By STEPHEN J. LUBBEN JUNE 26, 2017 The House passed a measure this month that would repeal Dodd-Frank’s orderly liquidation authority. Credit Susan Walsh/Associated Press At a time when news about Russia, health care, terrorist attacks and horrific fires dominates the headlines, it can be easy to forget that Congress continues to try to undo …
A Proposed Bankruptcy for Banks That Will Lead to Bailouts Read More »
The Securities and Exchange Commission calls itself the whistle-blower’s advocate. But one participant in the agency’s lauded whistle-blower program isn’t so sure. He is Michael J. Lutz, an accounting specialist who raised his hand in early 2013 when he was at Radian Group, the giant mortgage insurer. At the time, Radian was still weathering the …
Gretchen Morgensen: A Whistle was Blown, but Who was Listening? Read More »
By New York Times reporter Gretchen Morgenson Seven years after their dubious lending practices helped push the United States economy to the brink of disaster, the nation’s largest banks are closing in on a long-sought goal: to unseat Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, and capture their share of the profits in …
John Stumpf, the chairman and chief executive of Wells Fargo, won a dubious achievement award from one of his interrogators during Tuesday’s scorching hearings on Capitol Hill. The bank’s yearslong practice of opening bogus accounts for customers and charging fees to do so, said Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, had united the Senate Banking …
Gretchen Morgenson: In Wells Fargo’s Bogus Accounts, Echoes of Foreclosure Abuses Read More »
First of all I don’t think Geithner caused the financial crisis. He certainly contributed to it but it probably would have happened even if he had not undercut Sheila Bair at every opportunity; and yes he should have listened to other people who were saying that the corruption on Wall Street had reached epic proportions. …
“Two recent rulings — one in New York involving Bank of America and one in Massachusetts involving Wells Fargo — serve as examples. In the Wells Fargo case, a ruling on Sept. 17 by Judge William G. Young of Federal District Court was especially stinging. In it, he required Wells Fargo to provide him with …
Gretchen Morgenson: Tide Turning as Judges Get Irritated by Bank and Lawyer Behavior Read More »
DID YOU EVER WONDER WHY TRUSTEES INSTRUCTED THE INVESTMENT BANKS TO NOT USE THEIR NAME IN FORECLOSURES? Editor’s Comment: Finally the questions are spreading over the entire map of the false securitization of loans and the diversion of money, securities and property from investors and homeowners. Read the article below, and see if you smell …
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SERVICES YOU NEED “Linda M. Tirelli, a lawyer in White Plains who represents Ms. Nuer in the case against Chase. “This is not about getting a free house for my client. It’s about a level playing field. If I submitted false documents like this to the court, I’d have my license handed to me.” “Judges …
“We did not service the loan,” Mr. Dale said. “We did not originate the loan, and we were not the financial entity that placed it into foreclosure. Do you understand what a trustee does?” Editor’s Note: Well, Yes Mr. Dale, we do understand what a trustee does and can do —- nothing. So why are …
Editor’s Note: Better late than never. It is a step in the right direction, but 30% reduction is not likely to do the job, and waiting for mortgages to become delinquent is simply kicking the can down the road. The political argument of a “gift” to these homeowners is bogus. They are legally entitled to …
Principal Reduction: A Step Forward by BofA, Wells Fargo Read More »
March 25, 2010 U.S. Plans Big Expansion in Effort to Aid Homeowners By DAVID STREITFELD The Obama administration on Friday will announce broad new initiatives to help troubled homeowners, potentially refinancing several million of them into fresh government-backed mortgages with lower payments. Another element of the new program is meant to temporarily reduce the payments …
U.S. Plans Big Expansion in Effort to Aid Homeowners Read More »
To start the program, Treasury will ask banks, like Citigroup or JPMorgan Chase, to identify pools of residential and commercial real estate loans that they will be willing to sell through an auction. Private investors will bid against each other, setting a market price. No bank will be required to participate. Editor’s Note: it’s starting. …
Want to Buy Your Loan?: Toxic Asset Plan Foresees Big Subsidies for Investors Read More »
The entities foreclosing don’t have ANYTHING at stake. They have no stake and yet they are still getting homes for nothing Editor’s Note: The federal plan is good as to its intent but unnecessary if the law was applied. Sure the bailout SHOULD apply to anyone who got stuck with one of these securitized mortgages. …
As pointed out in the article below there are many good reasons for prepaying your mortgage on a monthly basis. But if you are in a securitized mortgage and you are either underwater or facing payments that are resetting, be aware that any prepayments will take you far out of the running for any modification. …
SEE ALSO BOE PAPER ON ABS DISCLOSURE condocmar10 If the Bank of England wants this information, how can this court deem it irrelevant? NOTE: BOE defines investors as note-holders. information on the remaining life, balance and prepayments on a loan; data on the current valuation and loan-to-value ratios on underlying property and collateral; and interest …
If the Bank of England wants this information, how can this court deem it irrelevant? Read More »
Editor’s Note: It seems to me that this concedes the battle to Wall Street. It encourages homeowners to take the loss that at the very least should be shared with ALL the players in the securitization scheme and creates more problems in housing and social services. Excerpt from NYT – do not buy into this …
Obama Considering Expansion of Cash for Keys With Taxpayer Money Read More »
Editor’s Comment: Again, myth prevails. The monster that gobbled our home equity and the value of our pension funds came from the waters beneath the market not from some economic disaster or sudden migration of population to Australia. The “loss of value” was nothing of the sort. Prices were going up during a decade when …
Monster From Below, Not from Above — Appraisal Fraud Read More »
New research suggests that when a home’s value falls below 75 percent of the amount owed on the mortgage, the owner starts to think hard about walking away, even if he or she has the money to keep paying. See the whole article in New York Times. Extensive discussion of the issue. It’s beginning to …
A provocative paper by Brent White, a law professor at the University of Arizona, makes the case that borrowers are actually suffering from a “norm asymmetry.” In other words, they think they are obligated to repay their loans even if it is not in their financial interest to do so, while their lenders are free …
Walking Away and Keeping Your House: Strategic Default Strategy Read More »
The mistake I detect from those who are not faring well in court is the attempt to treat preliminary motions and hearings as opportunities to prove your entire case. Don’t talk about conspiracy and theft, talk about evidence and discovery. every debtor is entitled to know the identity of the creditor, the full accounting for …
Taxing Wall Street Down to Size: Litigation Guidelines Read More »
Phil Angelides, the former state treasurer of California who is the commission’s chairman, told Mr. Blankfein “it sounds more like you were selling cars with faulty brakes and then buying insurance on the driver.” Mr. Angelides, who lost the governor’s race in California to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, pointedly compared some Wall Street chief …
FCIC Calm Before the Storm: Bankers Still Basking in Their Own Glory Read More »
“Americans must be told the full story of how Wall Street gamed and inflated the housing bubble, made out like bandits, and then left millions of households in ruin. Without that reckoning, there will be no public clamor for serious reform of a financial system that was as cunningly breached as airline security at the …
