I liked this book. I didn't think it was a masterpiece. But it's a heavy book - big pages, lots of pages, and lots of content. This tome has the feel of a "Practice Series" book that a law office would have on a particular practice area of law. In this case, foreclosure law. And it is fairly well written, too. I encourage you to take a look at the Search Inside feature for this book provided by Amazon. All 23 "legal defenses" can be examined in the Table of Contents there.
So why didn't I give this book a 5-star rating? That's a good question. Let's just list the reasons:
>>1. The title says the book will tell you "How to beat the bank." This may be true. And then it may not. When I read that I felt as if the book was guilty a little of false representation.
>>2. The book only gives you legal defenses should you find yourself facing a foreclosure lawsuit in one of the following 22 states: CT, DE, FL, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, NE, NJ, NM, NY, ND, OH, OK, PA, SC, VT, & WI. That's not even half of the states in the Union.
>>3. The book covers federal rules and law. It doesn't provide the actual state laws that would be applicable.
>>4. The book does not cover other laws that might help in combatting a foreclosure action: bankruptcy and consumer protect laws.
I think the person or people who will benefit from reading this book the most are debtors who have decided to stay in their house as long as the law will allow. They plan to drag out a foreclosure lawsuit as long as possible in order to live "rent free" on the lender's tab. And they will probably get kicked out when the litigation ends. By reading the book they will better understand the legal process they are faced with.
The other group of people that will benefit from reading this book are ones who actually can use one or more of the 23 legal defenses enumerated. In such instances the debtor very well might win damages, triple damages, punitive damages, costs of the lawsuit, or maybe even cancellation of the loan. My experience indicates that this is unlikely. But it is possible.
Keep in mind that foreclosure threats are usually dealt with through a bankruptcy reorganization filing. Sometimes the consumer protection laws will come into play. But rarely does a debtor defend in a foreclosure lawsuit against them. And if they do defend, then they are usually done in bad faith. Getting damages from a lender is rare. But this book does have value. 4 stars!