Gwinnett Family Loses Home, Valuables To 'Robo-Signing' Scam

Photo: Martin family's possessions placed curbside from illegal eviction.

................................................................... Photo Credit: Staff Photographer

RealNet News Staff Report

BUFORD - Last Monday, Paul Martin and his wife of Buford, GA lost their home of 20+ years along with many of their valuable possessions to an illegal foreclosure effort by Bank of America (BoA) which began over 7 years prior.

The Martin's legal battle first started back in 2008 when BoA employed a systematic process of forgery and fraud upon many of their mortgage holders. The process is commonly referred to today as 'Robo-Signing.' The bold and highly illegal practice was evidently initiated to generate enormous profits during that period's extended economic downturn.

Fortunately, their 'Robo-Signing' effort was stopped dead in its tracks early on. Bank of America has since apologized publicly for their misdeeds. A settlement was negotiated with the US Department of Justice, which included a reimbursement to mortgage holders of roughly $30 billion. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the bank had launched yet another illegal foreclosure effort upon the couple's property. This time the family was forced to engage the services of a law firm specializing in such matters. After surviving that attempt, another was launched. This pattern persisted a minimum of 7 times in as many years. 

The bank was relentless in their efforts because the Martin's property was potentially very profitable for several reasons. It was very close to Georgia's largest and busiest, upscale shopping mall. It was a relatively large parcel of land, nearly 3 acres in total. The Martins had already accomplished the timely and costly process of rezoning which allowed for 5.5 houses per acre. Plus, a relatively small amount remained on their mortgage.

Making demand for their land especially high was the scarcity of available lots suitable for building premium, luxury homes so close to the Mall of Georgia. At present, to the best of our knowledge, similar opportunities simply do not exist. This has frustrated those in the market - who have the resources to afford them for quite some time.

By 2016, while their savings and their retirement accounts had been all but depleted from defending their home, the couple still had a few moves left to maintain ownership of their highly sought-after property. 

Sadly, Paul Martin and his wife never had the chance to do so. Bank of America was able to affect a foreclosure in a far shorter period than Georgia laws allowed. This caught the Martin family and their attorneys completely off-guard. A court hearing held only weeks later offered them no relief. The Martin family was devastated and helpless to do anything about their loss.

What Happened Next, Some Feel Was Even Worse...

Early Monday morning, with a knock at their front door - Mr. and Mrs. Martin were suddenly physically removed from the premises by two Sheriff's Deputies. This too, came as a complete surprise as ordinarily – Georgia’s eviction process begins with a document being posted to the building’s front door called a 7 day “Notice to Vacate.” This mandatory step, giving residents an opportunity to move out in a civilized and orderly manner was completely ignored. 

They were then ordered to stand curbside, while nearly two dozen laborers (evidently serving some sort of community service) filed into their home, where all that they knew, all they held dear would soon either make its way curbside, or worse. Mrs. Martin proceeded to their car where she could stay safe and somewhat out of the way. Paul soldiered forward, attempting to collect their more valuable items to safeguard them from damage or loss. 

The couple was now devastated to the core. Mrs. Martin is in her 60's and disabled with advanced Rheumatoid Arthritis. Mr. Martin has suffered chronic kidney disease nearly his entire life and more recently survived major cancer surgery. Having recently suffered a three-week bout with kidney failure, he was only a couple days in remission. 

For some reason, the eviction crew had at least twice the number of laborers than called for by state guidelines, totaling a minimum of 15 plus 3 supervisors. The job was nearly completed in half the two hours required. The remainder of the time was curiously spent by many of the workers darting from the home into the surrounding woods and then slowly making their way back to the house. 

That's When the Unthinkable Happened...

The Officers suddenly and quietly drove away, leaving the defenseless couple exposed, to fend for themselves among the many strangers, while everything in the world they owned laid on the ground before them. It wasn't long before a slow motion feeding frenzy began picking away at the more valuable items. 

This occurred in a loosely coordinated effort while others did their best to pull Mr. Martin's attention in an opposite direction. He realized almost immediately what was going on, but being so outnumbered - his efforts fell back to gathering a smaller, more manageable group of only the most valuable. 

When even those efforts began to fail, he calmly and clearly stated he was going to call the officers back to the property for help. Suddenly, he caught a large, quick elbow to his mouth, which stunned and dazed him momentarily. Once his vision returned, his eyes were fixed upon his wife - sitting comfortably and safely in their car. He suddenly realized that his job that day was not to safeguard his family's valuables, but to protect all that really mattered in his life - his frail and innocent wife. He sole task was to bring her comfort and guard her from harm at any cost.

He slowly walked toward their car and did just that. He locked the doors and wrapped his arm around her shoulders - pulling her closer to whisper his assurances in her ear. "Everything is going to be just fine, they always are for us" he said warmly, with as much confidence as he could muster. 

Several more hours had passed before the county’s laborers gathered themselves and left. Each of them walked as far as they could away from the couple's car - never once facing their direction. His wife found that strange, borderline rude even. Most of them seemed so pleasant, some even affable when they arrived. "They must be very tired from working so hard" she concluded. 

She hadn't witnessed the assault, nor did he mention it. In her unsuspecting way - it never occurred to her that much of what they owned had been looted. Of the 22 plastic containers he had purchased, packed and sealed for their pending move – half were missing and all seals had been torn open on the existing ones. A moving truck later arrived and legitimate movers salvaged what remained in their former driveway. 

Paul Martin and his wife, who requested not to be named, are living in a local, weekly hotel. They're surviving on money set aside for regular monthly bills. There, they contemplate what their future holds and how to prepare for it.

Those who wish to help the Martin family can do so any of the following ways:

    PayPal.com: "Paul.Martin@RealNetSolutions.ws" * 
        * Please:  Be sure to select "Send Money to Friends or Family"

    Paul Martin's direct cell number: (404) 759-7277

    Paul Martin's personal Email:  Paul0Martin@att.net

 *  Mr. & Mrs. Martin are extremely grateful for any help extended to them and are willing to reimburse everyone once they've landed back on their feet.


More About the Martin’s of Buford, Georgia:
Paul Martin and his wife have been married and living in Buford on a small horse-farm for nearly 20 years. Mr. Martin has been an entrepreneur nearly all of his professional career. His family Internet company, RealNet, published a few local Georgia newspapers to the Internet for several years.  They did this at their own expense as a way of honoring and serving their extended community.

RealNet produced approximately 200,000 online news stories from 2000 forward.  Most noted was the company being credited with the return of two kidnapped Georgia children.  According to the FBI, the two kidnapped children were being hidden in the Cayman Islands for 2 over two years when an individual in the Caymans came across the story and recognized the children.  Please click below for the full story....

Gwinnett News Website Credited With Rescue of 2 Kidnapped GA Children Hidden In Caymans for 2 Years

Currently, Mr. Martin's most recent invention, GunPro Guncams™ -  are tiny cameras that attach to handguns & stream live video to smart-phones, enabling law enforcement and homeowners to effect life-saving corner-shots, safely from outside the line-of-fire.  The units are the first and only in the world at this time.  The tiny guncams greatly increase accuracy as well.

Police Officers are especially excited about the new devices because they can be used by effectively when trapped behind patrol vehicles during fire-fights and also are expected to greatly decrease incidents of friendly fire.

GunPro Guncams™  have been fully functional and ready to go into full production since the beginning of 2016.  Unfortunately, the family's foreclosure battles have halted production because their struggle to keep their property consumed their company's operating capital and also took away their production facility.  Please click below for more information...

   *  More About GunPro Guncams™