Mortgage Company Fails to Comply with Property Preservation Standards

This case involves a Utah based mortgage company which did not act in accordance with property preservation. The plaintiff had a mortgage through the defendant. The plaintiff eventually fell behind on his mortgage and the defendant filed for foreclosure. The plaintiff’s home was sold at a foreclosure sale; the plaintiff filed chapter 13 bankruptcy to save the home. While in bankruptcy, he obtained a new loan through a state foreclosure prevention fund. The fund negotiated and paid all past due payments to the defendant. Following discharge, the defendant moved to sell the home pursuant to the original foreclosure order. The defendant hired another company to “secure the collateral,” locking the plaintiff out of his home while the foreclosure sale was pending. The plaintiff’s account was never reinstated upon payment of the money from the foreclosure prevention fund. It is alleged that the plaintiff was never actually in default on his mortgage. Also, the defendants did not act in accordance with certain guidelines/and or appropriate industry standard on property preservation.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Have you ever served as an expert witness on a case similar to the one described above? If so, please explain.

2. Please tell us why you're qualified to serve as an expert on a mortgage industry case?

3. Do you have extensive experience in the mortgage industry?

4. Do you have expertise on determining whether an individual is default on mortgage?

5. Do you have extensive knowledge of the guidelines/and or appropriate industry standard on property preservation?

Expert Witness Response E-008940

I am a professor of real estate and bankruptcy law and have focused on the law of distressed real estate for more than 20 years. I am the author of a law school casebook on real estate transactions as well as numerous books, book chapters, and articles on real estate and mortgage law. I am also the co-editor and author of the Real Estate Law Report, a monthly newsletter on developments in real estate law. The central focus of my scholarship has been on foreclosure and creditor remedies, as well as real estate bankruptcy. I have familiarity with residential loan servicing standards and property preservation and extensive knowledge of contract and mortgage law. I know the requirements of the common law of property. I have served as an expert witness on two other cases in which I represented the borrower or guarantor on a defaulted mortgage, both commercial mortgage loans. I prepared materials in both cases. I have been retained in two other matters in recent years, each of which settled without my active involvement in the case.