Category Archives: Real estate

Yet Another Mortgage Settlement Gimmie: Conflicting Servicing Standards Play into Hands of Banks

It’s bad enough that the overhyped mortgage settlement was a big victory for the banks at the expense of homeowners and the rule of law. It let servicers out of considerable liability at very low real cost, and even that is offset by the transfer from pension funds and savers to the banks by letting them write down securitized first loans without wiping out bank owned second liens that sit behind them.

But we now learn there are other gimmies that appear to have resulted from negotiating incompetence.

Is Wells Fargo a Lehman in the Making?

Banking maven Chris Whalen has a must-read piece on the reckless real estate risk taking underway at Wells Fargo, the sanctimonious #4 bank.

Memo to Schneiderman Mortgage Task Force: When You are in a Hole, Quit Digging

The much ballyhooed mortgage task force seems to be hewing to the Obama play book of believing that any problem can be solved with better propaganda.

Top Experts Diss Housing Market Bullishness, Foresee Protracted Headwinds

The housing bulls seem unable to contain themselves. Today, in a prominently featured Bloomberg story, “Sales of New U.S. Homes Exceeded Estimates in March,” experts cheerily discuss a “firming” housing market and call for a bottom this year. Funny how these predictions for a real estate recovery seem to be a moving target.

The Ministry of Truth Speaks: American Prospect Tries to Pass Off Mortgage Turncoat Schneiderman as Hero

I’m not looking forward to months of pre-election image-burnishing fabrication. The nausea-inducing offering of the day, The Man the Banks Fear Most from the American Prospect, gives us an idea of what we have in store.

The good news is that this revisionist history on the craven sellout by Eric Schneiderman on the mortgage settlement appears to be in response to a damaging New York Daily News article last week.

Michael Olenick: Rentals Gone Wild

Banks are manipulating the housing supply in an attempt to reignite a bubble to hide their losses, a strategy that’s temporarily working.

Schneiderman Propagandist Confirms Report of Lack of Staffing for Mortgage Fraud Task Force

There’s nothing like watching someone who is already in a hole dig deeper.

Yet Another Obama Big Lie: Mortgage Fraud Investigation Not Even Staffed

The Administration has managed the impressive task of operating in a more cynical fashion than even its worst critics predicted.

More Proof of Obama Mortgage Settlement Lies: Woefully Underresourced Investigation Not Fully Staffed Yet

Eric Schneiderman is finding out he sold out to the Administration for far too little.

Judge Rules Wells Fargo Engages in “Reprehensible,” Systemic Accounting Abuses on Mortgages, Hits with $3.1 Million Punitive Damages for One Loan

One of our ongoing frustrations about media coverage of the mortgage mess is its failure to pay much attention to ample evidence of substantial servicer overcharges to borrowers. It’s bad enough that that happens, but far worse is that when servicers are told that they’ve been caught out, they refuse to make corrections and stonewall court-ordered remedies.

The facts that have surfaced in before one bankruptcy judge, Elizabeth Magner of the Eastern District of Louisiana, and one servicer, Wells Fargo, should give industry defenders pause.

The Coming Housing Finance Train Wreck

The interaction of immovable objects and inexorable forces is seldom pretty. One example is housing finance in the US. If no one blinks, an ugly situation could get even worse.

Have Four Pension Funds Blown Up the $8.5 Billion Bank of America Settlement?

A ruling in the Retirement Board of the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of the City of Chicago et al v. Bank of New York Mellon is a game-changer in mortgage investor litigation.

Looking at a Foreclosure Ground Zero: Jacksonville, Florida

Ben Geddes of the Florida Coastal School of Law, working with April Charney, has been putting together Google Maps of vacant properties in Jacksonville, with the aim of cataloging all of Jacksonville and northeastern Florida.

These images help give a sense of the scale of the problem in high distress areas.

Moody’s Foresees 10% Drop in US Housing Prices

Recall when yours truly attended Americatalyst, a real housing/mortgage nerd conference last November, and the panel that was asked to forecast housing had no one predicting more than a 2-3% decline? I was gobsmacked because no one seemed to be acknowledging the huge number of foreclosures in process plus those likely to happen (“shadow inventory”).

Moody’s has focused on one aspect of the issue and does not like what it sees.

Fearless commentary on finance, economics, politics and power

Category Archives: Real estate

Yet Another Mortgage Settlement Gimmie: Conflicting Servicing Standards Play into Hands of Banks

Is Wells Fargo a Lehman in the Making?

Memo to Schneiderman Mortgage Task Force: When You are in a Hole, Quit Digging

Top Experts Diss Housing Market Bullishness, Foresee Protracted Headwinds

The Ministry of Truth Speaks: American Prospect Tries to Pass Off Mortgage Turncoat Schneiderman as Hero

Michael Olenick: Rentals Gone Wild

Schneiderman Propagandist Confirms Report of Lack of Staffing for Mortgage Fraud Task Force

Yet Another Obama Big Lie: Mortgage Fraud Investigation Not Even Staffed

More Proof of Obama Mortgage Settlement Lies: Woefully Underresourced Investigation Not Fully Staffed Yet

Judge Rules Wells Fargo Engages in “Reprehensible,” Systemic Accounting Abuses on Mortgages, Hits with $3.1 Million Punitive Damages for One Loan

The Coming Housing Finance Train Wreck

Have Four Pension Funds Blown Up the $8.5 Billion Bank of America Settlement?

Looking at a Foreclosure Ground Zero: Jacksonville, Florida

Moody’s Foresees 10% Drop in US Housing Prices

Tip Jar