Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann began his fight for the rights of homeowners as a Member of the Ohio Senate from 2003 through 2006 where he co-sponsored a comprehensive predatory lending law that was among the best in the nation.
Upon his election to the office of Ohio Attorney General, Dann became very concerned with the origination practices and later the servicing and foreclosure practices of mortgage lenders and servicers. Dann initiated Securities Fraud Claims against creators of Mortgage Backed Securities on behalf of Ohio's Public Pension Funds, created with Governor Ted Strickland, Ohio's Save the Dream program to provide one stop services to Ohio Homeowners facing foreclosure, mobilized Ohio's Organized Crime Commission to activate Mortgage Fraud Task Forces in Ohio's major cities, challenged the standing of mortgage servicers to foreclose in cases where the State of Ohio was a party and worked with Former Ohio Chief Justice Tom Moyer to mobilize over 1200 volunteer lawyers to represent Homeowners in foreclosure.
Upon leaving office in May 2008 Dann volunteered to represent homeowners facing foreclosure and became even more concerned about the standing of certain servicers to foreclose on his clients. Recognizing that the problem of fraudulent foreclosure practices was epidemic in Ohio, Marc Dann established the Homeowner Defense Practice at Dann Doberdruk and Wellen representing more than 200 homeowners in foreclosure in more than 30 different counties in Ohio.
In 2011 Dann and other lawyers filed a class action case against Ohio's largest foreclosure mill law firm and has brought dozens of actions against mortgage loan servicers and the law firms that represent them under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act. Dann is currently Lead Counsel in a putative class action Hlavsa v. Bank of America on behalf of homeowners promised and denied HAMP modifications.
Dann's firm has won dozens of dismissals of foreclosure cases filed against its clients and has facilitated the settlement of more than 100 foreclosure cases to the satisfaction of its clients.
Among it significant cases, Dann Doberdruk and Wellen has achieved the following rulings:
A ruling that an unattached allonge to a promissory note is not enforceable, a ruling that a Foreclosure Plaintiff that does not hold the note and mortgage prior to filing a foreclosure complaint does not have standing to invoke the subject matter jurisdiction of the Ohio Courts and has had several foreclosure judgments overturned on behalf of clients on motions to vacate. Dann and his partner Grace Doberdruk are also graduates of the Max Gardner Boot Camp the most comprehensive training in Foreclosure Defense in the nation.
Dann Doberdruk and Harshman can be found at www.dannlaw.com
Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme court issued an important decision affecting Ohio Homeowners who are now or who have recently been in foreclosure. In Federal Home Mortgage Corporation v. Schwartzwald the Court unanimously agreed with the position that our firm has been strongly advocating for the past 4 years that only someone who actually holds a homeowner’s note and mortgage may use the courts of Ohio to foreclose on their homes.
This week’s long overdue False Claims filing by the Federal Government against Bank of America over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Mortgages originated by Countrywide gives the most compelling reason yet why the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) should reverse its ridiculous position prohibiting the two largest owners of mortgage notes in the nation from agreeing to loan modifications that reduce principal.
Edward DeMarco, the Neanderthal director of the FHFA has consistently resisted pressure from the Obama Administration and Congress and defied common sense by prohibiting the two mortgage giants he regulates from resolving defaulted loans by agreeing to principal reductions.
I received a very disturbing call last night from someone who was facing imminent eviction from her home. The caller lives near Akron Ohio in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. Like so many people I’ve met during the foreclosure crisis, she and her husband (she says mainly her husband) were persuaded by the neighborhood mortgage broker (who, I am sure, the week before was a construction contractor or used car salesman) to refinance their home back in 2005.
By Marc Dann
Those of us on the front lines of protecting the constitutional and contractual rights of homeowners spend a lot of time lamenting the failed policies of the Obama administration. Even Obama himself, on Sunday’s 60 Minutes interview acknowledged that his efforts to address the foreclosure crisis have fallen short of his own expectations.
Lets recap a few of the highlights of Obama’s failed policies:
Once again a major lender, originator, servicer, and securitizers are attempting to sell loans free and clear and whitewash their liabilities. GMAC, RESCAP and affiliated entities are currently in over 1900 prepetition litigation cases nationwide, and it is too early to determine if they will abide by the nationwide settlement agreement.
There have been countless efforts since the subprime fiasco, to get a bankruptcy cram down bill passed. The effort has been defeated every time. Ironically, the lenders and servicers have gone bankrupt and in those Chapter 11 processes basic homeowner rights have been taken away.
Stories from victims of mortgage and foreclosure fraud by people like you.
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