Category Archives: Real estate

Bank of America Halts Foreclosures in 23 States; Connecticut AG Asks State Courts to Suspend Foreclosures for 60 Days

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 […]

Regulator Orders Seven Large Lenders to Review Foreclosure Procedures

This story on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s inquiry into possible mortgage servicer improprieties was released last night by the Washington Post; oddly Bloomberg had not picked it up when I trolled it, apologies for not catching it sooner. Note that this development supports our contention that servicing problems are widespread. Note […]

Congressmen Attack LPS, Servicer Misconduct; PR Counteroffensive Starting

Only been a few Congressmen have weighed in on the mortgage documentation mess so far, since wrapping up the current Congressional session and campaigning consumes a lot of bandwidth. Nevertheless, I am getting reports from DC that people on the Hill are starting to take the issue of foreclosure document fabrication, errors, and improprieties seriously. […]

Fitch Considering Downgrading Servicers Over Affidavits

Boy, if Fitch thinks servicer problems are limited to affidavits, it is gonna learn a lot more in the coming weeks and months. This report comes via BusinessWeek: Fitch Ratings said Wednesday it’s asking mortgage servicers about their foreclosure practices in the wake of GMAC Mortgage LLC’s recent disclosure of procedural errors. The agency believes […]

Meet GMAC’s Robo Signer Jeffrey Stephan

See this video ofthe deposition of GMAC’s famed robo signer, Jeffrey Stephan, who estimates that he signs 10,000 documents a month. If nothing else, you need to watch from 5:00 to the end of the first segment. Hat tip reader Barbara W, from 4closureFraud.org. I wish the sound quality were better; you can also read […]

More Foreclosure Mess Updates: 20% of Florida Cases Have Problems, Including Phony Court Summons; JP Morgan ‘Fesses Up to GMAC Type Problems

More shoes are dropping on the foreclosure improprieties front. Let’s not forget the throughline: the parties in the securitization pipeline were so keen to rip out fees and maximize profits that they allotted too little in the way of expense dollars to executing tasks required both by statue and contractual agreements. The result was that […]

Rating Agencies, The Subprime Blame Game, and Fishy FCIC Testimony

Let’s be clear: there are plenty of bad guys, chumps, and people who should have known better in the subprime mess. High on the list for well deserved scorn are the ratings agencies, who still retain a central role in structured credit. Well, now, come to think of it, the mortgage securities business is now […]

Florida’s Kangaroo Foreclosure Courts: Judges Denying Due Process on Behalf of Banks

Florida is ground zero of the foreclosure crisis. In addition to being one of the epicenters of the housing meltdown, it has also become the jurisdiction where local lawyers have been the most effective overall in unearthing how servicers and foreclosure mills have engaged in widespread document fabrications and use of improper affidavits to foreclose. […]

FUBAR Mortgage Behavior: Florida Banks Destroyed Notes; Others Never Transferred Them

Before we get to the meat of the post, I have a fun project for readers. Just as “whocoulddanode” has become inextricably linked to the excuses for the failure to see the housing crisis coming, we need a new tag phase for the hopeless tangled mess that the folks who screwed up mortgage securitizations have […]

Orwell Watch: “Structural Unemployment” As Excuse to Do Nothing

The spin-meisters continue to package things that ought to incite outrage in anodyne wrappers in the hope no one will look inside. “The new normal” and “structural unemployment” join the universe inhabited by such gems as “extraordinary rendition” and “pre-emptive strike”. “New normal” is particularly insidious, since it implies that we must accept current conditions, […]

GMAC Ordered to Stop All Foreclosures in California

Per the Sacremento Bee, hat tip Foghorn Leghorn and Brian: California officials today demanded that Ally Financial Inc. stop foreclosing on homes in the state, citing reports indicating the big mortgage lender is violating the law. The cease-and-desist letter, issued by Attorney General Jerry Brown, came as officials in several other states began investigating Ally’s […]

GMAC Told Freddie of Improper Affidavits Weeks Ago; Frank, Grayson, Brown Write “WTF” Letter

It isn’t surprising that given the potential consequences (revelation of widespread fraud, improper foreclosures, and big time difficulties straightening out the mess revealed), GMAC and other servicers have taken the “nothing to see here, drive on by” approach to reports that they forged affidavits and fabricated documents in order to be able to show courts […]

Improper GMAC Affidavits Leading to Charges of Document Fabrication to Change Title

Ah, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive, said the bard. And the web emanating from the GMAC affidavit improprieties extend much further than most may realize. Although GMAC continues to maintain that having its “robot signor” officers like Jeffrey Stephan provide affidavits on matters they know nothing about is […]

How Serious is the GMAC Problem? Pretty Serious and Not Just GMAC

The news reports on GMAC Mortgage’s decision to halt evictions and foreclosure sales in 23 states, as originally reported by Bloomberg News, has generated keen interest in the mortgage and securitizaion communities. One reason is the oddly abrupt and broad nature of GMAC Mortgage’s action. GMAC Mortgage subsequently issued a rebuttal of sorts to the […]

Grayson Calls on Florida Supreme Court to Halt Foreclosures

Representative Alan Grayson of Florida has asked the Florida Supreme Court to halt all foreclosures in the state in light of an investigation by its attorney general into allegations of pervasive foreclosure fraud by so-called “foreclosure mills”. Text below: September 20, 2010 Chief Justice Charles T. Canady Florida Supreme Court 500 South Duval Street Tallahassee, […]