OfflineJudge blasts bad bank, erases 525G debt
By KIERAN CROWLEY, RICH WILNER and DAN MANGAN
A Long Island couple is home free after an outraged judge gave them an amazing Thanksgiving present -- canceling their debt to ruthless bankers trying to toss them out on the street.
Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner wiped out $525,000 in mortgage payments demanded by a California bank, blasting its "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive" acts.
The bombshell decision leaves Diane Yano-Horoski and her husband, Greg Horoski, owing absolutely no money on their ranch house in East Patchogue.
Spinner pulled no punches as he smacked down the bankers at OneWest -- who took an $814.2 million federal bailout but have a record of coldbloodedly foreclosing on any homeowner owing money.
"The bank was so intransigent that he [the judge] decided to punish them," Greg Horoski, 55, said about Spinner's scathing ruling last Thursday against OneWest and its IndyMac mortgage division.
It erased up to $291,000 in principal and $235,000 in interest and penalties.
The Horoskis -- who had been paying only interest on their mortgage -- had no equity in the home.
Horoski, who had begged the bankers to let him restructure the loan, said, "I think the judge felt it was almost a personal vendetta." Dealing with the bank, he said, was "like dealing with organized crime."
OneWest said, "We respectfully disagree with the lower court's unprecedented ruling and we expect that it will be overturned on appeal."
It claimed it "has been extremely active in working with consumers on home loan modifications through the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program and other loan modification initiatives."
The bank is owned by a private equity group that purchased the failed IndyMac bank.
Yano-Horoski, a college professor of English and cognitive reason, and Horoski, who sells collectible dolls online, bought their 3,400-square-foot, one-level house 15 years ago for less than $200,000.
In 2004, court records show, they refinanced, paying off their original mortgage with part of a $292,500 sub-prime loan from Deutsche Bank. They used what was left for health care and for his business.
The loan carried an initial adjustable interest rate of 10.375 percent, which soared to 12.375 percent.
It eventually ended up being either owned or serviced by IndyMac, and the bank sued the couple in July 2005 when they began having trouble making payments because of Horoski's health problems.
After a foreclosure was approved last January, Yano-Haroski successfully asked for a court settlement conference.
Spinner excoriated OneWest for repeatedly refusing to work out a deal, for misleading him about the dollar amounts at stake in the case, and for its treatment of the couple over months of hearings.
OneWest's conduct was "inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious," Spinner wrote.
He canceled the debt because the bank "must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against [the couple]."
The bank is involved in a similar case in California, where it's trying to foreclose on an 89-year-old woman, despite two court orders telling it to stop.
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Paul: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear's path, and only I will remain."
Duke Leto: "I'll miss the sea, but a person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing him to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." - "Dune."
Ya.. I heard about that on the News.. But that homeowner says an appeal is expected by the bank. It'll be interesting to see if the judgment sticks..
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop and look fear in the face. Do the things you think you cannot do. Tough times never last, but tough people do"
how do I get my bank to relieve me from the balance of my loan Interesting concept folks I think this is just the beginning of giving these banks the whoopin they deserve
Should make all these bank people join the army to teach them some respect for the good ole usa
Just a thought folks
Later dazes
Fred E
I was denied for a Loan Modification by Indymac 2 months ago. Me and my wife applied for it stating that we are paying interest only (ARM) and we cannot refinance our home because of it's Negative equity. We also stated that I don't have a JOB. Anyway, thanks for this post.
Everytime you repeat the words "I CAN DO IT" with conviction, you cancel or override your fear and increase your confidence. By repeating this affirmation over and over, you can eventually build your courage and confidence to the point where you are unafraid. -Brian Tracy-
I have been fighting One West for over 17 months to save my home from Foreclosure. I have spent thousands of dollars trying to get a Loan Mod on my Predatory 11 3/4% ARM. I have recently received a phone call from the bank stating that my loan is in a "Restricted Owner Group" and that the owner o (Investor) on my loan does not participate in the president's HAMP program and therefore I will not receive a Loan Mod. How convenient is that? What a slap in the face for Obama!
I am now counter suing the bank Pro Se just as this couple did. Though I have been very successful in making money in REI it came a little to late for me to save my home. I will not give up though. I hope to get a judge like this one to hear my case...lol!
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
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To your success,
Carol Stinson
The terms, including the adjustable interest rate, of this loan ARE NOT what make it "predatory." It is the "loan shark style" collection practices, aggressive foreclosure agenda, the huge penalty/fee amount compared to the principal still owed, and complete refusal to work with their customers that make it "predatory," in the eyes of this court and judge. Of COURSE there's going to be an appeal -- OneWest said they would file one right in the article! No business (especially a bank) is going to let a court strip them of half a million dollars without a fight.
I can't predict the future, but I'm willing to bet these homeowners will not have a COMPLETELY FREE house for very long. I hope they get to, but it's very unlikely. If the higher court upholds the ruling, the lender will just spend more money and try to take it to the next higher court. But this judgment (and this news article) should serve as a wakeup call to banks trying to act like "foreclosure factories." A nice "middle ground" to resolve this would be to give the homeowner a low, fixed-rate interest mortgage for his principal only, with the ability to refinance it with another lender the minute he walks out of court.
Like Dean and other REI gurus have said many times, "banks are not in the real estate business, they're in the money business." But in this day and age, a deficiency judgment (bad debt) is almost worth more to a lender than a sub-prime loan that's being paid on time. They can write it off on their taxes as a business loss, or sell it to another lender. It sounds like the lenders in this article are trying to foreclose on as many people as possible while they can get away with these business practices. I just hope the appeals court upholds this court's ruling.
My advice is: If you're trying to do business with any of the lenders mentioned in this article, stop and reconsider. If you're trying to save your home from any of these lenders, document EVERYTHING you do with them. All your communications, any payments you send, everything. If you don't have an attorney yet, get one. Tell them about this article and what you've done to try to catch up what you owe, and what they've done in response. It'd be awful if one more person lost their home to predatory lending, but both you and I know thousands more are going to before it stops. Just don't let yourself be one of them! Good luck, and Happy Thanksgiving, DG Family! I hope this article helps someone.
Paul: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear's path, and only I will remain."
Duke Leto: "I'll miss the sea, but a person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing him to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." - "Dune."
I really hope the homeowner also win the appeal. This will send a strong message to those lenders out there with no consciences. The best thing they could do is lower the mortgage payment and extend the pay off period on the loan. They will still get their money back anyway. Well this is one of many law suits that is on the horizon. Just imagine, they were given all this money to assist homeowners, no, but they want to foreclose and still keep all the bailout money. They will get what is coming to them.
Sandra
"You can never get to the top, if you are not willing to climb. Do not look at the difficulty of the climb, only anticipate the view from the top."
"Can't even walk without you holding my hand." (Song)
"Is anything too hard for the Lord ..." Genesis 19:14
"In all things, wait on the Lord."
"Think not of your own deliverance, but trust in God who will give in abundance."
"When you are down to nothing, God is up to something." Unknown
"Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent about those things that really matters." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I went through this last year (2008) with IndyMac. I had both of my hips replaced in 2007 and 2008 and fell behind on my mortage due to the illness and job loss.
I went round after round with the IndyMac about getting a loan mod and they kept telling me that is was still processing and I got so frustrated that I sold the home in a short sale loosing $20,000 in the process. I still have a $34,000 outstanding balance with Bank of America since Countrywide sold it to Bank of America. I hate it when they keep selling your mortage.
I believe what goes around comes around and they will get theirs soon.
God Bless
Mickey D