Update October 7th
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced an agreement that requires mortgage servicing company to permanently cease collections on all “zombie second mortgage” loans in Massachusetts, effectively relieving over $10M in debt for consumers
To view the press release, please click here.
Update May 10, 2024
NPR “Planet Money” focuses on second mortgages “coming back to life” and discusses various legal strategies that appear to assist homeowners avoid foreclosure and forfeiture.
To listen to the audio report, please click here.
Update October 16th,2023
Another report of “zombie debt” rearing its head. This time in Carson CA.
For more information, please click here.
Update Sep 27th, 2023
“Zombies” rise again. This time in Utah. As reported by KSLTV on one particular instance “I never heard from the second mortgage company ever again,” she said. But after 13 years, she heard from someone. She found a notice posted on her front door notifying her that her house was going to be auctioned off. It was that second mortgage, back from the dead.”
Homeowners attorney reports several other cases that he is working on.
To view the report, please click here.
Update June 4th
The Wall Street Journal published a piece on “zombie debt” titled, Zombie Mortgages Could Force Some Homeowners Into Foreclosure, (Homeowners say they are getting bills and foreclosure threats on second mortgages they thought were taken care of long ago)
To view the article, please click here
Update April 26th, 2023
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued guidance on debt collectors, covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, threatening to foreclose on homes with mortgages, that it is illegal to sue or threaten to sue to collect debts past the statute of limitations.
For more information, please click here
Update December 16th
Another case of “zombie debt” appearing again, this time in Port St. Lucie FL.
“They sat on it for, what, 12 years,” Dixon explained. “No letters. No postcards. Nothing. This is not fair.”
To view the article, please click here.
A recent article discusses, “a wave of homeowners who say they were blindsided by the start of foreclosure actions on their homes over second loans that were taken out more than a decade ago”.
The article discusses that “many of the loans are owned by purchasers of troubled mortgages and are being pursued now because home values have increased and there’s more equity in them.”
For more information, please click here.