Category: politics

Federal Appeal Slams Lawyers and Pretender Lenders with Sanctions for Misrepresentation on Ownership of Loan

June 4, 2009

Read it and use it: judge-youngs-decision-on-nosek Challenge everything: As we have repeatedly stated, the entire position of the would-be foreclosers is a bluff and a fraud upon the court, the borrower and the system. Non-judicial process is improper procedure and unavailable for securitized mortgages: These astonishing breaches of ethics, duties and contract law together with manipulation of procedure to the advantage of pretenders cause unfair and illegal things to happen without seeing the light of day — especially in “non-judicial states. For the most part it is simply true that nearly all securitized mortgages are either void, unenforceable or rescindable.

Florida Petition Seeks Mediation of Foreclosures

March 11, 2009

As reported in the Florida Bar News dated March 1, 2009, The Supreme Court of Florida has received a petition to require foreclosure mediation. The article by Mark D Killian, managing editor states “Contending that prejudgment mediation could save more than 130,000 Florida homes from foreclosure and assist more than 360,000 borrowers,” the plan is almost a verbatim acceptance of the plan submitted by Neil Garfield almost one year ago. The plan would apply to owner-occupied primary residential dwellings. “The February petition urging the Court to invoke its emergency rule-making authority says one of ‘the most frustrating realities for many

QUANTS — The Guys Behind the Guise

March 10, 2009

it follows that the investors are the ONLY parties with standing to make any claim on the mortgage, note or obligation. But they won’t make that claim because of the exposure to risk that could leave them with even more loss than the current loss on their investment. This leaves trillions of dollars in unclaimed proceeds. The question is who should get it. Obviously it was the financially sophisticated intermediaries who were able to step in and bluff the court system and recording offices into accepting fraudulent, fabricated and forged documentation. 98% of the foreclosures end up with these intermediaries

More Banks failing: Title Chain Gets Cloudier

February 9, 2009

Three U.S. Banks Shut by Regulators as Financial Crisis Deepens Email | Print | A A A By Margaret Chadbourn and Ari Levy Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — Three banks, two in California and one in Georgia, were seized by regulators, bringing this year’s tally of closings to nine as a recession and record foreclosures extend the biggest financial crisis in more than 70 years. County Bank of Merced, California, with deposits of $1.3 billion and assets of $1.7 billion, was shut yesterday by the state’s Department of Financial Institutions, according to an e-mailed statement from the Federal Deposit Insurance

Let's Hear It For Sherriff Evans: Federal bailout act protections preempt State foreclosure

February 5, 2009

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing -Edmund Burke Release Date: February 2, 2009 Contact: Ofc. John Roach, 313-224-0615 Evans halts sale of foreclosed homes o Sheriff says move is necessary to ensure homeowners´ rights o Federal bailout act protections preempt State foreclosure law, Evans says DETROIT, Michigan – Sheriff Warren Evans announced today that he is stopping all mortgage foreclosure sales handled through his office and urged other Michigan sheriffs to take similar action. Evans said a thorough review of federal law has determined that to continue foreclosure sales would conflict with

The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualifies for the relief.

February 4, 2009

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation If you owe a debt to someone else and they cancel or forgive that debt, the canceled amount may be taxable. The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualifies for the relief. This provision applies to debt forgiven in calendar years 2007 through 2012. Up to $2 million of forgiven debt is eligible for this exclusion ($1 million if married

Problems with a Loan Modification: 10 POINTS TO CONSIDER

February 3, 2009

SUBMITTED BY NY Problems with a Loan Modification: The borrowers will think they are modifying their current loan when in fact they are starting all over again. The Foreclosing entity which lacks standing to bring lawsuit, is not authorized to modify anything since they are not the owner of the loan in question. Since the real parties in interest are no where to be found, they are taking it upon themselves with the help of their lawyers to steal your property. The borrower is actually getting a new loan which may enjoin borrower from rescinding new transaction. The foreclosing entity

NY TIMES: What do the market traders know that the rest of the world does not?

February 2, 2009

NY Times second lead article is how are these “Troubled Assets” going to be valued? 97 cents on the dollar (management), 87 cents (S&P at current default rates), 53 cents under “bleaker” (undefined conditions), 38 cents where the trading markets value them, or 0 cents on the “Garfield Continuum Index.” ? why the disparity? What do the market traders know that the rest of the world does not? ANSWER: The paper is ALL worthless. The gamble is that the government will somehow add value to the mix. The markets are saying there is one chance in 3 that the government

Those $18 billion in bonuses were earned from hidden profits: The Joke is on Us

January 30, 2009

Obama is of course correct in his outrage. Taking hundreds of billions of dollars from the taxpayers to cover the appearances of catastrophic losses and then paying bonuses for good management is over the top by any standards. But neither he nor the media is correct in assuming that that the bonuses were not in fact earned by the people who defrauded us in the first place with the mortgage meltdown. Those bonuses were paid BECAUSE PROFIT WAS GENERATED even if it wasn’t completely reported. Nobody seems to get it — the key acronym is OPM (other people’s money). Wall

"System is Broken" — there is no clear title and no clear answers, which is why most foreclosure actions should fail or be reversed

January 28, 2009

Mortgage market clouds who owns woman’s house Submitted by Jose Semedey — Thank You By CARRIE TEEGARDIN The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sunday, January 25, 2009 Twenty years ago, Zella Mae Green bought a modest brick ranch house in DeKalb County with an American ideal in mind. The single mother of four, who raised her children working low-wage jobs, wanted to own something someday. And she wanted to pass something on. “I was thinking that if anything would ever happen to me, the children would have a place they could come and stay,” said Green, a seamstress who is 68. “Their father

The home you save could be your own: MSNBC Story by Mike Stuckey Quoting Living Lies Editor Neil Garfield

January 28, 2009

The home you save could be your own In foreclosure crisis, more Americans representing themselves in court By Mike Stuckey Senior news editor msnbc.com updated 4:25 a.m. MT, Wed., Jan. 28, 2009 Luis Molina is not a lawyer and he has never played one on TV. But that didn’t stop him from putting on his best suit, marching into a Miami courtroom this month and going up against an attorney with 30 years of experience to stop a foreclosure proceeding against his family’s home. Molina did such a good job of representing himself that the judge in the case thought

Non Judicial as Private Contract: Opening the Door to Homeowners for Self-Help

January 26, 2009

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. After months of wrangling with the obvious due process issues invovled in allowing a Trustee on the Deed of Trust to send a Notice of Default, Notice of Default and to file an eviction (unlawful detainer), it has occurred to me that the reasoning behind “non-judicial” process can be turned on its head in favor of the homeowner. The reason why non-judicial foreclosure is NOT a denial of due process is two-fold: (1) public policy and judicial economy favors it because until the mortgage meltdown era, nearly all judicial

Swindlers Find Growing Market in Foreclosures

January 15, 2009

January 15, 2009 Swindlers Find Growing Market in Foreclosures By JOHN LELAND As home values across the country continue to plummet, the authorities say a new breed of swindler is preying on the tens of thousands of homeowners desperate to avoid foreclosure. Until recently, defrauders tried to bilk homeowners out of the equity in their homes. Now, with that equity often dried up, they are presenting themselves as “foreclosure rescue companies” that charge upfront fees to modify loans but often do nothing to stave off foreclosure. The Federal Trade Commission brought lawsuits last year against five companies representing 20,000 customers,

Foreclosures in U.S. Rose 81%, Topping 2.3 Million Last Year

January 15, 2009

Foreclosures in U.S. Rose 81%, Topping 2.3 Million Last Year By Dan Levy Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — U.S. foreclosure filings jumped 81 percent last year as falling house prices, tighter mortgage lending and the longest recession in a quarter century battered property owners, RealtyTrac Inc. said. More than 2.3 million properties got a default or auction notice, or were seized by lenders, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today. That’s the most RealtyTrac has documented in four years of recordkeeping. Filings rose 41 percent in December from a year earlier to 303,410. The nation lost more than 2.6

WHY WALL STREET ALWAYS BLOWS IT (and where the money went)

January 14, 2009

Atlantic Article Submitted by multiple readers, I read this as soon as my issue was delivered. It’s true. And to add insult to injury, the answer to the question on everyone’s mind: Where did the money go? $350 billion disappeared down a black hole. The banks and investment banks got the money under the presumption that they would start lending again and they didn’t because neither congress nor Bush made that a condition to receipt. The money is sitting in “contingency accounts” basically off balance sheet or with a corresponding liability producing zero effect on the balance sheet and obviously

FIGURING OUT THE ECONOMICS OF OUR AMERICAN MELTDOWN FRAUD

January 7, 2009

Gump59 – Why buy performing mortgages? If they are producing income for their owners, why wouldn’t they be held onto? > ANSWER: You’d buy a performing mortgage if you thought that you were buying it at a bargain, guaranteed with Triple AAA rating. If you buy a mortgage note that has a principal balance due of $500,000 and the stated interest rate is 6% you are expecting $30,000 in income. But if you think you are buying it for $250,000, and still getting $30,000 per year, then you are getting 12% plus a $250,000 bonus (when the note gets paid

An Open Letter to Dean Martin Arizona State Treasurer: You are leaving Money on the Table — MERS and Securitization — Hundreds of millions of dollars in receivables go uncollected

January 4, 2009

January 4, 2008 info@aztreasury.gov Dear Mr. Martin: The Arizona Republic reports today that you and others in government have asserted that the State of Arizona is about out of cash. Others have described the state as “broke.” What you are missing is one very large receivable due to the state and county governments — hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, recording and registration fees for all the companies that side-stepped Arizona Law in the great Mortgage Meltdown of 2001-2008. This isn’t a long letter because it doesn’t need length — it needs action. State Receivables are not being collected

Would You Pay $103,000 for This Arizona Fixer-Upper? — Appraisal Fraud, Predatory Loan, Securitization in its "finest" moment

January 4, 2009

Would You Pay $103,000 for This Arizona Fixer-Upper? That Was Ms. Halterman’s Mortgage on It; ‘Unfit for Human Occupancy,’ City Says By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS AVONDALE, Ariz. — The little blue house rests on a few pieces of wood and concrete block. The exterior walls, ravaged by dry rot, bend to the touch. At some point, someone jabbed a kitchen knife into the siding. The condemnation notice stapled to the wall says: “Unfit for human occupancy.” View Slideshow Michael Phillips/The Wall Street Journal See photos of Ms. Halterman’s former house. The story of the two-bedroom, one-bath shack on West Hopi

From FAQ: Powers of multiple Trustees and effects of multiple beneficiaries AND getting soemthing recorded before the foreclosure sale takes place

December 28, 2008

1. It isn’t illegal or prejudicial to a plaintiff trustee’s case for it to have acquired rights or be assigned a mortgage AFTER a borrower is in default — but it DOES raise issues of fact that must be heard by the Court. Since the Mortgage went into default there are several possibilities: (a) under the pooling and service agreement the original lender might be the responsible party and unless that original lender is STILL in privity with the CURRENT (was there a substitution?) trustee, the trustee might not be getting instructions from the real beneficiary. (b) under the assignment(s)

Beware Those Loan Modifications! They are Trap Doors for "lenders" benefit not yours!!!

December 26, 2008

The “lenders’ are holding nothing but worthless or at best questionable paper. As soon as you sign a modification you are validating a debt that you most likely don’t have anymore or at worst have substantial offsets against and you are validating a security instrument (mortgage) that was destroyed in the securitization process. Check with your local licensed counsel — but my advice is Don’t Sign Any Modification unless you are getting the terms — all teht erms —- you want. And even then EVERY modification must be accommpanied by some method to protect the homeowner from later claims on

articles dating back as far as the year 2002 where critics contended that mortgage securitization facilitates “predatory” lending and misleading disclosures

December 25, 2008

All the resources cited herein are available on this blog Miami Florida Personal Bankruptcy Law Blog Chapter 7, 13, and 11 Florida Bankruptcy Law by Miami Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick Sunday, December 21, 2008 “Securitization Facilitated Predatory Lending” Professor Kenneth C. Kettering of the New York Law School recently reviewed the legal foundations and product growth of asset “securitization” in his article Securitization and its Discontents: The Dynamics of Financial Product Development, 29 CARDOZO L. REV. 1553 (2008). Interestingly enough, Professor Kettering lists various articles dating back as far as the year 2002 where critics contended that mortgage

Resources: Trade Periodicals and Research – Use of Professional Information Sources

December 24, 2008

Use of Professional Information Sources Bank Systems & Technology American Banker Community Banker Factiva Independent Banker Bank Technology News Banking Strategies Wall Street Journal/WSJ Online Law firm/consultant/association-provided newsletters ABA Banking Journal NewsEdge US Banker Lexis/Nexis Local associations publications Internally provided news feed Other; please specify — post on comments page

Indymac: federal banking regulator allowed the bank to backdate a capital infusion and gloss over its deepening problems, the Treasury Department’s independent investigator said Monday

December 23, 2008

December 23, 2008 Irregularity Uncovered at IndyMac By EDMUND L. ANDREWS WASHINGTON — Two months before IndyMac Bancorp collapsed in July, at a cost of $8.9 billion to taxpayers, a top federal banking regulator allowed the bank to backdate a capital infusion and gloss over its deepening problems, the Treasury Department’s independent investigator said Monday. In what industry analysts said was an example of the excessively cozy relations between high-flying subprime lenders and federal bank regulators, the Office of Thrift Supervision’s West Coast director allowed IndyMac’s parent company to backdate an $18 million contribution to preserve its status

HOW TO CHOOSE AN AUDITOR, LOSS MITIGATOR, SHORT ALE "SPECIALIST", LOAN MODIFICATION "EXPERT" — CHEAP IS DEAR, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

December 21, 2008

ohio-ag-files-suit-against-loan-mod-predator-be-careful The answer to your question is YES we have lawyers and the list grows every week. You can start with the “Lawyers Who Get it” at www.livinglies.wordpress.com. If you still have trouble then contact us again. In the meanwhile, allow me to point out that the process of defending your property is intimidating to many people. That is because the lenders’ lobbyists made it that way. The blog site and my seminars and workbooks untangle the apparent chaos and give the homeowner or the homeowner’s attorney the steps to prepare their case before going to a lawyer, if they