Did attorny mislead me with deed transfer?

[Momio32]

What is the name of your state? NY

Situation: House I owned (did not live in) was very behind in mortgage payments and heading into foreclosure. My attorney told me the only way to stop foreclosure was to do a deed transfer, which she said she had a friend that was interested in doing this with me. The friend knew the house was way behind in mortgage payments and would possibly go into foreclosure, but wanted to do the transfer anyway. Friend said they’d pay me $5K to do deed transfer. I agreed. I had no knowledge of mortgages, or any of this legal stuff, so I trusted my attorney. The day I signed the deed transfer documents, the documents were blank. I know I should’ve asked about this, but again, I trusted my attorney. Are the documents supposed to be blank when I sign them, or were they supposed to have been filled out first?

Attorney told me to sign at all the X’s and I was given the $5K check. The documents were not signed by the friend in front of me, nor notarized in front of me. Once I got the copy of the deed transfer papers, (3 months later) I saw all the entered info. Attorney entered there was a sale upon transfer of deed for $400K. Is that right? The outstanding balance on property was $400K (2 loans equaling $400K). Couldn’t she have entered ‘$0’?? Why do you think she did this?

Why did this friend want to do this deed transfer knowing the house would eventually go into foreclosure? What was in it for the friend?

House foreclosed in 2007. So what happens to the friend who did the deed transfer?

I know now that doing a deed transfer does NOT stop foreclosure, therefore, my attorney lied to me and misled me. Is what my attorney did illegal? Can I do anything about it?? Prior to the foreclosure, I saved emails from attorney saying that the house can not be foreclosed upon since I no longer owned it. I have many emails from attorney, are they legally relevant?

[You Are Guilty]

I'm not sure what your question is. It appears you got $5k from the sale of your house in which you had significant negative equity. (Were you to be the owner when it was foreclosed upon, you would have not only taken the hit on your credit, but would have been on the hook for a deficiency balance as well.) Now you have issues with the notarization of/the forms from the sale?

Am I close?

[Momio32]

My name was and is the only name on the mortgage. I was told by attorney this was the only way to avoid foreclosure going under my name. I trusted my attorney. I have only found out now that she lied to me. Property foreclosed in 2007 and I am liable for all the outstanding debt. I was only questioning whether or not what my attorney did was illegal or is malpractice. Again, I knew nothing about this stuff so I trusted whatever my attorney did or said. I’m not questioning the notarization of the forms, just the fact that they were blank when I signed them and data that was entered. Instead of putting $400K, couldn’t she have just put $0 or $10? And I was curious to know why would someone offer to transfer the deed over to their name, what is in it for them? I’m questioning it now, as I said before, I’m just learning how I was lied to all along and wondering if either attorney or her friend somehow got something from doing this. Thanks.

[You Are Guilty]

Ah ok, I think I get it. Something does sound fishy, frankly. At a minimum, your bank would have to have been made aware of the deed transfer, (usually because that triggers a clause in your mortgage making it due and payable in full). If you have another real estate attorney in the area you trust, you can speak to them. Barring that, try contacting the NYSBA for a low cost referral: [url]http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_Lawyer&Template=/CustomSource/LegalInfobyCounty.cfm&cty=lrs[/url]

And if that doesn't work, you can try contacting the Grievance Committee for the county you live in: [url]http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ip/attorneygrievance/complaints_attorney.shtml[/url]

If any documents were actually forged, you have a viable claim against your former lawyer.

Good luck.