Woman And Her Belongings Removed From Her Home After WAMU Mistakenly Auctioned

Nobody but nobody likes their mortgage servicing company.  The stories of bureaucratic SNAFUs, rude people who will not listen when told they are making a mistake, and complete arrogance that they can darn well do what they want leads often to some horrific mistakes.  This occurs both inside and outside bankruptcy.

NBC Miami reports of such an incident involving a Anna Ramirez when Washington Mutual (which is now part of Chase) auctioned off her $260,000.00 home for $87,000.00 and then, without any warning whatsoever, showed up with Miami-Dade police officers and removed her, her husband, her daughter, her grandchildren and tossed of their belongings from the house on the front yard.  The family was given just three hours to get themselves out of the house, and their belongings off the front lawn.

The problem with the auction and the eviction?

Anna Ramirez was not behind on her house payments, the house was not in foreclosure, the house was not for sale, there was no foreclosure letter, no entry and detainer notice, or nothing else to warn them.

The mortgage company obviously blames the Miami-Dade Clerk's office for the mistake, which was eventually reversed by a Miami-Dade judge who allowed the family to return to their home,  But, it is hard to see how the matter should have been placed with the Miami-Dade authorities by WAMU in the first place.

The Ramirez family had lived in their home for three years and only recently refinanced the home with the bank.

This situation actually occurs all of the time in a Chapter 13 context.  A foreclosure is posted, a bankruptcy is then filed, notice goes out, and whether notice is ignored, not received or some other mishap occurs, the foreclosure process does not stop.

Most of the time the mishap does not escalate to this level as only the foreclosure has to be reversed.  But, the situation is illustrative of fear that is associated when mortgage companies are allowed to run rampant irregardless of the bankruptcy filing.  Maybe the homeowners are not evicted as we have in the case at hand, in the long run, but the fear still exists.  This results in mental anguish.

And, it is also important to note that my firm has handled a number of stay violations in which, by the time the case is referred, the debtors have already been evicted and their belonging removed to the front yard.

Bankruptcy attorneys and debtors need to remember to always be vigilant, proactive and timely as to bankruptcy notice.  Maybe it does not stop the willful conduct, but it at least gives the debtor a cause of action and possibility of recovery for a willful violation of the stay when it does occur.

Comments

[Patches]

Wasn't there a case out of New York that held the auctioneer in contempt for Violation of Stay? As I remember the attorney or debtor handed a copy with case number to the auctioneer at the time before auction and the auctioneer said something like "this home may be part of a 13 bankruptcy proceeding" and then went ahead and auctioned it off. No one bid on it so it went back to the lien holder.

[admin03702324]

Thank You

[pattona]

Could someone post a link to the actual case?

Thx