Owners counter by sending the sheriff and movers to seize the bank’s furniture!
When Warren and Maureen Nyerges bought a piece of the American Dream in 2009 by purchasing a foreclosed home in Florida, the couple never knew it would turn into a nightmare.
After buying the single-story, 2,700-square-foot home from Bank of America for $165,000, the Nyergeses never thought they’d hear from the bank again — let alone to receive a foreclosure notice just one year later, in 2010.
“We purchased the house in full, no mortgage at all,” Warren Nyerges said. “Four months later, we got a knock on the door from a processor. We said there was no mortgage, but we were told, ‘Sorry, get a lawyer.'”
Bank of America mistakenly filed a foreclosure claim against the couple despite the absence of a mortgage, prompting the Nyergeses to take the matter to court. The couple eventually won, but then asked Bank of America to pay for $2,534 in attorney fees. A Collier County judge ruled the bank should pay, but the bank never did.
So Maureen Nyerges and the couple’s attorney, along with two sheriff’s deputies and moving company employees, went to a local Bank of America branch to take possession of furniture inside the bank to settle the debt. An hour later, the bank wrote a check for $5,772.88 to satisfy the original debt plus other fees.
Attorney Todd Allen said the situation is a “symptom of a larger problem,” particularly in Florida. “Banks are not doing due diligence investigating foreclosures before they file. “But this is long overdue. It’s sweet, sweet justice.”
After months of fruitless calls to Bank of America and its local counsel at the David J. Stern law firm, Nyerges said he saw no other choice but to go directly to the bank on June 3 to demand either $2,500 in attorney fees or furniture and cash. Stern’s law office, which is under investigation by the Florida Attorney General, told judges across Florida in March that it will end its involvement in 100,000 foreclosure cases.
This isn’t the first time that Bank of America has tried to foreclose on a property that was owned by a person without a mortgage. In 2009, a Fort Lauderdale man named Jason Grodensky bought a home in cash from Bank of America in a short sale. But in court, the foreclosure case continued and a judge ordered the property to be sold. Bank of America acknowledged the error and rescinded the foreclosure.
“I will not be surprised if something else pops up,” Nyerges said. “Nothing surprises me with this bank. The entire apology is a lie from word one to the period at the end.”
foxnews.com June 6, 2011
