Sarasota Florida – Bank Declares Homeowner (William Berta) Missing but Has no Trouble Finding him to Deliver Foreclosure Papers
William Berta has lived in his Sarasota, Florida home for several decades. He runs a local business, he collects benefits from Veteran’s Affairs, and he pays his water and power bills every month. Despite all these facts, Wells Fargo Bank was able to convince a judge that Berta had abandoned his home, allowing the bank to foreclose on the home, take possession of it and sell it at auction. No one blinked an eye when the process server who notified Berta in person of the eviction found him living at the very home he had supposedly abandoned. Berta of course knew that he was behind on his mortgage payments, but had contacted HOPE NOW, a federal mortgage-counseling agency; the agency had told Berta that they were in negotiations with Wells Fargo to lower his mortgage payments. Berta feels that the sloppy legal work done on his case is tantamount to the bank stealing his home and there is much concern in Florida that the overwhelming number of foreclosure cases in the system could cause more of these mistakes to happen. According to Florida law, a mortgage lender used to be allowed foreclose without notifying the homeowner, as long as it advertised the foreclosure in the newspaper and provided a sworn affidavit to the courts stating that it could not find the homeowner. But new rules are requiring lenders to explain the methods they have used to find the homeowner so that a judge can determine if they are adequate. For its part, Wells Fargo has claimed that they visited Berta’s home with papers on several occasions, and sent him numerous notices through the mail. Wells Fargo has indicated that Berta will be allowed to stay in his home as long as he qualifies for one of the bank’s loan mitigation programs. A judge has approved a motion to set aside the sale of Berta’s home; he will now have a chance to defend himself against the foreclosure. You can read more about William Berta’s foreclosure case at Sarasota Homeowner Narrowly Averts Abrupt Eviction After Bank’s Sloppy Foreclosure. If you live in the Jacksonville, Florida or Orlando, Florida area and have a business legal matter, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. for business legal counsel.
