Category: GARFIELD KELLEY AND WHITE

Fatal Flaws in the Origination of Loans and Assignments

April 22, 2014

The secured party, the identified creditor, the payee on the note, the mortgagee on the mortgage, the beneficiary under the deed of trust should have been the investor(s) — not the originator, not the aggregator, not the servicer, not any REMIC Trust, not any Trustee of a REMIC Trust, and not any Trustee substituted by a false beneficiary on a deed of Trust, not the master servicer and not even the broker dealer. And certainly not whoever is pretending to be a legal party in interest who, without injury to themselves or anyone they represent, could or should force the

Wells Fargo Manual Serves as Basis for Deeper Discovery

April 21, 2014

Every lawyer defending Foreclosures has heard the same thing from the bench just before a ruling in favor of the pretender lender — the homeowner did not meet its burden of proof and therefore judgment is entered in favor of the “bank.” The fact that the pretender lender is a bank makes the judge more comfortable with his assumption that the loan is real, the default is real, the financial injury to the pretender lender is presumed, and that the family should be kicked out of their home me because they stopped paying on “the loan.” More and more Judges

The Step Transaction and Single Transaction Doctrine

April 11, 2014

Jim Macklin and Dan Edstrom did a great job of packing a great deal of information into 28 minutes of talk time on the Neil Garfield Show last night. I am taking a couple of weeks off the show to do some common follow-up procedures to my heart surgery two years ago. Jim Macklin stepped in and did a great job of getting information into the hands of lawyers and other listeners in what turned out to be a mini-seminar on how to apply Federal tax law to the issue of ownership of the the loan. It should be heard

GUEST HOST TONITE JAMES MACKLIN

April 10, 2014

Click in tonite— tune in at The Neil Garfield Show Or call in at (347) 850-1260, 6pm Thursdays Guest Host Tonight is Jim Macklin, Managing Director, Secure Document Research located in Nevada. He has been a guest on the show before. A dynamic speaker and presenter, he has assisted me in presenting seminars for CLE credit for lawyers. His guest is Dan Edstrom, senior forensic analyst for the Livinglies Team. His Topic today will be how tax law determines ownership interests in REMIC assets. For you newcomers, REMIC means Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit — it is the trust (usually

Servicer Advances, Modification of Loans and Sundry Matters

April 9, 2014

I appear to have sparked some controversy over my comments that were directed at modifications and servicer advances — subjects that are not necessarily related. But they could be related — as where the homeowner seeks a modification on which there have been servicer advances. So to answer some questions about Modifications, I will first state that no article on any subject on this blog is intended to be a complete exposition of an issue — if it was, each post would equivalent to a treatise several hundred pages long. That is why we say don’t use any one article

Modifications: Interest reduction, Principal reduction, Payment reduction, and Term increase

April 8, 2014

In the financial world we don’t measure just the amount of principal. For example if I increased your mortgage principal by $100,000 and gave you 100 years to pay without interest it would be nearly equivalent to zero principal too (especially factoring in inflation). A reduction in the interest rate has an effect on the overall amount of money due from the borrower if (and this is an important if) the borrower is given 40 years to pay AND they intend to live in the house for that period of time. To the borrower the reduction in interest rate and

Foreclosures on Nonexistent Mortgages

April 7, 2014

I have frequently commented that one of the first things I learned on Wall Street was the maxim that the more complicated the “product” the more the buyer is forced to rely on the seller for information. Michael Lewis, in his new book, focuses on high frequency trading — a term that is not understood by most people, even if they work on Wall Street. The way it works is that the computers are able to sort out buy or sell orders, aggregate them and very accurately predict an uptick or down-tick in a stock or bond. Then the same

Servicer Advances: More Smoke and Mirrors

April 4, 2014

Several people are issuing statements about servicer advances, now that they are known. They fall into the category of payments made to the creditor-investors, which means that the creditor on the original loan, or its successor is getting paid regardless of whether the borrower has paid or not. The Steinberger decision in Arizona and other decisions around the country clearly state that if the creditor has been paid, the amount of the payment must be deducted from the amount allegedly owed by the “borrower” (even if the the borrower doesn’t know the identity of the creditor). The significance of servicer

Florida Standard Jury Instructions as a Guide for Bench Trials

April 1, 2014

Danielle Kelley, esq., my law partner frequently says she likes to start with the jury instructions because that is where everything is boiled down to their simplest components. I think it is wise to make references to the standard jury instructions (plus the fact that they were introduced as an amendment to the Florida rules of Civil Procedure — thus overriding anything the Judge thought he knew). For example, on evidence for use in motions and at trial — SC12-1931 Opinion 301.5 EVIDENCE ADMITTED FOR A LIMITED PURPOSE The (describe item of evidence) has now been received into evidence. It

LOAN MODIFICATIONS

March 31, 2014

Modifications are like a dirty word in the marketplace. Frustration, chicanery, luring borrowers into default, and crating modifications that are bound to fail so that the banks can get that ever precious foreclosure sale. But there is another side to it, as our guest writer David Abellard points out below. And while I think the entire mortgage foreclosure thing is a complete sham, it is nonetheless true that homeowners want a a modification far more often than just getting a “free home.” Most of us understand that litigation is about preventing the banks from getting a “free home” — which

Who is the "lender" or "creditor"?

March 27, 2014

Click to tune TONITE in on The Neil Garfield Show Or call in at (347) 850-1260, 6pm Thursdays LET’S PROCEED STEP BY STEP. – Based upon actual documentation filed with the SEC 1. let’s assume that the mortgage is defective because it was not perfected. The note described a party who was not the creditor and gave no notice as to the actual identity of the creditor. 2. Let’s assume also that the note was paid in full from a variety of sources, which you know about ad nauseum. 3. Let’s further assume that the transfer documents are either non-existent

Judge Zloch Deals Blow to Wells Fargo and Ocwen on Trial by Jury

March 26, 2014

In a short written opinion Judge William J Zloch, formerly of Notre Dame football fame (quarterback and wide receiver) dealt a huge blow to bankers pretending to be lenders and servicers pretending to be bankers. For him the issue was simple. And he is right. His opinion contains irrefutable logic. Ocwen wanted to escape trial by jury because the mortgage documents contained a waiver. Wells Fargo also wanted to escape trial by jury, but they were being sued vicariously through the actions of Ocwen. Zloch said no to Ocwen and seems to be saying the same thing to Wells Fargo.

The Banks: Consideration is Irrelevant, Really? Then so is payment!

March 24, 2014

The issue is what are the elements of the loan contract? Who are the parties? And who can enforce it? I would agree that an overpayment at closing from the source of funds is rare. What is not rare and in fact common is that the wire transfer instructions that accompany the wire transfer receipt often instructs the closing agent to refund any overpayment to the party who wired the money — not the originator. This leads to questions. If it is a true warehouse lender, such instructions could be explained without affecting the validity of the note or mortgage.

The Confusion Over Consideration: If they didn't pay for it, they have nothing against the property

March 21, 2014

There have been multiple questions directed at me over the issue of consideration arising from presumptions made about a note and mortgage that appear to be facially valid. Those presumptions are rebuttable and indeed in many cases would be rebutted by the actual facts. That is why asserting the right defenses is so important to set the foundation for discovery. The cases thrown at me usually relate to adequacy of consideration. Some relate wrongly to Article 3 as to enforcement of the note. I agree that enforcement of the note is easier than enforcement of the mortgage. But that is

BONY Objections to Discovery Rejected

March 20, 2014

Click to Tune in or Download The Neil Garfield Show Or call in at (347) 850-1260, 6pm Thursdays It has been my contention all along that these cases ought to end in the discovery process with some sort of settlement — money damages, modification, short-sale, hardest hit fund programs etc. But the only way the homeowner can get honest terms is if they present a credible threat to the party seeking foreclosure. That threat is obvious when the Judge issues an order compelling discovery to proceed and rejecting arguments for protective orders, (over-burdensome, relevance etc.). It is a rare bird

Hearsay on Hearsay: Bank Professional Witnesses Using Business Records Exception as Shield from Truth

March 19, 2014

Wells Fargo Manual “Blueprint for Fraud” Hat tip to my law partner, Danielle Kelley, Esq., for sending me the manual and the reports on it. Anyone desirous of a consultation on the application of what is on this blog, must either be a lawyer or have a lawyer who is licensed in the jurisdiction in which the property is located. For scheduling call 954-495-9867 (South Florida Office), 850-765-1236 (North Florida Office), and 520-405-1688 (Western United States). International callers: The same rules apply. Well that didn’t take long. Like the revelations concerning Urban Lending Solutions and Bank of America, it is

Quite a Stew: Wells Fargo Pressure Cooker for Sales and Fabricated Documents

March 17, 2014

Wells Fargo Investigated by 4 Agencies for Manual on Fabricating Foreclosure Documents Wells Fargo is under investigation for a lot of things these days, just as we find in Bank of America and other major “institutions.” The bottom line is that they haven’t been acting very institutional and their culture is one that has led to fraud, identity theft and outright fabrication of accounts and documents. There can be little doubt about it. Documents that a real bank acting like a bank would have in its possession appear to be completely absent in most if not all loans that are

Is Donald Duck Your Lender?

March 14, 2014

I was asked a question a few days ago that runs to the heart of the problem for the banks in enforcing false claims for foreclosure and false claims of losses that should really allocated to the investors so that the investor would get the benefits of those loss mitigation payments. This is the guts of the complaints by insurers, investors, guarantors et al against the investment banks — that there was fraud, not breach of contract, because the investment bank never intended to follow the plan of securitization set forth in the prospectus and pooling and servicing agreement.

New Jersey Clears Docket: Dismisses 80,000+ cases

March 13, 2014

Click to Tune in or Download The Neil Garfield Show Or call in at (347) 850-1260, 6pm Thursdays GUEST TONIGHT: KENNETH HANKS, ESQ. TITLE EXPERT One might ask why a lender would delay the prosecution of their claim. The answer is that they wouldn’t delay if they thought they had a solid claim. I know. I have represented banks on loans, foreclosures, associations in foreclosures etc. And I have proposed that if the Courts were to order the alleged ‘holders” to show the actual money trail so we would all know what transactions actually took place, their dockets would be

Damages Rising: Wrongful Foreclosure Costs Wells Fargo $3.2 Million

March 12, 2014

Damage awards for wrongful foreclosure are rising across the country. In New Mexico a judge issued a $3.2 million judgment (including $2.7 million in punitive damages) against Wells Fargo for foreclosing on a man’s home after his death even though he had an insurance policy through the bank that paid the remaining balance on his mortgage. The balance “owed” on the mortgage was $125,000. Despite the fact that the bank knew about the insurance (because it was purchased through the bank) Wells Fargo continued to pursue foreclosure, ignoring the claim for insurance. It is because of cases like this that

Who Has the Power to Execute a Satisfaction and Release of Mortgage?

March 11, 2014

The answer to that question is that probably nobody has the right to execute a satisfaction of mortgage. That is why the mortgage deed needs to be nullified. In the typical situation the money was taken from investors and instead of using it to fund the REMIC trust, the broker-dealer used it as their own money and funded the origination or acquisition of loans that did not qualify under the terms proposed in the prospectus given to investors. Since the money came from investors either way (regardless of whether their money was put into the trust) the creditor is that

Discovery and Due Process in California

March 10, 2014

I produced a memorandum as an expert witness and consultant in litigation support for a lawyer in California that after re-reading it, I think would be helpful in all foreclosure litigation. I have excerpted paragraphs from the memo and I present here for your use. Plaintiff/Appellant has pre-empted the opposing parties with a lawsuit that seeks to determine with finality the status and ownership of her loan. She has received, in and out of court, conflicting answers to her questions. The Defendant/Appellees continue to stonewall her attempt to get simple answers to simple questions — to whom does she owe

PICK-A-PARTY — BOA – RED OAK – Countrywide Merger Revealed in all its "Glory"

March 3, 2014

Maybe now I will get something other than a blank look when I referred to anomalies in what appears to be the merger of Bank of America with Countrywide. For about 18 months now I have been saying that there is something wrong with that report, because the documents in the public domain show two things, to wit: first, that BAC was merely a name change for Countrywide; and second, it appears to be a merger between Red Oak Merger Corp. and Countrywide. My conclusion was that Bank of America was claiming what it wanted depending upon the circumstances and

Glaski Court refuses to "depublish" decision, two judges recuse themselves.

February 27, 2014

Corroborating what I have been saying for years on this blog, the Supreme Court of the state of California is reasserting its position that if entity ABC wants to collect on a debt in California, then that particular entity must own the debt. This is basic common sense and simply follows article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. If a court were to adopt the position of the banks, then a new industry would be born, to wit: spying on people to determine whether or not they are behind on any payment to anyone and then beating the real creditor