Foreclosure - Motion Sanction 57.105
Foreclosure - Motion Sanction 57.105
Foreclosure - Motion Sanction 57.105
Plaintiff,
vs.
Defendants.
_____________________________________/
COMES NOW the Defendant in this action, LYNN E. SZYMONIAK, by and through her
undersigned counsel, and moves this Honorable Court to enter sanctions against the Plaintiff
herein pursuant to Section 57.105, Florida Statutes, and in support thereof states as follows:
NATIONAL TRUST, seeks to foreclose upon Defendant after an alleged default on a Note that
was made after Defendant refinanced her home in February 2006. Defendant purchased the
2. The Complaint that was filed in this case on July 22, 2008, included an allegation
that the Plaintiff had lost possession of the original note. Plaintiff alleged that it was the owner of
said Note and the Note was lost “subsequent to the Plaintiff’s acquisition thereof.”
paragraph 8) that there was no proof that the Plaintiff ever held the Note or took possession of
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the Note and thus, had no claim or right bringing about the foreclosure; and alleging (in
paragraph 9) that there was no proof, without a note, that a proper chain of assignments took
place and that the lien positions were properly perfected; and alleging (in paragraph 10) that
plaintiff also failed to attach a copy of any Assignment, if Plaintiff claimed to have acquired the
agents of the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, P.A., caused certain documents to be filed and
recorded with the clerk and comptroller of the Palm Beach County courts, to wit: an Assignment
of Mortgage and an “Allonge to Note.” Copies of the Assignment and Allonge filed on October
23, 2008, are attached hereto as Exhibit 1 (Assignment) and Exhibit 2 (“Allonge to Note”). The
5. At the time the Assignment and Allonge were filed and recorded, despite the
pending foreclosure action and Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, the agents of the Law Offices of
Marshall C. Watson did not notify the Court, nor counsel for Defendant, nor Defendant herself,
the “successor-in-interest” to Option One Mortgage Company. No Assignment from Option One
to AHMSI was alleged or filed. Failure to notify the Defendant of the Assignment from Option
One to AHMSI and the Assignment from AHMSI to DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST
was a violation of 12 U.S.C. §2605 which required notice to SZYMONIAK within 15 days of
the Assignments. If no such Assignments were actually made, then Plaintiff cannot prove a
7. On December 23, 2009, nearly 14 months after the actual filing of documents
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critical to this action, Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, through its employee and agent,
Karen A. Thompson, Esq. filed or caused to be filed a Notice of Filing claiming to file the
Original Note, Original Mortgage, Acceleration Letter, Payment History and a copy of the
pleadings, the signature was alleged to have been that of James Karrat, Esq. signing “for” Karen
Thompson, Esq.
8. The filing of the Original Note contradicted the allegations in the Complaint that
the Original Note had been lost, but Plaintiff did not notify the Court or seek to amend its
Complaint.
BANK sued for foreclosure nearly three months before it even allegedly acquired the Mortgage
and Note.
10. Also on December 23, 2009, Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, through its
employee and agent Linda Chelvin, Esq. filed or caused to be filed Plaintiff’s Response to
Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss with numerous attachments, including the Assignment and an
Allonge. While Attorney Chelvin’s name appears on the pleadings, the signature again was
alleged to be that of James Karrat, this time signing “for” Linda Chelvin, Esq.
11. A side-by-side comparison (see Exhibit 2) of the Allonge attached to the Notice
of Filing (Allonge 1) and the Allonge attached to the Response to Motion to Dismiss (Allonge 2)
shows that the Allonge attached to the Notice of Filing has been altered, doctored or fabricated.
Across the top of Allonge 1 there is a strip of information indicating that the Allonge was
recorded with the Clerk of the Court on February 15, 2006, and was located at Book 19933, page
1827.
12. In fact, this strip was cut from Page 1 of the recorded mortgage and pasted on to
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the newly-discovered Allonge document. The documents actually filed on February 15, 2006,
did NOT contain any Allonge. On December 29, 2009, the Clerk of the Court’s Office
confirmed and certified the actual documents filed. No Allonge was filed. A copy of those
examination of the front page of the mortgage, (omitted from the packet attached to the Notice of
Filing) that the Allonge has been fabricated and an attempted fraud perpetrated on this Court and
on the Defendant.
13. Defendant believes and alleges that the Assignment of Mortgage suddenly and
inexplicably found in this case also is a fabricated document, for the reasons set forth further
below.
14. A careful examination of this Assignment (Exhibit 1) shows that the individuals
who allegedly signed as officers of American Home Mortgage Servicing, Linda Green and
Jessica Ohde, as well as the witnesses to these signatures, Korell Harp and Christina Huang, are
actually names used repeatedly by DOCX, a mortgage document mill in Alpharetta, Georgia.
signature of “Linda Green” is repeatedly used, with Green supposedly being an officer of
numerous mortgage lenders. Defendant will ask the Court to take judicial notice (or will
Documentation for Wells Fargo Bank, the Vice President of American Home Mortgage
Servicing, Inc., and the Vice-President of Bank of America. On yet another mortgage-related
document prepared by DOCX, Linda Green is the witness to the signature of Tywanna Thomas
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who is identified as “Asst. Vice President” of “Sand Canyon Corporation formerly known as
Option One Mortgage Corporation.” (Tywanna Thomas herself also appears on numerous other
Assistant Vice President of Mortgage Electronic Registration Services, Inc, as nominee for
Quick Loan Funding, Inc. and Asst. Vice President of American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc.
(See Composite Exhibit 5 attached hereto for mortgage-related documents prepared by DOCX
notarized by a notary in Fulton County, Georgia, which would have required Linda Green to
17. The Assignment filed herein is also signed by Jessica Ohde as Assistant Vice
DOCX, the name and purported signature “Jessica Ohde” is repeatedly used, with Ohde
supposedly also being an officer of numerous mortgage lenders. Defendant will ask the Court to
take judicial notice of mortgage-related documents all signed by Ohde, attached hereto as
Electronic Registrations Systems, Inc., as nominee for Chevy Chase Bank FSB, as well as the
notarized by a notary in Fulton County, Georgia, which would have required Jessica Ohde to
19. On the Assignment filed herein, the signature of Linda Green is witnessed by
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Korell Harp. On mortgage-related documents prepared by DOCX, the name and purported
signature “Korell Harp” is repeatedly used, with Harp supposedly also being an officer of
numerous mortgage lenders. Defendant will ask the Court to take judicial notice of mortgage-
related documents all signed by Harp, attached hereto as Composite Exhibit 7, in which Harp is
nominee for Quick Loan Funding, Inc, as well as the Vice-President of American Home
Mortgage Servicing, Inc. and the Authorized Signer for USAA Federal Savings Bank.
notarized by a notary in Fulton County, Georgia, which would have required Korell Harp to have
Defendant also relies upon mortgage-related documents with Brent Bagley signature attached
signature attached hereto as Composite Exhibit 10; and mortgage-related documents with Linda
Thoresen signature attached hereto as Composite Exhibit 11. The Defendant will ask the Court
22. DEUTSCHE BANK has a long and well-documented history of filing documents
and making allegations with Courts in foreclosure actions with complete disregard of the truth of
a. In Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. v Castellanos, 01/14/2008, 158 Misc 3d 1115A,
2008 NYSlipOP 50033(U), (copy attached), Judge Arthur M Schack, on January 14, 2008, denied
a renewed application for a judgment of foreclosure and sale due to the plaintiff's lack of
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standing because Deutsche Bank had sold the note and mortgage to MTGLQ Investors, L.P.,
after filing a foreclosure action and had failed to notify the Court. Judge Schack noted the
presence of an affidavit of merit executed by a Mr. Jeff Rivas, who was identified as Deutsche
Bank's "Vice President Default Timeline Management." He then noted the presence of a
mortgage assignment within the files executed the same date which identifies Mr. Jeff Rivas as
the "Vice President Default Timeline Management" for Argent Mortgage Company, LLC, the
assignor of a the mortgage to Deutsche Bank. Judge Schack pointed out that if Mr. Rivas was
acting as an officer of both the grantor and the grantee of the assignment that this would create
a conflict rendering the conveyance void. Judge Schack also directed that Mr. Rivas’
employment history be clarified in any future application for a foreclosure order. Judge Schack
then referenced an earlier decision, HSBC Bank, N.A. v Cherry, 18 Misc 3d 1102 (A), issued on
December 17, 2007 where he noted at 3: “with HSBC, OCWEN and MERS, joining with
Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs at Suite 100, the Court is now concerned as to why so many
financial goliaths are in the same space. The Court ponders if Suite 100 is the size of Madison
Square Garden to house all of these financial behemoths or if there is a more nefarious reason for
this corporate togetherness.” In the Castellanos case, Judge Schack stated: “Therefore, if
Deutsche Banks seeks to renew its motion for a judgment of foreclosure and sale, it must provide
an affidavit explaining why Suite 100 is such a popular venue for all of these corporations.
Should Deutsche Bank fail to provide an adequate explanation in its affidavit, I will conclude
b. In Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. v Maraj, 1/31/2008, 18 Misc 3d 1123(A), 2008
NYSlipOP 50176(U), another foreclosure case decided by Judge Arthur Schack, the Judge noted
many problems with the Assignment. As in the instant case before this Court, the Assignment
was signed by an individual whose name and signature appear regularly on mortgage-related
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documents, but she is “employed” by many different banks and mortgage companies. Judge
Schack observed and ruled: “The Assignment by MERS, on behalf of INDYMAC, was executed
by Erica Johnson-Seck, Vice President of MERS. The notary public, Mai La Thao, stated in the
jurat that the assignment was executed in the State of Texas, County of Williamson (Williamson
County is located in the Austin metropolitan area, and its county seat is Georgetown, Texas). The
Court is perplexed as to why the assignment was not executed in Kansas City, the alleged
"principal place of business" for both the assignor and the assignee.
Twenty-eight days later, on July 31, 2007, the same Erica Johnson-Seck executed
plaintiff's affidavit submitted in support of the instant application for a default judgment. Ms.
Johnson-Seck, in her affidavit, states that she is "an officer of Deutsche Bank National Trust
Company as Trustee under the Pooling and Servicing Agreement Series INDX 2006-AR6, the
plaintiff herein." At the end of the affidavit she states that she is a Vice President of
DEUTSCHE BANK. Again, Mai La Thao is the notary public and the affidavit is executed in the
State of Texas, County of Williamson. The Erica Johnson-Seck signatures on both the July 3,
2007 assignment and the July 31, 2007 affidavit are identical. Did Ms. Johnson-Seck change
employers from July 3, 2007 to July 31, 2007, or does she engage in self-dealing by wearing two
corporate hats? The Court is concerned that there may be fraud on the part of plaintiff
reference, the Court requires an affidavit from Ms. Johnson-Seck, describing her employment
history for the past three years.” Further, the Court requires an explanation from an officer of
plaintiff DEUTSCHE BANK as to why, in the middle of our national subprime mortgage
financial crisis, DEUTSCHE BANK would purchase a non-performing loan from INDYMAC,
and why DEUTSCHE BANK, INDYMAC and MERS all share office space in Suite 400/500.
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With the assignor MERS and assignee DEUTSCHE BANK appearing to be engaged in
possible fraudulent activity by: having the same person execute the assignment and then the
affidavit of facts in support of the instant application; DEUTSCHE BANK's purchase of a non-
performing loan from INDYMAC; and, the sharing of office space in Suite 400/500 in Kansas
City, the Court wonders if the instant foreclosure action is a corporate "Kansas City Shuffle…”
39192/2007 (05 Feb 2008), decided the following month Judge Schack again raised the issue of
“troubling questions” he had about the representations in the Deutsche Bank application and
denied Deutsche Bank’s application for a Default Judgment. Judge Schack Ordered that
Deutsche Bank could renew its application upon presentation to the Court, within forty-five (45)
days of his decision and order, only if it produced the following: “an affidavit from Erica
Johnson-Seck describing her employment history for the past three years; and, an affidavit from
loan from INDYMAC BANK, F.S.B.; (2) Plaintiff DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST
COMPANY shares office space at 460 Sierra Madre Villa, Pasadena, CA 91107 with
F.S.B.; (3) Plaintiff DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY claims 460 Sierra
Madre Villa, Pasadena, CA 91107 as its principal place of business in the October 23, 2007
Assignment of the instant mortgage, but executed the Assignment in Dakota County, Minnesota;
and, (4) Plaintiff DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY claims 460 Sierra
Madre Villa, Pasadena, CA 91107 as its principal place of business in the affidavit in support of
the instant application, but the affidavit was executed in Williamson County, Texas.”
(Note: DEUTSCHE BANK claims a different principal place of business in the instant
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case. It should also be noted that the issue of the true employer of Erica Johnson-Seck has also
arisen in other Palm Beach County foreclosure cases, most recently in Indymac Federal Bank,
FSB v. Israel Machado, et al., Case No. 50 2008 CA 037322XXXX MB, and where Johnson-
03724/2007 (21 Dec 2007) Judge Schack noted that in an affidavit in support of a Deutsche Bank
application for default, a Ms. Tamara Price identified herself as the "Vice President" of Deutsche
Bank while also showing herself to be the Vice President of AMC Mortgage Services, Inc.
Judge Schack ordered Deutsche Bank to provide an affidavit within thirty days clarifying Ms.
Tamara Price’s employment history for the previous three years, as well as explaining why
Deutsche Bank seemed to have purchased a non-performing loan from Ameriquest and why
Deutsche Bank and Ameriquest seemed to be sharing office space with Ameriquest at 505 City
al., Case No. 1:2007cv03029, N.D. Ohio, Judge Christopher H. Boyko gave DEUTSCHE BANK
NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY seven days to file a copy of an executed assignment showing
that DEUTSCHE BANK was the holder and owner of the Note and Mortgage as of the date the
Complaint was filed or face dismissal; the same action was taken in two other Deutsche Bank
cases decided by Judge Boyko: Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Tonia Benitez, et al.,
Case No. 1:2007cv03000, N.D. Ohio, and Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Dorphine
Desouza, et al., Case No. 1:2007cv01474, N. D. Ohio. These cases and 14 others were dismissed
when the lenders did not produce the Assignments as ordered. Amended General Order, No.
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foreclosure cases, including 24 cases filed by Deutsche Bank, in a mass dismissal because
documentation that the plaintiff was the owner and holder of the Mortgage and Note was
is not limited to, trust and/or assignment documents executed before the action was commenced,
or both as circumstances may require.” As in the instant case, many of the cases O’Malley
dismissed involved documentation that an assignment occurred, but occurred after the filing of
the complaint.
g. In Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., trustee for Goldman Sachs v. Pope, Case
No. 16-20 07-CA-008285 (Duval Co., Fla., Cir. Ct.) Circuit Judge Lance Day dismissed a
foreclosure brought by Deutsche Bank, ruling there were "inconsistencies" in the plaintiff's
documents.
decided on June 26, 2008, Saratoga County Supreme Court Judge Thomas Nolan denied
Deutsche Bank’s motion for summary judgment, noting: “Again, here, plaintiff offers no
evidence that it took physical delivery of the note and mortgage before commencing this action,
and again, the written assignment was signed after defendant was served. The assignment's
language purporting to give it retroactive effect, absent a prior or contemporary delivery of the
District of Massachusetts, United States Bankruptcy Judge Joan N. Feeney, also criticized
Deutsche Bank National Trust Company and its documentation of a loan, stating (on pages 15-
16): “Although courts have been addressing the issues raised by Bankruptcy Judge Rosenthal in
the Nosek case for some time, see In re Foreclosure Cases, No. 1:07CV2282, 2007 WL 3232430
(N.D. Ohio Oct. 31, 2007), problems associated with the practices are amplified in the instant
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case. The mortgage lender, its affiliates, assignees, and agents involved in this case, through the
reliance upon back-dated, unrecorded assignments, have confounded the identity of the current
holder of the mortgage for the purpose of filing the Motion for Relief from Stay, as well as the
proof of claim. The Court and the Debtor are entitled to insist that the moving party establish its
standing in a motion for relief from stay through the submission of an accurate history of the
chain of ownership of the mortgage. Absent such proof, relief from stay is unwarranted and a
proof of claim filed by the wrong party, to which an objection is filed, must be disallowed.”
23. Plaintiff and its counsel knew or should have known that false documents were
created for the purpose of raising a defense to the Motion to Dismiss and that the documents
were fraudulent in nature and contained false signatures of persons posing as officers of entities
related to this litigation even though none of the signators held the officer positions indicated on
24. Plaintiff and its attorney knew or should have known that this lawsuit and the
claims contained within the lawsuit were (a) not supported by the material facts necessary to
establish the claims; or (b) would not be supported by the application of the then-existing law to
25. This motion is being served on the Plaintiff twenty-one days prior to being filed
26. Having been provided this motion for sanctions twenty one days in advance of the
actual filing of this motion, Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s counsel are demonstrating that they knew or
should have known that the claims in the response to the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss are not
supported by the material facts necessary to establish the claims. If Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s
counsel continue to pursue this claim or defense they run afoul of §57.105, Fla. Stat.
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27. Section 57.105, Florida Statutes states in pertinent part:
party in equal amounts by the losing party and the losing party’s attorney
which the court finds that the losing party or the losing party’s attorney
must be served but may not be filed with or presented to the court unless,
within 21 days after service of the motion, the challenged paper, claim,
appropriately corrected.
28. Twenty-one days have passed and Plaintiff has not withdrawn its claims set forth
29. All conditions precedent, for filing this Motion, have been met.
WHEREFORE, Defendant requests this Court enter an Order granting the sanction of
dismissal with prejudice against Plaintiff in this case; and ordering Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s
counsel (Marshall C. Watson, Linda Chevlin, and James Karrat) to pay in equal amounts
Defendant’s reasonable attorney fees incurred in defense of this action as allowed by statute as
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sanctions.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was served via U.S.
Mail to Linda Chelvam, Esq., Karen A. Thompson, Esq., and James Karrat, Edq. Law Offices of
Marshall C. Watson, P.A., 1800 Northwest 49th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33309, counsel
for plaintiff Deutsche Bank National Trust on this _____day of February, 2010.
_________________________________
Mark A. Cullen, Esq.
Florida Bar No. 325082
The Cullen Law Firm, P.A.
2090 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., #500
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
561.640.9191
561.214.4021 fax
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was served via U.S.
Mail to Linda Chelvam, Esq., Karen A. Thompson, Esq., and James Karrat, Edq. Law Offices of
Marshall C. Watson, P.A., 1800 Northwest 49th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33309, counsel
for plaintiff Deutsche Bank National Trust on this _____day of February, 2010.
____________________________________
Mark A. Cullen, Esq.
Florida Bar No. 325082
The Cullen Law Firm, P.A.
2090 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd.,#500
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
(561) 640-9191
(561) 214-4021 fax
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