ROSH HASHONAH marks the end of the old year and the beginning of the next for Jews who observe this tradition. For people of other faiths, their New year starts at other times, so you can view this post as a running start on whenever your observance begins of a New Year and a new day.
Last year at this time there were very few Judges, government officials or people in the media who recognized the plight of the homeowner, the housing market and our economy. Very few people, mostly some lone economists “on the fringe” realized that this was no ordinary recession. Last year at this time you hardly find a single lawyer who wouldn’t tell you that a deal is a deal and that the fact you made a bad deal was your own fault — a message heard by borrowers and investors alike.
A year can make a big difference and it has, although not to our liking. The fundamental weakness of the housing market is still left unattended: both the houses (and the attendant loans) and the mortgage bonds were sold at prices that did not come close to their true value. An action for fraud at the core of these transactions has yet to be fully tested. Progress has been slow but dozens of decisions have been rendered by an increasing number of Judges who “get it.” Lawyers are now competing for business to represent borrowers, to represent investors and to represent junior lien holders who see the opportunity to re-establish their equity or security.
It is happening and you are making it happen. The children of this generation will know that their parents stood up for the roof over their heads, for the right to rely on true justice when money is made by way of lies, and that living in truth is a better model than living in lies.
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them, and who are not around too much when you don’t need them.
May the clothing styles of yesterday come back so you can wear all that
stuff that you don’t have the heart to throw away.
May those old fashioned expressions “thank you”, “pardon me”, “after you”,
and “you look lovely”, come back into use. And may the expressions “you
know”, and “like”, and “whatever” be retired forever.
May we sing songs that are singable, that have lyrics that are
understandable.
May your hair, your teeth, and your stocks not fall. And may your blood pressure, your cholesterol and your mortgage interest rate not rise.
May the world enjoy a year that is free of hurricanes, earthquakes, fires,
drought, and political speeches, which produce the most wind of all.
May you have a spouse, or a child or a friend, or a grandchild, who loves
you, even though they really know you.
May you learn that giving love away freely without strings is the surest way of receiving it in return.
May your insurance pay whatever your doctor charges, without insisting on
any further investigation, and may the IRS also accept whatever you pay,
without insisting on any further investigation.
May you receive a good report, from your dentist, from your ophthalmologist,
from your dermatologist, from your cardiologist, from your
gastro-enterologist, from your podiatrist, and ultimately, from your G-d.
May there be peace this year between the Jews of Israel and the Arabs, and
may there also be peace between all the Jews of Israel, which sometimes seems
almost as difficult to achieve.
May your bank statement and your budget both balance, and may they both
include generous amounts for charity.
May you have enough to give you contentment, and may you have enough left
over, so that you can be generous.
May we keep rage off of the freeways, and out of the workplace, and out of
our homes, and direct it instead at racism, at poverty and at all the evils
that we politically tolerate.
May we learn in this new year that what really counts the most is not the
years but the days, not the machines we have in our lives, but the people we
have in our lives, not how much we can accumulate but how much we can share,
and with whom.
And may we have peace in the world for all to enjoy.
And may G-d continue to always be with you and may you always know it!
L’ Shana tova! Best wishes for a happy, healthy, sweet New Year.
Filed under: foreclosure |
TO PETER
PRO-BONO IS THE TERM.
BRYAN CAVE, LLC IS A NATIONAL LAWFIRM AND BOAST TO BE BOTH ETHICAL (THEY HAVE NUMEROUS ETHIC AWARDS) AND DOES PRO-BONO WORK. THEY WORK FOR THE BIG BANKS. MAYBE SOME PUBLICITY WILL HELP THEM CHANGE THERE MINDS.
I WOULD TRY AND LOOK AT THE BIG LAWFIRMS WHO OFFER PRO-BONO AND HOOK THEM UP WITH NEIL GARFIELD
HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO THE JEWISH JUDGES AND ATTORNEYS WHO DONT GET IT. YOU HAVE UNTIL FRIDAY TO ATONE FOR YOUR SINS
Reuben Nieves
That is what we need!!! “class action lawsuit against the banks for depriving people of due process” – hope you are right!!
To those that are Jewish,
I hope you were able to put aside the crisis for a day and enjoy your holiday surrounded by family and friends.
_______
Special prayers for those affected by the San Bruno, California explosion. Thanks be to God, my brother’s home was spared.
Neal,
Unfortunately, I think there are millions of people feeling like Virginia tonight.
This is the Great American Tragedy that fuels my fight for our people.
I sincerely wish that more honest attorneys would stand up for The Fight. There are more than a million lawyers in US.
Where is the million attorneys march? Never mind… is there 100 attorneys marching? I doubt it.
All of this misery is the direct result of the “Crisis in Representation” (google it by Brennan Law Center).
To the best of my knowledge, there maybe 2 dozen attorneys attempting to make a dent in 1,25 million annual foreclosures. This is our National Tragedy.
There is no doubt in my mind that in end, the history will blame these, darkest of all ages, on attorneys.
How about it Neal? Have you got the guts to help me organize these lone renegades in order to prevent the continuation of the misery?
Or will you just keep offering somewhat useless (to pro se) paperwork and solicit donations?
My email is: providencegroup@ymail.com
On behalf of our nation, I dare you!
P. S. Happy Holidays everyone!!!!
It’s the Mortgages, Stupid
(YES DEAR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, LAWYERS, LOBBYISTS, JUDGES, FORECLOSURE MILLS, ETC.)j.l.s.
Posted on Sep 7, 2010
AP / J Pat Carter
By Robert Scheer
This week’s proposals by the Obama administration to deal with the persistent economic crisis will be, as with previous plans that involved trillions of taxpayer dollars, little more than salt in the wounds. Once again the strategy is to stimulate the economy by funding projects and tax cuts while ignoring the root cause of the problem: a housing foreclosure meltdown that has chilled the spending of a majority of American consumers.
With 11 million homeowners underwater on their mortgages and 3 million more already foreclosed, we have to assume, given the average household size, that some 40 million Americans are feeling mighty strapped. The numbers grow to an overwhelming majority when you take into account the distress of all homeowners, who have watched the value of the family nest egg dwindle even if they substantially paid down or paid off their mortgage debt. And this very widespread feeling of being suddenly much poorer is a nationwide scourge that has dramatically cut the appetite for consumption that drives the economy.
That fact is recognized even by the very business people who are supposed to be inspired to new investment and hiring by Barack Obama’s proposal on Wednesday of an accelerated tax break on business investments. As William Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, told The Wall Street Journal, “If you give a small business guy $20,000 he’ll say, ‘I could buy a delivery truck but I have nobody to deliver to.’ ” Although Dunkelberg’s members would be happy with a tax cut, he said the most important help would be to “finally address the most important person in the economy—the consumer.”
The anger of wannabe consumers who no longer feel they have the wherewithal to feed that most important of American passions is what is fueling the widespread rage against elected officials. The Democrats, being the party in power, are the most popular target, but they are in deep denial when they blame their pending electoral plight on the demagoguery of their Republican opponents.
Of course the Republicans and their deep-pocket sponsors are being outrageous hypocrites when they blame others for the horrid consequences of their decades of lobbying for radical financial deregulation. Ever since the “Reagan Revolution,” their mantra has been “get government off the back of big business,” and once that was accomplished and Wall Street crumbled under the weight of its own greed, they supported George W. Bush in bailing out the knaves.
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But the fault is clearly bipartisan. It was Bill Clinton who signed off on the radical deregulation legislation, and it is Obama who continued Bush’s practice of bailing out the bankers while ignoring the anguish their toxic mortgage packages caused the rest of us. That is why the Fed has gifted the banks with interest-free money to finance their new acquisitions while making them whole again by purchasing more than $2 trillion in toxic mortgage-backed securities and other dubious assets. Not surprisingly, the bankers pocketed that enormous gift from the taxpayers but did precious little in return by way of lending and investment that would bring down unemployment.
Which brings us to the current disastrous moment. The president who inherited a deep recession that began 13 months before he took office is now viewed as a big “socialist” spender because he followed in Bush’s footsteps, blackmailed by the notion that the entire system would go kaput if the bankers were not accommodated. The amount of money now available for him to spend without freaking everyone out about an increase in the debt is paltry. The commitment of $50 billion to a national infrastructure program to be phased in over the next decade would prove to be too little too late. It is chump change compared with the $350 billion in loans and guarantees to one bank alone, Citigroup, which still cannot stand steadily on its own feet.
There is only one course left for Obama, and it is to do now what he should have done at the start of his term: abandon the hope that banks will voluntarily aid desperate homeowners and instead push for new government regulations and changes in the bankruptcy law to force the banks to make deals to keep people in their homes. There is precious little else to talk about, for if the housing market—the bedrock of not only the American dream but, more important, the financial security of a nation of consumers—is not restored, we are in for one long, dreary period of economic stagnation at best, or a severe downturn and a society in dangerous turmoil.
Take heart Virginia,
The banks may yet get their just desserts. A class action lawsuit against the banks for depriving people of due process may be in the works.
Peter- could you please describe,generically if necessary, the “second loan” you received via your modification. Thanks.
Happy New Year and thank you for all you do, Neil!
Hey, where are the laywers competing for business from borrowers in the Los Angeles area? I’ve got a slam-dunk case, but can’t come up with the money to move forward…the bank sucked me dry before creating a “second loan” for a modification. There are four defendents and some people that commited pergury in assignments. I’ve got all the research and Trust info.
Any smart attorney would be willing to take this case on a contingency basis. Where are they?
Also want to say Happy New Year. I am not Jewish – but I have celebrated ROSH HASHONAH with my dear Jewish friends for the past 23 years – also celebrate Passover – have never have missed a Holiday.
To my dear friends – and all others who are celebrating the Holiday – Shana Tova – a good year.
THANK YOU NEIL GARFIELD
MAY G-D BLESS US ALL. AND GIVE US STRENGTH AND COURAGE TO CONTINUE ON THE PATH OF JUSTICE.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
ThanKs Mr. Garfield for those words.
i needed that from some one today. I have tried my best to give it a good fight. But you are right, the fact that we are fighting and all these judges by their rulings are getting themselves naked along the way. Now we know who they are, how they think and who has them in their pockets.
I just hope we do have a country left over after the grand theft of America is finalized.
I cannot say that I know how it feels to be raped, abused or physically tortured. But it all those things come close to the pressure, the stress, the nightmares, the real life suffering I have had to endure. The attacks from the criminal elements working for the foreclosure and the reality of becoming homeless in the still richest country in the world just breaks my heart.
I have tried to isolate my kids from the pain and the stress, however, the time has come for us to move and to allow these criminals to do what they do best, inflict pain and despair on us. They do have the money, they are in fact using our tax dollars to evict us and to subjugate us into the abyss.
I pray those who are fighting can see the light. I will continue fighting, although now homeless. They broke financially, but they have yet to break me emotionally and spiritually.
I will come back strong. I will never buy another home, i will never use the banking system, I will never use a credit card, I will never again make them any more money if I can help it.