One of the things that made me the angriest about that article was this:
Both generations of Pembertons have hired a local lawyer, Mark P. Stopa. He sends out letters 1,700 in a recent week to Floridians who have had a foreclosure suit filed against them by a lender.
Even if you have no defenses, the form letter says, you may be able to keep living in your home for weeks, months or even years without paying your mortgage.
About 10 new clients a week sign up, according to Mr. Stopa, who says he now has 350 clients in foreclosure, each of whom pays $1,500 a year for a maximum of six hours of attorney time. I just do as much as needs to be done to force the bank to prove its case, Mr. Stopa said.
Many mortgages were sold by the original lender, a circumstance that homeowners lawyers try to exploit by asking them to prove they own the loan. In Mrs. Pembertons case, Mr. Stopa filed a motion to dismiss on March 17, 2009, and the case has not moved since then. He filed a similar motion in her sons case last December.
The whole thing just makes me sick. I dont get how people can totally dismiss that fact that THEY agreed to a price for the house and signed a contract. That doesnt go away just because your house is worth less now. Can you stop paying your car loan because your car isnt worth what it was when you bought it? Its theft, plain and simple.
While I still think its wrong, I can understand doing it if you REALLY cant make your payments because of unexpected medical costs or job losses and the bank wont work with you and you have nowhere to go. But these people who brag about the other things they can buy now are disgusting.