BOA Preparing For Something? 150,000 second liens are released.

150,000 people are receiving letters now telling them that their second tier mortgages are “eliminated.” Whether BOA has the authority to do this depends upon whether they are the creditor in those loans. They may be the creditor in some of them but I suspect that the loans cannot be proven in any chain of title, chain of documents or chain of money transfers.

It eliminates, the possibility that the second tier mortgage holder could move into first position — if this is really effective — in the event that the first tier mortgage is shown to have been defective —- i.e., that the mortgage lien was never perfected. It also clears the way for short-sales that might leave the short-seller handing with one lender saying yes and the other saying no.

The announcement says that the entire unpaid principal balance will be eliminated from their BofA owned OR SERVICED second tier mortgage. It is a strange announcement. If they are only the servicer, and they do not reference getting authority from the creditor, there is the probability that this is an admission that at least the second tier mortgages were somehow satisfied through other means — insurance, credit default swaps or federal bailouts.

The second strange thing is the statement from BofA that if the first mortgage is in foreclosure, then the foreclosure activities MAY continue. This should put all 150,000 homeowners on notice that BofA has some doubts about whether they can prove up a foreclosure using any means or the names of any parties.

We already know that there are tens of thousands of mortgages, notes and obligations that the megabanks cannot track. They have no idea who owns the loans. This is one of the steps taken to try to clean up the mess and stay ahead of regulators who might force a write-down of all mortgage related “assets” on their balance sheet.

And the third thing about this is the argument that only “deserving” homeowners should be getting relief. The preliminary estimate is that this amounts to more than $4.5 billion in mortgages being extinguished. This attempt to potentially ward off a tidal wave of strategic defaults may work in part, but it puts the homeowners on notice that the bank doubts that they can hold into the obligation given the facts that are now in the public domain. Strategic defaulters might just turn into strategic fighters smelling blood. And maybe lawyers will finally get the notion that these cases are winnable if presented correctly and by strictly adhering to the rules of evidence.

“Bank of America to Extinguish up to 150,000 Second Liens,” HousingWire (Oct. 1, 2012)

Tags: Bank of America, BOA, BofA, second mortgages
Posted in bubble, Corruption, Eviction, securities fraud |