JPMorgan Chase Quits 5 1/2 Year Foreclosure Case 

I received some good news last week when I was getting ready to drive to Miami to testify at a foreclosure trial. My client’s attorney called to inform that JPMorgan Chase was throwing in the towel. JPMorgan Chase had filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss with prejudice the foreclosure action. JPMorgan Chase had filed the action against Olympia Zacharakis in October of 2009.

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”  -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This case was a perfect example of why Florida Default Law Group ended up on the ash heap of Florida history.

Florida Default Law Group filed the suit without including a copy of the endorsed note and without a Lost Note Affidavit. They also never recorded a mortgage assignment from the FDIC to JPMorgan Chase.

MFI-Miami sent Chase Home Finance a request for the closing package and a copy of the endorsed note. JPMorgan Chase refused my request. Zacharakis’ initial attorney filed a Request For Production requesting an endorsed copy of the note.

The attorney received the package of documents we both requested on December 4, 2009. It contained a copy of the note between Olympia Zacharakis and Washington Mutual Bank. Yet the note contained no endorsements

The Zacharakis file sat collecting dust in the bowels of the Miami-Dade Court House for three years.

Enter The Fraudulent Note Endorsement From Cynthia Riley

JPMorgan Chase hired new legal counsel. Their new attorney Ronald A. Wolfe claimed in 2012 they miraculously found the missing endorsed note. Their client provided a mortgage note endorsed by Cynthia Riley. Riley is a former Washington Mutual Vice President. Cynthia Riley left Washington Mutual before Zacharakis closed on her mortgage.

Olympia Zacharakis also had hired a new attorney. The judge granted JPMorgan Chase an adjournment so they could have me sit for a deposition. The court ordered Wolfe’s office had to take my deposition within thirty days. If not, they had to pay me $1500.

The case sat collecting dust at the Miami-Dade Court House for another 8 months.

Zacharakis’ attorney finally received an email from Wolfe’s office stating they wanted me to sit for a deposition.

The attorney from the January trial was no longer with Wolfe’s firm. Therefore, Zacharakis’ attorney had to remind Wolfe’s firm of the court order from January. The court order stating that JPMorgan Chase or Wolfe’s firm had to pay me. Wolfe’s office then made the decision not to take my deposition.

Zacharakis’ attorney informed Wolfe’s office that they lacked standing to foreclose the mortgage lien. Apparently, Chase or the previous servicers never filed a mortgage assignment with the Miami-Dade Clerk.

The file then made a third trip to bowels of the basement of the Miami-Dade Court House.

JPMorgan Chase Hires Third Law Firm

McGlinchey Stafford took over the case in June of 2014. They were now the third law firm to represent JPMorgan Chase. They file a motion for Substitute Plaintiff changing the name of the Plaintiff to “JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., As Successor In Interest To Washington Mutual Bank, Formally Known As Washington Mutual Bank, N.A.”

The judge granted the motion. JPMorgan Chase named as the Plaintiff was the cornerstone to our lack of standing argument. Why Zacharakis’ attorney never objected to this we still don’t know. He has never given Olympia Zacharakis or me a straight answer. Her attorney also agreed to a trial date of September 18, 2014.

It was at this point that Zacharakis hired Miami Attorney Daniel Milian. McGlinchey Stafford finally allowed Daniel Milian to examine the endorsed note. Yes, the note with Cynthia Riley’s signature.

Cynthia Riley’s Deposition From Another Case Begins Making The Rounds

A copy of a transcript of deposition by Cynthia Riley did in January of 2013 began going viral on the internet. Riley admitted in her deposition that other people at Washington Mutual used her stamp. She also admitted she never stamped any mortgage notes.

Washington Mutual removed Riley as a Vice President in November of 2006. Riley stated in her deposition she was later hired by JPMorgan Chase in 2009.

Riley’s deposition now became the cornerstone of our defense. The Zacharakis loan closed on November 16, 2006. The loan was a refinance so it didn’t fund until two days before Thanksgiving in 2006.

Washington Mutual in Jacksonville or Florence, South Carolina could not have received the file until November 29th at the earliest. It would not have made its way to Cynthia Riley’s department until after December 6, 2006.

This would make it impossible for Cynthia Riley to have the authority to stamp Olympia Zacharakis’ note. This note conflicts with the one supplied in December of 2009. JPMorgan Chase supplied a note in 2009 that was not endorsed. This showed JPMorgan Chase used Riley’s endorsement stamp after December of 2009. This is nearly three years after Cynthia Riley left her position as Vice President of Washington Mutual.

JPMorgan Sets Another Trial Date. They Ask Me Again To Sit For A Deposition

Another trial was scheduled for September 18, 2014. McGlinchey Stafford asked the judge for an adjournment with another request to take my deposition. They claimed they were unaware I was Zacharakis’ expert. Daniel Milian pointed out I had been listed as Zacharakis’ expert witness since the fall of 2012.

It soon became clear that McGlinchey Stafford fed the court a line of bullshit in order to buy some time to figure out what to do next.

Olympia Zacharakis and I found Cynthia Riley’s profile on the business networking site, LinkedIn.

Riley’s profile stated that she still worked for JPMorgan Chase in Jacksonville, Florida. Riley’s profile has been scrubbed from the internet. However, I managed to take a screenshot of it before it disappeared.

Milian immediately filed a motion to have Cynthia Riley sit for a deposition.

McGlinchey Stafford informed us in May of 2015 that Cynthia Riley did not work for JPMorgan Chase and they have no idea of her whereabouts.

We soon discovered Riley or JPMorgan Chase scrubbed the internet of the whereabouts of Cynthia Riley. It became clear JPMorgan Chase terminated her employment after the motion for the deposition was filed.

JPMorgan Chase Throws In The Towel 90 Minutes Before Trial

As I was driving to court, Zacharakis’ attorney Daniel Milian informed me that McGlinchey Stafford was filing a motion to voluntarily dismiss the foreclosure action against Olympia Zacharakis with prejudice. This means they can never refile the case.

McGlinchey Stafford only had one option. Fight and lose or throw in the towel and avoid embarrassment.

At trial, they would have to explain how Cynthia Riley’s endorsement stamp was affixed to the Zacharkis note.

They would also have to explain why Riley’s employment with JPMorgan Chase was terminated. All of these issues would have opened a Pandora’s Box for JPMorgan Chase. McGlinchey Stafford‘s exhibits would be placed on the public record. The documents would also have been on the internet within days.

McGlinchey Stafford would also have been held liable for the mistakes made by Florida Default Law Group.