Last week, in response to an Overstock.com motion to unseal certain documents, the banks’ lawyers, apparently accidentally, filed an unredacted version of Overstock’s motion as an exhibit in their declaration of opposition to that motion. In doing so, they inadvertently entered into the public record a sort of greatest-hits selection of the very material they’ve been fighting for years to keep sealed.
Two Months After Its Purchase
Without any warning, JPMorgan foreclosed on the home, changing the locks and taking away his furniture, appliances and family heirlooms. Danforth is now suing JPMorgan for trespassing and theft.
In Texas (where the governor took tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to create a "safe haven" for many in the mortgage industry to run their criminal enterprises), $125 million went straight to the general fund. Missouri will use its $40 million to soften cuts to higher education. Indiana is spending more than half its allotment to pay energy bills for low-income families, while Virginia will use most of its $67 million to help revenue-starved local governments.
It appears the "Mortgage" Settlement was just a "budget-plug".
Homeowner May Lose Home, Even After Making Mortgage Payments
"Gaps in title ownership, increase questions about foreclosure procedures, and raise doubts on the accurate satisfaction of mortgages, all of which undermine the time-honored recording requirements in Alabama and through out the country," the Walker County lawsuit states.
The 11th CoA reversed and remanded stating that the controlling precedent in the 11th Circuit is that "an allowed claim that was wholly unsecured -- just as GMAC’s claim is here -- was voidable under the plain language of section 506(d). 862 F.2d at 1538-39."
The eviction was so shocking that Lennon-Griffin’s 72-year-old neighbor ran out of her own home in her pajamas shouting, “This is not America when we are removing people from their homes!”
until she was arrested along with six others.
MERS and RESMAE alleged holder. Morgage Release prepared by Ocwen.
Removes Clouded Title
"The Bank's status as a bona fide purchaser is immaterial, however, in the face of a forged instrument. A void instrument passes no title, and the fact that the grantee-mortgagee is an innocent purchaser
makes no difference.
Because the deed is void, the Bank is not protected by its status as a bona fide purchaser.
For these reasons, we affirm the judgment of the trial court: (1) granting the Smiths' request for permanent injunction against foreclosure by the Bank; (2) removing the deed of trust as a cloud upon title."
You walk into bankruptcy to get rid of your mortgage. You walk out still owning real estate. How’s that happen?
As both the bankers and Ice note, a ruling in Ice's favor would allow attorneys to re-open cases in perhaps thousands of case where fraudulent documents have been used.
"On a much broader level," Ice added, "this is the court's opportunity to come out and say that this kind of behavior is not going to be tolerated in this court system."
One attendee who represents 82,000 shares of investor stock was
turned away with 40 other shareholders.
While shareholders queued up for a seat at the annual Bank of America extravaganza today, and the forces of Occupy got ready to mount major protests, a small group of lawyers plots its own campaign to take on what they call the "predatory mortgage banking cartel."
It’s a Free House!
A California homeowner, who was in foreclosure filed for quiet title against Deutsche Bank et al and won by default. The banks didn't show up. When this happens, the Plaintiff still has to present his or her case, but it’s unopposed, so it’s not exactly the highest of hurdles. After considering the evidence presented by the Plaintiff, the court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against the Defendants, thereby voiding her Trustee Sale and the Deed of Trust. So, presto-change-o… no more mortgage… as in… it’s a free and clear house!
A class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against GMAC Mortgage, LLC and Balboa Insurance Company in connection with an allegedly unlawful kickback scheme involving
Force-Placed Insurance.
Research your accounts to see if you had force-placed insurance added without your knowlege. We have received correspondence from one major force-placed insurance company stating the servicer did NOT take out the identified policies. In one case, the insurance company sent the homeowner a refund when its lawyers determined the mortgage servicer did not own the property. Send your information to the CFPB and also Benjamin M. Lawsky of the New York State Department of Financial Services. Both are investigating.
Real estate attorneys say that nine out of 10 homes purchased after foreclosure have problems with their titles.
"I don't own the home I bought three years ago. I made payments faithfully and on time until just recently when it was confirmed
I don't own the house I bought."
Solutions to the ongoing foreclosure crisis are virtually absent from the national political debate, but in Florida, one of the states hardest-hit by the housing crunch, several homeowners who have seen crisis firsthand are running for local office on anti-Wall Street platforms.
New York’s Department of Financial Services has set public hearings on May 17 to review whether rates for so-called “force-placed” insurance are excessive and to examine the relationships between insurers, banks, mortgage servicers, insurance agents and brokers.
The money is supposed to go towards cutting into Arizona’s persistently high foreclosure rate and help state prosecutors go after mortgage fraud rings. But a budget plan developed by Gov. Jan Brewer and Republican legislators cuts $50 million from that mortgage fund.
and Their Offshore Havens
Bank of America and Merrill Lynch
The rationale for this rule is to prohibit harassment of the mortgagor by requiring it to defend two proceedings at once and to forbid a double recovery on the debt.
Plaintiffs allege MERS has committed fraud, has wrought "havoc" and "created massive confusion... throughout the United States," and has caused the "disruption and/or corruption of the real property public records recording system" in Texas.
Damages could reach $3 Billion.
Even After Modification Approved
The family thought they had avoided disaster after a loan modification was approved. But a year later, they claim, Bank of America is foreclosing on their home even though they haven't missed a mortgage payment since the modification.
El Paso Homeowners Granted Immediate Re-entry to their Home
Fannie/MERS ordered to pay $15,000 in attorney fees and must produce Robo-Signors at next hearing.
UPDATE: Hearing was postponed.
Attorney Fluker argued in Court that Deutsche Bank is using forged documents to claim ownership of her client’s home.
In line with other states, Louisiana is suing the nation's biggest banks for bypassing recording fees due in transfer of real estate title, but Louisiana stands out for taking a different route and suing under RICO laws, just like the government does to major crime syndicates.
to the Supreme Court to Steal this House
We realize by now the lenders acted as a gang… a cartel, all for one and one for all. These patents show that they shared and had access to the same loan information.
Foreclosure is turning out to be trickier than many on Wall Street anticipated. David D. Dowd Jr., a federal judge in Akron who joined colleagues in trying to streamline the process for handling foreclosures when the housing bust hit, said:
"I think they liked the procedure we set up--until we started asking nasty questions about whether they actually own the note."
"These are mistakes that could cost someone their home," a Wells Fargo document preparer told msnbc.com.
"There was one file where they weren't even past due and they were in foreclosure status," the loan processor said.
Chase apparently needed information on the home which they were buying back from a foreclosure. (I guess Chase needs it to help fabricate documents to make it appear Chase owns the home.)
The issue in this case is whether Ocwen, which seeks to foreclose, is required to affirmatively refute homeowner's affirmative defenses to be entitled to summary judgment. We hold that it must and reverse.
Sen. Grassley stated, “The Justice Department has brought no criminal cases against any of the major Wall Street banks or executives who are responsible for the financial crisis.” He concluded his statement by saying, “All that matters is results – prosecutions and conviction.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE STILL WAITING."
There are basically two parts of the DoJ’s argument. One is that not enough documents have yet been received (really?) and staffing needs required to justify a full staff at this point. The other is that additional personnel above the 55 from DoJ will come from other federal agencies and the state AGs.
The mortgage crisis in America has gotten so complicated that not only are banks foreclosing with no evidence that they have authority to do so, they can no longer define what ownership of a mortgage even means.
Not only did Deutsche Bank decline to say if it owned the mortgage, it challenged the very concept of ownership, as if the mortgage transactions of the past half-decade were so complicated it can no longer be determined who owns what.
The Struggle for Justice and a Place to Call Home
This grandmother's story — outrageous and complex — is our story,
the American foreclosure story.
Awards Homeowner $3MM Plus Attorney Fees
Wells Fargo’s actions were not only highly reprehensible, but its subsequent reaction on their exposure has been less than satisfactory. There is a strong societal interest in preventing such future conduct through a punitive award.
Standing and Real Party in Interest.
The most interesting exchange in the argument came between Justice McGee Brown and Freddie Mac’s lawyer. She noted, and cited a federal case from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, that financial institutions are sticklers for the strictest compliance on paperwork from their customers, but are now asking the court to relax its standards-why should the Court “find a more relaxed rule for Freddie Mac than Freddie Mac would otherwise give to its customers?” Why didn’t Freddie Mac just wait until it had the note and mortgage—what was the big hurry—the house wasn’t going anywhere? She looked quite steely as she asked this.
An Oklahoma pension fund filed a putative class action against U.S. Bank NA on Thursday alleging the bank's shortcuts, including a failure to actually take possession of loan documents underlying mortgage-backed securities, cost the fund hundreds of millions of dollars.
Because the bank never actually transferred the mortgages notes on hundreds of underlying mortgages, investors are entitled to unwind the MBS purchase and reclaim their payments.
The Supreme Court ruled that: To commence a foreclosure action in Oklahoma, a plaintiff must demonstrate it has a right to enforce the note and, absent a showing of ownership, the plaintiff lacks standing.
Freddie Mac v. Schwartzwald
AN OFFICER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The issue of standing "may not be waived, and an argument concerning standing may be asserted for the first time on appeal."
ROBO-SIGNING is still going on.
Even after mortgage servicers have been excoriated by a judge in one state, they still use similar documents in other cases in other states, according to the examination.
"That's ridiculous," Judge Lewis tells the bank's lawyer. "I'm not doing this thing two or three times. You're making my head spin."
Honorable Judge J. Michael Seabright gets it!
And his ORDER is detailed. In the Discussion, Judge Seabright notes an argument that homeowners have being trying to persuade the courts (especially at the lower state levels) to grasp:
STANDING and JURISDICTION
Conspire to Steal Home on Tuesday, April 3
Ms. Davidson's story is tragic and, unfortunately, common. Bank of America is publicly cooing that they are trying to keep families in their homes whereas in reality they are pummeling homeowners
"Thousands of Colorado homes were taken in foreclosure in recent years by banks that probably never had the right to do so because
no one bothered to challenge the process."
There should be an immediate and complete halt to all foreclosures in the US, and all foreclosures that have been completed over the past decade should be nullified. Yes that will get messy. But continuing with foreclosures will make the mess immeasurably worse. This foreclosure crisis is not going to stop.
No one should buy any bank-owned real estate because it is probable that eventually the US will return to the rule of law. The property will be returned to the rightful owners -- those who were illegally kicked out of their houses.
For cases with Lost Note claims:
In a decision which could impact foreclosure cases involving missing or lost loan documents, the Appeals Court held that a mortgage is unenforceable and must be discharged where the underlying promissory note securing the mortgage could not be found.
The proposal to have the victims of Bank of America's violation pay an additional penalty for their own victimization was enough to give the Court pause.
A Springfield judge’s ruling has thrown the entire Massachusetts foreclosure market into disarray by bolstering claims that lenders improperly seized thousands of Bay State homes.
"[a] bank that was not the mortgagee when suit was filed cannot cure its lack of standing by subsequently obtaining an interest in the mortgage." "Thus, Wells Fargo Bank lacked standing to bring a foreclosure action against Jordan. As such, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of WFB because WFB was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We sustain Jordan's first assignment of error, reverse summary judgment, and order the trial court to dismiss the complaint without prejudice."
Wells Fargo vs. Jordan
Ohio Supreme Court DECLINES jurisdiction!
The biggest investment most Americans will make is now the target of the biggrest financial crimes in history and labeled:
"The Perfect Crime."
When fully exposed, this will make Enron look like a parking ticket.
- MSFraud 2003 -
From the transcript of evidentiary hearing - MERS v. Cabrera:
"It truly concerns me, however, that thousands and thousands -- thousands and thousands of mortgage foreclosure actions have been filed with these allegations. I am not certain what remedy, if any, these people would have were it to be determined that MERS was not ever the proper party notwithstanding that these folks [might] have been in default what their recourse, if any, would be. I'm not certain with the satisfaction of mortgages that have been filed on behalf of MERS how good those are and I am not certain how good title to property is that people bought at these foreclosure sales if it turns or becomes established that MERS was indeed not only not the right party but misrepresented by way of their pleadings and affidavits that they held something they didn't own, so I'm not certain of the consequences but it seems vast."
- The Honorable Judge Jon Gordon - September 2005 (Emphasis added)
- The Honorable Judge Jon Gordon - September 2005 (Emphasis added)
