Shuster & Saben Sues Strategic Recovery and Vantium Capital

Shuster & Saben, LLC, filed suit in Brevard County against Strategic Recovery Group, a division of Texas based Vantium Capital. This lawsuit was filed on behalf of Brevard County homeowner who the firm is defending in a foreclosure action. Prior to retaining the Shuster & Saben, the client filed a Chapter 7 (liquidation bankruptcy) and obtained a discharge of his personal obligation on Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) on his home. At the time our client filed bankruptcy, the HELOC Mortgage was held by Wilshire Bank. According of documents received by the firm, despite the fact that our clients debt was discharged in bankruptcy and the fact that our clients home is worth $50,000 less than the loan balance on his first mortgage, Wilshire sold the loan to Bank of America, who retained Strategic Recovery to attempt to collect on the debt.

The client initially retained the Melbourne office of Shuster & Saben to defend a first mortgage filed against his home by CitiMortage. The client brought us a letter he received from Strategic Recovery because he was concerned as why Strategic was seeking to collect a discharged debt. Our firm commenced an investigation to confirm that the original creditor was notified of the bankruptcy and sent Strategic Recovery a Qualified Written Request (QWR) pursuant to RESPA, ( Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ) and request for verification of the debt pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

When we did not receive written confirmation for Strategic Recovery that they were abandoning collection activity suit was filed in Brevard County Court against Vantium Capital, the parent company of Strategic Recovery. The firm continues to defend the foreclosure action filed by first mortgage holder, Citimortage, a separate case that is now over two years old.

To view a redacted copy of the law suit filed against Strategic Recovery please click the link below.

Strategic Recovery Lawsuit

About Shuster & Saben:
Shuster & Saben is a civil litigation firm of seven attorneys that defends foreclosures from four offices located in Miami, Doral, Fort Lauderdale / Plantation, and Melbourne, Florida. We believe the best defense is a good offense. If a lender, loan servicer or bill collector violates the law in their attempt of collect on a debt allegedly owned by our client we will not hesitate to sue the offender and use such suit for leverage to achieve our clients desired resolution. We believe there is a difference between foreclosure delay and foreclosure defense. Click here to find our why we are different or e-mail foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com with your Florida foreclosure questions.

Shuster & Saben, LLC publicly thanks Wachovia

It is not every day we stop that we stop to thank a bank. Many banks don’t like us. We shut their foreclosure cases down, and in the last six weeks our firm obtained dismissals in five separate foreclosure actions. When banks or loan servicers call or write our clients, after we tell them not to, we sue them. This week we sued Beneficial-HSBC Group and Strategic Recovery for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). We generally feel that one way to provide our clients with a superior defense is to have a good offense. Of course, we have represented plaintiff consumers against big insurance long before we started litigating against big banking.

From this standpoint, saying thank you to a bank is a little unusual for us. Before our colleagues think we went soft it must be noted that what Wachovia did for our client deserves our thanks, appreciation and praise. Last week our firm accepted, on our clients behalf, Wachovia’s loan modification proposal to reduce the client’s mortgage balance from $229,589.55 to $131,991.03. Wachovia reduced our client’s principal by over by over 40% and saved our client over $97,000.00. Wachovia did NOT have to do this. While Wachovia and their new parent company Wells Fargo did participate in HAMP, this was not a HAMP modification. It was not a modification that Wachovia was obligated to do.

While our client attempted to modify their loan for many months (before seeking our help) and ultimately a foreclosure action was filed against them, Wachovia’s offer was made within 90 days of the filing of suit. Wachovia’s offer will allow a hard working family struggling and saving to get by keep their home. This offer should allow that family to keep their home not for another month or another year, but forever. The press often writes about homeowners who are turned down for loan modification. We have seen firsthand many banks violate HAMP servings guidelines. The loan modification that works and the story of the bank that did much more than the legal minimum to help a hard working, struggling and stress out family is rarely told. Wachovia did right by this family. On this day of Thanksgiving this is one more thing for which I am thankful. To review Shuster & Saben’s acceptance letter and Wells Fargo’s loan modification offer please click the link below.

Shuster & Saben Acceptance of Wachovia Loan Modification with Principal Reduction

If you bank at an “anti-consumer” bank like Bank of America (whose standard policy is to never or almost never waive deficiencies in short sale transactions) let me encourage you to reward Wachovia by moving your account.

Shuster & Saben, LLC sues Provident Funding over Fair Debt Collections, RESPA, and TILA violations.

After a Cocoa, Florida homeowner hired our firm to defend the foreclosure filed against his home, we told him that the calls and letters he was receiving from the loan servicer, Provident Funding, L.P., would stop. To make certain the harassment of our client ceased we sent a written request pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act (FCCPA) to Provident asking them to cease all communications with our client. Our letter to Provident Funding also contained a request for disclosure of the owner of the note and mortgage. Provident Funding is the loan servicer on our client's mortgage. A loan servicer is business that collects mortgage payments on loans that it does not own. Provident, on behalf of its client had brought a foreclosure action against our client, the homeowner.

In Provident Funding’s lawsuit Provident failed to identify their client, the phantom owner of the note. Our letter to Provident included a Qualified Written Request (QWR) under RESPA (the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) and recent amendments to TILA (Trust in Lending Act) for the identity of the owner of the note. To view a copy of our letter click the link below.

Letter to Provident

On September 2, 2010, our client called and advised that Provident Funding had placed a note on his door step stating the note was “in connection with an attempt to collect a debt.” The note was not in an envelope and was left in a conspicuous place in violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. To add insult to injury, not only had Provident illegally communicated with our client after receiving notice not to, Provident also failed to divulge the identity of the owner of the note and mortgage. We told our client that our retaliation against Provident would be swift and severe. Less than 48 hours after receiving a faxed copy of the note Provident left on our client’s door step we filed suit on behalf of the client against Provident Funding. Provident is now a Defendant in a lawsuit seeking damages for violations or the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, RESPA, and TILA. These statutes each provide for recovery of our client’s actual damages together with up to $1,000 of statutory damages (per statute violated). Our client’s law suit against Provident is a separate matter before a different judge than Provident’s foreclosure lawsuit against our client. While our firm continues to vigorously defend the foreclosure action we will seek to recover appropriate damages for our client in the FCCPA/RESPA case. Under FCCPA and RESPA if a loan servicer violates the statute the servicer must pay the consumer’s attorneys fees. As such 100% of the damages we recover will go to our client. To view a redacted copy of the lawsuit filed against Provident Funding please click the link below.

Lawsuit against Provident

About Shuster & Saben, LLC. The foreclosure defense lawyers at Shuster & Saben defend foreclosures from Miami to Melbourne on the east coast, and in Orange, Collier, and Lee Counties. The firm has six attorneys and offices in Miami, Doral, Plantation, and Melbourne. Lawyers from the firm are available for consultation in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Bonita Springs, and Orlando. At Shuster & Saben, experienced litigators vigorously defend every case and integrate asset protection, counter claims, and offensive lawsuits, to seek justice for distressed homeowners.