House Fails on Cramdown in Chap 13

The outlook is bleak in terms of government providing for the common welfare and common defense. We have a coup d’etat that is a fait accomplit. The job is finished. Wall Street and the insurance companies are running the country. So it is up to us to go with the flow and have them wondering about the old saying “Be careful what you wish for.” If they want to run the country they will find they can’t just run PART of it. This is not a pick and choose situation.

If the country is being run for the benefit of the powerful financial sectors and other businesses too big to fail, they are going to find themselves in the same position that every government encounters — disatisfied people who start taking matters into their own hands. If we are going to ignore the protections contained in the constitution and the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence, then anyone can.

Law enforcement has already shown a willingness to stop serving foreclosure papers. Everyone knows this is wrong. The Titans, who didn’t even show up at Obama’s meeting (again) believe in their arrogance that they can continue their reign of domestic terror forever.

As a student of history and in particular Mr. Jefferson, I personally am quite satisfied that government or the exercise of governmental power ONLY exists by virtue of the collective consent of the governed. The time comes (it always does) when internal and external forces converge on these newly annointed autocrats, and dislodge them from their positions.

This country was created to provide multiple vehicles to allow those transitions to occur without violence, chaos and extremism. As each one of these paths is shut down, the autocrats risk more than their power and privilege.

It seems that despite the fact that we have a Democratic controlled House and Senate, we have further proof that as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has said “the banks own the place.” The Bankruptcy courts despite not being given the “cramdown tool” in Chap 13 have continued to produce some of the better rulings by simply enforcing black letter property law, particularly with regard to an identifiable real party in interest being joined to foreclosure proceedings. Here again we have further evidence that answers to the foreclosure problem are not going to come from the Legislative or Executive branches of government. The battle will be waged in the courtroom.

Eric Holder, US Attorney General recently said before the Senate Judiciary Committee, “When I appeared before this committee in January for my confirmation hearing, I laid out several goals for my time as Attorney General: to protect the security of the American people, restore the integrity of the Department of Justice, reinvigorate the Department’s traditional mission, and most of all, to make decisions based on the facts and the law, with no regard for politics.”

Well perhaps Mr. Holder can take a sabbatical from worrying about due process for Guantanamo detainees and spend a little time addressing the absence of due process that homeowners are experiencing, paricularly in non-judicial venues like California, Arizona and Nevada. The objective of non-judicial foreclosure was judicial economy, it was not meant to be an avenue to do an “end around” due process.

There is no greater security than HOME for most people. The greatest injustice or illegal seizure of property is still occuring in states that allow non-judicial foreclosure. When combined with the shortage of competent legal representation for homeowners in both judicial and non-judicial states not to mention the cost of obtaining any kind of represenation has resulted in thousands of Pro Se litigants having to fend for themselves.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has rejected an effort to expand a Wall Street regulation bill with mortgage relief that would let debt-ridden homeowners reduce their payments in bankruptcy court. The vote was 241-188 to reject.

The provision would have revived a previous bill that passed the House but later failed in the Senate. Democrats hoped that by inserting the provision in the regulatory legislation they would have had another opportunity to make it law. Aiding homeowners through bankruptcy had been a key feature of President Barack Obama’s foreclosure fighting proposal, but the president did not push for it.

Banks and credit unions have lobbied against the bankruptcy measure. They say it would force a flood of bankruptcy filings and ultimately drive up mortgage rates.

Tags: black letter law, Chapter 13, cram down, due process, Eric Holder, regulation, Senate Judiciary Committee
Posted in bubble, Corruption, Eviction |