It was April 28, 2007 – yes, a Saturday afternoon – when a couple came to our office with a huge stack of paper and an even larger sense of confusion and panic.  They were victims of mortgage fraud. Within two weeks this couple referred dozens of friends and acquaintances who soon became our clients.  Their combined matters, which quickly and unexpectedly launched JPMA’s mortgage fraud and foreclosure practice, involved 52 properties in and around Chicago.

Soon after, as Americans are all too aware, the housing market crashed and foreclosure became an issue that touched every neighborhood across the country.  During these four years, we have met and served literally hundreds of families in foreclosure through our practice. Among that long list of clients are about a half-dozen personal friends who were smart enough to turn to us for help. I suspect just about everyone has at least one friend, family member or neighbor in foreclosure.

In this time, we also began finding many of the irregularities in paperwork that are making news today.  One of these is MERS assignments.  MERS, most simply described, is a corporation composed of member banks that was put in place to make mortgage paperwork easier for the lenders. However, in setting up MERS and its variations (the current is MERS-4) the banks repeatedly overlooked the illegality of its operation. Recently a New York judge ruled MERS assignments are illegal, invalid and fraudulent - something we have been arguing for nearly four years.

I'm very proud of the work we are doing. To date, not one of JPMA’s clients has been foreclosed upon with a personal deficiency (i.e., owing the balance of the mortgage) and cases have stayed in the courts for as long as two to four years and the families maintained possession of their homes throughout.  Yes, one of those original 52 properties still remains in court and in control of our client. 

Three times the bank's suits against our clients have been lost, meaning families kept their home owing nothing more than the utilities to operate them and their property taxes.

We are hopeful with growing understanding of the illegalities of bank actions and the precedent set by this New York ruling there will be many, many more.

Our expectation, however, is the banks and their strong lobby will quickly launch an effort aimed at Congress to change the law and legitimize the illegal MERS assignments, and to continue to put families out on the street.  With that expectation, we are launching a grassroots campaign under the banner HOMERS: Help Oust MERS .  The group can be found on Facebook and other online communications plans are in the works.  It will provide background information, news, resources such as letters to Congress, and a place for individuals to tell their stories. 

We hope you all will consider joining the group and telling your friends about it.  Our elected officials will only listen if the numbers are there. Please join us and count yourselves among the numbers who want justice for families in distress.