Readers may argue I’m reading more of a bank PR role in a page one Wall Street Journal story than is warranted. However, even the Columbia Journalism Review took notice of the Journal’s scanty reporting on the foreclosure crisis, a mounting series of problems that is deservedly damaging to the banking industry’s image and bottom […]
Read more...Yves here. If nothing else, be sure to read the section on the Money Honey book. By Satyajit Das, a risk consultant and author of Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives – Revised Edition (2010, FT-Prentice Hall). Michael Hirsh (2010) Capital Offense: How Washington’s Wise Men Turned America’s […]
Read more...As more and more problems with foreclosures and borrower horror stories are coming to light, it isn’t hard to notice that banks are still gamely sticking with the pitch that the failings are technical and procedural even as the breadth of their response and the official reaction says otherwise. Suspending all foreclosures in the US, […]
Read more...We have been saying for some time that the affidavit problem that has led GMAC, Bank of America, and JP Morgan to suspend foreclosures in 23 judicial states could not be limited to these states. The robo signing of affidavits was clearly done across all sorts of court actions. As we indicated, the bogus affidavits […]
Read more...I got a very interesting report from a contact who is reasonably well plugged in with some of the government authorities that are taking a hard look at the foreclosure crisis. Readers have no doubt heard of hedge fund manager John Paulson, whose famed subprime short bet is reportedly the most profitable single trade in […]
Read more...OK, I know NC is in danger of becoming “all mortgages, all the time,” but I assume you’ll appreciate this clip nevertheless. Enjoy! The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Read more...Wow, someone in DC has connected the dots: that the banks’ failure to adhere to contractual and legal requirements in the residential mortgage backed securities market are so extensive and widespread as to constitute systemic risk. Alan Grayson, Congressman from Ground Zero of the foreclosure mess, is calling on the Financial Stability Oversight Council to […]
Read more...Yves here. I did a small study for a then midlevel, now top level Russian oligarch in the early 1990s who bought a US retail chain. It wasn’t exactly the most astute purchase. One of the factoids I came across in assisting him in figuring out how to scrub it up for resale was the […]
Read more...The battle lines are forming. In the last two years, local attorneys working for the small minority of borrowers who contest foreclosures have reported a wide range of what in spin doctor land would be called irregularities. These reports were so widespread and consistent as to suggest that malfeasance was endemic, but without corroborating evidence […]
Read more...Welcome to our new readers from the FCIC. Lender Processing Services, a crucial player in the residential mortgage servicing arena, has been hit with two suits seeking national class action status (see here and here for the court filings). If the plaintiffs prevail, the disgorgement of fees by LPS could easily run into the billions […]
Read more...Boy, you have to love the way beleaguered companies strain to create the impression that unfavorable revelations are “mischaracterizations.” And Lender Processing Services certainly has its back to the wall. Its stock traded down 5% on Friday and another 8% today before it halted just prior to the close of trading on Monday. (for more […]
Read more...More revelations from one of the epicenters of the housing implosion. 4ClosureFraud has published an eyepoppingly long list of affidavits of lost summons in foreclosure cases. This is a teeny extract from their sample, so readers can see what their roster looks like: I spoke to the individuals who compiled this sample; the roster on […]
Read more...A bombshell has dropped in mortgage land. We’ve said for some time that document fabrication is widespread in foreclosures. The reason is that the note, which is the borrower IOU, is the critical instrument to establishing the right to foreclose in 45 states (in those states, the mortgage, which is the lien on the property, […]
Read more...This post first appeared on February 22, 2008 Man, not only does the Administration tell whoppers, but it is completely shameless about them. The latest sighting comes from Reuters: Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel told the Reuters Housing Summit it is proper for homeownership to hold a special status…. “If I default on my credit card […]
Read more...More bad news for banks and servicers on the foreclosure improprieties front. The latest report, that Bank of America is stopping foreclosures in 23 states, confirms the suspicion that problems with foreclosure procedures for residential home loans in securitizations are widespread. From the AP via Washington Post: Bank of America says it is delaying foreclosures […]
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