Tuesday, Jan. 5 is a day Sandra Morton of Seminole County will never forget.
She arrived home from work that day to find a note on her door announcing her home of 30 years had been sold by the very bank she was working with to modify a second mortgage.
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The first line in the message said it all: “Dear homeowner I purchased your property from the bank today.”
Morton admits she had fallen behind on payments but that her first mortgage was in, “perfect standing.”
“I was frantic," Morton said. “I thought sheriffs are going to show up and change the locks on the door and tell me I have to move out in 24 hours.”
In reality, she was given 10 to 15 days to vacate the home, that’s when she went to News 6.
“I watch Channel 6 all the time, it’s my favorite news, I looked up investigative reporters and your name jumped out, Mike," Morton said.
Morton thanked Mike Holfeld and News 6 for responding, “immediately and with passion.”
“I felt maybe this is not going to be the end for me,” she said.
News 6 contacted veteran attorney Moses Dewitt of the Dewitt Law Firm.
Dewitt agreed to handle the case pro bono because he felt Morton was the victim of a banking mistake.
“We see this many times with the banks, they’re disorganized to a certain extent so one arm doesn’t know what the other arms are doing," Dewitt said.
Dewitt found several flaws that allowed him to convince the court to reverse the sale.
He says the biggest mistake Morton made was not to get everything in writing.
“In this case a lot of what was done was over the phone so it was difficult to prove what the bank actually said," Dewitt said.
Now, Sandra Morton has control of her home and is working to modify her mortgage again.
Dewitt says the outcome is gratifying.
“This is what we love to do. We love to be able to help people and get a good result for them," he said.
For more information on your rights go to http://www.foreclosurelaw.org/Florida_Foreclosure_Law.htm or contact www.dewittlaw.com. You can also call 407-245-7723.