Elizabeth Warren Has It Right

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Neil Garfield

Carmen Reinhart: “No Doubt. Our Pensions Are Screwed.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-11/carmen-reinhart-no-doubt-our-pensions-are-screwed

Editor’s Comment: It is nothing less than an insult to our intelligence. As the walls crumble around the myth of securitization, the banks are stepping up efforts — in concert with the agencies that are supposed to regulate them — to prevent people from doing simple math. The truth is out. The attempt to sweep illegal mortgages under the t able failed with the foreclosure reviews and now they are trying to do it with a settlement that says if you lost your house and possessions and it was taken illegally you can have an average of $1,000 in damages.

In appearing before Congressional committees the Federal Reserve and the OCC admitted that most of the foreclosures were illegal — which means they never should have happened. Elizabeth Warren asked a simple question. If you found all this illegal activity and you have an actual list with actual homes and actual names on them why won’t you notify the homeowners of your findings. After all you are a public agency. And the AGENCY invoked claims of privacy on behalf of the banks.

If that doesn’t turn everything we know about our constitution and our laws on its head, I don’t know what would. We have a right to this information especially if we are the homeowners who were victims of the false scheme of securitization. But even even if we didn’t lose a home and we “only” paid TARP and other bailout dollars giving banks 100 cents on the dollar despite their obvious culpability in selling crap to institutional investors, undermining our pension and retirement system, and sticking the homeowners with homes worth less than half of the appraised value used at the so-called loan closing.

I think lawyers should file an action under FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) and get those reports and contact the homeowners to tell them that their lives were turned upside down by a foreclosure that was illegal, performed by an actor who merely pretended to be the creditor on a debt that no longer existed, in which the pretender received a free house on a false”Credit bid” without ever investing a penny into the house or the loan.

The damage claims from the existing list, which was cut short by the “Settlement” for $1,000 for each homeowner, are not curtailed at all by the actions of the OCC and the Federal Reserve. It is like a vein of gold miles wide and hundreds of feet thick sitting on the surface of the earth. Any PI or malpractice attorney would make ten times their current income if they investigated this opportunity. This is easy money once you start digging — which is exactly what stopped the OCC review and other programs like it.

Fed Argues that Mortgage Abuses are Trade Secrets, Meaning Institutionalized Fraud
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/fed-argues-that-mortgage-abuses-are-trade-secrets-meaning-institutionalized-fraud.html

Foreclosure Review Program’s Regulators Take Pounding From Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/foreclosure-review-program-warren-brown_n_3062126.html

Warren grills bank regulators over bungled foreclosure review
http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/11/news/economy/warren-foreclosure-hearing/

Foreclosure Review Report Shows That the OCC Continues to Bury Wall Street’s Bodies
http://www.thenation.com/article/173749/foreclosure-review-report-shows-occ-continues-bury-wall-streets-bodies

—1 in 3 Foreclosures Have Bank Errors to Blame — AOL Real Estate
http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/04/11/bank-errors-foreclosures/

14 American Cities Getting Buried By Foreclosures
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-cities-with-most-foreclosures-2013-4

Filed under: CDO, Eviction, foreclosure, GARFIELD GWALTNEY KELLEY AND WHITE, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage, securities fraud | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 54 Comments »

Warren, Cummings and Waters to Banks and Regulators: Not So Fast!!!

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Neil Garfield

CHECK OUT OUR EXTENDED DECEMBER SPECIAL!

What’s the Next Step? Consult with Neil Garfield

For assistance with presenting a case for wrongful foreclosure, please call 520-405-1688, customer service, who will put you in touch with an attorney in the states of Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, California, Ohio, and Nevada. (NOTE: Chapter 11 may be easier than you think).

Editor’s Analysis: As we move into the fifth inning of a nine inning game, it looks like we are going into overtime. Just as the GOP failed to read the census and lost the national elections, the Banks have failed to read the Congressional Census and are finding that the “deals” they made with regulators and law enforcement are not the end of the story. There are people in office now who do actually give a damn and who want to do something about Wall Street grifting.

Elizabeth Warren is leading the charge: They want full disclosure of the failed review process, and full disclosure of the deal that was reached. This could be a problem for banks who are holding worthless mortgage bonds and for entities claiming that they own loans that either never existed at all or were misstated in every meaningful way.

Warren and others want oversight of the deal this time and they are likely to get it, one way or another. It would be nice is the President took some time out of his schedule, albeit precious little free time exists, and decide for himself the direction that should be taken now that Geithner is leaving. Maybe he already has.

The questions that remain in the context of doing what is best for the country remain unresolved:

  1. Knowing that the title chain is corrupted in all 50 states and that the amount of chaos ranges all the way up to 80%, what are the remedial steps required to boost confidence in the title registries around the country? At present it is a leap of faith to even buy a plot of empty land.
  2. Knowing now that the investors put up the money and borrowers put down payments on homes and refinancing, how will the victims of Wall Street chicanery be compensated by a appointment of a receiver? Restitution is a fundamental bedrock for fraudulent deals. What economic, legal or financial reason would there be to allow the Wall Street banks that took and kept the loss mitigating payments from insurance, credit default swaps, and bailouts for the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve.
  3. Knowing that the quantitative easing and Federal bailouts, insurance and credit default swaps were supposed to mitigate damages and most importantly re-start lending and commerce, how do we move those trillions (estimates run as high as $17+ trillion) back to the economy which remains gasping for air.
  4. Knowing that the Wall Street frequently diverted documents and money from investors, this leaving borrowers with no authorized party with whom they could negotiate a modification based upon the true balance owed on the loans, how will the government announce its conclusions without starting a run on the big banks that may bleed over to the small banks.
  5. Knowing that some 14 banks have grown to a size with cross border relationships that there is no one regulatory agency to watch and correct them, how will the banks be brought down to a size that can be regulated? And in a related matter, how do we level the playing field such that the mega banks no longer control the size, growth, and business plans of smaller banks.
  6. AND knowing the criminal acts performed by or on behalf of the mega banks by specially created corporations, law offices and other vendors, how will the government bring these people to justice in a way that is meaningful — i.e., that will deter Wall Street titans from doing it again?
  7. How will the government take the reigns of regulation such that settlements for pennies on the dollar avoids civil and criminal prosecution by the government that is supposed to protect those who cannot adequately protect themselves, and avoids administrative complaints against the bank charter.
  8. How will the administration demonstrate to every American that the Government is running the show, not the Banks.
  9. Knowing that the vast majority of foreclosures were completed” by strangers to the transactions, what do we do the displaced homeowners and the homes that were put in distress as a result of a ball of lies?
  10. If the review process was revealing damages to homeowners (and indirectly to investors) that were vastly understated, as alleged by numerous whistle-blowers, then what will be installed as a watchdog over that process and what resources will be applied to get to the truth rather than a PR result?

Warren Demands Transparency On Failed Foreclosures
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/elizabeth-warren-foreclosure-reviews_n_2592551.html

Elizabeth Warren Demands Mortgage Settlement Documents From Regulators
http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/01/31/elizabeth-warren-demands-mortgage-settlement-documents-from-regulators/

Filed under: bubble, CDO, CORRUPTION, currency, Eviction, foreclosure, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage, securities fraud | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 65 Comments »

Foreclosure Review Process Handed Over to the Banks

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Neil Garfield

CHECK OUT OUR DECEMBER SPECIAL!

What’s the Next Step? Consult with Neil Garfield

For assistance with presenting a case for wrongful foreclosure, please call 520-405-1688, customer service, who will put you in touch with an attorney in the states of Florida, California, Ohio, and Nevada. (NOTE: Chapter 11 may be easier than you think).

Editor’s Comment: Along with members of Congress and millions of homeowners I remain deeply disappointed in the failure of the Obama administration to grapple with the mortgage meltdown. The current path will lead to more of the same and it never does anything but escalate when somebody gets away with theft, fraud and PONZI schemes.

The prior so-called “review” process involved people who were neither independent nor skilled nor trained to find wrongful practices and the damage caused by those wrongful practices. They were given inadequate information by the banks who continue to hide the fake securitization scheme and PONZI scheme.

The agencies are complaining that it takes too long to process the review. Let’s see. If John Jones was foreclosed by somebody who had no right to do so on a loan that was unsecured and paid down to zero, and then he was evicted, just how long is too long for the agency to slam the offending bank? Are you kidding? What kind of double-standard are we setting up here? If I do it, I go to jail. But if a bank does it then it is an error and here is $2,000 for your trouble. Now under the new settlement agreement, if I do it, the agency is telling me to determine whether I committed a crime or civil theft. Yeah, I’ll get right back to you on that.

Obama and his administration continue to buy into the bank myth that these were bad lending practices instead of being intentional acts of fraud, theft, forgery and fabrication. They still think the loan receivables are “out there” somewhere but they have no evidence to substantiate that belief because there isn’t any. Those loan balances were paid down long ago.

The plain truth is right in front of them and there is no good reason to say that this task is too onerous for the regulators so we are just going to turn it over to the banks that were guilty of the wrong-doing. Does ANYONE really think that a bank is going to review its files and declare that a terrible injustice has been done?

Everything is tied to this mortgage mess. Consumers have been slammed with most of their wealth siphoned off by banks who were acting intentionally to screw the pension funds and the people who rely on those pension funds. The loan balances, if adjusted to reflect payments by insurance, credit default swaps and bailouts — all promised to the investors — are far less than anything demanded and in many cases are zero.

Nobody wants to give a windfall to the homeowner and nobody wants to give a windfall to the banks. But our government has decided that between the two, the banks ought to get it in order to preserve stability in the financial system. The stability of the financial system is, in my opinion, secondary to the stability of our economy. Our debt and deficits collectively and individually are all tied to the wrongdoing of about 2 dozen banks.

And I strongly disagree with the notion that the break-up of the mega banks will destabilize the financial system. When the dust clears, we simply won’t have banks that are too big to regulate, as shown in this review process. There is no evidence that clawing back the money for the pension funds that invested in fake mortgage bonds issued by fake investment pools will destabilize anything except the lives of some people who really need to go to jail.

Quite the contrary, putting the money back where it belongs with the pension funds and doing an accounting for the money in and the money out related to these mortgages will produce mortgage balances, without “forgiveness” that are far lower than demanded in foreclosure or end of month statements. Underwater homes will be a thing of the past, and mortgage payments can be adjusted to the real balances enabling the consumers in a consumer driven economy to spend.

Justice is more in this case than simply doing the right thing. It is a fiscal stimulus that does not cost one dime. If we can spend a trillion dollars on a war for the security interests of our country, then why can’t we spend 1/10 of 1% of that amount on following the money trail and determining the identity of the stakeholders, the amount of their stake and the terms of repayment?

The precedent here is dangerous. If “I am too important to go to jail” actually works as a defense, then we have changed the rule of law in ways that will haunt us for hundreds of years.

Agencies Give Up and hand the Mortgage Mess Over to the Banks to Resolve

Filed under: bubble, CDO, CORRUPTION, currency, Eviction, foreclosure, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage, securities fraud | Tagged: , , , , , | 98 Comments »

Monday is Last Day to File for Review and Damages Under Settlement Agreement

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Neil Garfield

CHECK OUT OUR DECEMBER SPECIAL!

What’s the Next Step? Consult with Neil Garfield

For assistance with presenting a case for wrongful foreclosure, please call 520-405-1688, customer service, who will put you in touch with an attorney in the states of Florida, California, Ohio, and Nevada. (NOTE: Chapter 11 may be easier than you think).

I have written extensively about the OCC review process, the consent decrees and the settlement wherein you can file for a review of a wrongful foreclosure. Whether this includes foreclosures that are in litigation is doubtful. But if you have already been foreclosed and the “lender” used improper means to do it, the review process is something supposedly designed to give you monetary damages up to $125,000.

I stopped writing about it because the results have been largely unproductive. The good news is that the agreement does NOT preclude you from filing a common law or statutory wrongful foreclosure claim and associated claims like slander of title and quiet title.

The review process, like the judges sitting on the bench basically looks at the claim with a view that the foreclosure would have and should have been completed anyway, even if papers were forged, fabricated and so forth. THAT is because the assumption is still out there that the debt is real, the default is real, the note is valid and the mortgage was valid. Our strategy of Deny and Discover addresses exactly that point.

If you want to preserve your rights under the review process then you need to file by Monday. My suggestion is that lawyers assist clients with preparing the demand for review and specify that the client was not and never was in a financial transaction with the foreclosing entity nor any parties from whom they allege to have received an assignment. Thus the debt. default, note and mortgage were all faked.

It probably ought to be framed pretty much as an objection to claim, in which you make no affirmative allegations but simply deny that the homeowner ever received money from any of those entities. If you make the allegation that you DID receive money from someone else you are creating a burden of proof for the homeowner that cannot be easily met without discovery. The demand in the review should be to produce the wire transfer receipt, wire transfer instructions, cancelled check or any other actual proof of the movement of money in the name of the supposed “lender” or “assignor” or endorser.

The foreclosing entity is going to respond with some version of the property would have been foreclosed anyway, they did act improperly and they offer a couple of thousand dollars for their “error.” If you don’t intend to take them on, then you certainly should file for review because there is a relatively high probability of getting a few thousand dollars — but nothing like $125,000 unless you are successful at showing that there was no right to foreclose because of standing or lack of perfecting the mortgage lien.

Accepting the money doesn’t waive your rights and could pay for a retainer of a lawyer to start wrongful foreclosure proceedings seeking either monetary damages, getting title back in the name of the homeowner or other remedies. But people are getting tired of this entire mess and I don’t blame them for just walking away. At some point it is a personal more than a financial decision.

Yet it irks me that that these bankers sucked something like 1/3 of the world’s wealth out of the system and brought about calamitous results both here and abroad. It bothers me that there is no prosecution, receivership and restitution. So I would like to see more people pursue their rights judicially and administratively.

Filed under: bubble, CDO, CORRUPTION, currency, Eviction, foreclosure, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage, securities fraud | Tagged: , , , , , | 228 Comments »

OCC Issuing Alert to Consumers About Independent Foreclosure Reviews

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Neil Garfield

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The OCC is rolling out its first public service announcements to alert consumers about the Independent Foreclosure Review announced by it, the Fed, and the OTS in early November.  The campaign follows the distribution of over 4 million letters to potentially eligible borrowers which include forms for submitting requests and instructions on how to use them.

The public service materials include a feature story and two 30-second radio spots in English and Spanish.  These will be distributed to 7,000 small newspapers and 6,500 radio stations throughout the U.S. The announcements inform consumers of the specifics of the program which lets borrowers who faced foreclosure during 2009 or 2010 request reviews of their cases if they believe errors in the procedures used by servicers pursuing foreclosure actions caused them to suffer financial loss. 

The parameters for determining eligibility are explained and borrowers are directed to a starting point for their requests.  Over 20 of the largest servicing companies are mandated to offer and process the reviews:  America’s Servicing Company, Aurora Loan Services, Bank of America, Beneficial, Chase, Citibank, CitiFinancial, Citi Mortgage, Country-Wide, EMC, EverBank/Everhome, Freedom Financial, GMAC Mortgage, HFC, HSBC, IndyMac Mortgage Ser vices, MetLife Bank, National City, PNC, Sovereign Bank, Sun-Trust Mortgage, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.

Filed under: bubble, CDO, CORRUPTION, currency, Eviction, foreclosure, GTC | Honor, Investor, Mortgage, securities fraud | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments »

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