Who Is Western Progressive LLC? Uncovering the Truth Behind Ocwen and Foreclosure Fraud

Western Progressive LLC is named as Trustee or even Attorney on many forms, notices and recorded documents in foreclosures. So who is this Luxembourg LLC and why do all paths lead back to Ocwen?

Why such a company would ever be seen as a qualified party to (a) serve as a trustee on a deed of trust (b) make any claims whatsoever and (c) allow its name to be used by FINTECH service providers operating under contract with Merrill Lynch and its “successor” Bank of America.

This is especially true because there is no beneficiary who executes the Subsitution of Trustee and no beneficiary named that is qualifeid as a beneficairy — i.e., the one to whom the udnerlying obligation is owed.

And all this goes back to what I said somewhere around my first post on this blog: Why are lawyers not contesting the facial validity and sustnative validity of the Subsitution of trustee in nonjudical states?

The Discovery: Here’s What We Found

In reviewing a number of documents for a pending foreclosure proceeding I noticed something interesting. The “trustee” on the deed of trust was named Western progressive LLC. In addition, on at least one form Western Progressive LLC was named as the attorney of record.

This article aims to raise awareness about how the investment banks have created this company to serve as a hidden focal point in their efforts to prosecute extra-legal or illegal foreclosure claims.

Western Progressive Findings

Western Progressive was organized and currently exists under the law of Luxembourg, a country whose existence and economy depend largely on providing a legal platform to register names of business entities. This practice is followed in cases where the domestic U.S. operation seeks to avoid liabilities that could result from the functions that the operators intend to perform.

In performing an investigation into the ownership and overlapping interests that relate to Western Progressive, I uncovered that not only were the most prominent business entities Altisource entities but also an enormous array of persons and companies designated as members, managers, and other interested parties.

The most prominent name associated with Altisource is William B. Shepro. Altisource is a captive entity or subsidiary of Ocwen Financial which is the parent company of Ocwen Loan Servicing.

How Merrill Lynch Comes Into Play

It turns out that in describing Shepro’s role, the PR people managed to slip in the name of Merrill Lynch, one of the failed investment banking houses that were thrown under the bus by Goldman Sachs, CitiGroup et al. That in turn leads to the conclusion that several securitizations schemes hatched by Merrill Lynch were co-ventured with Ocwen.

When Merrill Lynch failed it was Bank of America who picked up the pieces and then went on to pose as the owner of promises to pay issued by homeowners that were originated as “Loans.”

In all such cases, Merrill Lynch was involved solely for the purpose of selling securities that were advertised as mortgage-backed securities when in fact they were not securities and not mortgage-backed (which might mean that despite exemptions arising in 1998-1999, they are securities and should be regulated by the SEC). In all such cases, the loan account was retired.

In all claims to administer, collect to enforce the promise to pay issued by homeowners who had unknowingly become co-issuers of securities that were then sold to investors (with homeowners receiving no part of that revenue), Bank of America either appears as the claimant or the servicer — without any identification fo the creditor who currently maintains an unpaid loan account receivable on an accounting ledger reflecting the purchase of the underlying obligation for value as required by 9-203 of the UCC.

In all such cases the lawyers for the named claimant probably and no contact with Bank of America or Merrill Lynch. But they might have had some communication with Ocwen.

In all such cases, all claims of right, title, or interest in the promise to pay issued by the homeowner were based not on the existence of an unpaid loan account, but rather on the fabrication of a “Payment History” that was merely a compilation report prepared by undisclosed FINTECH companies whoa accessed data from lockbox and mail service companies who processed the receipt of payments from homeowners but who had no functions in relation to distribution to creditors — because there were no distributions to creditors. In short, the Payment History was proffered to courts as a substitute for a business record of a loan account that (a) did not exist and (b) was unrelated to the named claimant who was in all cases remote.

What We Know About The CEO

Altisource describes their CEO as follows:

William B. Shepro serves as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Shepro previously served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Ocwen Solutions, a business unit of Ocwen Financial Corporation (“Ocwen”). From 2003 to 2009, he served as President of Global Servicing Solutions, LLC, a joint venture between Ocwen and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Shepro also held the positions of Senior Vice President of Ocwen Recovery Group and Senior Vice President, Director and Senior Manager of Commercial Servicing at Ocwen. He joined Ocwen in 1997. Mr. Shepro also serves on the Boards of certain of Altisource’s subsidiaries and Lenders One, a national alliance of mortgage bankers managed by a subsidiary of Altisource. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from Skidmore College and a Juris Doctor from the Florida State University College of Law. Mr. Shepro’s day-to-day leadership and intimate knowledge of our business and operations provide the Board of Directors with Company-specific experience and expertise. Furthermore, Mr. Shepro’s legal background and operational experience in the financial technology and residential and commercial mortgage servicing industries provide the Board of Directors with valuable strategic, industry and operational insights and expertise.

“Its primary client was its former parent, Related Party, Ocwen Financial Corporation (“Ocwen”).  Throughout the Class Period, Defendants emphasized to the market that Altisource’s revenues from its related party transactions with Ocwen—Altisource’s lifeblood—were sustainable, free of self-dealing or other conflicts, and subject to strict internal controls.  These assurances extended to related party transactions and potential conflicts of interests involving Defendant Erbey, the founder, majority shareholder, and Chairman of both companies until government regulators recently forced him to resign.  In addition, the action alleged that Defendants touted the superior quality and regulatory compliance of Altisource’s mortgage servicing technologies.  Defendants repeatedly emphasized that Altisource’s REALServicing platform, the technology backbone of Ocwen’s loan servicing business, was highly scalable and fully capable of servicing loans in an efficient, effective, and legally compliant manner.”

“the Complaint alleged that in truth–and in stark contrast to Defendants’ Class Period statements to Altisource investors–Altisource and Ocwen, at Defendant Erbey’s direction, engaged in conflicted related party transactions designed to improperly funnel money from innocent homeowners to Altisource and Erbey. Every aspect of this fraud has now been admitted by Ocwen. When the truth was finally revealed, Altisource’s common stock had lost a total of over $1 billion in market capitalization.”

“Ocwen was by far Altisource’s largest client and was contractually obligated to exclusively employ Altisource for all servicing, default and foreclosurerelated services for its troubled borrowers.”

So the bottom line is that Ocwen performed no functions related to receipt or distributions of money collected from homeowners or from the sale of their properties, whether voluntary or involuntary (foreclosures). Altisource did everything or at least for a while it did until the functions of Altisource were redesignated to other FINTECH companies like Black Knight and Fiserv.

 

And THAT means that Ocwen’s “business records” are not records of any business conducted by Ocwen. And THAT means that they are legally inadmissible as evidence of anything. They’re certainly not a legal substitute for the actual loan account but they’re used to pursue false claims because there I no loan account but the Wall Street banks still want to collect on what they euphemistically refer to as virtual loan accounts. 

 

In reviewing more than 25,00 cases over the past 16 years, I have not discovered a single instance in which the loan account was ever produced to the homeowner or a court. This is true despite requests, court orders, and statutory requirements. Before the current era, no foreclosure was ever permitted without such a document. Instead, now the courts are bending over backward to allow the substitution of legally inadmissible evidence.

 

And this then brings us to the question of whether Western Progressive can and should be the target of an investigation, lawsuits, and criminal investigations. It is a foreign corporation with no discernable functions except the distribution of salaries, bonuses, and payments fueled by the investment banks who are operating under the names of multiple registered corporate or business entities including but not limited to falsely labeled servicers who are falsely named as the source of data.

 

Both Western and Ocwen share a single attribute — they provide a legal platform to provide the foundation for the fictitious claims involved in communication, collection, and enforcement with homeowners. Neither one has any appreciable assets that could be recovered in the event of a large judgment for violation of Federal statutes, State statutes, and common law duties. In short, they’re both controlled vehicles for investment banks.

 

All of that means that Western Progressive, like Ocwen, is shoved forward as a name that is used to raise presumptions of activities and functions that they do not perform. And that means that the real claimant, the investment bank operating through the name of the presumed “servicer” is actually the company that is named as substitute trustee in millions of foreclosures.

 

The utter disregard for the intended impartiality of trustees on deeds of trust has resulted in a moral hazard of the highest order. The executives of Western Progressive, Altisource and Ocwen knew and expressly consented to the uses of their companies’ names. They had actual knowledge of the intent to protect the investment banks from any apparent obligation to comply with lending or servicing laws.

 

In my opinion, all of the above is true and serves as the basis to challenge title and to pursue disgorgement of all money received from the sale of securities, the sale of homes, and the receipt of homeowner payments.

 

In my opinion, all foreclosures that were conducted, completed, or started using the foundation of substitution of a trustee in the same of Western Progressive were false and fraudulent.

 

In my opinion, the substitution of trustee was fabricated and false and filed without any beneficiary executing the document or approving of the execution of the document. TItle, therefore, in my opinion, never changed.

• The substitution was void, so was the notice of default and notice of sale.
• The sale was void for all of those reasons and the title remains in name of the original owner of the home.
• The title is not subject to the state of limitations and needs no renewal.
• But the reversal of a legally accepted procedural action takes proactive, persistent action by homeowners.

Tags: foreclosure defense
Posted in Corruption, evidence, Fabrication of documents, Servicer |