Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
Validity of Mortgage
I received the courtesy of a response to my above titled question. However, the attorney stated that ''if you were the borrower, and raise this defense, you would be admitting that you willingly participated in a fraudulant transaction that was perpetrated against the lender, thereby opening yourself up to potentially criminal prosecution''.
I was unaware of the issue until discovery. I was not aware the closing agent was not notarizing the documents (further review shows he was a notary at the time). I did not receive executed copies at closing.
The Title Company and Mortgage Company involved were both operated by a husband and wife. The wife was not present at closing and notarized the documents after the fact. The notary page of the mortgage was not presented to me at closing and it contains initials that were not written by me. A review of the entire document clearly reflects it was not my handwriting.
With that information, how could I be accused of participating in a fraudulent transaction? The answer received is very concerning.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Validity of Mortgage
The point of my response was just to point out that your defense is not very pursuasive. Remember that this website is designed for me to provide you with my opinion. You are free to consult other attorneys. And of course, any course of action you choose is completely up to you.
The reason I feel your defense is not pursuasive was that none these claims were raised in a timely manner. You benefited from the mortgage's execution and were paid according to those terms. It is only now that you have defaulted that these issues of fraudulent signatures have been raised.
Besides the fact that it will be very difficult to prove your assertions in court (your word vs. their's), you will also have the burden of suspicion based on you only raising the defense after your default.
Just my opinion. I believe your defense in this matter would not be very effective.
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