Mississippi Lawyer Blog

If your home was foreclosed between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010, you can request a review of the foreclosure process to see if it was handled properly. Fourteen mortgage companies are required to participate in this process. If there were errors, misrepresentations or other irregularities with the process, you may be entitled to financial compensation or other remedies. This process only applies to the home that was your primary residence. Letters will be mailed out from the mortgage companies, but they will probably be sent to the house that you no longer live in. If you would like to have your foreclosure reviewed, you can call 1-888-952-9105 for the form you will need to fill out or visit the web site at www.independentforeclosurereview.com.

The fourteen mortgage servicers involved in this process are America's Servicing Co., Aurora Loan Services, Bank of America, Beneficial, Chase, Citibank, CitiFinancial, CitiMortgage, Countrywide, EMC, EverBank/EverHome Mortgage Company, GMAC Mortgage, HFC, HSBC, IndyMac Mortgage Services, MetLife Bank, National City Mortgage, PNC Mortgage, Sovereign Bank, SunTrust Mortgage, U.S. Bank, Wachovia Mortgage, Washington Mutual (WaMu), and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

I'll bet you don't know anyone who has ever collected on title insurance. It seems expensive, no one wants to pay for it and many people today would say it is not needed. But the turmoil in today's real estate market makes having title insurance even more important. Mortgage fraud, fake mortgage documents and the recent robo-signing scandal make title insurance an absolute necessity these days.

Due to sloppy record keeping, sloppy foreclosure procedures and plain old mortgage fraud you will need title insurance to protect you from heavy losses and maybe losing your home. Due to recent court rulings, if you bought a foreclosed property there is a good chance that the property could revert back to the previous owner with no compensation to you.

Title insurance protects you, the rightful owner, if there are liens or prior claims on the property you own. Mississippi Chancery Clerks and County officials across the nation are discovering forged loan documents in their files. Given today's reliance on easily altered computer data, title insurance is crucial if you want to protect your Mississippi property ownership.

So you think you found someone to rescue you from foreclosure?
A mortgage rescue company comes forward and claims to be able to help you save your home and your credit. You probably just signed your house away.

There is an army of scammers and con artists using the Internet, television, radio and the mail who are waiting to take your money and your home. They make claims to be able to save your home, or promise a new loan, or a loan modification.

These scammers guarantee to stop foreclosure or save your home, say they have a high success rate, you won't have to move, and may use names and logos that make them appear to be part of the government or a recognized charity. Paying fees up front for foreclosure rescue services is illegal in most states and a clear sign of a ripoff.

If a company or individual requests any of the following, RUN AWAY FAST!

• Pay fees up front for a modification,


• Tells you to stop making mortgage payments,


• Offers to handle your payments or financial arrangements,


• Wants you to pay for a second opinion on your denied modification


• Sign your house over or put someone else's name on the deed,


• Offer to buy your house and rent it back to you, or a sale leaseback.

If you have any questions about foreclosure, modifications, or saving your home, see your own attorney first and let him assist you or review the paperwork. When you are desperate and vulnerable you are liable to believe anyone and anything and that is when you need to stop and let a lawyer step in and look things over.

The US is officially experiencing the worst house housing depression ever and the second phase is just beginning. It is expected to peak beginning July of this year, continuing through the first half of next year.

Let these statistics sink in for a minute:
• 3 million homes were repossessed between January 2007 and August 2010
• Over 1 million families will be evicted from their homes in 2011
• 72% of the major cities in the US had more foreclosures in 2010 than 2009
• 8 million Americans are at least 1 month behind on their mortgages
• 5 million are at least 2 months behind on their mortgages

The Mississippi counties with highest volume of new foreclosures are (starting with highest) Harrison County, Hinds County, De Soto County, Rankin County, Jackson County, Forrest County, Lee County, Pearl River County, Marshall County, and Madison County.

The volume of people that have been injured by mortgage fraud, predatory lending practices, and mortgage modification schemes is almost unimaginable. At the same time laws are changing and require new strategies for litigation.

Mortgage companies seem determined to take homes by refusing payments, denying modifications or worse promising homeowners a modification while at the same time processing foreclosures, increasing payments, adding fees, and continually threatening foreclosure.

I'm seeing success in my practice by fighting mortgage companies and disputing their mortgage proofs of claim, their documentation practices, application of funds and fees, and many other items. See my prior blog discussion regarding the sloppy record keeping practices of mortgage servicers.

The 14 largest US mortgage servicers have recently agreed to review all foreclosed loans from 2009-2010 and pay back losses in cases that were mishandled - but we don't know how the reviews will work, (if they work at all) and what types of "losses" will lead to payments for homeowners.

I can't express enough the seriousness of the housing situation in Mississippi and the importance of addressing issues with your mortgage company before foreclosure. Call Coxwell & Associates immediately if you are having any problems whatsoever with your mortgage company.

What Should you do if a dog bites you?

If the State that you live in does not have a dog bite statute then the state is a "one-bite" state. This was commonly know as the "one free bite rule." Mississippi does not have a dog statute (law) covering civil liability in dog bite cases. In one-bite states legal responsibility is determined by some relatively easy to understand principles.

The first issue is whether the dog previously bitten anyone. If the dog has bitten someone before then the owner has been put on "notice" and will be held civilly liable for the injuries caused by the dog. If the dog has not previously bitten a person, then one must determine if the dog previously did something that should have put the owner on notice of the dog's dangerous propensities. If the dog has never shown any prior dangerous characteristics, then one must consider whether the person having custody of the dog at the time of the incident had violated any law pertaining to public health or safety, which was intended to protect people like the victim. One example would be a leash law. There could be other regulations such as those that restrict dogs from being in day care centers or beauty parlors. A violation of such a law could be considered negligence per se. In some states the violation is not negligence per se but rather an alternate way of proving liability under the dog bite statute.

If negligence per se does not exist then an attorney must consider whether the accident was caused by negligence. For example, a dog that is habitually mistreated, sick, or suffering from a painful disease is more likely to bite a person even if the dog has never done so before. Negligence is a ground for liability in most but not all of the one bite states. Sometimes it is referred to as "premises liability" when the incident happens on the dog owner's land.
If the dog owner is unable to compensate the victim because of lack of insurance or resources, attorneys consider whether anyone else might be responsible because of their own negligence. An example would be a landlord who knows that a dangerous dog is living with a renter, but fails to do anything to control the dog or its owner.

There are several breeds of dogs that are statistically know to frequently inflict bites on people. These two (2) breeds are the Rottweiler and the Pitbull dog. People should be extremely careful when around these two breeds of dogs. Children should be taught to never approach these dogs without an adult present. Dogs can act differently when they are roaming in a pack. It is wise to take safety precautions when you observe several strange dogs wandering through your neighborhood. Dog are great pets, but they can be dangerous. There are many notable cases of dogs mauling adults and children. Remember, always exercise caution when approaching strange dogs.

If you or a loved one has been bitten by a dog, please call Coxwell & Associates and have a free consultation with one of our lawyers.