The Texas Constitution has some very strict language about protections for homesteads. Unfortunately, many Texans don’t know about those safeguards, and their homes are foreclosed upon in violation of the Texas Constitution. Mosser Law is actively working on behalf of homeowners. With some success in the past, we hope to help more Texans in the future.
This Report and Recommendation from the US Magistrate Judge is the basis of a pending appeal before the 5th Circuit. In that case two homeowners, unaware of the requirements of the Texas Constitution, were misled by the lender and title company–among others. The loan was closed improperly, in the homeowners’ living room, without constitutionally mandated notice. Upon informing the lender of the violations, the lender failed to reform the loan in accordance with the Texas Constitution. After the appropriate time period had elapsed, the homeowner then filed a declaratory judgment for to have the lien declared void in accordance with the Texas Constitution. The district court in that case decided that the homeowners had waited too long to pursue their claims. Although the Texas Constitution has no language regarding a statute of limitations, the district court applied a “residual” statute of limitation of four years. The homeowners, with the help of Mosser Law, are appealing. We point out that the language of the Texas Constitution indicates that a lien created in violation of that document is void, and that there is no limit on your ability to have a court adjudicate the void nature of that lien.
Here you can find our clients’ opening brief, the Defendants’ Response, and our Reply.
If you are interested in reading about another of Mosser Law’s cases under the Texas Constitution relating to voiding a homestead lien because of constitutional violations, you should read about the Rays. The lien on their homestead was declared unconstitutional because of fraud by the bank. They also won a damage award, and an award of attorneys’ fees with the help of Mosser Law.