hallinan dep 2

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EXHIBIT 8

Excerpts from March 17, 2009 Deposition of Francis S. Hallinan

(Hallinan deposition II)

Case 1:09-cv-01710-JHR-JS Document 31-12 Filed 09/08/2009 Page 1 of 21


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1 that's the particular date, I don't know, but that

2 would be my understanding. The referral is the

3 first outreach by the client to the law firm

4 indicating that it is being retained to bring a

5 foreclosure action against the Ukpes. A LandSafe

6 title report would be ordered and provided in this

7 case by Countrywide which would give a more

8 detailed analysis of the property that is the

9 subject of the foreclosure action.

10 Pertaining to your question

11 regarding an assignment on how this fits into the

12 process --

13 Q. This being Hallinan-12.

14 A. This being Hallinan-12. On the

15 second page of Hallinan-12 it outlines the

16 mortgage information. Here it indicates that the

17 Ukpes gave to Mortgage Electronic Registration

18 Systems, Inc. acting solely as nominee for

19 America's Wholesale Lender a mortgage dated July

20 29th, 2005 and recorded on August 8th, 2005 a

21 mortgage in the amount of $224,000..

22 The law firm would analyze

23 Hallinan-12 and the mortgage information provided

24 and compare that to the referral which is part of

25 Hallinan-4 and realize that the last holder of the



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1 mortgage is not -- is not Bank of New York as

2 trustee. Therefore, an assignment out of MERS

3 into Bank of New York would need to be created.

4 Q. The LandSafe title report, I believe

5 you indicated that was ordered by Countrywide?

6 A.. Countrywide orders this and forwards

7 this along with the referral or days after the

8 referral.

9 Q. Turning to the third page of the

10 document there is a fax header with a date of

11 February 27, 2008.

12 A. Is this Hallinan-12?

13 Q. Yes. Hallinan-12.

14 A. The third page?

15 Q. Correct.

16 A. Okay.

17 Q. And do you see in the upper

18 right-hand corner there's a fax header page number

19 004?

20 A. I do.

21 Q. And in the upper right-hand corner

22 those fax page numbers continue through 0026, all

23 part of apparently the same fax document dated or

24 with a fax stamp of February 27, 2008. Do you see

25 that?



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1 A. I do.

2 Q. All right. Do you know who Jeremy

3 Trechock is, the name of the top fax header?

4 A. I believe he's an abstracter that

5 works for Full Spectrum Legal Services.

6 Q. Okay. You indicated that

7 Countrywide would have ordered the title search.

8 Do they order that title search through Full

9 Spectrum Legal Services?

10 A. In this case I believe they would

11 have. Yes.

12 Q. And what is the connection, if any,

13 between Full Spectrum Legal Services and LandSafe

14 Title?

15 A. Full Spectrum Legal Services is a

16 vendor for LandSafe Title Company.

17 Q. Okay.

18 A. Full Spectrum Legal Services does

19 the courthouse abstracting on behalf of LandSafe

20 Title in some instances.

21 Q. So when Countrywide decides it's

22 going to initiate a foreclosure, Countrywide in

23 this case would have contacted Full Spectrum Legal

24 Services for initial title search work, am I

25 following that correctly?



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1 A. No. LandSafe title would have

2 contacted Full Spectrum Legal Services and

3 retained them to do the courthouse abstracting for

4 this property.

5 MR. BERNHEIM: I think the point of

6 the question is who would Countrywide contact.

7 BY MR. MALONE:

8 Q. Yes. Contact.

9 A. Countrywide would reach out to

10 LandSafe.

11 Q. And is there a vendor contract

12 between LandSafe Title and Full Spectrum Legal

13 Services?

14 A. I would assume that there is.

15 Q. The title work that was done by Mr.

16 Trechock, that part of the title work that was

17 done by somebody employed by Full Spectrum Legal

18 Services, how is that billed?

19 A. I don't know the answer to that

20 question.

21 Q. Okay. Do you know if Full Spectrum

22 Legal Services would issue a bill to LandSafe

23 Title?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. And in this particular case, do you



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1 know how much the bill would be for, is it a

2 standard rate for this initial title work?

3 A. Yes.

4 Q. And what is the standard rate?

5 A. I don't know the answer to that

6 question.

7 Q. In your deposition on March 3rd you

8 made reference to a quick search. Do you remember

9 that?

10 A. I do.

11 Q. Okay. Is this -- does this document

12 reflect the results of the quick search you were

13 mentioning?

14 A. No.. I don't believe so. I believe

15 the quick search is attached as Hallinan-4. It

16 is.

17 Q. Okay. And what's it titled, the

18 quick search?

19 A. Search report.

20 Q. And you also mentioned that there

21 would be in addition to quick search a more

22 detailed title search report. Is this document

23 Hallinan-12 then the more detailed title search

24 report you mentioned?

25 A. That's correct.



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1 THE WITNESS: (Witness nods head.)

2 BY MR. MALONE:

3 Q. You're shaking your head yes?


5 Q. Okay. And the same question as to

6 whether the trust owned the mortgage, was any

7 independent investigation done to your knowledge?

8 A. Not to my knowledge.

9 Q. Now, I show you what's been marked

10 as Hallinan-18 and I represent to you it's a

11 document provided to us in discovery. Are you

12 familiar with this document Hallinan-18?

13 A. I am.

14 Q. And can you describe for us what it

15 is?

16 A. It's an invoice from Phelan,

17 Hallinan and Schmieg to Countrywide Home Loans

18 Servicing in the amount of $50 as reimbursement

19 for the county assignment recording cost which

20 would have been imposed by the county to record

21 the subject assignment.

22 Q. All right. And the amount indicated

23 is $50; is that correct?


25 Q. And is that money the law firm had



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1 already laid out in the course of recording the

2 assignment?

3 A.. That's correct. The law firm would

4 have, you know, fronted that money on behalf of

5 Countrywide and this would now be a reimbursement

6 from Countrywide back to the law firm.

7 Q. As of today, March 17, 2009, are you

8 aware of any other invoices with regard to the

9 Ukpe foreclosure matter that have been generated

10 by your firm?

11 A. Am I aware of any?

12 Q. Yes.

13 A. No.

14 Q. And in the ordinary course, would

15 any invoices normally be generated in a

16 foreclosure action that was ongoing other than the

17 invoice for monies that the firm had fronted?

18 A. Customarily there is a three cycle

19 billing period. It is my understanding when the

20 complaint is filed an invoice would be generated,

21 when a judgment is entered an invoice would be

22 generated, and then after the sheriff's sale

23 customarily I believe when the deed is recorded

24 into the foreclosing mortgagee or into a third

25 party who may have successfully purchased the



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1 property at a sheriff's sale, the third invoice is

2 created, the third and final.

3 Q. And the first invoice in the three

4 cycles you've described, the invoice following the

5 complaint, has that been generated yet to your

6 knowledge?

7 A. I would assume that it has been.

8 Q. Okay. We have not seen such an

9 invoice and we'd ask that it be produced.

10 (REQUEST)

11 MR. BERNHEIM: Go ahead.

12 BY MR. MALONE:

13 Q. And the second and third parts of

14 the cycle judgment and sheriff's sale, we are not

15 there in this case yet?

16 A. (Witness nods head.)

17 Q. For a Countrywide foreclosure

18 matter, what would the invoice be for the first

19 cycle, the complaint cycle, what amount?

20 A. Well, it will vary depending on the

21 filing costs, process server costs, so I don't

22 know what amount that may come to..

23 Q. Well, can you give us a ballpark,

24 please, what it would be?

25 MR. BERNHEIM: Objection.



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1 THE WITNESS: It's a provoked rata

2 of the fee of the foreclosure fee, and up until

3 the date that the complaint is filed it is my

4 understanding that the accounting department will

5 invoice for any other charges which may have

6 been -- which may have happened on the particular

7 file. I believe that a pro rata portion of the

8 fee at the time the complaint is filed will

9 probably be in the range of four to $600.

10 BY MR. MALONE:

11 Q. And the pro rata fee for the

12 judgment cycle, what range would that be?

13 A. I assume the same.

14 Q. And the pro rata fee for the sheriff

15 sale cycle, what would that be?

16 A. For the post sheriff's sale deed

17 recorded I'm going to assume it's going to be

18 about 350 to $400 range.

19 Q. And then in addition, you've

20 indicated if there are out-of-pocket expenses,

21 they would be included?


23 Q. The MERS in -- I believe it's in the

24 Hultman Affidavit I showed you earlier represents

25 approximately 3,100 -- may I see it, please --



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hallinan dep 2

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