Evidence Vs. Hearsay

We have asked for a comment on this topic by FPG-USA's qualifying expert, with over 30+ years of experience across real estate mortgage finance and securitization, author of Winning Against Foreclsoure, director, co-creator and co-inventor of our patent pending compliance analysis and discovery systems, a working partner of FPG-USA and veteran of over one billion dollars of mortgage analysis in his career.

"Pricing and services aside, the most critical aspect of using mortgage analysis in the practical sense as part of the successful deployment of any legal strategy, is understanding what evidence is and how to establish it. It is the primary reason seasoned attorneys use a specific firm or party to support the foundation of evidence intheir cases. This becomes even more significant in mortgage foreclsoure because the power of decision in these cases lies solely with the Judge, as jury trials are rarely held.

I would like to provide an excerpt from my book, Winning Against Foreclosure, which I believe will properly address the question of evidence in our business." Richard Kahn.

Pricing is Not the Real Problem, Qualifying as Evidence Is

Pricing is not the real problem to be aware of. At the crux of the matter are the Rules of Evidence of State and Federal Courts. The way of the courts and legal system require evidence to be submitted in accordance with the rules. Allegations on the other hand, claims by one party or another, can be submitted freely within the restraints of the Rules of Civil Procedure but they are not "evidence". Evidence is very powerful. Evidence properly submitted with expert witness availability under the rules of evidence can be requested or more technically "motioned", for Judicial review. Having the Judge review the evidence and draw conclusions which the Judge may then act upon as they see fit, is powerful medicine.

The opposing side, in this case the NRM Lender, will oppose this at all costs. The first line of defense by any lender's attorney "worth their salt" is to challenge the evidence. An entrepreneurial mortgage analyst who purchased software and has been in the business X days or X months or even a year or two, because that is when this foreclosure crisis began to manifest itself, may not have the sufficient experience and legal understanding to support the evidentiary foundation in court that the borrower's attorney must mount in order to get the evidentiary reporting entered into evidence. This knowledge and experience can manifest itself in the form of questioning from the Judge and opposing parties in a hearing. This expert witness "testimony" is very expensive when done with the expert witness having to be in Court "in person". For this reason, Judges who are asked, or rather "motioned" to conduct phone conference calls with the parties and expert, may agree.

Without Expert Witness Access, Mortgage Analysis Is Worthless

Firms such as ours, that provide this level of service with expert witness access for a nominal fee, perform a critical consideration to effective use of the evidentiary reporting. Otherwise, if this is not done, why would the mortgage analysis reporting be entered into evidence? Why would the report be considered anything but hearsay? What use is an "expert" who has never testified in a court or had a deposition taken in relation to a case involving their mortgage analysis? Every expert must provide a curriculum vitae to the court.

Any forensic loan analysis company can do the greatest work, but if they cannot provide the evidentiary foundation to a court to support the introduction into evidence of that report, the report's value is questionable at any price.