Fed Orders Ally, BOA, Citi, JPM, Wells Fargo to Pay $766.5 Million in Sanctions

Editor’s note: Once again we have an administrative finding and an admission by the BIG 5 that their servicing and practices are both unsafe and unsound. These are fines, not restitution. The Banks regard this as the price of doing business and the Federal Reserve System, led by the NY Fed, on which the likes of Jamie Dimon are Board members,  makes it look like they are doing something. But it is a long way to stretch these findings into conclusive proof that these unsafe and unsound practices apply to any particular loan.

On the other hand, it lends considerable support to the argument that the accounting is not complete, the documentation is neither complete nor does it conform to the full story — the reconciliation of money and practice with the requirements of the closing documents with the lender (investors), the requirements of the closing documents with the borrower (homeowner), the truth of the representations made in court by those seeking to foreclose, and the truth of how the money was funded and distributed, contrary to the chain of documents and the proffers made in Court by entities seeking to foreclose.

From the information we have at hand, if properly presented, the would-be forecloser should be forced in discovery to prove up the transactions that are described in assignments, substitutions of trustees and other documents. And in failing to prove the boiler plate recital “for value received” their case should collapse. The reference to transactions in which the loan was allegedly bought and sold are false in most cases, which means that there was no sale because nobody paid anything. It is the same with the auction wherein a credit bid is submitted by a non-creditor who cannot prove that they bear a risk of loss for non-payment of the loan.

Further, it probably is true that the forged, fabricated false documentation referred to in the Missouri indictment, are a cover-up for a more essential defect — that the loan origination documents lack full disclosure of the the identity of the real creditor, the fees and other compensation earned, and the actual terms of repayment to the creditor which are contained in the securitization documents, not the documents at the closing of escrow with the borrower.

The biggest cover-up is the amount due on the debt and the very existence of the declared default. With the servicer paying the creditor, the creditor is not in any position to declare a default regardless of whether the borrower made payments or not. The servicer, not being party to the mortgage has no rights to foreclose although they could allege that they have some right of restitution from the borrower, but since the servicer has no contract with the borrower, there is no basis for foreclosure.

Other payments to the creditor, or the agents of the creditor in the securitization chain by insurers, counterparties in credit default swap contracts and intermingling receipts and liabilities by cross collateralization within the pool are made with the express waiver of subrogation, which means they are making the payments but they waive any right to collect from the homeowner. Crediting these payments to the investors and the corresponding loan accounts would greatly reduce the debt due without any resort to “principal reduction” or “principal correction.” The legal principles are that the creditor is only entitled to be paid once and it is only the creditor who has the right to foreclose and submit a credit bid at auction.

A creditor who has already received a payment cannot demand the same payment again from the borrower. The strategy of the Banks is to claim ownership of the loan, auction the property and submit their own credit bid which is false. The strategy of the homeowners is to penetrate the veils of secrecy and obfuscation of the banks and show through the records or absence of records that the transactions claimed by the conduits in the securitization chain never were completed because no value was exchanged and to show that they are entitled to a full accounting of all money received by or on behalf of the creditor.

This information is especially important in exercising rights under HAMP and other debt relief and modification programs. Without a starting point in which the borrower knows the true balance of the debt, the borrower is left to guess or estimate or waive the amount of payments received by or on behalf of the creditor.

Unless and until the Court, or any of the regulatory authorities forces the creditors and the bank conduits to show all money received and all money paid out, with dates, payees and the purpose of the transaction, there is no right to pursue foreclosure. Trustees are breaching their statutory and common law duties by failing to exercise due diligence on this point especially since the information, like these sanctions and the prior Cease and Desist orders are already in the public domain.

Once the Court orders the bank or servicer to comply with the ordinary requirement to provide a FULL accounting, experience indicates that the cases will inevitably settle on favorable terms to the borrower. Failure of the Judge to grant such an order is an appealable order, that probably entitles the homeowner to obtain a review through interlocutory appeal.

Federal Reserve Board releases orders related to the previously announced monetary sanctions against five banking organizations

Release Date: February 13, 2012

For immediate release

The Federal Reserve Board on Monday released the orders related to the previously announced monetary sanctions against five banking organizations for unsafe and unsound processes and practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and processing. The Board reached an agreement in principle with these organizations for monetary sanctions totaling $766.5 million on February 9, 2012.

Attachments:

Ally Financial Inc. (PDF)
Bank of America Corporation (PDF)
Citigroup Inc. (PDF)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (PDF)
Wells Fargo & Company (PDF)

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SOURCE: http://www.federalreserve.gov