Taxi Driver Losed Out To Mighty Foreclosure

The taxi driver from Columbia put up a strong case against foreclosure but he lost it. There were high hopes that a positive response to his appeal would have reversed the fundamentals of foreclosure laws in Maryland. The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the judgment of the lower court saying that Kwaku Atta Poku had failed to post the necessary cash bond in the earlier legal measures.

Maryland court has rebuffed Poku for the fourth time. One legal expert is of the opinion that the dismissal of the Poku case could prompt the General Assembly to take action. The annual 90-day session has already started from this week. Where the courts fail the legislature must take up the cudgels.

The lawyers representing Poku are ready to file more suits. Poku is still involved in another case with Washington Mutual at Howard County Circuit Court that foreclosed on his house. The ruling in that case was kept pending awaiting the verdict from the Court of Appeals.

Washington Mutual declined to comment. Money was owed to them from the first mortgage after refinancing and as such they had no alternative but to foreclosure. Under the state law it is permissible. Maryland allows foreclosure to be completed within 15 days without providing proof of serving notices.

Poku’s townhouse was refinanced in 2001 but many years later Washington Mutual alleged that the original mortgage had not been cleared. The company began foreclosure proceedings in 2005. Poku and his family were evicted a year later. Since then house has been resold twice. While contesting the lawyers of Poku admitted that the court did not have the powers to return the house to him. Thus they sought legal damages. Poku had done nothing wrong and should not be made to pay for the errors of financial institutions.

The court argued that Washington Mutual had tried for 8 months to collect its dues before starting with foreclosure. His initial legal advisers had not guided him properly about the importance of posting a cash bond sufficient to protect the parties he was suing. At the root of the problem is Maryland foreclosure laws that hardly allow time for the borrower to grasp the situation – leave alone take a stand. But Judge Cathell was reluctant to give a ruling that would be contrary to the general trend. Poku claims that he has been ruined – his house gone and his business crippled.

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