish-speaking residents of Colorado who have limited means and resources. Our firm has a commitment to our community and we strive to offer help and build relationships with our neighbors. As attorneys, we recognize the difficulties accessing and understanding the justice system and are in a unique position to assist and help

Ocwen Financial Corp. faced major problems throughout 2014. It seems this year will be more of the same. Announced Friday, January 26th, Ocwen will hire outside accountants and pay $2.5 million to the state of California in exchange for the state to halt their bid to suspend the company’s license. California state regulators previously announced Ocwen failed to comply with providing them with loan information as requested. This latest settlement only covers Ocwen’s failure t

In what some are saying is an innovative lawsuit, a group has filed a lawsuit in Ohio, alleging lenders who failed to take required mitigation steps prior to foreclosing on mortgages guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) under the authority of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have violated the False Claims Act. When a borrower defaults on an FHA-guaranteed mortgage, the FHA reimburses the lending bank for the losses. A condition of e

Excited to announce that Keith Gantenbein, of Gantenbein Law Firm, has been invited to teach at a 2-day National CLE, starting today, sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). Mr. Gantenbein will be speaking about some of his most passionate issues: the Rule 120 Foreclosure Hearing in Colorado, Dual-Tracking, and CFPB (Consumer Finanacial Protection Bureau) Rules and Regulations, as they relate to mortgages. If you have an issue with your loan modification, mortag

A couple living in New England are facing another battle after losing their home to foreclosure. Their mortgage insurance company is suing them for $136,000. The Galindo’s came to the U.S. to build a better life for themselves and their toddler daughter. They worked hard and bought a two-family house in 2005 for $410,000. They didn’t have the money saved to make a large down payment so their lender required they buy an insurance policy in order to qualify for the mortgage. T

Denver tax attorney Tyler Murray, of Gantenbein Law Firm, taught tax case law updates at Colorado Bar Association CLE. The 2014 Annual Case Law Update was sponsored by the Business, Real Estate, Tax & Estate Law Sections of the Colorado Bar Association. Mr. Murray dicussed various legislative updates that pertained to tax law, business law and real estate law- including sales and use tax, property tax, employee classification, and Denver Lodges tax. Mr. Murray is a well-estab

California is accusing Ocwen of defying requests for information by the California Department of Business Oversight, which is the licensing bureau for nonbank mortgage lenders and providers of collection and foreclosure services. The state is now seeking to suspend Ocwen’s mortgage license because Ocwen has failed to turn over documentation showing compliance with California laws protecting homeowners. There have been investigations nationwide into Ocwen and other nonbank ser

The Denver County Public Trustee is sitting on 1 million dollars in overbid funds! If you have lost your home to foreclosure to a third party investor, no matter what county, you may have overbid funds that are rightfully yours. The amounts can range from 50.00 to 250,000.00. We urge you to check the public trustee records for sale results to determine if funds are due to you. In Colorado, the foreclosing lender submits an initial bid to the public trustee two days prior to t

Colorado Attorney General adds two more law firms to his naughty list this Christmas. John Suthers has brought two lawsuits against Robert J Hopp & Associates and the Vaden Law Firm in connection with fees incurred and charged during a public trustee foreclosure process. The suit alleges that the firms charged homeowners excessive or fake fees for foreclosure costs. The firms allegedly padded fees and costs by “charging” for title insurance, from a title company owned by that

A court recently ruled in favor of a Florida couple who were in foreclosure, and awarded them over $1 Million. Bank of America, the foreclosing bank, robo-called the couple more than 700 times over a period of several years. The judge rules BOA's conduct as a pattern of "outrageous, abusive and harrassing conduct." Nelson and Joyce Coniglio fell behind on their mortgage payments in 2009. When BOA acquired the loan from now-defunct Countrywide, they started harrassing phone ca

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was passed in 2007, and allowed homeowners the protection of forgiving mortgage debt. Mortgage debt includes: principal balance forgiveness, waiver of debt in a short sale, waiver of debt in a deed-in-lieu, any deficiency waiver, as well as charged-off second mortgages. Prior to the passage of the MFDRA, homeowners would have to declare any forgiven debt as 'income', and would be taxed on that 'income.' MFDRA provided financial relief