A story at the New York Daily News on a foreclosure case dismissed by Judge Arthur Schack illustrates that the problems that banks are having with foreclosures, which they are characterizing as “technical” or “paperwork” run deeper than that. And that is before you get to the issue that we have discussed at length on […]
Read more...When we’ve discussed the woes afflicting residential mortgage securitizations, in particular, the deep seated problems arising from the frequent if not widespread failure of the original parties to the deal to take the steps stipulated in their own agreements needed to convey the notes (the borrower’s promissory note) to the securitization legal vehicle, a trust. […]
Read more...The latest SIGTARP (Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program) report is, if such a thing is possible, even more damning than its previous quarterly reports. It slams the Treasury for abject failure to meet the program’s own objectives, its lack of proper control and metrics, its “Mission Accomplished” declarations, its phony accounting, […]
Read more...By masaccio, first posted at FireDogLake. Yves here. Note that masaccio uses “indorsed” when laypeople would use “endorsed”. For some weird reason, in bankruptcy matters, the term of art is “indorse”. To masaccio’s post: The administration and the banks want you to believe that there is nothing more to foreclosure fraud than just mere paperwork. […]
Read more...Readers may find it odd that I keep returning to the matter of the widely touted letter last week signed by investors Pimco et al pushing Countrywide as servicer to put back loans on some 115 mortgage securitizations totaling $47 billion, of which the letter-writers holdings represent roughly $16.5 billion. The big reason is that […]
Read more...Back in the 1980s, a colleague was getting a doctorate at Harvard Business School and had to take a seminar in statistical methods. Each participant was assigned a paper and was required to present to the class a critique of the statistical approaches employed. The paper he was given was a dissertation that had caused […]
Read more...After the dramatic multi-state foreclosure halts by three major servicers, GMAC, Bank of America, and JP Morgan, over the use of improper, “robo signed” affidavits, the new party line from these banks and others who also used robo signers, like Wells Fargo, is that this was a mere “technical” problem, that they had reviewed ten […]
Read more...Gretchen Morgenson has written an uncharacteristically cautious piece, “One Mess That Can’t Be Papered Over,” which in a rather abstract manner, discusses the issue we’ve been harping on for over a month, that the trusts that were established to hold the promissory notes for residential real estate loans and the related liens (the mortgage) may […]
Read more...I hope readers will forgive the overweight reporting on Florida, but it is serving as a test ground for how battles over foreclosures and mortgage fraud will play out around the US. Florida is not only one of the states with the highest level of foreclosures, but it also has the most cohesive group of […]
Read more...The Obama Administration is entirely predictable. It ever and always sides with large corporate interests, while trying to create the impression that it is actually concerned for the welfare of the average citizen. Admittedly, the occasionally tough talk with little follow through feeds a perverse spectacle of plutocrats sulking, pouting, and claiming that they are […]
Read more...As much as state attorneys general could be an effective force in acting for consumers and investors against banks, the fact that an attorney general has saddled up does not necessarily mean the effort is serious. At a minimum, it might just be a gambit to garner some good PR without seriously inconveniencing the perps; […]
Read more...It take a fair degree of skill to pen a journalistic story that hews to the appearance of objectivity yet is out to sell a point of view. The lead article in the Journal tonight, “Niche Lawyers Spawned Housing Fracas” telegraphs its bias in its headline: the foreclosure crisis is merely the creation of two […]
Read more...From Bloomberg: New York state courts will require lawyers in residential foreclosure actions to certify they have taken “reasonable” steps to verify the accuracy of documents submitted to the court. The new rule, released in a statement by the New York state Unified Court System, is effective immediately. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman introduced the requirement […]
Read more...Most readers were not happy when I didn’t buy into the mainstream presentation of a the widespread news reports that a letter sent on behalf of a group of investors constituting approximately $16.5 billion (per the Wall Street Journal) of $47 billion (presumably face amount) of bonds was a Really Big Deal in terms of […]
Read more...Hat tip reader Darby Shaw, via Detroit News: GMAC Mortgage resumed foreclosures in 23 states Tuesday after it had halted practices earlier this month following an employee’s admission of approving thousands of foreclosure notices without reading the paperwork. “As we review the affected files in the 23 judicial states and take any needed remediation, the […]
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