It Happened To Us

Capital: Montgomery

Area: 51,609 square miles

Ranks 29th in size

Nickname: Heart of Dixie

State Slogan: Share the Wonder

Admission Date: 1819

State Flower: Camellia

State Bird: Yellowhammer (Northern Flicker)

Did you know?

The official horse of Alabama is the rocking horse.

Enterprise, Alabama has a statue in honor of a bug.

Huntsville, Alabama is home to the World's biggest space museum and Space camp.

The Wright brothers started the first flight school in Alabama.

In 1886, the first electric Trolley was introduced in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1819, Alabama became the 22nd State to be admitted into the United States of America. Below are excerpts of the Alabama Constitution followed by what has and is happening in Alabama.

The Constitution of Alabama.
That all men are equally free and independent; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Article 1, Section 1

That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend any place of worship; nor to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate for building or repairing any place of worship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry; that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this state; and that the civil rights, privileges, and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected by his religious principles.
Article 1, Section 3

That in all criminal prosecutions, the accused has a right to be heard by himself and counsel, or either; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation; and to have a copy thereof; to be confronted by the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; to testify in all cases, in his own behalf, if he elects so to do; and, in all prosecutions by indictment, a speedy, public trial, by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense was committed; and he shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, except by due process of law; but the legislature may, by a general law, provide for a change of venue at the instance of the defendant in all prosecutions by indictment, and such change of venue, on application of the defendant, may be heard and determined without the personal presence of the defendant so applying therefor; provided, that at the time of the application for the change of venue, the defendant is imprisoned in jail or some legal place of confinement.
Article 1, Section 6

That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
Article 1, Section 11

That all courts shall be open; and that every person, for any injury done him, in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have a remedy by due process of law; and right and justice shall be administered without sale, denial, or delay.
Article 1, Section 13

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“The real object of the First Amendment was not to countenance, much less to advance Mohammedanism, or Judaism, or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity, but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects [denominations] and to prevent any national ecclesiastical patronage of the national government.”
Jaffree v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, 544 F Supp. 1104 (S.D. Ala. 1983)
(quoting the nineteenth-century United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph Storey)

It is happening in Alabama

Fancy “Stealing” — What Mortgage Companies Do In Alabama Wrongful Foreclosures
Are mortgage companies thieves when they do illegal foreclosures in Alabama? Absolutely! These companies come into our state and intentionally violate the law. They intentionally do bogus and wrongful foreclosures.
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Tags: Alabama
Source: https://www.alabamaconsumer.com/2017/06/fancy-stealing-what-mortgage-companies-alabama-wrongful-foreclosures/
Article by John Watts, June, 2017

What Is Wrongful Foreclosure In Alabama?
Foreclosures in Alabama are exploding.
Approximately 800 per month just in the metro Birmingham, Alabama area.
Drive through any neighborhood – expensive or not – and you will see foreclosure signs. Foreclosures are a huge problem for our state.
We assume since you are reading this that you (or a friend or family member) are facing foreclosure and you want more information.
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Tags: Alabama
Source: https://www.alabamaconsumer.com/2012/01/what-is-wrongful-foreclosure-in-alabama/
Article by John Watts

DEUTSCHE BANK AND OCWEN TO PAY $400,000 FOR WRONGFUL FORECLOSURE
“Deutsche Bank and Ocwen knew what they were doing was wrong. However, rather than acknowledging that, they chose to simply manufacture documents in order to legitimize a foreclosure that was illegitimate from the very beginning,” said Billy Bonner, a partner with the law firm of Cunningham Bounds, LLC, who represented the Caldwells.
“This was not an isolated occurrence. There are millions of homeowners throughout the country facing foreclosure – and unfortunately, many of them are being forced to give up their homes to banks that do not actually own their mortgage loans,” added Bonner.
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Tags: Alabama
Source: https://www.cunninghambounds.com/news/deutsche-bank-and-ocwen-to-pay-400-000-for-wrong/
Article by The Housing Justice Foundation, December 12, 2015

The Secret Your Mortgage Company Does Not Want You To Know About Regarding Stopping Foreclosures
My name is John Watts and my law firm helps Alabama consumers who are facing foreclosure to stop the foreclosure without filing bankruptcy.
Join me on this short journey and I trust you will find this time well spent as you look for how to save your home from a foreclosure.
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Tags: Alabama
Source: https://www.alabamaconsumer.com/2017/10/secret-mortgage-company-not-want-know-regarding-stopping-foreclosures/
Article by John Watts

WELL ENOUGH ALONE: LIABILITY FOR WRONGFUL FORECLOSURE
Wrongful foreclosure occurs anytime a lender forecloses when she is not entitled to do so, which includes situations where the lender has failed to follow or honor any of the technical, procedural protections discussed above. Traditionally, this was a relatively rare claim, compensating wrongfully foreclosed debtors either by rescinding the sale or awarding them damages equal to the value of the property less the outstanding indebtedness. These remedies seem fair, and it appears that this tort historically sufficed to ensure that mortgagees would generally follow all appropriate procedural and common law requirements, ostensibly ensuring fair foreclosures.
This state of affairs effectively collapsed, though, in the heat of the Great Recession.
This wave of foreclosures was unheard of: during this period of time, there were more than 1.5 million foreclosure starts every year, with much of that concentrated in a relatively few geographic regions that had experienced the largest boom-and-bust swings in housing pricing.
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Tags: Alabama
Source: https://www.law.ua.edu/lawreview/files/2011/07/Well-Enough-Alone-Foreclosure.pdf
Article by Chad J. Pomeroy in the Alabama Law Review

How CHASE Ruined Lives of People Who Paid Off Their Mortgages
[S]tealing is pretty much the worst thing that a bank can do — and these banks just finished the longest and most orgiastic campaign of stealing in the history of money...the house burned down, The borrowers both had homeowners’ insurance...Chase refused to give a payoff amount,...started harassing the Barlows, calling as many as six times a day....violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act....Chase rejected the payment (both via check and via the online payment system). When they finally accepted the payment, they put it in a suspense account and continued their demands for payment and threats to foreclose. A local law firm initiated foreclosure proceedings, which included running an ad in the local papers, which was humiliating. Chase reported the foreclosure to credit bureaus, which led banks to close nearly all of Mrs. Barlow’s credit cards....Chase has force-place insurance of $2,317 on her vacant lot and wants to be paid for it too....In Alabama, wrongful foreclosure, by statute, is treble damages. Recent cases have awarded much bigger multiples. Both cases allege grounds for damages in addition to wrongful foreclosures. Alabama also recognizes emotional distress as a cause for damages when a home is at stake. These are not “mistakes”. This conduct can only be described as evil....Chase evidently figures it can bulldoze people, extract more fees from them by engaging in conduct that is unquestionably against the law (see the cases for details), and maybe once in a while it gets caught and has to write a big check....
Two families never missed a payment, lost their homes in fires, and paid off their notes. According to the families, CHASE took their money and then tried to foreclose. Miscarriage, heart attack, destroyed credit, humiliation of foreclosure posting in public newspaper are but a few of the abuses these families suffered. These are not “mistakes”. This conduct can only be described as evil. Read actual legal cases.
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Tags: Alabama
Source: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/08/how-chase-ruined-lives-of-people-who-paid-off-their-mortgages.html
Article by Yves Smith, August 26, 2011

For Lawyers: Why is bankruptcy usually a terrible idea to stop an Alabama foreclosure?
Bottom line is you must recognize the mortgage company will lie and delay. That’s just the character of these companies. I’ve been suing them for many years — if anything, they are getting worse. So protect your clients by having them apply for every loss mitigation option and do everything the mortgage companies say.
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Tags: Alabama
Source: https://www.alabamaconsumer.com/2017/09/for-lawyers-why-is-bankruptcy-usually-a-terrible-idea-to-stop-an-alabama-foreclosure/
Article by John Watts

And more articles to tell what is happening in Alabama are coming soon...

Alabama has 81,000 stories waiting to be told. Have you read an article in your local paper that exposes fraud, abuse, or corruption? Send it to us. We want to help save Alabama homes.