“Some of the clients tried to do workouts and weren’t able to do that, and when you are faced with foreclosure, it’s an issue of striking first or not.

“Litigation is a new approach for dealing with unprecedented levels of foreclosures,” added Ingrassia.
As featured in Law.com, the story centers on Denise Bennett, a woman who recently discovered that her “7.6 percent fixed-rate mortgage” with Countrywide Home Loans was anything but 7.6%, which they originally promised. Blindly scheduled to adjust in November from $1,400 to $1,700, Bennett is fighting back. Suing her lender on June 26 alleging fraud, the case is assigned to U.S. District Judge William Zloch in Fort Lauderdale.

Like this suit, stated John Pacenti in Law.com, “nearly all of the lawsuits involve adjustable rate subprime mortgages to high-risk customers. Ingrassia said some of his clients were offered ‘teaser rates’ as low as 1.5 percent that adjusted up within 30 days. The lawsuits also allege Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide and the other lenders falsified paperwork that exaggerated the income of the customers to qualify for the loan.”

While the Charlotte, N.C.-based Countrywide was purchased by Bank of America last week in a $4 billion stock deal, the bank had no comment on pending litigation against Countrywide. In Bennett’s case, her attorney, Ingrassia, is seeking rescission of her mortgages as well as damages including reimbursement of all mortgage payments, finance charges, interest, attorney fees and costs.

In short, Ingrassia doesn’t play and neither should anyone who finds themselves victimized by their lenders. According to Ingrassia, the lender violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the federal Truth in Lending and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

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