Sunday, December 7, 2008

Victim #82: He Thought It Couldn't Happen To Him



I used to ignore people that were going through a divorce. I thought that the courts were fair and if people had something to complain about it was probably because they got something they deserve.

Not until I experienced the nightmare of divorcing my wife, who I recently found is bipolar, that I began to understand how unfair family court can really be and how much damage the system can inflict on someones life. As a matter fact they have the power to destroy your life.

This is my second time I am going through this. Back in 2005 my wife was involved in a fraudulent mortgage business and was make an insane amount of money. When I realize the risks she was taking and understood that eventually she was going to get caught and end up in jail leaving me to raise my two boys alone I begged her to stop. Instead of listening to my reasonable reasons she started to resent me and accuse me of being jealous.

In a matter of months she got me arrested for alleged domestic violence, got a falsified domestic violence injunction against me and kept me from seeing my kids for 28 days. She humiliated me for almost five months. All of the sudden she realized that she did not need me anymore, she kept me out of our business with the DVI and controlled everything. I had to drop my children at a friend's house and after she moved to a gated community I could not pass the gate to drop them off or to pick them up.

About three weeks after I was arrested and could not go back to my home, she filed for divorce and place an offer on a very expensive home about three blocks from where we used to live. She moved very quickly and a few more weeks she moved to into this new house.

Not long after she moved to her new home her mortgage business collapsed after the real estate bubble burst and her income was reduced to nothing. Our other business, the travel agency was in the hands of an employee who was helping himself to our money as well as my wife.

Something went wrong on the affair she was having with him and all of the sudden she began talking to me again. To make a long story short we end up getting back together. I was very naive in thinking she wanted me back and realized she made a mistake. I had no clue of what was going on and I just wanted to come back home to her and to my children.

As soon as I came back home I started to see the mess she got herself into. She overpaid for this house and she financed 100% of its value. Now we had some big problems, the mortgage payments were close to $5,000 per month and the house we used to live was vacant and the mortgage there was $2,700.00 per month. The travel agency was on the verge of bankruptcy. We started to borrow money from an equity line and got into some heavy debt.

I did some detective work and found the where abouts of closing papers of the house she bought when I was away. To my surprise I realized that my signature had been forged when she closed the purchase, the paper work was notarized and two of the Title Company's employees signed as witness of my presence at the closing. All this took place when we were separated and there was a domestic violence injunction against me. Off course my wife never mentioned anything to me until I confronted her.

The situation got worst in every aspect and it was no different in our relationship. I kept a very close eye on her every move, I did no trust her to begin with and now I just could not let my guard down.

One more time I decide to do the right thing. Try to fix the problem that is. I stayed and try to put the house on the market, nobody was going to pay what she owed the bank. We kept on borrowing to make the payments. We rented our former house and the negative cash flow was now $1,000 per month.

After all that happen I thought she had learned the lesson and would stop. A few months later she was doing it again, This time she was buying another home that used to belong to her brother which was being foreclosed on. Again, I tried to stop her but she never had any respect for me. I knew my marriage was over and few months later I moved out of my home for good. She filed for divorce two weeks after I moved out.

It's being six months since I moved out, she has made my life a living hell. The court granted her primary custody of my children and I only get to see them once every other week and I visit with them twice a week for a few hours. Prior to that court order, I shared 50-50 custody with my wife.

She controls our business and I got a job that is not even paying for my living expenses and the child support that takes about 30% of my net income. She kept all money we had in the bank accounts. I can not even afford my attorney, I am broke and running out of credit.

Four months ago, after I moved out she bought a smaller home. She knew she could not afford to make payment on the house any longer and again committed fraud to buy this other home. She told the bank it was an investment property and she was not going to live there. She signed an occupancy affidavit stating that, otherwise the bank would never grant her the loan knowing that she was going to abandon the large house after the closing.

As soon as she got the loan and purchased the new home she moved out of the large home and stopped making the payments on it. The bank initiated foreclosure procedures and the paper work was served to her and to me on October 14 , 2008. I just found out a few days ago when she dropped my copies at my house on November 23, 2008 when it was too late to do anything about it. I had twenty days to answer but forty days had passed.

I had no choice but to go to the police and tell everything that happens. An investigation will start soon I hope. Meanwhile the house was in the market and apparently the bank accepted a short sale. The house is now schedule to close on December 4, 2008.

I decide not to sign anything and without my signature she can not sell the house. Since I did not sign anything to buy it, it's better if I stay clear of this transaction. Incredibly enough she got her attorney to call for an emergency hearing to get to the court to force me to sign the papers on the closing day.

I heard from a few attorneys that I can not file suit against the title company and the notary because I had no financial loss. It's hard for me to understand since this law suit against me will damage my name. I need help and all the advise I can get. I need to go after this Title Company and the notary. I understand they have insurance for this kind of thing.

I can not understand how my wife is getting away with this so far but I need to go after the title company and the notary as soon as I can in Civil court as well as criminal court. One of my fears is that, with all of the financial fiasco she has created, she has put herself into a position where she earns less than me and will be seeking permanent alimony, since we were married for 17 years.

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