Articles Related To Mortgage Servicing Fraud

Date	Article Articles are added weekly	Source	Comment
04/25/24	CFPB takes action to stop illegal junk fees in mortgage servicing	Yahoo Finance	CFPB takes action to stop illegal junk fees in mortgage servicing The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is ramping up its efforts to combat junk fees charged by mortgage servicers, as well as other illegal practices. CFPB examinations have found servicers charging illegal junk fees. Examples include prohibited property inspection fees. It has evidence of mortgage providers sending deceptive notices to homeowners. There is also evidence of violation of loss mitigation rules that help struggling borrowers stay in their homes. In response to the CFPB's findings, financial institutions refunded junk fees to borrowers and stopped their illegal practices.
04/24/24	Supervisory Highlights, Issue 33 (Spring 2024)	CFPB	Supervisory Highlights, Issue 33 (Spring 2024) This is the 33rd edition of Supervisory Highlights. The findings in this report cover select examinations regarding mortgage servicing, that were completed from April 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023. FULL REPORT Read the full report
04/24/24	CFPB Takes Action to Stop Illegal Junk Fees in Mortgage Servicing	CFPB	CFPB Takes Action to Stop Illegal Junk Fees in Mortgage Servicing WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today published an edition of Supervisory Highlights describing the agency’s actions to combat junk fees charged by mortgage servicers, as well as other illegal practices. CFPB examinations found servicers charging illegal junk fees, such as prohibited property inspection fees; sending deceptive notices to homeowners; and violating loss mitigation rules that help struggling borrowers stay in their homes. In response to the CFPB’s findings, financial institutions refunded junk fees to borrowers and stopped their illegal practices.
04/24/24	CFPB shares update on combating mortgage servicer ‘junk fees’	Scottsman Guide	CFPB shares update on combating mortgage servicer ‘junk fees’ A new report published by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) shared some of the agency’s recent findings on the mortgage servicing market, including some revelations from its ongoing scrutiny of “junk fees” charged by banks and other lenders. Per its “Supervisory Highlights, Mortgage Servicing Edition” report, the CFPB noted that its examiners continue to find mortgage servicers assessing what it called “exploitative illegal fees,” including improper late fees and unnecessary property inspection fees.
04/19/24	Top 10 States with the Highest Number of Commercial Foreclosure in March 2024	Attom Data	Top 10 States with the Highest Number of Commercial Foreclosure in March 2024 According to ATTOM’s newly released U.S. Commercial Foreclosure Report, there is a persistent uptrend in commercial foreclosures over the years, starting from a minimum of 141 in May 2020 and reaching 625 in March 2024. This signifies a consistent rise over the entire period.
04/18/24	The Professor Who Wrote the Seminal Book on Wall Street Megabanks Calls Today’s Financial System “Dangerously Unstable”	Wall Street On Parade	The Professor Who Wrote the Seminal Book on Wall Street Megabanks Calls Today’s Financial System “Dangerously Unstable” George Washington University Law Professor, Arthur Wilmarth, has done it again. After authoring the seminal book on the insidious evolution and enormous dangers still posed by the Wall Street megabanks (Taming the Megabanks: Why We Need a New Glass-Steagall Act) Wilmarth is now out with a new, gripping paper. In the paper’s abstract, Wilmarth explains how the risks posed by the Wall Street megabanks in 2008 have become exponentially more dangerous today. He writes:
04/16/24	Fannie Mae’s New Mortgage-Scoring System Aims to Lift MBS Demand	Yahoo Finance	Fannie Mae’s New Mortgage-Scoring System Aims to Lift MBS Demand Fannie Mae is selling agency mortgage backed securities designed to appeal to socially minded investors, as the mortgage giant looks to draw more buyers into the market to help fill a void left by the Federal Reserve stopping purchases.
04/14/24	Taking on the housing crisis in Massachusetts could include foreclosure prevention program	Cambridge Day	Taking on the housing crisis in Massachusetts could include foreclosure prevention program We need more affordable housing. This is something I hear over and over as state representative throughout my district of Somerville and Medford. When speaking with a group of high school students from my district recently, I asked about their top priority – it was housing. Is this a typical concern for teenagers? This is where we are today. Families also need protections now. I am also working to include a policy I filed to create a Massachusetts foreclosure prevention program that would require lenders to engage in conferences with homeowners to review all available prevention options well before an impending foreclosure. Losing a home to foreclosure is devastating for a family, especially when alternatives might have been available but were not explored. This would provide protections for homeowners and go a long way to stopping unnecessary foreclosures. A crisis of this magnitude requires a number of bold policy ideas. The housing crisis also requires us to work together as communities to support people in need of housing. I look forward to working with constituents to continue to take on the housing crisis in Somerville, Medford and throughout Massachusetts. Christine Barber is state representative for the 34th Middlesex District, which includes Somerville and Medford.
04/12/24	Foreclosures are rising, but it’s not yet alarming	Yahoo Finance	Foreclosures are rising, but it’s not yet alarming The real estate market is experiencing a slight rise in foreclosure activity following an extended period of moratoria that paused any foreclosures during the pandemic. The uptick in foreclosures could signal homeowner distress due to recent difficult economic circumstances but also account for foreclosures that were in the pipeline prior to the pandemic.
04/12/24	‘Zombie second mortgages’ behind Connecticut’s spike in foreclosures in March, expert says	Journal Enquirer Ct Insider	‘Zombie second mortgages’ behind Connecticut’s spike in foreclosures in March, expert says Connecticut saw the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country last month, according to an ATTOM report released this week. ATTOM — a California-based company that curates land, property, and real estate data — released a report showing that Connecticut trailed only Illinois in foreclosure rates. Sarah Porris, a West Hartford-based foreclosure defense attorney, opined that so-called "zombie second mortgages" are a main driver in the foreclosure spike.
04/11/24	VA to offer new loan assistance program for eligible veterans and families to avoid foreclosure	KRDO	VA to offer new loan assistance program for eligible veterans and families to avoid foreclosure COLORADO, USA (KRDO) - Starting next month, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will begin to offer its new Veteran's Affairs Servicing Purchase Program (VASP) to help tens of thousands of veterans avoid foreclosure on their homes. Starting May 31, the VA expects their VASP to be able to assist upwards of 40,000 eligible veterans, active-duty service members, as well as surviving spouses with VA-guaranteed home loans who may be experiencing drastic financial hardship.
04/11/24	The Black Swan Rears Its Head: The Fed Has Negative Capital Using GAAP Accounting	Wall Street On Parade	The Black Swan Rears Its Head: The Fed Has Negative Capital Using GAAP Accounting The Fed’s unprecedented experiments with years of ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy) and QE (Quantitative Easing), where it bought up trillions of dollars of low-yielding U.S. Treasuries and agency Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) and quietly parked them on its balance sheet, are now posing a threat to the Fed’s flexibility in conducting monetary policy. (Since 2008, the Fed’s concept of conducting monetary policy has come to enshrine serial Wall Street mega bank bailouts as a regular part of its monetary policy. Large and growing cash losses at the Fed may seriously crimp such future bailouts.)
04/10/24	U.S. Foreclosure Activity Increases Quarterly in Q1 2024	Attom Data	U.S. Foreclosure Activity Increases Quarterly in Q1 2024 IRVINE, Calif. — April 11, 2024 — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its Q1 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 95,349 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing during the first quarter of 2024, up 3 percent from the previous quarter but down less than 1 percent from a year ago. The report also shows a total of 32,878 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in March 2024, down less than 1 percent from the previous month and down 10 percent from a year ago. “Q1 2024’s foreclosure data reveals a market in transition, with slight increases in filings and starts, alongside a notable decrease in REO properties,” explains Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “While foreclosures remain relatively stable, we’re closely monitoring these trends. Homeowners continue to hold significant equity, contributing to a persistently hot housing market.” Foreclosure starts increase nationwide A total of 67,657 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in Q1 2024, up 2 percent from the previous quarter and up 4 percent from a year ago. States that had 100 or more foreclosures starts in Q1 2024 and saw the greatest quarterly increase included, New Hampshire (up 43 percent); Illinois (up 26 percent); Florida (up 22 percent); Rhode Island (up 21 percent); and Nevada (up 16 percent).
04/05/24	Housing Market 2024: 5 States With the Highest Foreclosure Rates	Yahoo Finance	Housing Market 2024: 5 States With the Highest Foreclosure Rates Foreclosure rates are on the rise. As of February, there were nearly 33,000 properties in foreclosure, an 8% increase from the year prior, according to a new report from ATTOM.
04/01/24	Jamie Dimon Huddles in Private with Biden Bigwigs as His Bank Faces More Crime Charges	Wall Street On Parade	Jamie Dimon Huddles in Private with Biden Bigwigs as His Bank Faces More Crime Charges Remember that time in 2016 when Attorney General Loretta Lynch decided she would take a private meeting with Bill Clinton on her plane as it was parked on the tarmac in Phoenix – while his wife, Hillary Clinton, was under federal investigation for using an unsafe private email server at her New York home to receive classified government emails when she was Secretary of State? What President Biden’s Vice President, Kamala Harris, and his Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients, did in mid-March was equally scandalous. Harris had a “one-on-one lunch at the White House” with Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of the most crime-riddled bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase. Zients also separately met with Dimon. That reporting comes courtesy of reporters Joshua Franklin and James Politi of the Financial Times (paywall). It has not been disputed by the Biden administration. Dimon’s private meetings in Was
03/27/24	Billionaire Larry Fink of BlackRock, Which Grabbed Fed Bailouts in 2020-2021, Lectures Struggling Seniors on Making More Sacrifices	Wall Street On Parade	Billionaire Larry Fink of BlackRock, Which Grabbed Fed Bailouts in 2020-2021, Lectures Struggling Seniors on Making More Sacrifices Yesterday, billionaire Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of the giant investment manager BlackRock, released his annual letter to shareholders. In it, Fink revives the same ole trope that billionaires Kenneth Langone and Stanley Druckenmiller were taking on a road show in 2013. Back then the billionaire propaganda was called: “Generational Theft: How Entitlement Spending is Stealing Opportunity from America’s Youth.” Every time there is talk of raising taxes on the super-rich, some of whom pay less in taxes than plumbers and teachers through a tricked-up tax dodge known as “carried interest,” the billionaires launch a concerted effort to scapegoat struggling seniors living on an average monthly Social Security retirement benefit of $1772.51. The inability of younger Americans to save enough for retirement couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Wall Street gobbling up two-thirds of lifetime retirement savings in fees, as Frontline documented back in 2013. The late John Bogle explained in the program that if a person works for 50 years and receives the typical long-term return of 7 percent on their 401(k) plan and Wall Street’s fees are 2 percent, almost two-thirds of their retirement account will go to Wall Street. Wall Street On Parade checked the math and documented it for our readers.
03/23/24	or How My Blood Pressure Went Through The Roof	Glenn Russell	or How My Blood Pressure Went Through The Roof What I do can in no way compare to the stress that an emergency room doctor experiences, however, that does not lessen the fact that I deal with a very different kind of stress on a daily basis. Part of the reason for this is that I take each foreclosure case that I defend PERSONALLY, that is as if it were my own residence. Many law firms sought to take on these cases back circa 2008-2016, and did little more than shuffle the chairs around on the deck of the titanic, with the ship ultimately sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Indeed, it is true, that the odds of successfully defending these cases is not very high, but this also depends upon the specific objective of the client, and/or their individual definition of the term “success” under their specific circumstances and objectives.
03/26/24	FHFA assisted nearly 44,000 troubled homeowners in Q4 2023	Housing Wire	FHFA assisted nearly 44,000 troubled homeowners in Q4 2023 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 43,903 foreclosure prevention actions in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a new report published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
03/26/24	Foreclosure Prevention and Finance Report	FHFA	Foreclosure Prevention and Finance Report Foreclosure Prevention and Finance Report Fourth Quarter 2023
03/22/24	ICE: Mortgage Delinquencies Fell in February as Loan Performance Remained Strong	Mortgage Orb	ICE: Mortgage Delinquencies Fell in February as Loan Performance Remained Strong The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate fell to 3.34% in February, a decrease of 1.29% compared with January and down 3.24% compared with February 2023, according to ICE Mortgage Technology’s First Look report. While the number of borrowers one payment behind rose modestly by 10,000, those 60 days late as well as those 90 or more days past due both fell to their lowest levels in three months. Overall, the report paints a picture of ongoing strong loan performance. About 1.782 million residential properties were delinquent (30 days or more past due but not in foreclosure) in February, a decrease of about 21,000 compared with the previous month and down about 29,000 compared with a year ago.
03/19/24	Alarming Increase In South Carolina Foreclosures	Fits News	Alarming Increase In South Carolina Foreclosures South Carolina had the highest foreclosure rate in America last month, according to ATTOM – one of the nation’s leading sources of land, property and real estate data. The Palmetto State also showed the highest annual increase in foreclosure rates – an alarming uptick of 51 percent which ran “counter to the national trend.” Of interest? Neighboring North Carolina and Georgia showed 52 percent and 34 percent reductions in their annual foreclosure rates last month, ranking No. 1 and No. 3 in the nation, respectively. Things were already looking grim for the Palmetto State on this front. In 2023, South Carolina had the nation’s sixth-worst foreclosure rate – clocking in at 0.38 percent. Its capital city of Columbia also had the nation’s fourth-worst foreclosure rate among municipalities – registering at 0.55 percent. According to ATTOM’s data, there was one foreclosure for every 4,279 housing units nationwide last month. In South Carolina, however, that number climbed to one for every 2,248 housing units. In Columbia, there was one filing for every 1,478 housing units. South Carolina’s capital city had the worst foreclosure rate last month of any metropolitan statistical area in America, according to ATTOM. Spartanburg and Florence ranked third- and fifth-worst, respectively.
03/19/24	During Spring Bank Panic of 2023, Liquidity Advances from FHLBs Topped Those of Q4 2008, when Wall Street Was in Collapse	Wall Street On Parade	During Spring Bank Panic of 2023, Liquidity Advances from FHLBs Topped Those of Q4 2008, when Wall Street Was in Collapse According to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and using a graph from the St. Louis Fed above, the liquidity crisis among banks in the spring of last year was far more dramatic than has been acknowledged by banking regulators. According to the data, during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression (at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008 when Wall Street was in a state of collapse), banks had borrowed a total of $790 billion in advances from Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs). But during the bank panic in the spring of last year, those FHLB advances topped the Q4 2008 number, registering $804 billion as of March 31, 2023.
03/13/24	Wall Street Mega Banks Have Drawn a Law-Free Zone Around Themselves – The Media Is Complicit	Wall Street On Parade	Wall Street Mega Banks Have Drawn a Law-Free Zone Around Themselves – The Media Is Complicit From revoking the American people’s right to a jury trial in matters involving Wall Street; to brazenly thumbing their nose at anti-trust law; to trading the stock of their own bank in the darkness of their own dark pools; to forming their own stock exchange; to committing serial felonies without being criminally prosecuted or having their bank charters revoked – Wall Street mega banks have drawn a law-free zone around themselves and are more dangerous today than they have ever been in U.S. history.
03/11/24	U.S. Foreclosure Activity Continues to See an Annual Increase	Attom Data	U.S. Foreclosure Activity Continues to See an Annual Increase ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its February 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 32,938 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – down 1 percent from last month but up 8 percent from a year ago. “The annual uptick in U.S. foreclosure activity hints at shifting dynamics within the housing market,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “These trends could signify evolving financial landscapes for homeowners, prompting adjustments in market strategies and lending practices. We continue to closely monitor these trends to comprehend their complete effect on foreclosure activity.” Foreclosure completion numbers decrease annually in 28 states Lenders repossessed 3,397 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in February 2024, down 14 percent from last month and 11 percent from a year ago.
03/11/24	FDIC Data Contradicts Fed Chair Powell: Shows Real Estate Problems Have Skyrocketed at Largest U.S. Banks, Not the Smaller Regionals	Wall Street On Parade	FDIC Data Contradicts Fed Chair Powell: Shows Real Estate Problems Have Skyrocketed at Largest U.S. Banks, Not the Smaller Regionals On Sunday, February 4, the CBS program 60 Minutes aired a taped interview with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The actual interview had occurred three days earlier and was conducted by 60 Minutes interviewer Scott Pelley. Two noteworthy things happened in connection with that interview: First, CBS did not indicate above the transcript of the interview that Powell’s comments had been materially shortened in the program that aired on TV; secondly, Powell calls the real estate problem at the largest banks “manageable” while shifting the more serious real estate loan problem to “smaller and regional banks.”
03/11/24	Hello All	Glenn Russell	Hello All In the course of my occupation as a foreclosure defense attorney, I have truly become to understand the true meaning of being a “counselor” During the past decade and one-half, I have experienced some truly heartbreaking and tragic circumstances related to foreclosure. Going back to the “Great Recession”. circa 2008 - 2018, I witnessed many unfortunate situations play out, which I know is but a microcosm of the entire universe of devastating events related to foreclosure that play out daily. The casual observer is usually ready to quip that, “hey the deadbeat isn’t paying the mortgage, so what is the issue?”. The “issue” is that the financial industry is making trillions off the backs of individuals that probably never should have been approved fopr a loan. The reason these folks were “approved” is due to the “wonderful” concept of “mortgage securitization”. That is after the mortgage loan is “originated”, the original “lender” sells the right to the payment from the underlying mortgage note out to the “secondary mortgage market.
03/09/24	Another Challenging Week	Glenn Russell	Another Challenging Week However, probably the most excruciating part of the week was the case I argued before the United States District Court for The District of Massachusetts, before the Honorable Judge Young, William G. (“Judge Young”). Judge Young is actually quite famous as the Judge that heard the infamous New Bedford Masachusetts “Big Dan’s” rape trial involving a horrific incident in 1983. This later became the subject of the 1988 movie “The Accused” starring Jodie Foster. Those not familiar with the subject of foreclosure, or having only superficial exposure to mortgage foreclosure view the subject superficially as merely a loan that is not being paid, and therefore the “deabeat” must be “kicked to the curb”. However, in the brave new world of “mortgage securitization”, most times the original lender that the borrower took the loan out from, very quickly (usually within 3 months) “sold” the “loan” into the secondary mortgage market. A detailed description of the “securitization processs” would be well beyond the limited writing space available here. However, that said, the process involves myultiple transfers (sales) of “the right to payment” from the (Note [“loan”]). The reason for this is the “securitization” is set up to be “bankruptcy remote”. That is the process wanted to insure the “institutional investors” [end user] purchasers that the stream of payments from the underlying notes would not be affected should one of the links in the chain go bankrupt. However, the “geniuses” who set up the “securitization paradigm” failed to truly grasp the concept that there are mainly two different types of “mortgage theory” jurisdictions in the United States. These two types of jurisdictions are known as “Lien Theory”, and “Title Theory”. There is also an “Intermediary Theory”, in which 11 States use a “blending” of Lien and Title Theory, see the breakdown here. A very brief explanation describing these theories is that in a “Title Theory” mortgage jurisdiction when you undertake a mortgage, you actually deed/convey the [defeasible fee] title to your property to the “lender” [to secure the Note], but retain the “right of redemption”, which is that if you pay off the Note, the title to the Property is then conveyed back to you. However, in a “Lien Theory State”, the borrower retains their title, and the lender possesses a lien that can be enforced upon default.
03/07/24	Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury Secretary/Foreclosure Kingpin, Joins with Hedge Fund Guys to Grab a Teetering, Federally-Insured Bank for $2 a Share	Wall Street On Parade	Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury Secretary/Foreclosure Kingpin, Joins with Hedge Fund Guys to Grab a Teetering, Federally-Insured Bank for $2 a Share Former Trump Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, has teamed up with his pals from his days as a foreclosure kingpin at OneWest and assorted hedge funds/private equity guys, to pull a coup d’etat at the teetering New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), parent of Flagstar Bank.
03/07/24	Senator Elizabeth Warren Calls Fed Chair Powell “Weak-Kneed”; Says He Is “Driving Efforts Inside the Fed” to Gut Higher Capital Requirements	Wall Street On Parade	Senator Elizabeth Warren Calls Fed Chair Powell “Weak-Kneed”; Says He Is “Driving Efforts Inside the Fed” to Gut Higher Capital Requirements Engaged Americans are watching in real time a replay of how Wall Street mega banks in 2008 created the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, then used their campaign money and lobbying clout to intimidate Congress and the Obama administration into passing the pathetically watered down financial “reform” legislation known as Dodd-Frank in 2010. The Fed has been bailing out the mega banks’ excesses and casino style of banking ever since. The same dynamic is playing out today with the proposal by three federal banking regulators (the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve) to strengthen the capital requirements on the 37 largest banks in the U.S. – less than one percent of all banks in the U.S. For important background on the capital proposal, see our reports below:
03/06/24	Wall Street Mega Banks Have Created a Circular Firing Squad with Credit Derivatives and Capital Relief Trades – with the Fed’s Blessing	Wall Street On Parade	Wall Street Mega Banks Have Created a Circular Firing Squad with Credit Derivatives and Capital Relief Trades – with the Fed’s Blessing On June 11, 2015, the Office of Financial Research (OFR) released a sobering report on how banks were reducing their requirements to hold adequate capital against potential losses by engaging in non-transparent “capital relief trades” with potentially questionable counterparties. The OFR researchers summarized the problem as follows: “Capital relief transactions may have benefits to banks. But, even if real risk transfer is involved, these transactions can pose financial stability concerns by increasing interconnectedness, transforming credit risk into counterparty risk, and obscuring capital adequacy to investors and counterparties. And while bank supervisors have extensive data about banks, they may have less information about the nonbanks who are selling credit risk to those banks and ultimately bearing the risk of loss.”
03/02/24	What Is a Mortgage Servicer, and How Do You Avoid a Shady One?	NY Times	What Is a Mortgage Servicer, and How Do You Avoid a Shady One? Your mortgage lender can sell the servicing of your loan to a different company. You can’t stop that, but you can protect yourself. Q: Here at Ask Real Estate, we recently received a reader’s question about poor treatment by mortgage servicers. Many first-time home buyers don’t realize that the lender that approves their mortgage could turn around and sell the servicing rights to a company they’ve never heard of. Now the homeowner might have to deal with a mortgage servicer that has bad customer service, charges late fees when it shouldn’t, or makes needless demands on borrowers. How can you protect yourself from having to do business with a bad mortgage servicer? A: A mortgage lender is a company that loans you money, but it isn’t necessarily the one that manages your loan. That’s a mortgage servicer, and unfortunately, you cannot choose your servicer. They’re responsible for sending statements, accepting payments and managing escrow accounts. They also charges various fees, many of which they keep, and can initiate foreclosure. Loan servicing can always be sold. “There is no incentive for good customer service,” said Sarah B. Mancini, co-director of advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center.
03/01/24	Mortgage Delinquencies Edged Up Slightly in December But Remain at Historical Lows	Mortggage Orb	Mortgage Delinquencies Edged Up Slightly in December But Remain at Historical Lows The national mortgage delinquency rate increased to 3.1% in December, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared with November and an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared with December 2022, according to CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insights Report. Seventeen states posted annual overall mortgage delinquency increases, led by Louisiana (up by 0.4 percentage points) and Hawaii (up by 0.3 percentage points). The U.S. foreclosure rate remained at 0.3% for the 22nd consecutive month.
02/22/24	These Charts Reveal Why the Fed Is Frightened about Capital Levels at the Wall Street Mega Banks	Wall Street On Parade	These Charts Reveal Why the Fed Is Frightened about Capital Levels at the Wall Street Mega Banks According to Federal Reserve data dating back to July 3, 1985 – a span of close to 39 years – there has not been a time when the largest 25 banks were bleeding deposits on the scale that has been happening for the past 22 months. There has also never been a time comparable to the last 22 months when the largest 25 banks were bleeding deposits while the smaller banks were growing deposits. (See the chart above.) To get our minds around today’s situation, we made another chart using Federal Reserve data dating back to 1998 – the year before the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed. It shows that the ratio of deposits of the 25 largest banks to the smaller banks stood at 3 times in 1998 and has shrunk to its lowest level of 2.03 times as of February 7 of this year.
02/22/24	U.S. Commercial Foreclosures Increase in January 2024	Attom	U.S. Commercial Foreclosures Increase in January 2024 IRVINE, Calif. — February 22, 2024 — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released a special report on U.S. Commercial Foreclosures. The report reveals a significant climb in commercial foreclosures over the years, from a low of 141 in May 2020 to the current figure of 635 in January 2024. This represents a steady increase throughout the period.
02/17/24	Thousands of vets fell victim to a bait-and-switch...by the VA? Lawmakers want a fix	NPR	Thousands of vets fell victim to a bait-and-switch...by the VA? Lawmakers want a fix Lawmakers summoned the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs' loan program, John Bell, to Capitol Hill this week and asked him to explain how the VA is going to fix a debacle that's left many vets in danger of losing their homes. His answer: They don't know yet. "We are looking for a solution to be able to help 40,000 borrowers stave off foreclosure," Bell told them. The VA has been scrambling since an NPR investigation revealed that it pulled the plug on a key program while thousands of vets were still in the middle of it – effectively turning a well-meaning pandemic aid effort into a bait-and-switch trap for homeowners. At issue is what's called a COVID mortgage forbearance. Set up by Congress after the pandemic hit to help people who lost income, it gave homeowners with federally backed loans a sanctioned way to skip mortgage payments. The missed payments would get moved to the back of the loan term so when homeowners got back on their feet they could just resume their normal payments. But in October 2022, the VA abruptly ended a crucial part of its forbearance program, stranding tens of thousands of vets who were told they now needed to come up with all the missed payments at once.
02/15/24	2023 Year in Review: Mortgage Origination and Servicing	Goodwin Law	2023 Year in Review: Mortgage Origination and Servicing Looking Ahead to 2024 Enforcement efforts are expected to increase in 2024 and will likely reflect anticipated industry growth (e.g., total mortgage origination volume is expected to increase to $1.95 trillion in 2024 from the $1.64 trillion expected in 2023). The CFPB will likely focus its efforts on RESPA violations, force-placed insurance, and time-barred loans. Key Trends From 2023
02/13/24	Five Wall Street Banks Hold $223 Trillion in Derivatives — 83 Percent of All Derivatives at 4,600 Banks	Wall Street On Parade	Five Wall Street Banks Hold $223 Trillion in Derivatives — 83 Percent of All Derivatives at 4,600 Banks According to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), derivatives played a major role in the financial crash of 2007 to 2010 in the United States, the worst financial crisis in the U.S. since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The FCIC wrote in its final report: “…the existence of millions of derivatives contracts of all types between systemically important financial institutions — unseen and unknown in this unregulated market — added to uncertainty and escalated panic….” Americans believed that the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010 would fulfill its promise of reining in concentrated risks like derivatives. It did not. (See our report from 2015: President Has His Facts Seriously Wrong on Financial Reform.)
02/08/24	CFPB Secures $12 Million From Ringleaders of Foreclosure Relief Scam	CFPB	CFPB Secures $12 Million From Ringleaders of Foreclosure Relief Scam WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced that it resolved an appeal in a long-running enforcement suit against a foreclosure relief scam operation for $12 million in consumer redress and penalties. Consumer First Legal Group, LLC and four attorneys, Thomas G. Macey, Jeffrey J. Aleman, Jason Searns, and Harold E. Stafford, charged millions of dollars in illegal advance fees to financially-distressed homeowners for legal representation the defendants promised but did not provide.
02/08/24	S&P 500 Sets a Record on Wednesday as Banks Continue Tanking	Wall Street On Parade	S&P 500 Sets a Record on Wednesday as Banks Continue Tanking The S&P 500 closed at a record of 4995.06 yesterday while banks – big, medium, and small – continued to see their share prices hammered. And while the media is focusing the public’s attention on the share price collapse of New York Community Bancorp, which as of yesterday’s closing price is down 56 percent year-to-date and had its credit rating downgraded to junk by Moody’s on Tuesday evening, numerous other banks are trading at their lowest levels in two years.

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