During the last several years of the recession, with increasing unemployment and problems with the housing market, we have seen large numbers of families lose their homes in foreclosure. Bad enough if youhave been unable to make the payments to the bank. The embarrassment, time on the phone, time in court and financial strain all have a detrimental impact on your marriage and family. What if you discovered that the bank who sued you to foreclose, did not even own the note and mortgage for which they were foreclosing? What about if the bank had more than $80,000 of your money and refused to apply it towards the note and mortgage?
This was the case for a Nowata family, represented by Todd Cone and Brad Barron, who are battling with Chase Home Mortgage in Nowata County.
In January 2009, a Nowata couple lost everything when their home burned to the ground. Pregnant and with two small children, the couple moved back to Nowata to live in a mobile home, provided by parents, until they could receive insurance proceeds to purchase a home and start putting their lives back together. Records show that the house that burned was worth about $130,000, with about $90,000 owed on the note and
mortgage. The insurance company issued a check for $82,000, which the couple mailed to Chase to pay towards the mortgage. The couple requested that Chase apply the $82,000 and let them know the balance that was owed. The insurance company was ready to issue a check for the balance.
Chase refused to apply the funds towards payment of the note and mortgage, but instead sued the couple in May 2009, to foreclose on the burned down house. Frustrated, embarrassed and homeless, the couple called Chase on a weekly basis, trying to get Chase to apply the $82,000 Chase had in its account to the mortgage. Chase refused. Eventually, the foreclosure suit was dismissed. For the next several months, the couple spent hours talking to the various “customer service” representatives for Chase. Always to no avail. In September 2009, Chase again sued the couple to foreclose the mortgage on the burned down house, seeking more in interest and attorney fees and costs. After about 2 months,
the suit was dismissed.
The couple asked the insurance company to issue a check to Chase a check for $8,000, the amount they guessed was owed to Chase. Chase still refused to apply the $82,000 or the $8,000 and release the mortgage so that the couple to have access to the $30,000 in surplus insurance proceeds. Finally, the Nowata couple hired the Todd Cone Law Office and Brad Barron to file suit against Chase and Kivell, Rayment and Francis, the law firm who had wrongfully foreclosed against them - twice.
During discovery, Cone and Barron discovered that not only should Chase have not filed to foreclose, because they had more than $82,000 of the couple’s money, but Chase did not even own the note and mortgage upon which they had foreclosed - twice.
The case is currently set for a jury trial in October of this year.
