Law firm gears up to defend U.S. bank foreclosures
Headline News
A major law firm has formed a special task force aimed at defending lenders and mortgage loan servicers as legal challenges to questionable foreclosure practices mount.
Global law firm K&L Gates LLP said on Tuesday it has assembled a team to help companies respond to allegations ranging from wrongful foreclosure to inadequate documentation and lack of standing to foreclose.
"Whether it's us or somebody else, I think all the servicers are looking to get outside assistance," said Laurence Platt, a mortgage banking partner in the firm's Washington, D.C., office.
Legal pitfalls have multiplied "in part because there's a 'gotcha' mentality out there," he said.
In recent years, U.S. law firms have created special teams to help clients handle legal issues triggered by the mortgage market meltdown and the financial crisis.
These teams have included legal experts in areas including litigation, class-action lawsuits and financial regulation.
All 50 U.S. states have launched a joint investigation of the mortgage industry, looking into allegations that some banks used shoddy or fraudulent paperwork to evict borrowers from their homes.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.