It's Vindication, Not War

The prevailing view by homeowners and lawyers is that we are at war with Wall Street, the banks and even investors. People are angered by the bailouts of big financial institutions while the homeowners, the backbone of our economy are given nothing. It is easy to be swayed by emotion when your life and everything you have worked for by the rules are put at risk by unscrupulous mortgage lending practices, violations of securities laws and regulations and mortgage servicing fraud (the current “big game” in town). My advice is that although you have every right to be angry, anger can lead to bad decisions, judgments and actions. Keep your eye on the ball.

Your goal is to get justice which in this case means to put everyone back in the position they were in before this massive fraud occurred. There is a branch of government that is devoted to doing nothing but giving you a venue to be heard on your grievances and complaints. That is the judicial branch that maintains an extensive system of courts throughout the country. The laws and rules governing procedure in presenting your claims, counterclaims, affirmative defenses and demands for information are fairly straight-forward and mostly fair. Use them with the same cool detachment that the lawyers for the pretender lenders are using them.

Whether it is non-judicial sale or judicial sale, you have the power to enforce your rights with the full force of the government behind you. The nub of the problem is a form of “servicer fraud” if we expand “servicer” to mean all the intermediaries in the securitization chain. None of them invested in your loan, none of them are at risk, none of them will suffer a loss and yet all of them are scrambling to take title to your home. And they do this using laws and procedures that allow it — IF you don’t do anything to defend yourself.

But your goal should not, as in war, be to destroy the enemy. Your goal should not be to hurt someone else. Your goal is to keep your home and get a fair accounting and adjustment reflecting the fact that your loan was sold to you under false pretenses and the actual lender (the investor in mortgage backed securities) has probably received payment in whole or in part. Procedurally your goal is to get them outside of the smoke and mirrors they are using with intent to take what is yours. So you demand proof of ownership of the loan, demand proof of what money has been received and what has been spent by ALL parties in the securitization chain. The truth either comes out or the other side caves (the most common result).

If the collateral damage from you simply pursuing your unalienable rights under the U.S. Constitution and your state constitution is that pretender lenders are denied the unearned secret profit they were promised, that is not something for you to lose sleep over. And if it gives you pleasure to know that you did it, that is fine. But if you make it your goal to injure the other side you are conceding in your mind that they can be injured — which will come out implicitly or explicitly as an admission against your interest that the pretender lender has something to lose in your legal proceedings. That admission gives them standing to pursue the claims on the note and mortgage. So keep your cool and celebrate later. If you want to pursue revenge, punishment, do it after you have secured your home and family from this completely fraudulent attack on the basic American value of home ownership, fair play and decent business practices.

Posted in Uncategorized |