Revealed Case of a deceased homeowner

Foreclosure defense attorneys have described that process servers occasionally file false attestation in support of personal service in foreclosure matters.  Some homeowners are defending themselves expressing that mortgage lenders did not serve them properly.

Opposite to the maintain testimony of process server Robin Lucas-Peters in one South Florida foreclosure case, the homeowner was not assisted at all.  Died on August 4, 2010 “personal service” upon him on April 21, 2011 was simply not possible. 

“It’s equivalent to perjury,” said Andrew Dinnerstein, the attorney representing the family of the deceased.  “The system is being abused to such an extent that people aren’t even being served properly.”

The homeowner has not been named to protect the family’s privacy.

Foreclosure defense attorneys have registered a number of cases where process servers allegedly filed false statements.  While investigating the law firms that employed “robo-signers,” state investigators are closely examining the service of process in a number of cases.

The process server in this case said she attempted to serve the homeowner on separate occasions. On the fifth attempt, the person answering the door said he was the homeowner being sought and accepted the foreclosure papers.

A small number of recent foreclosure cases allege homeowners never received foreclosure papers even though they still occupied their home.  Others allege that process servers did not take the required steps to locate them or filed false statements about whom or when they delivered papers.   

This is the first reported case of a deceased homeowner being served with foreclosure papers.

Lucas-Peters filed a falsified document, swearing foreclosure papers were properly served when they were not, Dinnerstein said.

When a homeowner is deceased, the mortgage lender must request that the court assign an administrator and then serve foreclosure papers upon them.

Dinnerstein indicates that he will seek sanctions against the lender and ProVest, which is under investigation by the Florida Attorney General for declarations of false returns of service under oath and forged signatures of process servers.

In a number of unassociated foreclosure defense matters, some process servers allegedly violated rules related to the personal delivery of legal papers.  Like robo-signing foreclosure documents without reviewing them for accuracy, a number of homeowners are now alleging they were never served with foreclosure papers.

Homeowners involved in foreclosures are required to receive a summons and complaint personally delivered by a process server. Repeated attempts at personal service are required before court permission can be obtained to publish a legal notice in the alternative.

In the case of a departed homeowner, foreclosure papers are served upon an administrator.  Some process servers have allegedly cut corners.  One recently claimed she could not find a homeowner facing foreclosure on a second home, despite conducting extensive record checks.

Lenders and attorneys typically contract their summons delivery work to large process serving firms, who sub-contract to private independent servers. In her deposition to state investigators, former Stern paralegal Tammie Lou Kapusta, testified that summons serving procedures were a “complete mess,” with homeowners routinely complaining they never received papers.

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