Daily News related to the Foreclosure Crisis

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Mortgage Servicing Fraud
occurs post loan origination when mortgage servicers use false statements and book-keeping entries, fabricated assignments, forged signatures and utter counterfeit intangible Notes to take a homeowner's property and equity.
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12/29/22

Comparing this housing market recession to 2008 Housing Wire

Comparing this housing market recession to 2008
As we close out 2022, it’s time to reflect on a historic year for the housing market, which was even crazier than the COVID-19 year of 2020. There are similarities and significant differences between the housing recession we’ve seen this year versus 2008, and looking at specific factors in both timeframes gives us an idea of what to expect in 2023.

12/29/22

Wells Fargo Banking license should be revoked. Living Lies

Wells Fargo Banking license should be revoked.
For a Bank, simply being fined with an order to pay money is ridiculous as a substitute for the required discipline. With a long history of severe discipline from multiple genciesx, Wells Fargo bank is a repeate offender as the current CFPB director has said. It has lost its right to do business in the American Marketplace. If not, the government is literally inviting more violations of greater and greater significance — like the mortgage meltdown in 2008.

12/28/22

Bloomberg: Inside Wall Street’s $1 Trillion Decade Living Lies

Bloomberg: Inside Wall Street’s $1 Trillion Decade
It sounds like a lot of money, and it is. But it is dwarfed by the sums of money generated by their false claims of debt securitization. This is the start of reporting on how Wall Street converted investor money to their own money and how they converted everyone else’s money to theirs.

12/28/22

No Ledger, No Claim Living Lies

No Ledger, No Claim
Even if a consumer thinks they owe a debt, it is still up to the lawyer who initiates the collection or foreclosure action to prove that they have a client that owns the debt, has the right to file suit, and has enough documentation to prove a debt is owed. They may not be able to successfully produce all required documentation when challenged. When that happens, the judge has no chioce but to deny the claim — even if it was based on a real loss.

12/27/22

The money trail does not lie. But the documentary trail lies all the time. Living Lies

The money trail does not lie. But the documentary trail lies all the time.
It is not a business record unless it is a record of the business conducted by the company that is the source of the report. (No exceptions). If it is not a business record then it is hearsay. Hearsay is not admissible evidence.

12/24/22

Massachusetts law about mortgage foreclosure Mass.gov

Massachusetts law about mortgage foreclosure

MGL c.183, § 27 Disposition of proceeds of foreclosure

MGL c.244 Foreclosure and redemption of mortgages

MGL c.260, § 33 Limitation of actions: obsolete mortgages
See also:

Selected case law:

Bank of NY v. Bailey, 460 Mass. 327 (2011)
"[T]he Housing Court has jurisdiction to decide the validity of a challenge to a title, raised by a former homeowner as a defense to a summary process eviction action by a party acquiring the property pursuant to a foreclosure sale."

HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Morris, et al., 490 Mass. 322 (2022)
A borrower can assert a Predatory Home Loan Practices Act (PHLPA) counterclaim in a summary process action brought by a mortgage assignee to obtain possession following a nonjudicial foreclosure. Includes discussion of the claims that can be brought under PHLPA.

HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Trustee v. Matt, 464 Mass. 193 (2013)
An oft-cited case in the Land Court concerning the limited scope and nature of a Servicemembers case in the larger context of a foreclosure.

James B. Nutter & Co. v. Murphy, 478 Mass. 664 (2018)
A reverse mortgage did not contain the formal language of "statutory power of sale," but only said that the company could “invoke the power of sale and other remedies permitted by applicable law." The SJC held that, given that this was a reverse mortgage, and not a traditional mortgage, "where the lender cannot hold the borrower personally liable for the debt, and where the lender’s only recourse on default is to obtain repayment through a foreclosure sale," "the only reasonable and practical interpretation of the mortgage was that it incorporated the statutory power of sale."

Lenders Commercial Finance LLC v. Pestilli, et al, Southeast Housing Court (Feb. 3, 2017)
A bank that purchased a home at foreclosure could not evict the former owners with just a 30-day notice to quit. "The Court finds that there is no evidence in this action that there was ever any agreement between the parties for the defendant to pay any rent to the plaintiff, or for any definite rental period. Accordingly, the court finds that G.L. c. 186, s.12 requires that the plaintiff terminate the defendant's tenancy at will by service of a 90 Day Notice to Quit for possession."

Property Acquisition Group v. Ivester, 95 Mass. App. Ct. 170 (2019)
Before conducting a foreclosure sale, the mortgagee must use reasonable diligence to determine the fair market value of the property.

US Bank National Association v. Ibanez, 458 Mass. 637 (2011)
Upholds the ruling in in U.S. Bank National Association v. Ibanez, 17 LCR 679, Land Court MISC 08-384283 (October 14, 2009), regarding the requirement that mortgage holders must be accurately identified in a foreclosure proceeding. "We agree with the judge that the plaintiffs, who were not the original mortgagees, failed to make the required showing that they were the holders of the mortgages at the time of foreclosure. As a result, they did not demonstrate that the foreclosure sales were valid to convey title to the subject properties, and their requests for a declaration of clear title were properly denied."

12/24/22

Renting a Foreclosure Property? What To Do If The Lender Starts Sending Threatening Mail To The Property. MFI-Miami

Renting a Foreclosure Property? What To Do If The Lender Starts Sending Threatening Mail To The Property.
Are you renting a foreclosure property? You could be and not know it. There is currently a pandemic of landlords renting out their properties in foreclosure litigation. Landlords do this for two reasons. The first being to offset the legal costs of foreclosure litigation. The second is to milk as much cash as possible before the lender ultimately wins. States like this consider this equity skimming and it’s illegal. The landlord could face up to five years in prison for each count of equity skimming. Most landlords are not disclosing to the tenants that the property is in foreclosure. They do this in order not scare away a potential revenue stream. If your landlord is renting out a property already in foreclosure and didn’t tell you the property is in foreclosure, they could be in serious legal trouble. States like Florida consider this fraud and misrepresentation.

12/24/22

Family evicted “properly” from their home of 38 years, days before Christmas, Habitat for Humanity insists 14850.com

Family evicted “properly” from their home of 38 years, days before Christmas, Habitat for Humanity insists
Family evicted “properly” from their home of 38 years, days before Christmas, Habitat for Humanity insists December 24, 2022 by Mark H. Anbinder in 14850 Today Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties and the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office evicted a family from their home of 38 years on Ithaca’s south hill on Monday, Sheriff Derek Osborne confirmed to 14850 Today. Habitat for Humanity executive director Shannon MacCarrick insists “foreclosure notices were properly sent by the City of Ithaca,” though the Ithaca Tenants Union says “the necessary notifications were not sent to the correct addresses.” “It is technically legal to send notifications to incorrect addresses so long as they ‘tried,'” says Angel DeVivo of the Ithaca Tenants Union. “I immediately found the correct addresses upon Googling.” MacCarrick declined to comment on where notifications were sent.

12/23/22

What about that escrow account? Living Lies

What about that escrow account?
Under Federal and State law, it is up to the Lender to tell the truth, i.e., that it is the lender and that it is creating a loan account that can be reviewed by the borrower. BUT the choice of the terms “lender” and “borrower” is a representation that has been almost universally untrue. Without the truth of the matters asserted or implied, there is no transaction and there are no claims based on the transaction.

12/22/22

Those lawyers in foreclosure do not directly represent any client Living Lies

Those lawyers in foreclosure do not directly represent any client
From what I have deduced from the information that has been reported, together with private conversations with attorneys from the Darkside, it appears that the structure or infrastructure that produces legal services for the origination and foreclosure of transactions with homeowners is as complex and ornate as anything else in the securitization infrastructure.

12/22/22

Where did the banks hide trillions in illicit profits? Living Lies

Where did the banks hide trillions in illicit profits?
Many people and even judges have dismissed my work summarily as the ravings of a merry band of conspiracy theorists. None more so than my “claim” that the banks are hiding somewhere around $10 trillion parked offshore in a variety of sophisticated investments — like the Goldman Sachs purchase of a facility that stores precious metals.

12/22/22

Mortgage Delinquencies Top 3%, Foreclosure Starts Up 19% Month-Over-Month DSNews

Mortgage Delinquencies Top 3%, Foreclosure Starts Up 19% Month-Over-Month
Black Knight’s “first look” at November 2022 mortgage performance statistics revealed that prepayment activity dropped 15.6% to a rate of 0.4%, the lowest rate recorded in the history of the report. Overall, the national delinquency rate rose 3.5% from October 2022 to a rate of 3.01%, mainly driven by a 31,000 file increase (or 3.9%) in 30-day delinquencies and a 25,000 file rise in 60-day delinquencies.

12/21/22

Wells Fargo escapes $300M fair-housing suit, but win is lost amid CFPB payout Banking Dive

Wells Fargo escapes $300M fair-housing suit, but win is lost amid CFPB payout
It may be coincidence, or perhaps mortgage cases habitually get the short end of the news-coverage stick. Wells Fargo’s September agreement to pay $94 million to settle a class-action lawsuit — alleging the bank automatically placed mortgage borrowers into forbearance if they said they were experiencing financial distress — surfaced during the same news cycle as a slightly larger settlement to end a Labor Department probe into the bank’s alleged 401(k) misdeeds.

12/20/22

Mr. Gensler, the U.S. Stock Market Structure Is an Institutionalized Wealth Transfer System Wall Street On Parade

Mr. Gensler, the U.S. Stock Market Structure Is an Institutionalized Wealth Transfer System
The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, announced in June that he was going to tackle the structure of the U.S. stock market – ostensibly to make it fairer to the little guy. His plans were released last Wednesday in a mountain of paper that even Wall Street veterans are having difficulty digesting. (See here, here, here, here, and here.)

12/20/22

Prepared Remarks of CFPB Director Rohit Chopra on the Wells Fargo Law Enforcement Action CFPB

Prepared Remarks of CFPB Director Rohit Chopra on the Wells Fargo Law Enforcement Action
Prepared Remarks of CFPB Director Rohit Chopra on the Wells Fargo Law Enforcement Action DEC 20, 2022 SHARE & PRINT Good morning, and thank you all for being here today. Wells Fargo is one of the most powerful banks in the world. Unlike some other massive U.S. banks, Wells Fargo primarily concentrates on consumer banking. One in three American households are customers and are affected by its corporate culture and business practices. In the CFPB’s eleven years of existence, Wells Fargo has consistently been one of the most problematic repeat offenders of the banks and credit unions we supervise:

12/20/22

Pierce County, Washington Superior Court - JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. v. David Arthur Morton - Morton's Proposed Findings and Conclusions re Triral held on December 20, 2022 (hopefully) Scott Stafne

Pierce County, Washington Superior Court - JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. v. David Arthur Morton - Morton's Proposed Findings and Conclusions re Triral held on December 20, 2022 (hopefully)
Defendant David Arthur Morton submits his Proposed Findings of Fact andConclusions of Law for the bench trial on Plaintiffs’ judicial foreclosure of Morton’shome. Defendant reserves the right to request additional or amended findings.
I. FINDINGS OF FACT
1. This case is back before this Court pursuant to a remand by DivisionTwo of the Court of Appeals. See
JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Morton , No. 49846-4-II, 2018 Wash. App. LEXIS 700 (Ct. App. Mar. 27, 2018)
Defendant Morton’s Findings of Fact andConclusions at LawPage 1
Stafne Law Advocacy & Consulting 239 N. Olympic Ave Arlington, WA 98233360.403.8700

12/19/22

The game continues and the courts are playing along. Living Lies

The game continues and the courts are playing along.
The NY legislature is reponding to the decision referenced below with a proposed “new law” that returns us to where we always were on the statute of limitations. If you can’t bring a foreclosure action within 6 years, forget it.

12/17/22

Sen. James Sanders’ foreclosure-relief bill could help his own home in foreclosure NY Post

Sen. James Sanders’ foreclosure-relief bill could help his own home in foreclosure
A Queens state senator whose home has been in foreclosure for more than a decade could see relief from his creditors if legislation he proposed is signed by Gov. Hochul. Sen. James Sanders’ Foreclosure Process Abuse Prevention Act has already been passed by both chambers of the state legislature in Albany. The bill aims to “thwart and eliminate abusive and unlawful litigation tactics” used by banks. The measure would institute a six-year statute of limitations for which lenders can initiate legal action in foreclosure suits, preventing banks from indefinitely bringing foreclosure lawsuits against borrowers. “If the banks cannot present a fair case within six years, and that seems to be quite the length of time, then they should be dismissed,” Sanders told AM New York, while urging Gov. Hochul to swiftly sign the legislation.

12/16/22

'Zombie debt' has Port St. Lucie woman fearing she'll lose home to foreclosure WPTV

'Zombie debt' has Port St. Lucie woman fearing she'll lose home to foreclosure
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Charmaine Dixon lost her mother this summer. Now, she fears she'll soon lose her Port St. Lucie home. "I'm in trouble, and I don't know what to do," she said. "And I don't want to be homeless for the holidays." Paperwork shows she defaulted on a $37,000 second mortgage in 2008 during the Great Recession. Dixon said she worked with a bank to lower monthly payments on her primary mortgage to keep her house. She believed that second mortgage was rolled into the deal. Then she got a phone call last year.

12/16/22

False claims of securitization revise custom and practice amongst banks Living Lies

False claims of securitization revise custom and practice amongst banks
If you go into any bank looking to initiate a transaction with them, there is not a single exception that you will find anywhere with respect to general customs and practices in the banking industry – including investment banking.

12/15/22

New York Appeals Court Sides With Fannie Mae National Mortgage Professional

New York Appeals Court Sides With Fannie Mae
The New York Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) in a foreclosure case that could have an impact on legislation awaiting New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature.

12/14/22

Excessive Ranges of Fairness Will Forestall a Foreclosures Wave NewsAnyway

Excessive Ranges of Fairness Will Forestall a Foreclosures Wave
Foreclosures are rising as a result of expiration of mortgage forbearance and moratorium applications from the CARES Act. One actual property skilled says that it is no trigger for alarm as present market fundamentals stay sturdy. At present’s market has tighter lending requirements, extra help applications, and historic ranges of house owner fairness in comparison with downturns of the previous.

12/14/22

How This Homeowner is Winning Living Lies

How This Homeowner is Winning
Hat tip for Scott Staffne, Esq. for uploading an “Outline of Oral Argument Re Motion for Sanctions.” First, I commend the preparation, which is notoriously absent from most homeowner arguments and motions. In addition, both Homeowners proceeding pro se and frequently their attorneys are completely unprepared to raise objections to hearsay, business records, judicial notice, leading questions, and the absence of any foundation of personal knowledge. This is how homeowners lose so consistently. Anyone can lose any case that way. Here is ane example of using the rules to win the case without getting to the issue of whether any debt is unpaid or due.

12/12/22

Foreclosures soaring 57% Living Lies

Foreclosures soaring 57%
As I have repeatedly reported, Wall Street’s control over certain media outlets has consistently downplayed the number of foreclosures initiated against homeowners. We see far more articles saying foreclosures are low than anything warning about the flood that is happening. At the same time, the real data shows spikes everywhere.

12/12/22

Florida Homeowner Warning: CENLAR Is Cranking Up Florida Foreclosures For The Holidays! Are You Prepared? MFI-Miami

Florida Homeowner Warning: CENLAR Is Cranking Up Florida Foreclosures For The Holidays! Are You Prepared?
Florida Homeowner Warning: CENLAR is cranking up Florida foreclosures. This is bad news for Florida homeowners because CENLAR is hellbent on seizing your home! Therefore, MFI-Miami has teamed up with several Florida law firms to create a Florida foreclosure defense team specializing in CENLAR foreclosures.

12/10/22

In unusual move, registrar of deeds seeks to intervene in foreclosure Gloucester Times

In unusual move, registrar of deeds seeks to intervene in foreclosure
SALEM — For more than a decade, South Essex Registrar of Deeds John O’Brien has waged a campaign against what he argues is widespread fraud in the transfer of mortgages.
O’Brien has called out practices like “robo-signing” of transfers and the creation of what amounts to a private land registry that allows banks and investment funds to buy and sell mortgages without any public record of the transfer.
Meanwhile, in Beverly, community activist and former mayoral candidate Esther Ngotho was fighting her own battle to hold onto the Bridge Street home she purchased in 2004.
The purchase was financed with a $470,000, adjustable rate mortgage from what was then known as Option One. (Ngotho also obtained a $58,000 second mortgage from the city of Beverly, which required her to rent out one of the two apartments at an affordable rent for 15 years).
By the fall of 2006, just two years after she purchased the property, the payments had shot up, and Ngotho, like many other homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages at the time, fell behind. Option One sent her a notice of default that November.
“There is no question she was set up for failure by the lenders and others involved in this scheme,” O’Brien told reporters during a press conference Wednesday.
O’Brien was joined by Grace Ross of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending.
Ross also believes that Ngotho was “bamboozled” into a mortgage that the original lender knew she could not afford — and that it was part of a pattern of lenders preying on people of color, immigrants and women — like Ngotho, who fled Kenya with her daughter in 2001. Ross said Ngotho’s case is one of systemic “wealth-stripping.”
O’Brien contends that the documents submitted by Wells Fargo Bank on behalf of a trust that now owns the mortgage are “clearly fraudulent” and that he is “not going to allow Ngotho to be played by the lenders, the banks or by anyone who comes into the registry to file fraudulent documents.”

12/09/22

Lincoln County (NM) Sheriffs Commit Home Invasion Wall Street Stole My House

Lincoln County (NM) Sheriffs Commit Home Invasion
Deputy Sheriffs executing "civil" process, commit home invasion, kidnapping, and false imprisonment CALL TO ACTION: Contact the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and let him know how you feel about these appalling actions by his deputies.

12/09/22

Foreclosures on the rise in Virginia: Here’s how homeowners can prepare WAVY

Foreclosures on the rise in Virginia: Here’s how homeowners can prepare
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY)- Foreclosures in Virginia are up 175% from this time last year, according to Better Homes and Garden Real Estate Broker Susan Jenkins, as pandemic-era loan forgiveness programs come to an end and purse strings tighten.

12/09/22

Everyone thinks they are an expert. Then they start compounding errors. Living Lies

Everyone thinks they are an expert. Then they start compounding errors.
So for those who report to me that they have already sent a QWR, DVL or demand letter, let me say that unless you are an experienced litigator who has received the latest education in connection with the preparation of such letters, you should seek and obtain advice and assistance from a licensed professional.

12/08/22

Hochul urged to approve new safeguards in foreclosure process Spectrum Local News

Hochul urged to approve new safeguards in foreclosure process
A bill meant to reduce abuses in the foreclosure process in New York and add safeguards for homeowners is about to land on Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk by the end of the year. A coalition of New York City officials at the City Council, borough halls and citywide elected officials are urging her to sign it. Lawmakers who back the legislation have said the bill is meant to curb practices in foreclosure processes that are tipped against homeowners and in favor of banks during court proceedings.

12/08/22

U.S. Foreclosure Completions Increase Annually By 64 Percent In November 2022 Attom Data

U.S. Foreclosure Completions Increase Annually By 64 Percent In November 2022
Foreclosure Activity Remains Up 57 Percent from Last Year, and Foreclosure Starts Increase Annually by 98 Percent; But Both Measures Down from October 2022
IRVINE, Calif. — Dec. 8, 2022 — ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released its November 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 30,677 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – up 57 percent from a year ago, but down 5 percent from the prior month.

12/08/22

AS LONG AS YOU FEEL GUILTY ABOUT WINNING, YOU WON’T Living Lies

AS LONG AS YOU FEEL GUILTY ABOUT WINNING, YOU WON’T
People make a spectacular fatal error when they assume that anyone with whom they are corresponding, paying or calling is the slightest bit interested in preserving the integrity of a loan account. For the investment banks, this is not about loans. It is all about selling securities and then stealing homes.

12/07/22

Converting from nonjudicial to judicial foreclosure Living Lies

Converting from nonjudicial to judicial foreclosure
nonjudicial is NOT supposed to be a workaround for due process. IT IS ILLEGAL TO USE NONJUDICIAL PROCESS THAT WAY. * The statistics are very clear. The foreclosure mills win far more often in nonjudicial foreclosures than in judicial foreclosures, where they are required to file a complaint containing allegations of fact that can then be tested in discovery.

12/07/22

Court: Homeowner can sue bank over improper foreclosure Journal Record

Court: Homeowner can sue bank over improper foreclosure
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to allow a former homeowner to seek punitive damages against the bank that improperly filed a foreclosure action against him.

12/06/22

Secretary Yellen, We’ve Got a “Staggering” Problem: New Report Shows Foreign Banks Have Secret Derivative Debt that Is “10 Times their Capital” Wall Street On Parade

Secretary Yellen, We’ve Got a “Staggering” Problem: New Report Shows Foreign Banks Have Secret Derivative Debt that Is “10 Times their Capital”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has the dual role of Chairing the Financial Stability Oversight Council (F-SOC), whose role is to provide “comprehensive monitoring of the stability of our nation’s financial system.” Heads of each of the federal agencies that supervise Wall Street and the mega banks sit in on meetings of F-SOC.

12/06/22

Recovering Your Equity After Foreclosure Living Lies

Recovering Your Equity After Foreclosure
As a result of court bias and the plethora of legal preumptions arising from fabricated documents, it might well be the better strategy to do nothing and then sue for excess proceeds followed by an amendment to the pleadings alleging faud, compensatory and punitive daamges. Check with local counsel.

12/05/22

How homeowners win against foreclosure claims Living Lies

How homeowners win against foreclosure claims
People always write to me telling me that the documents used by the opposition are facially invalid. They say this because they do not know what they are talking about. They think the document is facially invalid because the lawyers and “Servicers” are lying. Lying, fraud, etc., is evidence of substantive invalidity but not facial invalidity. Do not use terms if you do not know what they mean in court.

12/02/22

Analyzing Q3’s Most At-Risk Housing Markets DSNews

Analyzing Q3’s Most At-Risk Housing Markets
ATTOM has issued a Special Housing Risk Report spotlighting county-level housing markets around the nation that are more or less vulnerable to declines, based on home affordability, foreclosures, and other measures in Q3 of 2022.
ATTOM’s report shows that New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, and inland California continued to have the highest concentrations of the most-at-risk markets in the country, with the biggest clusters in the New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia areas. Southern and Midwestern states remaining less exposed.

12/02/22

How a Mass. man’s eviction from his home led to a bee attack on police MassLive

Alton King Jr., sits at the basketball court inside of his home at 49 Memery Lane in Longmeadow. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)
Before Alton King Jr.’s $1.5 million home gained infamy as the scene of a bizarre honeybee assault on sheriff’s deputies amid an eviction proceeding, it was the site of a posh fundraiser for then-gubernatorial hopeful Deval L. Patrick in 2006 and for countless pick-up basketball games since.
The full-sized basketball court that is the crown jewel of the grand home he built on Memery Lane was the lifeblood of the property in more ways than one. It also proved the root of King’s financial ruin at 80 years old.

12/02/22

JPMorgan Chase Is Sparking Up New York Foreclosures! Are You Prepared? Call 888.737.6344 Before It’s Too Late! MFI-Miami

JPMorgan Chase Is Sparking Up New York Foreclosures! Are You Prepared? Call 888.737.6344 Before It’s Too Late!
JPMorgan Chase is sparking up New York foreclosures. This is bad news for New York homeowners because JPMorgan Chase is hellbent on taking your home! Therefore, MFI-Miami has teamed up with several New York law firm to create a New York foreclosure defense team specializing in JPMorgan Chase foreclosures.

12/02/22

Dear Robo-callers, robo-texters, robo-emailers and robo-signers Living Lies

Dear Robo-callers, robo-texters, robo-emailers and robo-signers
If I leave my front door open, that is not an invitation for you to enter on my property, enter my house and find someone to sell something. That is called “entering,” and it is a felony. It isn’t breaking and entering, but it is entering. I don’t want you or whatever you are selling to enter upon my property or go into my house or distract someone from whatever they were doing, forcing them to escort you out or call the police.

12/02/22

FAUX TRANSACTIONS: The Mathematics (Bookkeeping) behind the securitization myth Living Lies

FAUX TRANSACTIONS: The Mathematics (Bookkeeping) behind the securitization myth
“You got the loan, didn’t you?” The correct answer is “NO.” While most Americans understand that Wall Street “securitization” is operating behind the scenes, as consumers they have no knowledge of how this is impacting them. And worse, they like to pretend that they do know.

12/01/22

HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGE OF AN EMPTY PAPER BAG: FTX Meltdown is the natural outgrowth of allowing trading in unregulated securities sold as “derivatives” Living Lies

HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGE OF AN EMPTY PAPER BAG: FTX Meltdown is the natural outgrowth of allowing trading in unregulated securities sold as “derivatives”
Alan Greenspan admitted (after the 2008 crash) that he and the rest of the Federal Reserve had made a huge mistake in failing to regulate the creation, sales, and trading of derivatives that were only tenuously linked to the lending marketplace. The securities had no value or known attributes, but Greenspan was operating under the Milton Friedman doctrine that free market actions would make any necessary corrections.

11/30/22

Mr. Cooper servicing unit accused of deceit in COVID loss mitigation National Mortgage News

Mr. Cooper servicing unit accused of deceit in COVID loss mitigation
A pair of borrowers are suing Mr. Cooper for denying them a pandemic-related loss mitigation plan, accusing the firm's servicing unit of steering borrowers toward options which instead would benefit the company.

11/30/22

Business Records Clarity Living Lies

Business Records Clarity
The reports are produced by XYZ financial services (usually FiServ in conjunction with CoreLogic). *
The witness who is ostensibly employed by the company that has been designated as “Servicer” knows nothing about the location, existence, ownership, or authority over any account maintained in the name of the company (ABC BANk — usually US Bank, DBNTC or BONY) designated as a creditor.

11/29/22

LPOA: Creating the Illusion of Something Out of Nothing Living Lies

LPOA: Creating the Illusion of Something Out of Nothing
A common practice employed by the banks and leave foreclosure mills that represent the banks is to use an instrument purporting to transfer an asset as the foundation for the truth of the matter asserted: that is, that the asset exists. This practice has been heavily litigated over hundreds of years.

11/27/22

Anti-Eviction Workshop with MAAPL & Guest, Alton King MAAPL

Anti-Eviction Workshop with MAAPL & Guest, Alton King
We are seeing a huge uptick in planned evictions of people from their homes since the end of the eviction/foreclosure moratoriums and as we near the holidays. Come and hear Grace Ross, head of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL), speak about how we can join together and fight back against evictions across the country. MAAPL has been successful at stopping 56/63 of the planned evictions in Massachusetts that have come to their attention in the past 9 months, including one which made national news recently, the case of Alton King. He had bees come to his rescue and stall an eviction in progress of his home last month! We will also hear from Occupy activists who participated in 2011 eviction blockades. Special guest Alton King will give us an update on his case and what he views as a war on the vulnerable by predatory institutions that is being waged in our nation's courts. To find out more, please go to https://apropertyownersnetwork.org/maapl-leading-fight or MAAPL.info . Zoom link to the Wed. Nov 30th event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84618079973

11/25/22

The great American ‘homewashing’ is happening under our noses The Hill

The great American ‘homewashing’ is happening under our noses
This is about a $1 trillion government-sponsored enterprise built upon a myth — the myth of the American home. It is also about reform on the way.

11/24/22

United States: Sixth Circuit Reaffirms Mortgagor's Right To Excess Proceeds In A Foreclosure Under Doctrine Of Equitable Title Mondaq

United States: Sixth Circuit Reaffirms Mortgagor's Right To Excess Proceeds In A Foreclosure Under Doctrine Of Equitable Title
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently issued an opinion reaffirming mortgagors' post-foreclosure rights to the equity built in their mortgaged property after the creditor's debt is paid in full. In Hall v. Meisner, 51 F.4th 185 (6th Cir 2022),

11/23/22

Enforcement of Discovery — Sanctions Living Lies

Enforcement of Discovery — Sanctions
The heart of foreclosure defense lies in arcane procedures that occur within the context of discovery during litigation in court. The premise is that neither the foreclosure attorney nor any identified claimant can or will answer questions about the core issues of any foreclosure case —- the existence, ownership and right to administer, collect or enforce then alleged debt.

11/22/22

Michael Hill, Associated Press is on to something HUGE! Zombie foreclosures Living Lies

Michael Hill, Associated Press is on to something HUGE! Zombie foreclosures
see

11/21/22

Why I always knew that “servicers” were not acting like “servicers” and “creditors” were not acting like “creditors” Living Lies

Why I always knew that “servicers” were not acting like “servicers” and “creditors” were not acting like “creditors”
Preface: When I received my extended MBA degree with the highest honors, I also taught and tutored other students in accounting and auditing. *
I recently received a response sent by SPS as the “servicer.” note again that SPS is owned by Credit Suisse, a commercial and investment bank located offshore. The homeowner was understandably confused. There was a reference to an “account history” but no reference to an “account” or “loan account.”

11/18/22

Press Release: Alton King Returns Home MAAPL

Press Release: Alton King Returns Home
On Friday, November 18, 2022, Alton King, a Black senior with a disability who had been wrongfully evicted from his Longmeadow, MA home, returned to his house for the first time in over a month. King said in a statement released to the media by the Mass. Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL), “I am excited to be back home. I am very satisfied that the Longmeadow Police have understood that I am not evicted physically from the home right now and report to me that they will be looking for the parties who claim that they have some rights to go back to the courts.” King’s case is currently under reconsideration by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. MAAPL has been working with other organizations to convince the SJC to reverse its decision in the original case. More details about the SJC’s original decision, and MAAPL’s response to the decision, are available here on the MAAPL website. You can read the full MAAPL Press Release below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact(s): Mr. Alton King: (413) 250-0098; Grace Ross (MAAPL Director): (617) 291-5591 LOCATION: 49 Memery Lane, Longmeadow, MA 01106-2573 ALTON KING RETURNS HOME LONGMEADOW, MA, November 18, 2022 – Earlier today, Alton King, Jr. unlocked his home for the first time in over a month. Prior to doing so, King prioritized notifying the Longmeadow Police Department and ultimately gained entry with the assistance of a locksmith. King, though 80 years old, will swish jump shots… if you let him. After being out of his house for over a month, Mr. King was upbeat and praised the Longmeadow Police Department for their handling of today’s events:
“I am excited to be back home. I am very satisfied that the Longmeadow Police have understood that I am not evicted physically from the home right now and report to me that they will be looking for the parties who claim that they have some rights to go back to the courts.”
Sadly, the condition of Mr. King’s home, and the exact location of his possessions is still uncertain at this time. Mr. King conveyed the following after assessing his home for the first time in over a month:
“My home is not the way that I left it. We are creating a list of damages at this point. I still have a right to my belongings that are being illegally withheld by the moving company. They claim that it is the Sheriff’s office that is doing it. I expect those to be returned to me immediately. This is obviously not over, but today, justice prevailed.” [emphasis added]
Contrary to the disclosures by Sheriff Nick Cocchi, no legal eviction of Mr. Alton King from: 49 Memery Lane, Longmeadow, MA occurred on October 12, 2020. In fact, aside from confirming receipt, Sheriff Cocchi has still not responded to the ‘Open Letter’, dated and delivered to him on October 12, 2022. On the aforementioned day, Mr. King was unlawfully locked out of his house, and watched as much of his personal property was removed from his house. As of 6 p.m. today, some of Mr. King’s personal property still remains locked at Race Street Properties, 460 Race Street, Holyoke, MA.
Until today:
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON As TRUSTEE on behalf of the registered holders of Alternative Loan Trust 2006-J7, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-J7 (BNYM-J7)
had been ‘holding’ Mr. King’s home hostage for over a month. An unknown quantity of Mr. King’s personal possessions, removed by Race Street Properties on October 12, 2022, still remains unaccounted for.
1Race Street Properties, 460 Race Street, Holyoke, MA, which purports to be a ‘storage’ facility while not being legally registered with MA Division of Occupational Licensure (DOL). Also, Mr. King has not received a final inventory release from Race Street Properties for his ‘stored’ personal property as required by MGL Chapter 239 § 4.
The above-mentioned securitized trust (BNYM-J7) has: no legal existence, no trust founding documents on record with any Massachusetts Registries of Deeds, and has or is in the process of violating numerous Massachusetts laws and various Federal laws, including the anti-Ku Klux Klan Act, 42 U.S. c. §1981-88 (See ‘Open Letter’ to Sheriff Cocchi).
Today, Mr. King intends to return to his home so he may sleep in his own bed tonight and celebrate Thanksgiving with his family as he has for the last 18 years. Presently, the Bankruptcy Court has sole jurisdiction over this matter; the next hearing date for Mr. King is on December 13, 2022 at 10 a.m.
For other comments, clarifications, or questions, please contact:
Grace Ross, Coordinator of Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) (617) 291-5591 (c); Grace@GraceRoss.net
Please contact Jay Lively, Outreach & Media for general inquiries at (774) 521-6382 (c); jay.lively22@gmail.com
Posted in Current News, MAAPL in the News, Take Action! | Tagged Alton King, Eviction, Supreme Judicial Court | Leave a comment

11/18/22

Don’t ask for the true identity of the “holder of the note.” Ask instead for the identity of the holder in due course or the creditor. Living Lies

Don’t ask for the true identity of the “holder of the note.” Ask instead for the identity of the holder in due course or the creditor.
The point is not the identity of the “holder” of the note. The point is the identity of the party who owns and maintains an unpaid loan account receivable that is due from you to that party. The problem with asking for the identity of the holder of the note is that there is a legal presumption that arises from the mere allegation of delivery of possession of the promissory note. *
The presumption is that (1) it was delivered by somebody who was authorized to make the delivery, (2) that the delivery came from someone who owned the note or had authority from the owner, (3) that it was accompanied by a grant of authority to enforce the promissory note and (4) that the new possessor accepted the delivery as the new holder in due course or new “holder.” Current American jurisprudence has magnified these presumptions as though they were on steroids. *
The last point is especially troublesome in the world of false claims of “securitization of debt.” It is one of those things that is so obvious you forget to ask. When (for example) U.S. Bank, as trustee, is named as the new possessor of the note or assignee of the mortgage lien, nobody thinks to ask whether U.S. Bank has actually executed any document or performed any action that indicated that it accepted the endorsement or assignment or delivery.

11/17/22

The “Debt” rabbit hole Living Lies

The “Debt” rabbit hole
Take care to distinguish what contract you’re talking about. If you receive money, the law says you must give it back unless it was payment for something or it was a gift. In that sense, the law imposes a contract on people even if they are not thinking about or writing a contract.

11/17/22

The Latest Digital Token Scheme from Hell: New York Fed Teams Up with Citigroup and Sullivan & Cromwell Wall Street On Parade

The Latest Digital Token Scheme from Hell: New York Fed Teams Up with Citigroup and Sullivan & Cromwell
Just two business days after the crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy and headlines swirled around the world suggesting it had used its crypto token to perpetuate a massive fraud reminiscent of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, the New York Fed thought this would be an ideal time to announce it was launching a digital token pilot with the serial fraudster, Citigroup. (See here for the unintelligible, jargonized version from the New York Fed; here for the decrypted translation from CoinDesk; and here for a sampling of Citigroup’s rap sheet.)

11/16/22

FTX Was Creating Money Out of Thin Air Like the Fed; and Trading Its Own “Stock” Like the Wall Street Mega Banks in their Dark Pools Wall Street On Parade

FTX Was Creating Money Out of Thin Air Like the Fed; and Trading Its Own “Stock” Like the Wall Street Mega Banks in their Dark Pools
On June 10 of last year, Wall Street On Parade penned this headline: Seven Years after Michael Lewis Described on National TV How the U.S. Stock Market Is Rigged, SEC Chair Gensler Says He’s Going to Tackle Market Structure. Unfortunately for confidence in U.S. markets, that’s yet to happen. And it’s not just the fault of Gensler. The Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee that should be holding in-depth hearings on the most corrupted market structure since 1929 have opted instead to hold superficial hearings each time something blows up as a result of that corrupted market structure, but never actually get around to tackling the corrupt market structure itself.

11/16/22

'Zombie Debt': Homeowners face foreclosure on old mortgages Yahoo News

'Zombie Debt': Homeowners face foreclosure on old mortgages
Rose Prophete thought the second mortgage loan on her Brooklyn home was resolved about a decade ago — until she received paperwork claiming she owed more than $130,000.
“I was shocked,” said Prophete, who refinanced her two-family home in 2006, six years after arriving from Haiti. "I don’t even know these people because they never contacted me. They never called me.”
Prophete is part of a wave of homeowners who say they were blindsided by the start of foreclosure actions on their homes over second loans that were taken out more than a decade ago. The trusts and mortgage loan servicers behind the actions say the loans were defaulted on years ago.
Some of these homeowners say they weren't even aware they had a second mortgage because of confusing loan structures. Others believed their second loans were rolled in with their first mortgage payments or forgiven. Typically, they say they had not received statements on their second loans for years as they paid down their first mortgages.
Now they're being told the loans weren't dead after all. Instead, they're what critics call “zombie debt” — old loans with new collection actions.

11/16/22

How to Defeat Claims of “Business Record Exception” to the Hearsay Rule. Living Lies

How to Defeat Claims of “Business Record Exception” to the Hearsay Rule.
It is the absence of evidence that becomes evidence of absence. Suppose you ask any litigator who has experience in defending foreclosure claims. In that case, they will tell you that there is absolutely no doubt that all current claims asserting the right to administer, collect and enforce the implied loan account due from the homeowner are entirely based upon documents introduced to the court as business records.

11/15/22

It is easy to blame judges for corruption, but it is more accurate to blame them for ignorance and arrogance. Living Lies

It is easy to blame judges for corruption, but it is more accurate to blame them for ignorance and arrogance.
Homeowners (and my readers, in particular) are completely correct in asserting at least the appearance of corruption by judges. Virtually all of them have their retirement invested partially or even mostly in funds that rely heavily on purchasing “Mortgage-Backed Securities.” Hence, if judges were to rule against the lawyers asserting representation of banks like “U.S. Bank as trustee…” (Blah blah), they would be ruling against the interest of their retirement.

11/14/22

Illegal legal Doctrine: The Homeowner Should Always Lose.” —How the courts paved the way to allow illegal foreclosures to be tried, retried and tried again Living Lies

Illegal legal Doctrine: The Homeowner Should Always Lose.” —How the courts paved the way to allow illegal foreclosures to be tried, retried and tried again
… the courts have been following an illegal doctrine for about 25 years. It is called “The Homeowner Should Always Lose.” This is closely related to the corollary doctrine of “False Foreclosure Claims Should be Allowed to Prevent Economic Disaster.”

11/11/22

Just because you see a picture of a duck doesn’t mean it can poop on your patio Living Lies

Just because you see a picture of a duck doesn’t mean it can poop on your patio
Someone once asked me if “securitization” was actually a hologram. My answer was that it is a hologram of an empty paper bag. He ran with that and made millions defending homeowners. All he did was demand corroboration of the facts that the lawyer for the foreclosure mill wanted the court to presume from the apparent facial validity of the documents.
The apparent facial validity is the picture. It isn’t true, but it looks good — like a nice picture of a duck taken with a high-end camera.
So let’s take an example, which I lifted from a recent upload from Scott Staffne. As usual, it is an appeal that challenges the notion that someone who does not own the underlying obligation would be allowed to ask for property to be forcibly sold and the occupants dispossessed.
The answer, of course, as any law professor will tell you is that there are specific provisions in the law to prevent that from happening. But the courts are doing it anyway, and the appellate courts keep dodging the issue as though something terrible would happen if they allowed the premise of the modern foreclosure to be challenged, as is required to be allowed under the U.S. Constitution.

11/10/22

Now that the election is over, start writing to senators and representatives in state and federal government. Living Lies

Now that the election is over, start writing to senators and representatives in state and federal government.
I am proposing that homeowners start petitions and complaints to government agencies and to US Senators US Representatives, State Senators, and State Representatives. With the election over, they have the time to do their job instead of focusing on getting elected or re-elected. I have been corresponding with activists who are doing exactly that and I was drawn into the effort. So here is part of my correspondence with one of them:

11/10/22

Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of FDCPA and FCRA Claims Finding Collection Efforts Proper Despite Plaintiff’s Dismissal from Foreclosure Action; No Obligation to Report Frivolous Dispute JD Supra

Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of FDCPA and FCRA Claims Finding Collection Efforts Proper Despite Plaintiff’s Dismissal from Foreclosure Action; No In Macris v. Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC, 2022 WL 16727611 (2d Cir. Nov. 7, 2022), the Second Circuit upheld summary judgment for a mortgage servicer, holding that the plaintiff could not pursue claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) for the reporting and collection efforts of his mortgage note.

11/09/22

OCTOBER 2022 U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY INCREASES 57 PERCENT FROM OCTOBER 2021 PR Newswire

OCTOBER 2022 U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY INCREASES 57 PERCENT FROM OCTOBER 2021
Completed Foreclosures (REOs) Increase by 18 Percent, While Foreclosure Starts Remain Flat IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released its October 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 32,376 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – up 57 percent from a year ago, but only up 2 percent from the prior month.

11/09/22

How Wall Street escaped most liability for blatant violations of lending and servicing statutes. Living Lies

How Wall Street escaped most liability for blatant violations of lending and servicing statutes.
The trustee on a deed of trust becomes the owner of the property or perhaps it would be better stated if we said that it was the owner of the title to the property. *
In a normal world transfer of the title to the property from one trustee to another is made on behalf of and at the instruction of the beneficiary under the deed of trust. The beneficiary can only call themselves a beneficiary if they qualify as a beneficiary under the statutory scheme for deeds of trust. In all cases, this must mean that the beneficiary is the owner of the “underlying obligation,” as is stated in hundreds of case law decisions. *
The problem for the courts and for homeowners is how you define the “underlying obligation.

11/08/22

What is Fannie Mae? Bankrate

What is Fannie Mae?
The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), colloquially known as Fannie Mae, is a Congressionally-chartered agency that acts as a major player in the mortgage industry. Fannie Mae does not originate or offer mortgages directly to borrowers, but instead purchases them from lenders who do, in effect guaranteeing a market for the mortgages. By investing in them this way, it offers liquidity, stability and an ongoing “flow of capital into the U.S. housing market,” as per the company’s website, as well as the banks and companies that make mortgage loans. Along with buying loans from banks and mortgage companies, Fannie Mae offers a variety of loan products to financial institutions and education programs and services to consumers, helping to ensure homeownership for low- and middle-income Americans specifically.

11/08/22

Servicer compensation Living Lies

Servicer compensation
The industry knows there is a gigantic problem surrounding servicer compensation. But there’s a difference between knowing the problem and knowing how to solve it. As Laurie Goodman, codirector of the Housing Finance Policy Center with the Urban Institute, so eloquently put it at a housing policy event on Wednesday, “It is much easier to say the current system does not work than it is actually come up with something better.”

11/07/22

Where’s Waldo? You need to stare at something for a while before you see everything. Living Lies

Where’s Waldo? You need to stare at something for a while before you see everything.
While I was doing a CONSULT for someone, a reminder popped up on my computer screen relating to a statement sent under the letterhead of “Shellpoint.” Since securitization is a game of musical labels, the name “Shellpoint” seems especially appropriate. And knowing the culture of investment banking (having been an investment banker), it is likely that this was intentional. Investment bankers seem to think this whole mortgage meltdown/securitization scandal is a game or a joke. Maybe I would think that too, if I was being paid 50 times what I would otherwise be paid under any legitimate s scheme.

11/07/22

Quietly, the Fed Releases Its Financial Stability Report and Lines Up a Scapegoat Wall Street On Parade

Quietly, the Fed Releases Its Financial Stability Report and Lines Up a Scapegoat
One minute after the stock market closed on Friday, the Federal Reserve mailed out a link to its newly-released Financial Stability Report to folks who have signed up to get press releases from the Fed. For those of you who have been reading our reports on the Fed for years – its unaccountable money printing and bailouts of Wall Street, the opaque activities of the trading floors owned by the New York Fed, its unchecked conflicts of interest, and its brazen, and as yet unprosecuted, trading scandal – you might suspect that the Fed would have pulled a lot of punches in its “Financial Stability Report.” You would be correct.

11/04/22

Racial Differences in Economic Security: Housing US Treasury

Racial Differences in Economic Security: Housing
This is the third installment in a series of blog posts on racial inequality produced by the Office of Economic Policy. The other posts can be found at these links: 1. Racial Inequality in the United States 2. Racial Differences in Economic Security: The Racial Wealth Gap In this blog post we discuss the stark differences in homeownership and housing wealth across racial and ethnic groups in the United States, which are key contributors to the persistence of the racial wealth gap[1] and drive differences in economic security across groups.

11/04/22

Pritzker Administration Reopens Housing Assistance Program for Illinois Homeowners My Radio Link

Pritzker Administration Reopens Housing Assistance Program for Illinois Homeowners
CHICAGO – The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) announced the Illinois Homeowner Assistance Fund (ILHAF) is now open to support qualified homeowners who need help with past-due mortgage payments and related expenses due to financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting today, eligible households may apply for grants of up to $60,000 for past-due mortgage payments, property taxes, property insurance and homeowner and/or condo association fees. Applications will be accepted at www.illinoishousinghelp.org until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023.

11/04/22

An Economist’s Chart Goes Viral: Shows Main Source of Inflation Wall Street On Parade

An Economist’s Chart Goes Viral: Shows Main Source of Inflation
On April 21 Josh Bivens posted a titillating analysis on the Working Economics Blog. Bivens has a Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research and is the Director of Research at the Economic Policy Institute. The blog post was titled: “Corporate profits have contributed disproportionately to inflation. How should policymakers respond?”

11/04/22

Ignorance of law, accounting, bookkeeping and financial reporting leads to arguments and assumptions about futility Living Lies

Ignorance of law, accounting, bookkeeping and financial reporting leads to arguments and assumptions about futility
Let me first state that in 16 years of public appearances, presentations at CLE seminars for litigators and bankruptcy lawyers, thousands of articles published in 26 countries, and thousands of cases litigated in court, there has been only icy silence from Wall Street as to my criticism of the financial system, the political system, and the judicial system as to how they treated the 2008 crash.

11/03/22

What is Indiana’s Homeowner Assistance Fund and what does it do for struggling homeowners? Indiana Public Media

What is Indiana’s Homeowner Assistance Fund and what does it do for struggling homeowners?
Homeowner Assistance Funds were established through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 to combat COVID-19-related setbacks. Indiana’s Homeowner Assistance Fund is the state’s fund for Hoosiers. One listener wondered why applications were taking long to process and if others struggled with foreclosures in the process. John Brengle is an attorney with Indiana Legal Services. He explained when an application for the program is started, the bank cannot foreclose.

11/03/22

“Experts” and Fact Witnesses Living Lies

“Experts” and Fact Witnesses
A lot of people contact me asking for an expert report. Most have no education, training, knowledge, or experience in using the testimony or report of a witness claimed to be an expert. The problem is compounded by the inability of the homeowner, or the lawyer for the homeowner, to do what every trial lawyer does with every expert witness — i.e., ask questions. Instead, they ask for an expert report as though that alone will count for something. They are right it will count for something, but not in the way they are generally thinking.

11/02/22

You Are Not Securitizing Debt If You Are Not Securitizing Debt Living Lies

You Are Not Securitizing Debt If You Are Not Securitizing Debt
The problem here is the lack of information that is provided to victims of fraudulent foreclosure. You are perfectly correct that no economic or financial loss is attributed to a loss of value or a loss posted to an unpaid loan account.
*
There are two problems.

11/01/22

An example of why people hate lawyers and the courts: Splitting Hairs Living Lies

An example of why people hate lawyers and the courts: Splitting Hairs
The problem here is the lack of information that is provided to victims of fraudulent foreclosure. You are perfectly correct that no economic or financial loss is attributed to a loss of value or a loss posted to an unpaid loan account. * There are two problems.

11/01/22

Three 2nd Circuit Judges, all in their 80s, Decide Traders Rigging Libor Wasn’t Really a Crime Wall Street On Parade

Three 2nd Circuit Judges, all in their 80s, Decide Traders Rigging Libor Wasn’t Really a Crime
Life in the United States of America increasingly feels like a bad translation of a Kafka novel. We are specifically referring today to the arbiters of justice in our society – the men and women appointed as lifetime judges on the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appellate courts and federal district courts. These courts have now become Kafkaesque with no apparent means for the public to hold these judges accountable for their actions.

10/28/22

Attorney Gary Dubin Does it Again In Hawaii: Persistence Pays Living Lies

Attorney Gary Dubin Does it Again In Hawaii: Persistence Pays
Gary Dubin is one of the few lawyers with more life and legal experience than I have. While I have won most of my trial cases, Dubin has been consistently winning both trial and appellate cases, especially concerning false claims of foreclosure. Here is another one that displays his talent for narrowing the legal issues to something that a homeowner can actually win. see CAAP-18-0000326sdo I’m unsure if he entirely agrees with my description of why the actors in foreclosure scams resorted to fake documents and unsupported claims. And truth be told, he probably does not care. He is merely following the tradition — when defending, question everything, admit nothing and make the claimant prove their case. Once he has prevented the opposition from proving their case, his job is over. The homeowner wins.

10/27/22

No REMIC Trust, No MBS, No Trustee, No Beneficiaries, No “Thing” Transferred to Trustee — but other than that the claim is legal Living Lies

No REMIC Trust, No MBS, No Trustee, No Beneficiaries, No “Thing” Transferred to Trustee — but other than that the claim is legal
contrary to popular belief, if the foreclosure is allowed, no trust, no beneficiary, no certificate holder, and no trustee or servicer is ever going to see the money proceeds from the liquidation of the property.

10/27/22

Fed’s Powell Calls U.S. Economy “Robust” as Personal Savings Rate Collapses to Same Level as in Financial Crisis of 2008 Wall Street On Parade

Fed’s Powell Calls U.S. Economy “Robust” as Personal Savings Rate Collapses to Same Level as in Financial Crisis of 2008
At Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference on September 21, he made a remark that went unchallenged by the bevy of reporters in attendance. Powell said this: Fed Chair Jerome Powell Testifying Before Senate Banking Committee, November 30, 2021 Fed Chair Jerome Powell Testifying Before Senate Banking Committee, November 30, 2021 “This is a strong, robust economy. People have savings on their balance sheet from the period when they couldn’t spend and where they were getting government transfers. There’s still very significant savings out there, although not as much at the lower end of the income spectrum — but still, some savings out there to support growth.

10/27/22

US Serious Mortgage Delinquency Rate Returns to Pre-Pandemic Low in August, CoreLogic Reports Business Wire

US Serious Mortgage Delinquency Rate Returns to Pre-Pandemic Low in August, CoreLogic Reports
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for August 2022.

10/26/22

Practice Implications of Fifth Circuit Ruling That CFPB Funding Unconstitutional NCLC

Practice Implications of Fifth Circuit Ruling That CFPB Funding Unconstitutional
On October 19, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding mechanism is unconstitutional, and that the CFPB’s Payday Lending Rule is invalid because it was promulgated using unconstitutional funding.

10/26/22

JPMorgan Chase Quietly Settles Whistleblower Case Involving Charges of Keeping Two Sets of Books and Improper Payments to Tony Blair Wall Street On Parade

JPMorgan Chase Quietly Settles Whistleblower Case Involving Charges of Keeping Two Sets of Books and Improper Payments to Tony Blair
It was a lawsuit that should have made front page headlines in every major newspaper in America and on the evening television news. Instead, as we predicted, it was quietly settled on Monday, just 10 business days before a trial was scheduled to begin. The dollar amount of the settlement was not disclosed. Yesterday, Wall Street’s paper of record, the Wall Street Journal, devoted a mere 299 words to the settlement and the details of the case.

10/26/22

Stop Looking for Corruption and Start Defending Living Lies

Stop Looking for Corruption and Start Defending
This quote is incorrect: “The judges have a duty to see this and turn a blind eye.” Judges have no duty to see anything other than what is in the court record. They also have no duty to inquire. The fact that they might do so in one case or another does not create a duty. It only means they have broad discretion as long as their inquiry relates to the fundamental allegations being litigated.

10/25/22

The Bees of Wrath Rorie Woods knew foreclosure all too well. And when her friend was evicted, she rushed over with a venomous posse. NY Magazine Intelligencer

The Bees of Wrath Rorie Woods knew foreclosure all too well. And when her friend was evicted, she rushed over with a venomous posse.
The overnight chill continued into a recent morning in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, when sheriff’s deputies arrived at 49 Memery Lane. It would have been a perfect fall day but for the unpleasant business at hand: the eviction of Alton King Jr., a 79-year-old retiree who had lived at the address for decades. He’d spent the past few years fighting foreclosure,

10/25/22

Ocwen/PHH Servcing? Maybe a subpoena to Scott Anderson will shake the tree Living Lies

Ocwen/PHH Servcing? Maybe a subpoena to Scott Anderson will shake the tree
Ocwen is the parent company, and PHH is said to be a subsidiary and subservicer in charge of underperforming or nonperforming accounts. Those who read these pages know that I have taken the position, successfully in many court cases, that Ocwen is not doing anything, and neither is PHH. They are fronts for third-party FINTECH companies (mainly CoreLogic, FiServ and BlackKnight).

10/25/22

A Former Goldman Sachs/Hedge Fund Guy Is the New U.K. Prime Minister Wall Street On Parade

A Former Goldman Sachs/Hedge Fund Guy Is the New U.K. Prime Minister
The newly installed U.K. Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, (the third PM in seven weeks) has scrubbed his Goldman Sachs and hedge fund career from his LinkedIn profile and from his official government bio. But, unfortunately for Sunak, those careers have been assiduously chronicled in countless newspaper articles for more than a decade – and not in a good way.

10/24/22

Foreclosure Defense does not mean proving any facts Living Lies

Foreclosure Defense does not mean proving any facts
The absence of an unpaid loan account on the books and records of the alleged “successor lender” is all you need to defeat the foreclosure, and that is also sufficient to tee up the case for a lawsuit for wrongful foreclosure.

10/21/22

Press Release:
Eviction Not Final Outcome of 16 Year Predatory Discriminatory Loan
MAAPL

Press Release:
Eviction Not Final Outcome of 16 Year Predatory Discriminatory Loan

On Thursday, October 20, 2022, the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) released a statement to the media regarding the wrongful eviction case of Alton King, a Black senior with a disability.

King has an open case in the Massachusetts Appeals Court. MAAPL has also been working with other organizations to convince the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts to reverse its decision in King’s original case. More details about the SJC’s original decision, and MAAPL’s response to the decision, are available here on the MAAPL website.

For recent Western MA media coverage of this case, see this news item.

Download the complete Press Release ( PDF )

Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) www.maapl.info and maaplinfo@gmail.com

For Immediate Release: October 20, 2022 Contact: Grace Ross 617-291-5591

EVICTION NOT FINAL OUTCOME OF 16 YEAR PREDATORY DISCRIMINATORY LOAN

Longmeadow, MA, October 12, 2022, the eviction started at 9am but the Execution to Evict Alton King expired at 11:59pm.

Yet, on Thursday, October 13th, the Hampden County Sheriff deputies were found still on King’s property, with moving trucks; and continuing a move-out while they no longer had an authorizing Order to Evict. King, meanwhile, received a Bankruptcy Stay on Thursday, October 13, 2022 around 8:35 a.m.

Being evicted, even though the eviction case came about exemplifying the absolutely most predatory type of loan, not legal under any mortgage law; King’s loan epitomizes practices repeatedly prohibited by State and Federal law and Federal and State case-law since they began 160 years ago.

Unbeknownst to King, the underwriting of his property by the lender only offered him a bifurcated loan almost $400,000 more than the property was worth, trapping him in an unaffordable loan that ballooned in a couple of years, to over three times the monthly payment he was originally told.

But what he only found out after they claimed to have foreclosed on the prohibited loan, was that it was a double-book entry loan, where he was being sent bills for a lower interest rate than the bank was actually using, to build up how much he would owe over time; so that after 30 years of paying, he would actually owe more (that he had not been assessed monthly in his billing) principal than he had when he first got the loan.

Alton King, as an African American senior with a disability, was illegally induced into an unsustainable and prohibited loan.

King’s monthly payment mushroomed from $3200/month to $13,400/month. The mortgage was based on a 150% over inflated appraisal; when the $410,000 addition was placed on the home the appraised value dropped $250,000. The bank refused to give a conventional loan as promised.

Former Attorney General Harshbarger fixed this predatory lending problem 30 years ago with regulations and a criminal law; when that failed the Predatory Home Loan Practices Act (PHLPA) was enacted in 2004, but the courts have refused to enforce all of these.

Fast-forward through: unsuccessful attempts to get a loan modification, three years of court cases post a purported non-judicial foreclosure (because no court oversees the foreclosure by sale process in Massachusetts). Finally, the judges he was in front of waited-out King’s various legal rights to a Stay, by denying him the documents necessary to exercise his rights to appeal a renewed order to evict.

As King himself reports:

“The judiciary, from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court down to through all the courts have thus far largely ignored enforcement of those protections. Falsified documents are routinely accepted by the courts from bank attorneys, who seemed to have No Fear of repercussions, to validate the wrongful foreclosures.

Justice requires accountability for those who violate their positions of trust. The recent MA SJC decision in the HSBC Bank, as Trustee v. Morris case (July 2022) has made it clear that predatory loans are not going to be tolerated. Not only is there extensive evidence now of the bifurcated history of mortgage lending in this country and the clear history of discrimination, but I documented the equal rights violations in the Housing Court proceeding, itself, at minimum, as to age and disability.

As a senior Black man with a disability, I know from personal experience of 16 years of mortgaging and then foreclosure and not that Courts what our laws hold, that the experience of unequal treatment that is not timely rectified is also recognized as an irredeemable loss. Such treatment left unremedied not only leaves an indelible mark but lack of protection signals that the victim, such as me, is not even held as worthy of the protections guaranteed in our state and federal constitutions: “even a successful suit will not vindicate entirely King’s right to be free from discriminatory treatment.

Our Constitutions’ guarantee of equal protection cannot conscience denial of a stay of eviction and provision of all his full rights.

Millions of Americans, a disproportionate number of them being Black, minorities, elderly, Indigent, and disabled, are being targeted. The predatory institutions act with impunity, especially knowing that there is tremendous profit and almost no risk in taking advantage of Black people, minorities, elderly, indigent, and disabled.”

As of today, King has exercised his rights to a Stay under bankruptcy. The Hampden County Sheriff’s office sits in a legally untenable position of withholding King’s own personal possessions from him by locking him out of the house and yet not allowing him access to possessions in the house, including legal documents that he has a right to.

King has an open case in the Massachusetts Appeals Court; he has a right to reverse the eviction judgment under the Morris decision that has been not even properly reviewed, and therefore he has a right to have heard. And he is exercising all of his options to enforce his rights at this time.

As King says: “I call on the world, right now, to stand on the right side of justice and recognize that it is only a matter of time now, that the wealthiest institutions are going to have to face justice regarding decades of knowing discriminatory lending (race, age, disability, and for other homeowners, such for instance as Rorie Susan Woods, herself, victim of sexist lending), all of which has been outlawed for some 50 years.”

(END)

10/21/22

Consumer Ignorance: CFPB was your best bet and now you are about to lose it Living Lies

Consumer Ignorance: CFPB was your best bet and now you are about to lose it
Several people have greeted the latest news with a yawn. It’s about the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals opining that the CFPB funding was contrary to the required constitutional separation of powers — and, therefore, could not legally do anything. Most readers seem to think that there is no help coming from the Federal government and that the burden of defending the illegal, fraudulent foreclosures was simply too much to take on. So they gave up.

10/21/22

Foundation evidence: If you REALLY want to beat the banks Living Lies

Foundation evidence: If you REALLY want to beat the banks
Stop thinking that you know all about finance, law and lending. If you assume that you know absolutely nothing and that you want to know absolutely everything, you will get better terms in a transaction and a much higher likelihood of winning in litigation.

10/20/22

When Spokeo rears its ugly head Clouded Titles

When Spokeo rears its ugly head
Here we go again … another case in federal appeals court … another recognized attempt by a homeowner that failed when applied to the Spokeo v. Robins case handed down by the United States Supreme Court, 578 U.S. 330 (2016). See the case below:

10/20/22

Settlements virtually admitted virtual fraud but failed to protect consumers/homeowners Living Lies

Settlements virtually admitted virtual fraud but failed to protect consumers/homeowners
Some people have discovered that in the settlements that have been published, the major financial institutions and the governments of various states have agreed to programs in which monetary relief was granted to the states, but not the homeowners to any material degree.

10/20/22

Wall Street wins again in Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal Living Lies

Wall Street wins again in Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal
The latest decision striking the funding of the CFPB is a perfect example of that impact. The fifth circuit Court of Appeal has made circular logic into an art form. * Congress passed the statutory authority and charter for the CFPB to act. Congress passed the statutory authority for the CFPB to be funded up to a certain amount and to be disbursed by the Federal Reserve. *

10/19/22

Mortgage demand drops to a 25-year low, as interest rates climb CNBC

Mortgage demand drops to a 25-year low, as interest rates climb
Mortgage demand, which has suffered four straight months of declines, fell last week to the lowest level since 1997, as interest rates continued to rise. Homebuyers’ demand for mortgages dropped 4% for the week and was 38% lower than the same week one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to refinance a home loan fell 7% compared with the previous week, in seasonally adjusted terms. Demand was 86% lower than the same week one year ago.

10/19/22

This Time Will Be Different: One or More Corporations Will Blow Up from Derivatives along with Global Banks Wall Street On Parade

This Time Will Be Different: One or More Corporations Will Blow Up from Derivatives along with Global Banks
Today, we will be asking the Senate Banking Committee, its Chair, Senator Sherrod Brown, and one of its most knowledgeable members, Senator Elizabeth Warren, to call an emergency hearing and subpoena the testimony of two brilliant researchers for the Office of Financial Research. Those researchers are Andrew Ellul and Dasol Kim.

10/19/22

Housing advocates fighting against Longmeadow eviction that ended in bee attack Western Mass News

Housing advocates fighting against Longmeadow eviction that ended in bee attack
LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - We begin with an arrest in Longmeadow that has many people talking. A woman released bees on sheriff’s deputies, trying to stop an eviction. Now, representatives of the homeowner who was evicted on Memery Lane in Longmeadow say the eviction was unlawful. The Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending, also known as MAAPL, said that homeowner Alton King was wrongfully removed from his home. On October 12th, the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office was conducting a court-ordered eviction of this Longmeadow home, which made headlines when a woman protesting the eviction unleashed boxes of bees to sting the officers in an attempt to stop the eviction.

10/19/22

Fraud-based actors using MERS turned a hefty profit and were never held to account Living Lies

Fraud-based actors using MERS turned a hefty profit and were never held to account
The only beef I have with the article cited in the link below is that it fails to ask, “why?” Why were fabricated documents needed at all? Why was MERS needed at all? Why were “servicers” needed at all? The rise of “servicers” only occurred within a specific period in a very specific sector of the marketplace. And they performed no servicing functions —- even though lawyers produced “records” of such activities in pursuit of foreclosure.

10/18/22

Why You Should Care About “Casino Banking” Living Lies

Why You Should Care About “Casino Banking”
The simple answer is because they are robbing you blind. And you are blind because they are hiding behind multiple layers of curtains.

10/17/22

BofA Acquired Countrywide But Tried to Say It Didn’t Living Lies

BofA Acquired Countrywide But Tried to Say It Didn’t
In the palace of smoke and mirrors that is securitization, everyone is allowed to say they understand the infrastructure even though hardly anyone has the education, training, information, and experience to know anything about it. Even most investment bankers do not grasp the enormity of this scheme which was part straight fraud and part PONZO scheme.

10/15/22

Home buyers turn to riskier loans as interest rates soar NBC

Home buyers turn to riskier loans as interest rates soar
WASHINGTON — Home buyers feeling financially squeezed by higher interest rates are increasingly being steered by real estate agents and mortgage brokers to potentially riskier types of mortgages, similar to those seen ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, causing concern among some consumer advocates and industry analysts.

10/15/22

Nationwide foreclosures are up over pre-pandemic levels Clouded Titles

Nationwide foreclosures are up over pre-pandemic levels
Attom Data (which supplies information to RealtyTrac®) has released a fairly comprehensive report which indicates that foreclosure starts are up 167% from a year ago! What’s worse is that the average time to foreclose nationwide has decreased 4% from a year ago, which can only mean that the banks and their mortgage loan servicers have become more aggressive in their foreclosure processes.

10/14/22

Avoiding foreclosure and saving your home. WKBW

Avoiding foreclosure and saving your home.
When people get that notice, where do they start? Erie county clerk, Kearns says first, open up your mail. You have to open your mail and be aware that you have rights as homeowners in New York State. He says the first thing you do, if you are behind on your loan is please stay in your home, that’s number one, stay there.

10/14/22

How Foreclosure Mills Introduce Newly Fabricated False Documents Before Trial Living Lies

How Foreclosure Mills Introduce Newly Fabricated False Documents Before Trial
The simplest way to get a new document into evidence at trial is to list it on the pretrial catalogue and include a copy of it when serving the homeowner or counsel for the homeowner. * I have seen this ploy used hundreds of times and it usually works because the document is listed as something that the homeowner believes he or she has already seen. But it is brand new and it changes the entire case. The case proceeds as though something else was in the pleading filed against the homeowner.

10/13/22

US foreclosure starts increase 167 percent from year ago, Vermont lowest rate in nation Vermont Biz

US foreclosure starts increase 167 percent from year ago, Vermont lowest rate in nation
Vermont Business Magazine ATTOM(link is external), a leading curator of real estate data (link is external)nationwide for land and property data, released its Q3 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 92,634 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings(link is external) — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — up 3 percent from the previous quarter and 104 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, Vermont has seen foreclosures decrease and the state has by far the lowest rate in the nation at 1 per 22,288 housing units. Illinois had the highest at 1 per 694 HU (7,821 total). Over the last year, there have been only 15 foreclosure filings in Vermont. California (10,850) and Florida (9,284) had the most filings.

10/13/22

Start at the Beginning: The Old Documents Reveal Everything Living Lies

Start at the Beginning: The Old Documents Reveal Everything
Homemowners should be willing to go toe to toe with their tormentors — foreclosure mills acting on behalf of investment banks and companies pretending to be servicers. You need not believe that there is no loan account; you just need to act like that is true and you will probably achieve a satisfactory result. This is only fair. Your opposition has no loan account but is pretending there is one.

10/13/22

Casino Banking: Wall Street Mega Banks Traded More in their Federally-Insured Bank than the Total for their Bank Holding Company” Wall Street On Parade

Casino Banking: Wall Street Mega Banks Traded More in their Federally-Insured Bank than the Total for their Bank Holding Company
When something happens for the first time in history at federally-insured banks, Congress and federal regulators need to pull their heads out of the sand and pay attention. We’re talking about the fact that in the second quarter of this year, trading revenues at federally-insured commercial banks eclipsed the trading revenues at bank holding companies – which typically include subsidiaries where traders actually have licenses to trade.

10/12/22

Home sales are going to nosedive in 2023, Fannie Mae says Housing Wire

Home sales are going to nosedive in 2023, Fannie Mae says
The forecast for the housing market in 2023 gets worse by the month, with the latest report predicting a million-plus decline in existing home sales. Fannie Mae‘s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group now forecasts

10/12/22

One small step for refinancing, one giant leap for inequality First Tuesday

One small step for refinancing, one giant leap for inequality
Foreclosure is the ultimate threat to homeowners, a threat which pandemic-induced job losses made all too real. In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act alleviated the overwhelming pressure by offering forbearance programs for homeowners in default on their mortgage payments. A forbearance program temporarily staves off foreclosure while the servicer works with the homeowner to bring the mortgage current.

10/11/22

Nearly a Million Americans Fear Losing Their Home to Foreclosure DSNews

Nearly a Million Americans Fear Losing Their Home to Foreclosure
With inflation at a high and increased home prices fueled by the pandemic, the latest study from LendingTree revealed it may be difficult for some households to afford necessary expenses, resulting in some falling behind on their mortgage payments and facing foreclosure.

10/11/22

Nomi Prins’ New Book: “No One Wanted to Call the Fed’s QE a Ponzi Scheme. But It Was.” Wall Street On Parade

Nomi Prins’ New Book: “No One Wanted to Call the Fed’s QE a Ponzi Scheme. But It Was.”
Wall Street veteran Nomi Prins’ new book is being released today with a title that should give every member of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees pause: Permanent Distortion: How the Financial Markets Abandoned the Real Economy Forever. The book does what neither of these Committees has done for the American people. It explains how the financial crash of 2008 unleashed an unbridled and unaccountable Fed as Wall Street’s permanent sugar daddy,

10/11/22

Nearly 6,000 Erie County homeowners get pre-foreclosure notices Buffalo News

Nearly 6,000 Erie County homeowners get pre-foreclosure notices
Nearly 6,000 mortgage borrowers in Erie County have received a pre-foreclosure notice in the past 12 months, and nearly 700 are now facing the start of formal foreclosure proceedings in court, as lenders catch up on loan defaults and property seizures that were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Erie County Clerk's office.

10/11/22

No it is NOT a “Payment History” even if it is labeled as such and even if a witness testifies that it is a payment history Living Lies

No it is NOT a “Payment History” even if it is labeled as such and even if a witness testifies that it is a payment history
Bottom Line: Homeowners and their lawyers should immediately question whether the company on the letterhead sent anything, knows anything, or did anything.

10/10/22

Don’t accept a “representative” at mediation or trial. Living Lies

Don’t accept a “representative” at mediation or trial.
I wanted to make a point that is critical to the defense narrative. The Foreclosure mills are getting away with presenting an employee of a company that has been falsely designated as being the “servicer.” They are referring to this employee as a “representative.” But in all cases this “representative” is merely a paid actor with a script. He or she has no personal knowledge of any fact or event relating to the origination, current existence, maintenance, or any data entries on the books and records of the designated “creditor.”

10/09/22

Some Americans fear zero-down mortgages are a trap that will lead to another crisis like 2008 Business Insider

Some Americans fear zero-down mortgages are a trap that will lead to another crisis like 2008
A mortgage that doesn't require a down payment, closing costs, or a minimum credit score might seem too good to be true. After Bank of America announced its new zero-down mortgage offering last month, people took to social media to voice concerns that it would lead to another housing crash like the one in 2008. "The premise is helping out marginalized communities but, like, come on, dude. Literally stop and read — it's the same trend as the 2008 crash," the TikTok user Inkwater said in a September video.

10/09/22

Homeowners with COVID-related hardships can get assistance Magnolia Reporter

Homeowners with COVID-related hardships can get assistance
The Arkansas Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) now includes two new options to assist homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgage payments due to COVID-19-related hardships. Monthly Payment Assistance -- Assists homeowners with stabilizing their household finances to fully recover from the financial difficulties caused by COVID-19 and is dependent on eligibility. Mortgage Default Resolution -- Assists homeowners who experienced a permanent reduction in income by providing assistance to lower their principal balance to achieve an affordable payment.

10/08/22

Criminals are using a new scam to steal home titles Komando

Criminals are using a new scam to steal home titles
Impersonation scams are getting more challenging to spot. Thieves are better at spoofing companies and government agencies than ever. Tap or click here for details of a recent scheme where crooks impersonated IRS agents. Losing a few bucks to a scammer is one thing. But imagine losing your entire home! That’s about the worst-case scenario possible. Unfortunately, scammers are now targeting your home; if you’re not careful, you could fall into their trap. These schemes saw an uptick in cases reported during the financial crisis in 2008. Now, there’s been a sudden resurgence of this nasty plot, and it’s taken on a dangerous new tone. Keep reading for all the tricky details.

10/07/22

Servicers do not write their correspondence or mean what what they say Living Lies

Servicers do not write their correspondence or mean what what they say
In May, 2022 to the CFPB finally corroborated what I have been saying for 16 years. The actors who are named as “servicers” are not performing servicing functions.

10/06/22

Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court Alleges Illegal Foreclosures in RI Go Local Prov

Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court Alleges Illegal Foreclosures in RI
A lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that a third-party mortgage servicer acted illegally when it foreclosed on multiple properties in Rhode Island. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of 11 plaintiffs who owned homes across the state, claims that defendant Caliber Home Loans “failed to obtain a third party servicing license” and was not permitted by law to “act on behalf of Defendant U.S. Bank in order to notice, publish, and invoke the statutory power of sale” on the plaintiff’s properties. Attorney Todd Dion, who filed the suit, maintains that Caliber was “not permitted by applicable law and the mortgage contracts to execute all affidavits and foreclosure deeds on behalf of U.S. Bank.”

10/06/22

New Study: Wall Street Banks Are Doubling Down on Risk by Selling Credit Default Swaps on their Risky Derivatives Counterparties Wall Street On Parade

New Study: Wall Street Banks Are Doubling Down on Risk by Selling Credit Default Swaps on their Risky Derivatives Counterparties
Last Thursday, while news outlets focused on videos of the devastating impact of Hurricane Ian on the southwest coast of Florida, two researchers at the Office of Financial Research published a breathtaking and almost surreal analysis of how the mega banks on Wall Street are once again doubling down on unprecedented risk with derivatives and threatening the financial stability of the U.S. The report was ignored by mainstream business media.

10/06/22

You tell me — is everyone a servicer? Living Lies

You tell me — is everyone a servicer?
The recent forced CFPB rebranding of FINTECH as a “servicer” creates a problem for the foreclosure mills — but only if someone brings it up.

10/05/22

4th Circuit Rejects Excuses to Avoid Answering QWR and DVL Living Lies

4th Circuit Rejects Excuses to Avoid Answering QWR and DVL
This involves the case of Morgan Vs. Caliber Home Loans. The homeowner received the standard answer of they were not required to answer because their request was vague and ambiguous and asked for things that were not allowed under RESPA. The court disagreed in a fairly well-reasoned opinion. These are quotes from the opinion:

10/04/22

What does “Own the mortgage” mean?” Living Lies

What does “Own the mortgage” mean?”
This is what enables the banks to get away with their scam while avoiding criminal prosecution. What does that mean when they say they “own the mortgage”?

10/03/22

U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Decline DSNews

U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Decline
CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insights Report for July 2022 has found that for the month of July 2022, 3% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 1.2-percentage point decrease compared to 4.2% in July 2021.

10/02/22

Decades-old legal protections of low-income mortgages at risk with appeal pending The Maine Monitor

Decades-old legal protections of low-income mortgages at risk with appeal pending
Federal mortgage interests, banking associations line up to partake in Supreme Court appeal that could upend foreclosure protection precedents.

09/30/22

Your Rights When Paying Your Mortgage FTC

Your Rights When Paying Your Mortgage
Dealing with your mortgage can feel confusing and frustrating. But you have rights when it comes to making your payments and how your servicer manages your account. Learn your rights concerning how your loan servicer manages your mortgage loan account.

09/29/22

The coming collapse of the housing market and the intersection with securities and foreclosures Living Lies

The coming collapse of the housing market and the intersection with securities and foreclosures
This is a republication of an article I wrote nearly 2 years ago. The current downturn in housing prices is just the tip of the iceberg. Both home prices and rentals have been far above viable standards — i.e., any level that most people can afford.

09/29/22

New Hampshire foreclosure rate remains stable, among lowest in nationSurvey Laconia Daily Sun

New Hampshire foreclosure rate remains stable, among lowest in nation
The rate of residential mortgage foreclosures in New Hampshire is stable, remaining among the lowest in the nation, according to a new report. While Illinois had the country’s highest foreclosure rate, New Hampshire ranked 38th, according to the August 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report prepared by ATTOM, a curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data.

09/29/22

HUD and Census Bureau Release New American Housing Survey HUD

HUD and Census Bureau Release New American Housing Survey
WASHINGTON - In general, 2020 and 2021 were good for homeowners but presented challenges for many renters. That’s according to the new 2021 American Housing Survey released today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau.

09/28/22

Crisis mounts as homeowners fail to secure representation in foreclosures Living Lies

Crisis mounts as homeowners fail to secure representation in foreclosures
I know the problem with getting representation. I consider it to be a crisis. I’m thinking about the problem. If there is a solution, maybe I’ll find it. The opposition has developed scripts that enable even the most junior lawyer to seem like he/she is unstoppable. This intimidates most lawyers. I could develop a similar script for lawyers who want to take the case but getting them to accept instruction is very challenging — it is like herding cats.

09/28/22

HUD Offers Assistance to Victims of Hurricane Fiona DSNews

HUD Offers Assistance to Victims of Hurricane Fiona
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has begun federal disaster assistance, including a new package of waivers offering regulatory and administrative relief to areas of Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricane Fiona, beginning on September 17, 2022, and continuing. As Puerto Rico endures another disastrous hurricane,

09/27/22

Fannie Mae Reminds Homeowners, Renters, and Mortgage Servicers of Disaster Relief Options for Those Affected by Hurricane Ian Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae Reminds Homeowners, Renters, and Mortgage Servicers of Disaster Relief Options for Those Affected by Hurricane Ian
WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) is reminding homeowners and renters that have been or may be impacted by a natural disaster, including those affected by Hurricane Ian in Florida and other southeastern states, of available mortgage assistance and disaster relief options. Under Fannie Mae’s guidelines for single-family mortgages impacted by a natural disaster:

09/27/22

Black Knight is Manipulating the News About Foreclosures: New Foreclosure filings are up and spiking in most areas of U.S. Living Lies

Black Knight is Manipulating the News About Foreclosures: New Foreclosure filings are up and spiking in most areas of U.S.
If you look at local and regional media outlets, you will see one very consistent message: new foreclosure filings are increasing. The measures differ depending upon geography, but the national trend, which has been apparent for months, is that the increase, year over year, is somewhere around twice what it was in 2021 and is nearing 2008 levels in many communities. But if you look at press releases from Black Knight you will see that reported increases in delinquencies and foreclosures are at their lowest point in years.

09/26/22

How to Counterattack MERS-based documents. Living Lies

How to Counterattack MERS-based documents.
In no case has any successor to MERS ever been alleged or proven. Unless some third party acquired both the originator and the underlying obligation from the defunct originator (which never happens), no party can direct MERS.

09/26/22

How Consumers Can Reveal the Scam Without Spending Thousands in Attorney Fees Living Lies

How Consumers Can Reveal the Scam Without Spending Thousands in Attorney Fees
It occurs to me that most homeowners and most consumers who think they are installment payment contracts could send the following example of a letter I recently proposed to a client. If many homeowners and other consumers of financial products did this, it would raise the level of awareness in government and might even produce some interesting results.

09/26/22

The curious MERS cases of originators “out of business” or “bankrupt” Living Lies

The curious MERS cases of originators “out of business” or “bankrupt”
Bill Paatalo and I have both commented on this case before. But there is far more to say. In order to absorb the significance of a ruling like this, the reader must be in a quiet place and be prepared to read this a few times. There is no simple way to explain it, but once mastered, it is fatal to many, if not most, attempts to invoke foreclosure procedures across the country.

09/26/22

Taking Apart the Big Lie — See “My Cousin Vinnie” Living Lies

Taking Apart the Big Lie — See “My Cousin Vinnie”
If you ever saw the movie “My Cousin Vinnie,” you saw his description of how you build a case against someone or a defense against the claim. It is like brickwork. While some lawyers (myself included) have occasionally been successful at getting rid of a case in one fell swell early swoop, it is rare. Each element you described needs to be supported by affidavits and authenticated copies of documents that make your statement of facts likely to be true or even better, impossible to deny.

09/25/22

Nowhere to Hide: The Fed-Induced Bubble in Stocks and Bonds Is Blowing Up; Even the Typical Safe Havens of Gold and T-Notes Are Losing Money Wall Street On Parade

Nowhere to Hide: The Fed-Induced Bubble in Stocks and Bonds Is Blowing Up; Even the Typical Safe Havens of Gold and T-Notes Are Losing Money
The corrupt political backdrop for today’s unprecedented market quagmire feels like a hyperbolic trailer for a low-budget sci-fi thriller: The former president of the only remaining superpower in the world has been charged with “staggering” frauds against banks – the ones he just deregulated as president.

09/23/22

The Importance of Citizen Activism The American Prospect

The Importance of Citizen Activism
Today on TAP: Foreclosure activist-turned-journalist Lisa Epstein’s work leads to another victory over a predatory company. When I wrote my book Chain of Title in 2016, one of the main subjects was Lisa Epstein, an oncology nurse who fell victim to foreclosure fraud during the collapse of the housing bubble. She fought back in her case, grew obsessed with the shocking machinations of the big banks, quit her nursing job, and became an activist, helping other foreclosure victims and using a blog to detail the extent of foreclosure fraud. In 2010, she was instrumental in helping shut down the entire foreclosure system temporarily.

09/23/22

Here is the magic bullet: It is the one thing that the foreclosure mill doesn’t have — proof of title Living Lies

Here is the magic bullet: It is the one thing that the foreclosure mill doesn’t have — proof of title
“Title” means that legally the person possessing title has the right to treat the subject property as his/her/their own and to use such property in any legal manner. In thumbing through the latest edition of Florida Secretary and perusing the approved forms for use in law practice, it is obvious that one thing is very clear. There is no approved form for the conveyance of a nonexistent asset or an asset that is not owned by the person who claims to be the grantor.

09/22/22

For those “refinancing” transctions, homeowners might literally, morally and legally owe nothing. Living Lies

For those “refinancing” transctions, homeowners might literally, morally and legally owe nothing.
the lawyer representing you might consider forcing the issue and asking whether the claimant is asserting HDC status. Or the lawyer might assert to the judge that the presumptions the lawyer from the foreclosure mill wants the court to use in considering the arguments of the case are the equivalent of treating the claimant as having HDC status. (And if not, why not?)

09/21/22

“Refinancing” Usually Means “No Financing” (except for money paid to homeowner) Living Lies

“Refinancing” Usually Means “No Financing” (except for money paid to homeowner)
The general point of law here is that no amount of paperwork will make a transaction real if there was no money paid. And no amount of arguing to the contrary is legally recognizable or acceptable — unless one simply presumes the transaction was real regardless of whether it happened or not.

09/20/22

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Have Mysteriously Disappeared from this Week’s Senate and House Banking Hearings Wall Street On Parade

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Have Mysteriously Disappeared from this Week’s Senate and House Banking Hearings
There are eight Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBS) in the U.S. They are: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Wells Fargo. These are the banks that pose the greatest risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system and are monitored under the Federal Reserve’s stress tests.

09/19/22

How to Pitch a Prospective Lawyer to Defend Foreclosure Claims Living Lies

How to Pitch a Prospective Lawyer to Defend Foreclosure Claims
What I have told clients of mine is that when seeking a lawyer who will play ball with us, you should see what pushes their buttons. Still, the main message is that “we know a guy who has won cases all over the country in which Judges ruled that the named claimant never owned any loan account due from the homeowner despite the presence of fabricated documents.”

09/19/22

Is breaking a promise to pay money a sin against an individual or society at large? Living Lies

Is breaking a promise to pay money a sin against an individual or society at large?
The homeowner has committed no sin. If a scheduled payment has been missed, nobody loses any money. And the homeowners who are making the scheduled payments are contributing to the revenue and profits of entities who have obtained the signature, reputation, and property of the homeowners under false pretenses.

09/17/22

Foreclosures are up 187% from a year prior. But it doesn’t mean what you might think. MarketWatch

Foreclosures are up 187% from a year prior. But it doesn’t mean what you might think.
Foreclosure starts — which is when the first public foreclosure notice happens — have reached pre-pandemic levels nationwide, with lenders starting the foreclosure process on 23,952 US properties in August 2022, up 12% from the month prior and up 187% from a year ago according to data from ATTOM, a real estate data company. (You can find the lowest mortgage rates you may get here.) But why are foreclosure rates so much higher right now than they were a year ago?

09/16/22

When the foreclosure mill refiles (after losing or being dismissed) and the Use of an Limited Power of Attorney (LPOA) Living Lies

When the foreclosure mill refiles (after losing or being dismissed) and the Use of an Limited Power of Attorney (LPOA)
Many of the cases are technically “won” by homeowners who successfully point out that at the time the foreclosure commenced, the named claimant (plaintiff/beneficiary) did not have possession or construction possession of the promissory note and therefore had no legal standing to file suit.

09/16/22

AIG Was Brought Down by Derivatives in 2008. It Just Spun Off a Company Whose Prospectus Mentions Derivatives 371 Times Wall Street On Parade

AIG Was Brought Down by Derivatives in 2008. It Just Spun Off a Company Whose Prospectus Mentions Derivatives 371 Times
Yesterday, mainstream media was touting that the largest Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the year, Corebridge Financial, had just finished its first day of trading. The IPO was priced at $21 and closed at $20.73 (ticker: CRBG), not an illustrious start.

09/15/22

JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Flunk a Test Measuring their Support for American Democracy Wall Street On Parade

JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Flunk a Test Measuring their Support for American Democracy
The nonpartisan watchdog group, Accountable.US, has released the results of an investigation into how committed to democracy the 100 largest corporations in America are. The corporations were graded on support for voting rights, the electoral process, and American democracy. The results were provided in an interactive resource called the American Democracy Scorecard.

09/13/22

Cindy Brown News Alert Breaking the Insidious Silence Scott Stafne

Cindy Brown News Alert Breaking the Insidious Silence
Fresh off a California court victory in the Cindy Brown vs. Bank of New York Mellon case, this report showcases the ongoing crisis of inequalities in access to civil justice facing all Americans regardless of income or race and sets the stage for a long-awaited trial court showdown on March 15, 2022.

09/13/22

Homeowners Call for Shutdown of Nationwide Foreclosure Mill Machine! Yahoo Finance

Homeowners Call for Shutdown of Nationwide Foreclosure Mill Machine!
Tue, September 13, 2022 at 1:09 PM·2 min read APON is urging a full DOJ investigation WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Property Owners Network (APON) is calling on all Congressmembers and 2022 political candidates to support shutting down foreclosure mill activity—still occurring on a massive scale across the country despite the national mortgage settlements--pending a full Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation.

09/12/22

Fannie Mae Details Latest Sale of Non-Performing Loans DSNews

Fannie Mae Details Latest Sale of Non-Performing Loans
Fannie Mae has announced its latest sale of non-performing loans as part of the company's ongoing effort to reduce the size of its retained mortgage portfolio, including the company's twentieth Community Impact Pool (CIP). CIPs are typically smaller pools of loans that are geographically focused and marketed to encourage participation by non-profit organizations, minority- and women-owned businesses (MWOBs), and smaller investors.

09/12/22

If it isn’t a trust, then what is it? The myth of REMIC trusts Living Lies

If it isn’t a trust, then what is it? The myth of REMIC trusts
Understanding the Financial Industry Through Linguistics: How Applied Linguistics Can Prevent Financial Crisis by Richard C. Robinson and John Doukas I recommend the above book. Like the ancient Greek philosophers, I believe in first defining our terms before entering a discussion. I have consistently reported that so-called REMIC Trusts are neither REMICS nor trusts. The question has been posed to me then —“What do we call them.”

09/09/22

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge on soaring cost of buying and renting homes PBS

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge on soaring cost of buying and renting homes
Home prices in the U.S. have risen around 20% year-over-year, making homeownership unaffordable for millions of Americans. A historic housing shortage is causing rental rates to spike, too, and experts say it's unlikely prices will drop significantly any time soon. Marcia Fudge, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss.

09/09/22

This isn’t Greek. You can understand it. Living Lies

This isn’t Greek. You can understand it.
From Wikipedia, here is a description of some of the activities surrounding the collapse of LTCM (Long-Term Capital Management in 1998:

09/09/22

Foreclosures in Wake County are surging – up 425% from a year ago WRAL Techwire

Foreclosures in Wake County are surging – up 425% from a year ago
RALEIGH – The total number of foreclosure proceedings in Wake County has increased by 425% since last year, according to the latest data from ATTOM Data Solutions. And that’s a return to pre-COVID pandemic levels. Things could be worse.

09/08/22

After Funneling Trillions of Dollars in Repo Loans to Serial Bank Offenders, Lorie Logan Gets a $440,000 Job Running the Dallas Fed Wall Street On Parade

After Funneling Trillions of Dollars in Repo Loans to Serial Bank Offenders, Lorie Logan Gets a $440,000 Job Running the Dallas Fed
Bailing out the Wall Street megabanks that are serially fined and hit with felony counts appears to be catching on as a major career advancement strategy at the New York Fed.

09/08/22

The Fed Appears to Have Violated the Dodd-Frank Act in the Second Quarter of 2020, Giving $455 Billion in Loans to Citigroup Wall Street On Parade

The Fed Appears to Have Violated the Dodd-Frank Act in the Second Quarter of 2020, Giving $455 Billion in Loans to Citigroup
The Fed would appear to have violated both the spirit and the letter of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation in the second quarter of 2020, according to new repo loan data released by the New York Fed for the second quarter of 2020. The data shows

09/08/22

Zero percent mortgages hitting Main Street Fox Business

Zero percent mortgages hitting Main Street
Zero down-payment mortgages and similar programs appear to have recently been gaining traction on Main Street.

09/08/22

Nationwide Foreclosure Starts Hit Pre-Pandemic Levels DSNews

Nationwide Foreclosure Starts Hit Pre-Pandemic Levels
ATTOM has released its August 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, revealing a total of 34,501 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings —default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions— up 14% from a month ago, and up 118% from a year ago. Key Findings:

09/08/22

What is a REMIC Trust? Do they exist? Living Lies

What is a REMIC Trust? Do they exist?
A REMIC trust is an acronym for Real Estate Mortgage Investment Trust. The problem, as we shall see here in this article, is that no such entity exists in most cases. That, in turn completely undermines claims by the lawyer representing the foreclosure mill,

09/07/22

House of Debt: Missing document could cost Haywood County woman her dream homeMill WLOS

House of Debt: Missing document could cost Haywood County woman her dream home
HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — "I trusted the system, and the system let me down," said homeowner Susan Harris as she detailed the current court battle she's in to save her Haywood County home. She's warning others to check on an important part of your closing paperwork that she's missing.

09/07/22

Challenging the Lawyers for the Foreclosure Mill Living Lies

Challenging the Lawyers for the Foreclosure Mill
Based upon 16 years of research, an investigation by our company, an investigation by third-party forensic analysts, and an investigation by law enforcement and law markets (see 50 state settlement, for example), it is legally, factually, and axiomatically true that lawyers who initiate foreclosure actions are most likely doing so without the benefit of a client who has a legally recognizable interest in the outcome of the litigation or nonjudicial foreclosure.

09/06/22

How mortgage companies can add revenue certainty in uncertain times Housing Wire

How mortgage companies can add revenue certainty in uncertain times
Fast-rising rates. A staggering drop in mortgage applications. Skyrocketing inflationary costs. Falling stocks and layoffs making headlines for mortgage giants across the industry. The entire mortgage market is in flux like few times in history.

09/02/22

Online portal helps those at risk of eviction, foreclosure Albequerque Journal

Online portal helps those at risk of eviction, foreclosure
The state of New Mexico has created a new online portal to better help people apply for financial assistance if the pandemic put them at risk of eviction from a rental property, or foreclosure on their own homes.

09/02/22

The Strategy of Foreclosure Defense Living Lies

The Strategy of Foreclosure Defense
I recommend against raising an issue that you cannot prove. Specifically, the allegation that there are false claims of securitization of debt broadens the litigation beyond that which the judge is likely to consider.

09/01/22

Foreclosure Fraud: Watch Out for Con Artists Who Make Offers They cannot Fulfill. This includes “servicers” offering modifications. Living Lies

Foreclosure Fraud: Watch Out for Con Artists Who Make Offers They cannot Fulfill. This includes “servicers” offering modifications.
As foreclosure filings and threats spike, so too will the number of fraudulent offerings that guarantee you an outcome, require upfront payment or worse — ask you to deed the property to the kindly person who has “all the answers.” Nobody has all the answers, and nobody can guarantee anything regarding foreclosures, modifications, or settlements. If they say they do have such answers, they are lying.

08/31/22

When Legal Fictions Simply Go Too Far Living Lies

When Legal Fictions Simply Go Too Far
I have been saying for years that the continuation of current securitization practices will result in another crash similar to 2008, although perhaps not quite severe. A key indicator is the number of pretender lenders that file for bankruptcy. It is spiking as you can see from the article contained in the link below.

08/30/22

Securitization is a Ponzi Scheme. Homeowners are merely collateral damage. Living Lies

Securitization is a Ponzi Scheme. Homeowners are merely collateral damage.
Ponzi schemes work because of the continuing success of the tactical big lie — i.e., nobody would tell a lie that big because it would discovered and therefore it must be true.

08/30/22

Foreclosures are rising with the end of COVID-era moratoriums. Here's where they're happening the most Columbus Telegram

Foreclosures are rising with the end of COVID-era moratoriums. Here's where they're happening the most
Stacker examined foreclosure filing activity compiled by ATTOM Data for July 2022, the latest month for which the data was available. Foreclosures are rising with the end of COVID-era moratoriums. Here's where they're happening the most Where foreclosures are happening the most

08/29/22

Study: Rising fear of eviction or foreclosure in Vermont and US Vermont Biz

Study: Rising fear of eviction or foreclosure in Vermont and US
Vermont Business Magazine Between high housing costs and steady inflation, more and more people are worried about losing their home. QuoteWizard by Lending Tree, in a study released today and based on US Census Bureau data, found that 93% of people in Vermont behind on mortgage payments are worried they will face foreclosure in the next two months.

08/29/22

Goldman Sachs’ Secrets Spill Out in New Book by a Former Managing Director Wall Street On Parade

Goldman Sachs’ Secrets Spill Out in New Book by a Former Managing Director
Tomorrow, Simon & Schuster will release a new book by Jamie Fiore Higgins, a woman who worked her entire Wall Street career at one firm. Over the span of just under 18 years, beginning on September 2, 1998 and ending officially on May 31, 2016 according to BrokerCheck, Fiore Higgins achieved a level of financial success rarely attained by a woman on Wall Street.

08/29/22

Drafting complaints against the pretender lenders and pretender servicers. Living Lies

Drafting complaints against the pretender lenders and pretender servicers.
Many people try to draft lawsuits against the “servicers” and other actors who pretend to have credentials and status in connection with the existence, ownership, administration, collection, and enforcement of an implied unpaid loan account. When pro se litigants do it, they do so without knowledge of the normal rules of procedure and normal customs and practices in drafting a complaint.

08/25/22

Homeowners! You need to know this! The difference between the possessor of a note, the holder, and the holder in due course. Living Lies

Homeowners! You need to know this! The difference between the possessor of a note, the holder, and the holder in due course.
Uniform Commercial Code preempts principles of common law and equity that are inconsistent with either its provisions or its purposes and policies.

08/25/22

How Nonprofits Use a Legal Loophole to Flip California Homes — for a Profit KQED

How Nonprofits Use a Legal Loophole to Flip California Homes — for a Profit
Dale Riggins was 7 years old when, in 1968, his father began building the small Richmond apartment complex where Riggins now lives. Every day during the 10-month construction, he went to the site after school, dragging tools and two-by-fours on the sloped lot set against a small hill where the building began to rise. “I have touched everything in this building. I have painted every corner, put in every window,” Riggins said of the triplex he inherited. “This building was my parents’ life, and it became my life.”

08/24/22

How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Shaping the Marketplace and the Courts Living Lies

How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Shaping the Marketplace and the Courts
Most of the “important” “correspondence” and “notices” in alleged claims to administer, collect or enforce alleged obligations due from homeowners is delivered to homeowners via carriers other than the US Post Post Office.

08/24/22

Black Knight's First Look: Foreclosure Starts Pull Back in July, Holding Well Below Pre-Pandemic Levels, While Early-Stage Delinquencies Edge Slightly Higher Yahoo Finance

Black Knight's First Look: Foreclosure Starts Pull Back in July, Holding Well Below Pre-Pandemic Levels, While Early-Stage Delinquencies Edge Slightly Higher
Wed, August 24, 2022 at 9:00 AM·4 min read In this article: BKI -0.68% - The national delinquency rate edged up to 2.89% in July – driven by a 4% increase in early-stage delinquencies – but remains just 14 basis points higher than the record low set in May of this year

08/22/22

Cap. Mkts, Broker, HMDA Review, AI/ML Products; Recent Freddie and Fannie News Mortgage News Daily

Cap. Mkts, Broker, HMDA Review, AI/ML Products; Recent Freddie and Fannie News
John Kenneth Galbraith said, “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” How about forecasts of how dramatic this downturn has been for residential lenders and related third parties? What is making the headlines these days are companies that

08/22/22

Homeowners can demand a satisfaction and release — and get it through court action. Living Lies

Homeowners can demand a satisfaction and release — and get it through court action.
Once a Lender has been paid, the Lender has been paid. My point is that paragraph #23 is black & white… It’s only that Courts and Nincompoops overthink it that makes it ineffectual. Read in the spirit of “Pain Language”, it says all that needs to be said.

08/22/22

How “servicer advances” advance the false premise of securitization of loans. Living Lies

How “servicer advances” advance the false premise of securitization of loans.
Since the times of ancient Greece and even before that, it has been a commonly used statement that before discussion of an issue each party should precisely define their terms. The obvious conclusion has been that without agreed definitions,

08/21/22

USE COMMON SENSE: Why would anyone do that? Most consumers are in a new class of disabled Americans. Living Lies

USE COMMON SENSE: Why would anyone do that? Most consumers are in a new class of disabled Americans.
I have long believed that the reason why Hillary Rodham Clinton became radioactive consisted of two things: first was the popularity of Ronald Reagan who hated a program that started with bipartisan consensus in 1971. It was called the Legal Services Corporation.

08/21/22

Wells Fargo Pulls The Plug On Mortgage Lending. The Bank Blames The Economy For The Move MFI-Miami

Wells Fargo Pulls The Plug On Mortgage Lending. The Bank Blames The Economy For The Move
There is no other way to put it, Wells Fargo plans to severely shrink its vast mortgage empire. Employees say Wells Fargo even plans to exit the mortgage entirely. The bank once churned out one of every three home loans in the US. This in turn made the bank the most valuable in the nation. The bank plans to halt correspondent mortgage lending.

08/19/22

Homeowner Battles ?“Tangled Title” Foreclosure New Haven Independent

Homeowner Battles ?“Tangled Title” Foreclosure
Two decades after his family bought a church-built house meant to stabilize a neighborhood, Alan Tilley is fighting to keep the home out of the hands of out-of-town landlords. Tilley, a social worker and Navy veteran, is fending off the foreclosure of the 766 Orchard St. property home where he has lived for twenty years?—?a home that still technically belongs to his mother, Edythe, who died in 2014. It is one of a row of homes built on Orchard between Munson and Henry by a nonprofit associated with Beulah Heights Pentecostal Church to stabilize a once-troubled block in order to promote homeownership over real estate speculation.

08/19/22

Stop Assuming the Loan Account exists or that the amount reported as due is correct. It usually is not. Living Lies

Stop Assuming the Loan Account exists or that the amount reported as due is correct. It usually is not.
The fact that a homeowner receives SOME money does not mean they received the benefit of the entire balance recited on the promissory note. Most likely they didn’t receive the entire amount and in many cases they received no benefit whatsoever. Without retiring the old securitization infrastructure that includes false claiams of securization of debt, “refinancing” musually involves merely starting a new securitization infrastructure in addition to (not replacing) the old one. This provides the oportunities to sell multiple versions of unregulated securities that provides Wall Street with astonishing cash flows representing a syphon on the U.S. economy.

08/18/22

Why and How Some Homeowners Win in Foreclosure Cases Living Lies

Why and How Some Homeowners Win in Foreclosure Cases
Homeowners do not win their cases because they proved the claim was false. They win their cases by preventing the lawyers from the foreclosure mill from putting on the required evidence to establish the claim.

08/17/22

Mortgage servicer Fay Servicing to pay $3.2 million for deceptive practices in Massachusetts, AG says Mass Live

Mortgage servicer Fay Servicing to pay $3.2 million for deceptive practices in Massachusetts, AG says
A national mortgage servicer will pay $3.2 million to Massachusetts consumers in a settlement with the state Attorney General’s Office over allegations of unfair and deceptive conduct. Fay Servicing is accused of failing to take required steps to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, harassing consumers with excessive debt collection calls, failing to inform borrowers of the right to request verification of the amount of their debt and unfairly charging foreclosure-related fees before obtaining the authority to foreclose, the AG’s office said in a news release Wednesday.

08/17/22

The simplest answer is usually true regardless of how unlikely it might appear. Living Lies

The simplest answer is usually true regardless of how unlikely it might appear.
Whether you are fan of Occam’s Razor or Sherlock Holmes, the conlusion is usually the same. And the corrolary is that people tend to pursue complex paths of investigation and challenges when the simple answer is the only thing that will help them. Like many people, I tend to overthink some issues. When people do that, they end up looking for a complex answer when the simple answer is right in front of them.

08/16/22

Mortgages Secure Debts. They do NOT secure notes. Living Lies

Mortgages Secure Debts. They do NOT secure notes.
Hat tip to Wendy Allison Nora Even before I went to law school, when I was getting then called an “Advanced MBA” I learned that notes are only pieces of paper. With the proper foundation, they could be evidence of something that is an agreement. *

08/15/22

The burden is not on the Judge. it is on the litigants. Living Lies

The burden is not on the Judge. it is on the litigants.
In an article published by Rajesh Khanna, he absolutely understands and perfectly articulates the requirements of law concerning standing to bring a claim. But he does not understand and does not properly articulate the burden of proof or the burden of persuasion concerning that issue. Despite that deficiency, I recommend that both lawyers and pro se litigants read his article.

08/14/22

Wells Fargo Plans Major Retreat From Mortgage Business It Long Dominated Bloomberg

Wells Fargo Plans Major Retreat From Mortgage Business It Long Dominated
Wells Fargo & Co. plans to shrink its vast mortgage empire, which once churned out one of every three home loans in the US and for a time made the bank the most valuable in the nation. No longer committed to ranking No. 1 in the business, Wells Fargo’s leadership is preparing a retreat

08/11/22

Here is why the Judge doesn’t answer your questions in court Living Lies

Here is why the Judge doesn’t answer your questions in court
I think the biggest mistake that trial lawyers and pro se litigants make is that they think their questions, especially those supported by forensic reviews, are sufficient to rebut the case. When the judges rule agasint the homeowner and for the foreclosure mill many people and lawyers think that the judge had a choice in doing that. That is mostly untrue because of the admissions made by the homeowner over a long period of time in communicating with the opposition and what they filed in court. * Questions are not evidence, even if they are well-founded and should be answered. An unanswered question at trial requires a finding that no rebuttal exists. Questions about documents and the truth of the matters asserted in those documents need only be answered must only be answered in discovery or in a QWR (RESPA) or DVL (FDCPA).

08/11/22

Investigation of Credit Reporting and Verification of Credit Reports Shows Fabrications At Every Level Living Lies

Investigation of Credit Reporting and Verification of Credit Reports Shows Fabrications At Every Level
It is no surprise that Black Knight, previously known by other names including but far from limited to DOCX and Lender Processing Systems, is one fo the central control entities for the Wall Street investment banks in what is generally referred to as “securitization” schemes in which false claims are made regarding the securitization (sale) of unpaid loan accounts.

08/11/22

Astonishing Charts from New York Fed Show the Dire Straits of U.S. Consumers During the 2008 Crash and Its Aftermath — Versus Today Wall Street On Parade

Astonishing Charts from New York Fed Show the Dire Straits of U.S. Consumers During the 2008 Crash and Its Aftermath — Versus Today
At his July 27 press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said this: “Households are generally in about as strong a financial shape as they’ve been in a very long time – or perhaps ever given the money that’s on people’s balance sheets. So you have a pretty – from a financial stability standpoint – you have a pretty decent picture.” That statement captures a rear view mirror look at U.S. households. The picture is deteriorating rapidly.

08/11/22

Investigation of Credit Reporting and Verification of Credit Reports Shows Fabrications At Every Level Living Lies

Investigation of Credit Reporting and Verification of Credit Reports Shows Fabrications At Every Level
It is no surprise that Black Knight, previously known by other names including but far from limited to DOCX and Lender Processing Systems, is one fo the central control entities for the Wall Street investment banks in what is generally referred to as “securitization” schemes in which false claims are made regarding the securitization (sale) of unpaid loan accounts.

08/10/22

Don’t Sue the Clerk of the reording Office Just Yet: Start with Organized Petitions and Phone Calls. Living Lies

Don’t Sue the Clerk of the reording Office Just Yet: Start with Organized Petitions and Phone Calls.
Multiple reports around the country have demonstrated that there is overwhelming evidence of corruption in the office that records instruments in the title chain of real property.

08/09/22

If ‘experience matters,’ foreclosure Judge Gundersen may lose her race on Aug. 23 Florida Bulldog

If ‘experience matters,’ foreclosure Judge Gundersen may lose her race on Aug. 23
Broward foreclosure Judge Andrea Gundersen is running for reelection with the motto “experience matters.” Primary voters just have to figure out if her experience is good or bad. On Aug. 23 they’ll decide whether they want Gundersen, 66, to continue presiding over Broward County residential mortgage foreclosures.

08/09/22

Look Who Owns Equifax credit reporting Living Lies

Look Who Owns Equifax credit reporting
Hat tip to summer chic Echoing the questions issued by multiple judges when the mortgage meltdown became clear, the question I pose is the same as those posed by J udge Shack, Boyco and others back in 2007-2009:

08/08/22

Without Any Legislative Powers, the Fed Is Rewriting the Law and Creating a Permanent $500 Billion Bailout Facility for Wall Street Wall Street On Parade

Without Any Legislative Powers, the Fed Is Rewriting the Law and Creating a Permanent $500 Billion Bailout Facility for Wall Street
The Fed is doing something it’s never been allowed to do in its 109 years of operation. And, it’s doing it without any pushback from Congress.

08/05/22

Florida HAF Awards More Than $277 Million to State's Most Vulnerable Homeowners and Prevents Active Foreclosures for Florida Households Florida Department of Economic Opportunity

Florida HAF Awards More Than $277 Million to State's Most Vulnerable Homeowners and Prevents Active Foreclosures for Florida Households
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida continues to lead the nation in its effective administration of the Florida Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), awarding more than $277 million in total relief to more than 9,900 homeowners, with more than $31 million awarded this week alone, to some of Florida’s most vulnerable homeowners. Through the effective administration of its HAF program, Florida has been able to stop active foreclosures for approved homeowners, keeping Florida families in their homes.

08/05/22

Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund team attends upcoming community outreach events Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency

Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund team attends upcoming community outreach events
HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mortgage relief is here. Now, in-person support is coming to several community events this month. The Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund, or PAHAF, will have program staff on site at a pop-up PAHAF outreach event at Mifflin County Library in Lewistown on August 8, at two of Penn State's Ag Progress Days on August 9 and 10, and at the Soul School Festival in Philadelphia on August 13.

08/05/22

Why Buying Stock in Ocwen is a Dangerous Gamble Living Lies

Why Buying Stock in Ocwen is a Dangerous Gamble
For 25 years, Ocwen and the companies it has “acquired” through mergers or acquisitions have been falsely allowing third parties to use its name to pose as lenders and servicers.

08/04/22

Three Miami Women Join Hawaiian Class Action Lawsuit Against Big Banks Miami New Times

Three Miami Women Join Hawaiian Class Action Lawsuit Against Big Banks
Three Miami women who say big banks fraudulently foreclosed on their homes claim they can't get justice in Florida courts. Having run out of possible remedies in the Sunshine State, they're headed to the Aloha State to join a class-action lawsuit unfolding in a Hawaiian federal court.

08/04/22

Why do mortgage modifications seem so random? Because they are random. Living Lies

Why do mortgage modifications seem so random? Because they are random.
In 2013, while I was litigating these cases in Tallahassee Florida, there were several circuit judges on the bench who were both thoughtful and analytical. They were the first ones (out of many judges) who questioned two specific aspects of the foreclosure crisis: (1) why were servicers changed so often? and (2) why were modifications seemingly random rather than following some logical basis?

08/03/22

Consumers were left behind by the digital revolution and by virtual transactions Living Lies

Consumers were left behind by the digital revolution and by virtual transactions
Business has been transformed from the sale of goods and services to procuring the private information and signatures of consumers to generate revenue far above “price” of the target product or service that the consumer believed they were purchasing. In the case of foreclosures or mortgage transactions, there is a complete absence of disclosure. In most other transactions, especially those online, the disclosure is hidden within the box labeled “I agree.”

08/02/22

Senator Sanders Urges Gov to Pass His “Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act" Legislation; Needed Now More Than Ever The New York State Senate

Senator Sanders Urges Gov to Pass His “Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act" Legislation; Needed Now More Than Ever
Senator James Sanders Jr. urges the Governor to sign his "Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act" into law as soon as possible because it is needed now more than ever. Senator James Sanders Jr. said, "Homeowners who are in foreclosure will be the biggest winners when this significant foreclosure bill becomes law. This legislation will go a long way in helping homeowners save their homes from foreclosure by leveling the playing field and eliminating certain abuses lenders have used in Courts to the detriment of the homeowners.”

08/01/22

Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, which aims to overturn landmark appeals court decision, awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul's decision CBS

Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, which aims to overturn landmark appeals court decision, awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul's decision
NEW YORK -- Lynden Hall, a resident of Canarsie, bought his home in 2007. He was a first-time homeowner optimistic to find a place for him and his brother's family to live. Two years later, in 2009, he went into foreclosure.

07/29/22

Wall Street Megabanks’ Multi-Billion Dollar Blunders Suggest Money Controls as Good as George Bailey’s Uncle Billy Wall Street On Parade

Wall Street Megabanks’ Multi-Billion Dollar Blunders Suggest Money Controls as Good as George Bailey’s Uncle Billy
What do you get when you mix federally-insured banks with Wall Street trading casinos? You get the potential for catastrophic risks for the U.S. taxpayer and astronomical riches for the CEOs of the banks and the hedge fund titans they serve. Why is this Faustian bargain tolerated by Washington lawmakers – especially after the greatest financial collapse since the Great Depression in 2008? Because the Wall Street fat cats throw a lot of money into the political campaigns of members of Congress, ensuring that no matter how many times these Frankenbanks make outrageous blunders involving billions of dollars, Congress will conduct a superficial investigation and move on.

07/29/22

Consumers wake up and give support to CFPB! Possible Game Changer at CFPB: Administrative hearings Living Lies

Consumers wake up and give support to CFPB! Possible Game Changer at CFPB: Administrative hearings
Officials at the CFPB have cautiously opened the door to administrative hearings conducted by the Bureau, subject to the administrative procedures act. This may sound like boring stuff, but the end result could be the ability to bring claims in an administrative hearing rather than in court.

07/28/22

Consumers must at least accept the possibility that There is no DEBT if they want to stop the wholesale theft operating in the American economy Living Lies

Consumers must at least accept the possibility that There is no DEBT if they want to stop the wholesale theft operating in the American economy
I don’t think that is is unfair to say that much of the financial system as operated today is taking money, wealth and opportunity from the poor and middle class and giving it to the rich (management and stockholders) of companies that label themselves as conducting “financial services.” But it is

07/27/22

Return of Title and Possession: If the Bruce’s Beach Family Could Do It, So Should Every Homeowner that has been Illegally Foreclosed. Living Lies

Return of Title and Possession: If the Bruce’s Beach Family Could Do It, So Should Every Homeowner that has been Illegally Foreclosed.
Hat tip to Summer chic I have been receiving a lot of really good contributions from Summer chic, and she deserves a big atta girl. Her latest is the issue raised by the Bruce’s Beach case in which property owned by a family, fair and square, was subject to several instruments of conveyance that made their property the property of someone else. After 100 years, the family finally got the property back, but it is important to note that this was a political decision, not a legal one.

07/27/22

House Approves Remote Notary Bill NAHB

House Approves Remote Notary Bill
The House on July 27 approved the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic (SECURE) Notarization Act. The legislation would help small businesses and consumers, including those engaged in the home building sector, as notarizations are used extensively in real estate transactions.

07/26/22

What to ask for when the window is open for Legal Discovery Demands (i.e., when you in litigation) Living Lies

What to ask for when the window is open for Legal Discovery Demands (i.e., when you in litigation)
I was researching something when I ran across a recent filing from a Citigroup document that is called a Pooling and Servicing Agreement. Anyone who reads these pages knows that they’re not pooling loans. They are pooling the receipt of payments — regardless of whether the collection was legal or illegal — and the parties executing the agreement are only figureheads.

07/25/22

Shhh! Don’t Tell the Public that their Investor Advocate at the SEC Has Gone Poof, Along with His Most Recent Reports Wall Street On Parade

Shhh! Don’t Tell the Public that their Investor Advocate at the SEC Has Gone Poof, Along with His Most Recent Reports
His name is Rick Fleming and there is a very good chance that you’ve never heard of him. Now, there’s a very good chance that you’ll never see the reports that he meticulously compiled twice a year over the past eight years that he served in the role of Investor Advocate on behalf of retail investors at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

07/22/22

From the Secret Service to the Fed, Inspectors General Are Enablers to Corruption at the Agencies they Oversee Wall Street On Parade

From the Secret Service to the Fed, Inspectors General Are Enablers to Corruption at the Agencies they Oversee
The Inspectors General of federal agencies are supposed to be the first line of defense against corruption within that agency. Increasingly, they have become part of the problem of corruption, coverups and cronyism.

07/22/22

Foreclosure activity approaches pre-pandemic levels The Title Report

Foreclosure activity approaches pre-pandemic levels
There were 164,581 foreclosure filings in the first six months of 2022, according to ATTOM’s midyear 2022 U.S. foreclosure market report. That’s up 153 percent year-over-year, but down 1 percent from the same period two years ago. “Foreclosure activity across the United States continued its slow, steady climb back to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2022,” ATTOM Executive Vice President of Market Intelligence Rick Sharga said in a release. “While overall foreclosure activity is still running significantly below historic averages, the dramatic increase in foreclosure starts suggests that we may be back to normal levels by sometime in early 2023.”

07/22/22

These cases are not foreclosures. They are illicit abuse of process. Living Lies

These cases are not foreclosures. They are illicit abuse of process.
These foreclosure cases are fraudulent in that they are not foreclosures. A foreclosure, by definition, is limited to the enforcement of a security instrument in which ownership of the instrument and the underlying obligation is vested in a creditor who is named as the claimant. With very few exceptions, none of the foreclosures over the last 25 years have satisfied the definitions or conditions precedent for the filing of a foreclosure action. Virtually all of them are 100% reliant on the presentation of fabricated documents containing false information about transactions that never occurred. Those documents memorialize nonexistent transactions. They are all legal nullities.

07/22/22

Colorado continues emergency mortgage assistance plan for homeowners at risk of foreclosure due to COVID-19 pandemic KRDO

Colorado continues emergency mortgage assistance plan for homeowners at risk of foreclosure due to COVID-19 pandemic
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- State officials created a program to help tenants who struggled to pay rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now a similar program is in place for homeowners.

07/21/22

BANK OF AMERICA HIT WITH SECOND FEDERAL RACKETEERING LAWSUIT IN HAWAII American Property Owners Network

BANK OF AMERICA HIT WITH SECOND FEDERAL RACKETEERING LAWSUIT IN HAWAII
Bank charged with fraudulent foreclosures and violations of the fair housing act less than two months after RICO and Ku Klux Klan Act complaint. Honolulu, Hawaii, (July 20, 2022) — On the heels of a federal racketeering (RICO) and Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 complaint brought by Native Hawaiian advocacy group Na Po‘e Kokua on May 31, a second racketeering lawsuit was filed yesterday in Hawaii federal court against Bank of America, N.A.

07/21/22

When is the assignment of mortgage effective against the homeowner? Living Lies

When is the assignment of mortgage effective against the homeowner?
In order for an assignment of mortgage to be effective, the property owner must be given notice by the existing owner of the mortgage lien acknowledging that there had been a transfer of ownership of the mortgage lien to a new, identified owner of the mortgage lien. In order to enforce the mortgage lien, the mortgage instrument must be recorded and it must be facially valid (that is, apparently valid because of compliance with existing statute). There is no time limit on recording the mortgage instrument after it has been executed by an authorized officer of the previous owner of the mortgage lien. * This gets tricky.

07/20/22

4th Circuit Overrules SCOTUS: Rescission is dead and so is regulation of business entities, as long as they call themselves “lenders” Living Lies

4th Circuit Overrules SCOTUS: Rescission is dead and so is regulation of business entities, as long as they call themselves “lenders”
Lavis v. Reverse Mortg. Sols., No. 18-2180, at *6 (4th Cir. July 14, 2022) the trial court “stated that “[a] finding that RMS is entitled to tender, despite its disregard of its obligations over a period of years and its failure to take any measures to preserve its rights under the statute, would incentivize lending institutions to follow RMS’ poor example.” J.A. 2835. ”) This decision is a perfect example of chutzpah, delusion, and legislation from the bench. The trial court was 100% correct, and the Appellate panel was 100% wrong.

07/19/22

There Are Three Separate Cases in Federal Court Accusing JPMorgan Chase of a Culture of Fraud Wall Street On Parade

There Are Three Separate Cases in Federal Court Accusing JPMorgan Chase of a Culture of Fraud
JPMorgan Chase is the largest federally-insured bank in the United States. It is also one of the largest trading houses on Wall Street. That’s the Faustian bargain the Clinton administration entered into with Wall Street when it repealed the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999.

07/19/22

Stop the Steal: If you take a step back those folks may actually be onto something. Living Lies

Stop the Steal: If you take a step back those folks may actually be onto something.
I have had a large number of decent civil conversations with many people who consider themselves lifelong conservatives and who use the slogan “Stop the Steal.” My conclusion is that they believe in the slogan. And they are not attempting to propel lies into public discourse. They understand the facts.

07/18/22

How to Kneecap the Foreclosure Mill Living Lies

How to Kneecap the Foreclosure Mill
It all starts with the assumptions you make at the beginning of the case, which is actually the declaration of default. There is only going to be one witness designated by one company and proffered by one lawyer who is prosecuting the claim for foreclosure remedies. That one witness is generally a contract labor “employee” who knows absolutely nothing relevant to your transaction.

07/17/22

THE FLORIDA HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE FUND COULD SAVE YOUR HOME Torrens Law Group

THE FLORIDA HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE FUND COULD SAVE YOUR HOME
Good Afternoon! I hope this newsletter finds you doing well. For today’s newsletter, I want to let everyone know about the new Florida Homeowner Assistance Fund that was recently created.

07/17/22

Act Quickly to Avoid Foreclosure Banker And Tradesman

Act Quickly to Avoid Foreclosure
Experts say that a 2008-style housing crash is unlikely to happen now, if only because lending standards are much tighter than they were prior to the Great Recession. Still, foreclosures are starting to tick upward. ATTOM, a property data firm, said that in May, there were fewer than 31,000 houses nationwide with foreclosure filings – that is, houses with default notices, houses scheduled for the auction block or ones already repossessed by lenders. That’s up a scant 1 percent from April – but it’s 185 percent more than in May last year.

07/17/22

These are the 10 states with America’s most stable housing markets CNBC

These are the 10 states with America’s most stable housing markets
Rising mortgage rates, a reflection of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb inflation, are roiling the U.S. housing market. Many forecasters now believe the market could cool considerably following years of explosive growth. Some states will fare better than others. Because companies seek locations where the housing situation will be attractive to employees, CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business study considers the health of each state’s housing market.

07/15/22

MSR market picks up in Q3 where Q2 left off: Hot Housing Wire

MSR market picks up in Q3 where Q2 left off: Hot
Four new mortgage-servicing rights (MSR) offerings for agency loan portfolios valued at some $3.7 billion hit the market as the third quarter of the year kicked off.

07/15/22

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Announces $50 Million Available To Help Land Banks Eradicate Blight, Aid Communities That Continue To Struggle From Foreclosure Crisis New York State

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Announces $50 Million Available To Help Land Banks Eradicate Blight, Aid Communities That Continue To Struggle From Foreclosure Crisis
Applications for Initial Funding Round Will be Accepted Until September 14, 2022 New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas today announced the launch of a new $50 million Land Bank Initiative, the first-ever dedicated source of state funding to help New York’s land banks reduce blight and transform vacant properties in communities across the state.

07/15/22

Why a Recession May Be Coming -- but Not a Foreclosure Crisis The Ascent

Why a Recession May Be Coming -- but Not a Foreclosure Crisis
These days, a lot of financial experts are sounding alarms about a possible recession. That's because rising interest rates could lead to a drop in consumer spending, and a rapid one at that. That has a lot of people on edge -- especially those who remember the Great Recession that took place between 2007 and 2009. Back then, not only was job loss rampant, but the housing market crashed in a very big way, sending home prices plummeting and forcing many people to lose their homes in the process.

07/15/22

Foreclosure prevention takes on MN’s racial housing gap Spokesman-Recorder

Foreclosure prevention takes on MN’s racial housing gap
An uneven pandemic recovery, along with inflation, is fueling concern about foreclosure activity. In Minnesota, there is a push to ensure households of color do not suffer the same fate as they did after the 2008 housing crisis. Nonprofits providing housing assistance say the crisis had a devastating effect on Black neighborhoods in particular.

07/15/22

The Fed’s Inspector General Clears Jerome Powell of Wrongdoing in the Trading Scandal, One Day After Five Senators Accuse Him of Hampering the Investigation Wall Street On Parade

The Fed’s Inspector General Clears Jerome Powell of Wrongdoing in the Trading Scandal, One Day After Five Senators Accuse Him of Hampering the Investigation
Yesterday afternoon, Mark Bialek, the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve, released a memorandum clearing Fed Chair Jerome Powell and former Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida of wrongdoing in the trading scandal that has engulfed multiple officials of the Federal Reserve.

07/15/22

Credit reporting agencies getting nervous about homeowner claims: The issue is willful ignorance Living Lies

Credit reporting agencies getting nervous about homeowner claims: The issue is willful ignorance
As previously reported there is abundant statutory and case law support for holding the credit reporting companies (CRCs) liable for publishing false credit reports went they fail to conduct adequate due diligence. This is covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.

07/14/22

Pumping the Brakes DS News

Pumping the Brakes
Foreclosure volumes are beginning to tick up as government-mandated moratoriums and forbearance grace periods wear off. Despite these changes and the light they bring to the end of a long tunnel for many mortgage-related service providers, the reality is that homeowners are still struggling to meet their debt obligations.

07/14/22

Foreclosure Starts Up in First Half of 2022 DS News

Foreclosure Starts Up in First Half of 2022
ATTOM’s Midyear 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report has found that there were a total of 164,581 foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions) nationwide in the first half of 2022, up 153% year-over-year, but down just 1% from the same time period two years ago.

07/14/22

Excess Servicing, Non-QM, Anti-Fraud, Home Equity Tools; Correspondent News; Primer on Yield Curve Inversion Mortgage News Daily

Excess Servicing, Non-QM, Anti-Fraud, Home Equity Tools; Correspondent News; Primer on Yield Curve Inversion
Real estate agents love it when loan officers give them referrals. That’s not always easy. Is giving a real estate agent a book on becoming a productive and well-respected real estate agent a RESPA violation? How about an all-expense paid trip? Attorney Brian Levy points out in his latest Mortgage Musings

07/14/22

Living Lies and How Opposing Counsel Gets Away With It: He said it was an “investor trust” Living Lies

Living Lies and How Opposing Counsel Gets Away With It: He said it was an “investor trust”
there is no witness from the named claimant — ever. This slips by because homeowners or their lawyers fail to object and undermine such proffer through earlier discovery and motion practice. It also slips by because homeowners agree or even make claims or assert defenses that use the lies promulgated by the attorney for the false claimant.

07/14/22

Here are 1500 experts in electronic commerce and services who singed a letter to COngress detailing why certain schemes that are designated as “Innovations” are bad Living Lies

Here are 1500 experts in electronic commerce and services who singed a letter to COngress detailing why certain schemes that are designated as “Innovations” are bad
This letter directly addresses the fake currency known as cryptocurrency. The signatories are all major players in the arena of electronic commerce, payments, and communications. Their point is simple: the fact that someone could develop a method of encryption that is difficult to break is not a reason to label the end product as “currency.” It isn’t and it never was.

07/13/22

Over 1,600 of the Brightest Scientific Minds in Technology Have Signed a Letter Calling Both Crypto and Blockchain a Sham Wall Street On Parade

Over 1,600 of the Brightest Scientific Minds in Technology Have Signed a Letter Calling Both Crypto and Blockchain a Sham
The letter is a punch in the gut to the Wall Street underwriters who have brought billions of dollars of crypto related companies to the public markets, most of which have now collapsed in price. It makes the billionaire venture capitalists who have invested billions in crypto startups look like fools. And it renders the big-name celebrities who have promoted this garbage in TV commercials look like the shills that they are.

07/13/22

Do foreclosure mill lawyers have a real duty of performing due diligence before they send, file or argue anything in court? Living Lies

Do foreclosure mill lawyers have a real duty of performing due diligence before they send, file or argue anything in court?
The plain answer is no. I have tried a number of times to hold foreclosure mills accountable. But unless I was able to allege and use exhibits to support the allegations that the lawyer knew (i.e. personal knowledge) that he/she had no client, that there was no claim, that the claims were a fraud upon the court, etc., the lawyer was always held to be protected by litigation immunity.

07/12/22

The Pooling and Servicing Agreement is NOT a Trust Agreement Living Lies

The Pooling and Servicing Agreement is NOT a Trust Agreement
One of my first observations back when those investment banks started admitting that they were using trust names and trustees (after having denied it for years), was that the Pooling and Servicing Agreements (PSAs) they offered were not a trust agreement even if they said it was.

07/11/22

What if you called the bluff that has been working for 25 years? Living Lies

What if you called the bluff that has been working for 25 years?
Making an offer to pay all that is demanded leads to some interesting issues that result in highly negative inferences for lawyers representing “clients” who are implied creditors — i.e., companies or business entities that (a) exist and (b) own an underlying obligation to pay money (corroborated by an unpaid loan account receivable on the books and records of the implied creditor (not the “servicer, subservicer or FINTECH servicer).

07/11/22

State launches risk of foreclosure support campaign Cannon Beach Gazette

State launches risk of foreclosure support campaign
A new website and awareness campaign are now in place to support struggling Oregon homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

07/10/22

Lenders Have Until September 5th To Comply With New FHA Guidelines Ignoring COVID-Era Employment Lapses MFI Miami

Lenders Have Until September 5th To Comply With New FHA Guidelines Ignoring COVID-Era Employment Lapses
New FHA guidelines loosen the requirements to qualify for a loan if they lost work during the pandemic. Beginning September 5th, lenders are to ignore job gaps during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced new flexibility for lenders when qualifying borrowers for an FHA loan. FHA says the program is aimed at applicants who had employment gaps or a loss because of COVID-19.

07/07/22

Michigan housing relief program overwhelmed by applications for pandemic aid Detroit Free Press

Michigan housing relief program overwhelmed by applications for pandemic aid
More than16,000 Michigan households are in line for aid to help stay in their homes and keep the lights on, but a bottleneck with the state agency approving the money means it's taking several weeks for dollars to go out.

07/07/22

Blaming the Federal Reserve for the undisclosed catastrophe that is continuing in the credit markets is a concession that will never stop the charade Living Lies

Blaming the Federal Reserve for the undisclosed catastrophe that is continuing in the credit markets is a concession that will never stop the charade
I have received thousands of emails over the years in which partially informed laypeople have been radicalized into believing that the entire mortgage meltdown — and the meltdown in other transactions that were labeled as “loans” — was laid at the feet of the Federal Reserve.

07/06/22

MERS and MERSCorp: What is it? NY Court tries to sort it out and misses the point. Living Lies

MERS and MERSCorp: What is it? NY Court tries to sort it out and misses the point.
DreamBuilder-Invs.-v.-Merscorp-Holdings-Inc Bill Paatalo brought this case to my attention. Reading the entire case, one gets important clues on how to sue MERS and how to demand discovery from MERS either as a party or nonparty.

07/05/22

The CFPB’s Advisory Opinion on Pay-to-Pay Fees NCLC

The CFPB’s Advisory Opinion on Pay-to-Pay Fees
A new CFPB advisory opinion, published at 87 Fed. Reg. 39,733 (July 5, 2022), clarifies the limits on a debt collector’s ability to charge pay-to-pay or convenience fees under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The advisory opinion also has important implications as to a wide array of other charges assessed by debt collectors.

07/05/22

Disqualification of Foreclosure Mill Attorney Living Lies

Disqualification of Foreclosure Mill Attorney
Over the years many lawyers and laypeople have sent me proposed motions to disqualify or bar opposing counsel from representing to the court that the bank he or she named in a complaint or claim is his client.

07/03/22

Mediation offers Lifeline for Communities Being Inundated by Flood of Evictions Mediate

Mediation offers Lifeline for Communities Being Inundated by Flood of Evictions
More than two years since COVID-19 first broke out stateside, the U.S. housing sector remains in a state of flux. Various moratoria and relief funds at the federal, state, and local levels notwithstanding, courts throughout the country have been awash in eviction filings for some time now. For many communities, while there might be some ebb and flow from month to month, it’s increasingly looking like the new normal is a sustained level of increased activity. When we last saw a comparable crisis in the 2008 mortgage

07/01/22

Guidance on legal argument in foreclosure cases Living Lies

Guidance on legal argument in foreclosure cases
OK. There are several aspects here. The most important one is to educate the judge and persuade the judge to apply existing legislative laws specifically the state laws adopting 9-203 of the UCC verbatim.

06/30/22

Foundation Objections and Notices to Produce at Trial Living Lies

Foundation Objections and Notices to Produce at Trial
The assertion, allegation, or argument that the case even involves a trust or trustee requires a legal foundation. The legal foundation consists of a witness who is competent to testify about the jurisdiction in which the alleged trust was organized and is currently existing — or who can testify competently and credibly about the authenticity of the document that created the trust.

That document is a “Trust Agreement” although it could theoretically go by some other name. That is not likely because most lawyers who draft documents do so in the hope and belief that the document will be accepted, end to end, as what it purports to be. Any label other than “Trust Agreement” would diminish the authenticity of the document as having recited or memorialized the creation of the trust entity. Naming it anything other than “Trust Agreement” would raise questions rather than answer them.

06/30/22

Bill headed to Murphy would help low-income bidders buy foreclosed homes in NJ more easily North Jersey

Bill headed to Murphy would help low-income bidders buy foreclosed homes in NJ more easily
New Jersey may make it easier for family members, lower income bidders and community nonprofits to purchase foreclosed homes under a bill sent to Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday reworking the sheriff's sale process to prioritize these buyers and discourage large investors from flipping those properties. Under the “Community Wealth Preservation Program," New Jerseyans who have experienced foreclosure or their next of kin would get the first shot when the property goes up for auction, or the right of first refusal at the bid price.

06/29/22

Housing Slump Would Place Greatest Stress on Black, Hispanic Residents Pew Charitable Trusts

Housing Slump Would Place Greatest Stress on Black, Hispanic Residents
If the United States enters a recession and housing prices stagnate or fall, homeowners in parts of California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey are most at risk of owing more than their houses are worth or losing their homes to foreclosure, according to a new analysis.

06/29/22

Stop Looking for John Does Living Lies

Stop Looking for John Does
A better use of your time is not to find the John Does and instead simply attack the names being used to assert the claim. The John Doe investigation can only be successful if conducted by government agencies. It requires a deep dive into securitization which the courts have made clear is not a basis for defense or even claims relating to recorded mortgages.

06/28/22

Chamber targets consumer bureau chief for 'reckless actions' Politico

Chamber targets consumer bureau chief for 'reckless actions'
The Chamber of Commerce is going after Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra in a public campaign, accusing him of attempting to “radically reshape” American finance. The trade group, which represents businesses throughout the country, announced Tuesday it was launching an advertising drive targeting Chopra — an ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren — for his efforts to rein in what he views as abuses in the financial industry.

06/28/22

Challenge the claim, not the system. Living Lies

Challenge the claim, not the system.
Yes they are part of a scheme in which if the facts were known, would be illegal and possibly criminal. The one thing you need to be careful about is challenging the system instead of the claim. If you want to win you need to challenge the claim. Systemic challenges are generally regarded as fringe conspiracy theories.

06/27/22

Homeowner of more than 50 years faces eviction from his own house Gothamist

Homeowner of more than 50 years faces eviction from his own house
For more than a decade, Ray Cortez had no idea he was living in a house he no longer owned. The 87-year-old former taxi driver bought the salmon-colored townhouse on St. Marks Place in Brooklyn with his first wife, Edelmira, in 1969, shortly after emigrating to the United States from Peru. The couple paid roughly $20,000 at the time, and Cortez spent the next 30 years paying off the mortgage, even after Edelmira died in 1975.

06/27/22

Don’t Go Too Far in Litigation Living Lies

Don’t Go Too Far in Litigation
Recent correspondence with some of my contributors reveals the completely understandable desire to paint the opposition as thieves. The simple answer is that you don’t need to do that and you probably will not be able to prove it until AFTER the foreclosure case is over. Even then, that proof will only be accepted in most cases if you won the foreclosure case.

06/24/22

U.S. Records 19k Foreclosure Starts in May DSNews

U.S. Records 19k Foreclosure Starts in May
Black Knight Inc. has released a “first look” the latest iteration of its Mortgage Monitor Report for May 2022, which looks at delinquency and foreclosure rates across the U.S. According to Black Knight, the national delinquency rate fell to 2.75% in May, continuing a downward trend that has materialized over the last few months. The delinquency rate was 2.80% in April, and 2.84% in March. The 2.75% rate also marks a record low for delinquencies.

06/23/22

Errors by the Judge do not establish foundation for vacating an order Living Lies

Errors by the Judge do not establish foundation for vacating an order
Greetings. I am recovering slowly from my heart attack and thank you to everyone who has sent me thoughts and prayers. I have recently received a question from multiple people citing case law or quotes from treatises about errors made by Judges. Non-lawyers jump to the conclusion that the presence of an error is sufficient to vacate a prior ruling. This is not the case. If the judge or justices reviewing the error determine that the outcome would not change by correcting the error of law or fact, then the ruling stands. Usually, that shows up on appeal as “per curium affirmed.”

06/23/22

Discovery you can’t afford to miss: the SEC! Clouded Titles

Discovery you can’t afford to miss: the SEC!
While everyone is getting the “rope-a-dope” from the banks and their mortgage loan servicers, no one’s looking to the enforcement arm of Wall Street … the revolving door into the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“USSEC”). The author will abbreviate this agency, who is supposed to enforce violations of securities laws; however, seemingly, apparently hasn’t been doing so to the extent that We the People need them to.

06/22/22

Crypto Victims’ Cries for Help Are Piling Up at a Federal Complaint Center Wall Street On Parade

Crypto Victims’ Cries for Help Are Piling Up at a Federal Complaint Center
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is the federal agency that was created under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 in response to Wall Street’s harrowing abuses to average Americans in the leadup to the financial crash of 2008. One of its key benefits is that it has a complaint database where consumers can post their complaints to the agency, and the general public and reporters can read those complaints on a public website. The general public benefits by seeing what types of complaints are being made against a financial institution they might be considering doing business with and reporters can look for dangerous patterns that are emerging.

06/20/22

Here’s why this housing downturn is nothing like the last one CNBC

Here’s why this housing downturn is nothing like the last one
As quickly as mortgage rates are rising, the once red-hot housing market is cooling off. Home prices are still historically high, but there is concern now that they will ease up as well. All of this has people asking: Is today’s housing market in the same predicament that it was over a decade ago, when the 2007-08 crash caused the Great Recession?

06/17/22

How mortgage servicing deals could change following Fed rate hike National Mortgage News

How mortgage servicing deals could change following Fed rate hike
After a couple of new government-sponsored enterprise-backed mortgage servicing rights deals went up for bid following the federal officials’ latest interest rate hike, some in the market opined on how MSR buyers and sellers may change their strategies going forward.

06/16/22

Help is now available for more Californians who are behind on their mortgages LA Times

Help is now available for more Californians who are behind on their mortgages
Good news for homeowners who’ve been enduring bad times financially: The state is now offering to cover more Californians’ mortgage debt.

06/15/22

The Fed Fingers Its Worry Beads: Mortgage Rates Double in Six Months to 6.28 Percent; Crypto Crashes; Layoffs Explode in FinTech Wall Street On Parade

The Fed Fingers Its Worry Beads: Mortgage Rates Double in Six Months to 6.28 Percent; Crypto Crashes; Layoffs Explode in FinTech
Wall Street does not have exclusivity on the pain trade. There’s pain at the pump for average Americans, pain at the grocery store, and now, adding to the pain for American home buyers who have watched the cost of homes spiral upward over the past year, the national average on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage just spiked to 6.28 percent as of yesterday.

06/15/22

Protesters say new mortgages designed to prevent foreclosure trap them in debt GBH

Protesters say new mortgages designed to prevent foreclosure trap them in debt
(Cheryl and Dante Ortiz were diagnosed with different kinds of cancer in the same week. The couple faced mounting medical bills and had fallen behind on their mortgage. One day after a medical appointment, they rushed from the hospital to sign papers in an attempt to save their home in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

06/14/22

Mayor Bowser Launches $50 Million Homeowner Assistance Fund Mayor Muriel Bowser

Mayor Bowser Launches $50 Million Homeowner Assistance Fund
(Washington, DC) Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) launched a new $50 million homeownership program to provide financial assistance to residents struggling to make housing related payments. Through the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), beginning on June 22, 2022 , eligible homeowners can go to haf.dc.gov to apply for grant funding to cover mortgage payments and other property or housing expenses,

06/12/22

Foreclosure Alert! These States Have The Highest Rate Of Foreclosures In the US So Far In 2022 MFI Miami

Foreclosure Alert! These States Have The Highest Rate Of Foreclosures In the US So Far In 2022
Foreclosure Alert! It has been well over a decade since America’s foreclosure disaster. The primary cause was that too many Americans with poor credit were given variable-rate mortgages. Mortgage interest rates rose and many lost their jobs. As a result, they could not make monthly mortgage payments. Banks also faced defaults. Consequently, banks eventually owned tens of thousands of homes they could not manage. The foreclosure crisis caused entire neighborhoods to have vacant homes where people were pressured out by lenders. Unfortunately, the foreclosure problem has returned. The ATTOM property analysis states foreclosure filings hit a post-pandemic high in the first quarter of 2022. Foreclosures were at 78,271 for the first quarter of 2022. This is also a 39% from the previous quarter. In addition, it is also a 132% from the same period last year.

06/09/22

Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Moratorium Expires June 30, 2022 DISB

Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Moratorium Expires June 30, 2022
The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) wants residents to be aware that the District’s foreclosure moratorium on residential mortgages expires on June 30, 2022. On JUNE 30, 2022, the moratorium on residential foreclosures will expire. What does this mean for homeowners?

06/09/22

Governor Wolf Announces Funding to Support Affordable Housing Across Pennsylvania Governor Ton Wolf

Governor Wolf Announces Funding to Support Affordable Housing Across Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Wolf announced recipients of a new round of funding for housing programs made available through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) fund. The governor named 245 housing and community development initiatives in 67 counties that will share a portion of the total $48.4 million in PHARE funding for fiscal year 2021-22. The PHARE fund is managed by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

06/09/22

NY Foreclosure Abuse Bill Still Not Signed National Mortgage Professional

NY Foreclosure Abuse Bill Still Not Signed
When the New York State Senate easily passed a controversial bill aimed at reforming foreclosure laws in May, it was expected that Gov. Kathy Hochul would quickly sign it into law. More than a month has passed and the bill still has not been signed. As of now there appears to be no hard timeline, as Hochul said during Tuesday’s Democratic gubernatorial debate that her office had more than 800 bills to review before she would sign them.

06/08/22

What to do if you get a pre-foreclosure notice on your home WIVB

What to do if you get a pre-foreclosure notice on your home
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Erie County Clerk Michael Kearns has a message for homeowners who receive a pre-foreclosure notice: Please stay in your home. Kearns held a press conference Wednesday to discuss what was termed a “significant increase” in pre-foreclosure notices received by 4,530 homeowners across Erie County from their mortgage provider. He was joined by Kate Lockhart, the Vacant and Abandoned Property Program Director for the WNY Law Center, and Sandy Becker, the Senior Housing Programs Director for Belmont Housing Resources of WNY.

06/08/22

Fannie and Freddie unveil plans to tackle the racial homeownership gap CNN

Fannie and Freddie unveil plans to tackle the racial homeownership gap
Mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced Wednesday a series of actions that aim to make it easier to buy a home and close the racial homeownership gap, in which 72% of White Americans are homeowners while only 42% of Black Americans own a home.

06/05/22

Serious mortgage delinquencies are up 55% over pre-pandemic levels. But what this means for the housing market isn’t what you might think Marketwatch

Serious mortgage delinquencies are up 55% over pre-pandemic levels. But what this means for the housing market isn’t what you might think
The number of borrowers who are three or more payments past due on their mortgage is up 55% over pre-pandemic levels, according to new data from mortgage technology and data provider Black Knight. While there were approximately 400,000 serious delinquencies remaining before the pandemic, today there are roughly 640,000, the data shows. And while that sounds very concerning, pros say it’s not what it seems. (You can see the lowest mortgage rates you may qualify for here.) Indeed, while the Black Knight data indicates the number of serious delinquencies has grown since before the pandemic, that particular figure doesn’t paint a complete picture of what’s happening in the broader housing market, explains Jacob Channel, senior economic analyst at

06/05/22

Grants available for homeowners who are delinquent taxes or late mortgages Alice Echo News Journal

Grants available for homeowners who are delinquent taxes or late mortgages
he last few years homeowners have struggled to keep up with their home mortgages. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has began to administer monies from the Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF) passed as part of the American Rescue Plan. This program helps qualified homeowners avoid foreclosure as a result of delinquent mortgage or property tax payments. These are grants, not loans. There is no repayment requirement.

06/05/22

New York Statute of Limitations on Mortgage Debt Governed by GOL Section 17-105, Not 17-101 JDSupra

New York Statute of Limitations on Mortgage Debt Governed by GOL Section 17-105, Not 17-101

A recurring issue in New York mortgage lending is under what circumstances the state's six-year statute of limitations on mortgage debts is extended or revived. The New York Court of Appeals ruled recently that this issue is governed by General Obligations Law (GOL) Section 17-105, which requires a written promise signed by the debtor to toll or revive a mortgage debt, rather than by the more general provision, GOL Section 17-101, which provides that a written acknowledgement of a debt is sufficient to revive other forms of debt. Batavia Townhouses, Ltd. v. Council of Churches Housing Dev. Fund Co., Inc., --- N.E.3d ----, 2022 WL 1631492 (N.Y. May 24, 2022).

06/05/22

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY RECEIVES HUD FUNDING TO COMBAT HOMELESSNESS The Valley Ledger

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY RECEIVES HUD FUNDING TO COMBAT HOMELESSNESS
Lamont McClure and the Northampton County Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) announce the award of $3.04 million in funding from Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The grant includes $2,170,520 for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, $682,646 for the HOME Investment Partnerships program and $189,113 in an Emergency Solutions Grant. In addition the County has $10,578,600 in available Section 108 borrowing authority.

06/03/22

Finding a Lawyer Who Wants to Win Your Case Living Lies

Finding a Lawyer Who Wants to Win Your Case
The most common question I received is whether I know of a lawyer who “gets it” and who practices in the jurisdiction in which the subject property is located. We are not a lawyer referral service primarily because it is challenging and expensive to keep track of lawyers who will accept these engagements.

06/02/22

Funding Available to Stem Foreclosures in Ohio Public News Service

Funding Available to Stem Foreclosures in Ohio
Ohio homeowners who are struggling to stay afloat because of the pandemic may qualify for special assistance. A U.S. Foreclosure Market Report in April found foreclosure filings were down 8% from March, but still 160% higher than at the same point in 2021. Ohio has the third-highest rate, with one foreclosure filing for every 911 housing units.

06/02/22

Before you use the word “Default” know this Living Lies

Before you use the word “Default” know this:
Upon reflection, I think part of the problem is that most people including judges, don’t truly understand the meaning of the word “default.”

06/01/22

The important point is not so much being right as it is being the winner in litigation. Living Lies

The important point is not so much being right as it is being the winner in litigation.
I think the biggest problem for homeowners can be summed up in two sentences. First they believe there is something they should feel guilty about. Second, they don’t know the difference between (a) documents that can say anything and be prepared at any time and (b) original source (best evidence) documents.

06/01/22

New program helping Detroiters overcome foreclosures ClickonDetroit

New program helping Detroiters overcome foreclosures
DETROIT – It’s a new program to help people facing foreclosure as money and help is available to keep you in your home or help a tenant who is the victim of a landlord who owes big-time back taxes. They’re going door to door, spreading an important message as there’s help for those of you facing foreclosure.

06/01/22

Nonprofit Alliance of Consumer Advocates helped a Homeowner get caught up on her mortgage and get a lower interest rate PRweb

Nonprofit Alliance of Consumer Advocates helped a Homeowner get caught up on her mortgage and get a lower interest rate
COSTA MESA, CALIF. (PRWEB) JUNE 01, 2022 If someone is in a position where they cannot make their regular mortgage payments, a Loan Modification is a great way to save their right to homeownership and improve their financial situation. While forbearance may be a short-term solution, a loan modification will permanently modify their existing terms. For example, a lower interest rate, extended repayment period, and lower monthly payments may be the perfect solution for their financial situation. The goal of a Loan Modification is to lower the amount of money a homeowner owes to their Lender while preventing Foreclosure.

06/01/22

Senator Sherrod Brown Goes After 0-Count Felon Wells Fargo; Ignores 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase. Wall Street On Parade

Senator Sherrod Brown Goes After 0-Count Felon Wells Fargo; Ignores 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase
Wall Street On Parade was previously a big fan of Senator Sherrod Brown, the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee. Not so much anymore. Brown supported the nutty nomination of Saule Omarova to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the regulator of national banks, while attempting to spin the naysayers as part of a smear campaign.

05/27/22

It’s like baseball. 3 Strikes and they are out (not you) Living Lies

It’s like baseball. 3 Strikes and they are out (not you)
Batter up! When a player steps up to home plate to take a pitch it doesn’t matter that he tends to hit a lot of home runs. No run or point is tallied in the absence of actually hitting the ball over the fence. And if he swings and three pitches and misses, it doesn’t matter that he could have hit the ball or that dust got in his eye. Each miss is a strike and three strikes mean he is out of the lineup until the rotation puts him back at home plate.

I am coming back to the original strategy and tactics I advocated in 2006. But I would be more pointed about it by asking voir dire questions directed at the judge. It is not a common procedure but it ought to be.

The question is whether the judge has already made up his/her mind that the transaction was a loan and that there is an unpaid loan account owned by the named claimant — or if the court is open to the possibility that the attributes of a loan transaction were dropped and the payment to or on behalf of the homeowner might have only been part of a payment due to the homeowner for participating in a securitization transaction.

05/27/22

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Awards More Than $30 Million to Assist Florida’s Vulnerable Homeowners FloridaJobs.org

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Awards More Than $30 Million to Assist Florida’s Vulnerable Homeowners
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced that it has awarded more than $30 million in total relief, with more than $10 million awarded this week alone, to some of Florida’s most vulnerable homeowners through the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF). Yesterday, on behalf of the Department, DEO Secretary Dane Eagle sent a letter directly to mortgage lenders and service providers, urging them to delay foreclosure proceedings and service disruptions

05/26/22

7 ways banks and regulators are addressing diversity American Banker

7 ways banks and regulators are addressing diversity
From a proposed update of 1977’s Community Reinvestment Act to the launch of an AI-powered bot with a Spanish-language option, significant changes in the banking industry are having a dramatic impact on diversity, equity and inclusion.

05/26/22

Director of government financial watchdog Rohit Chopra looks for signs of stress as consumers increase debt to deal with inflation CNBC

Director of government financial watchdog Rohit Chopra looks for signs of stress as consumers increase debt to deal with inflation
Rohit Chopra leads the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency whose mission is to protect consumers from “abusive and deceptive financial practices.” As the director of the CFPB, he is keeping a close eye on trouble spots that could potentially cause another financial crisis.

05/26/22

11th Circuit Ct of Appeals Breaks New Ground — in favor of homeowners! Living Lies

11th Circuit Ct of Appeals Breaks New Ground — in favor of homeowners!
Daniels v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc., No. 19-10204 (11th Cir. May 24, 2022) The fact pattern sounds like something out of Gulliver’s travels. Statements are regularly sent to homeowners using the letterhead of a designated company who is claimed to be a servicer. Those statements are submitted because they are legally required to be sent to the homeowner. But they also are used as the foundation for claims to administer, collect or enforce the debt.

05/25/22

Fannie Mae Issues $5 Million ‘Innovation Challenge’ to Help Advance Racial Equity in HousingFannie Mae Issues $5 Million ‘Innovation Challenge’ to Help Advance Racial Equity in Housing Housing Online

Fannie Mae Issues $5 Million ‘Innovation Challenge’ to Help Advance Racial Equity in HousingFannie Mae Issues $5 Million ‘Innovation Challenge’ to Help Fannie Mae announced the launch of its 2022 Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge (IC22), the company’s second such initiative, committing $5 million to attract innovative ideas that will help advance racial equity in housing.

05/25/22

The Fiction of Deceleration Violates Separation of Powers Living Lies

The Fiction of Deceleration Violates Separation of Powers
The State of New York, along with many other states is struggling with problems arising from an array of legal fictions created by the courts to justify claims for administration, collection, and enforcement of virtual debts (instead of actual debts in the real world).

05/24/22

Good news for home buyers? Fannie Mae chief economist says the U.S. housing market has finally turned a corner. Here’s why. Marketwatch

Good news for home buyers? Fannie Mae chief economist says the U.S. housing market has finally turned a corner. Here’s why.
The inventory shortage, high prices and rising interest rates have finally bitten. Single-family home sales fell sharply by 16.6% in April to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 591,000, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. That was the slowest rate of sales since April 2020 during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering respite for buyers that the market is cooling.

05/24/22

Kentucky homeowners can receive up to $35,000 in mortgage assistance. Do you qualify? Lexington Herald Reader

Kentucky homeowners can receive up to $35,000 in mortgage assistance. Do you qualify?
If you’ve struggled financially due to the coronavirus pandemic and need assistance making mortgage payments, help may be available in Kentucky. The Team Kentucky Homeowner Assistance Fund provides financial assistance to homeowners in hopes to mitigate COVID-related foreclosures. Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article261580152.html#storylink=cpy

05/24/22

State Enforcement of Deceptive Consumer Financial Practices Just Became More Likely Living Lies

State Enforcement of Deceptive Consumer Financial Practices Just Became More Likely
Wall Street investment brokerage firms acting as investmetn banks or commerical banks are now jittery about the possibility of 50+ attorneys general taking a hard look at the sale of complex financial products to consumers.

05/23/22

The investment bank was the casting director and you were the audience. Living Lies

The investment bank was the casting director and you were the audience.
It is by exposing the virtual nature of the transactions that allows homeowners to win in high numbers. It is by suppressing the truth about the transactions that the Wall Street investment banks and securities brokers make all their money.

05/20/22

Senator Elizabeth Warren Lauds the New York Stock Exchange for Investor Protections. It’s Currently Trading Multiple Alleged Frauds. Wall Street On Parade

Senator Elizabeth Warren Lauds the New York Stock Exchange for Investor Protections. It’s Currently Trading Multiple Alleged Frauds.
Yesterday the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing to consider President Biden’s nominations for two Commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission (Jaime E. Lizárraga and Mark Toshiro Uyeda) as well as Michael Barr to be Vice Chairman for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. (For the skinny on Barr’s fitness to supervise megabanks on Wall Street, see our hold-your-nose report here and David Dayen’s eyepopping report here.)

05/20/22

Foreclosure wave sweeping US crests in Chicago Court House News

Foreclosure wave sweeping US crests in Chicago
CHICAGO (CN) — A report released in April by real estate data aggregator ATTOM has bestowed Chicago with a dubious honor. Amid a national surge in residential foreclosure rates, Chicagoans are currently losing their homes in greater numbers than in any other metro area in the country.

05/19/22

CFPB Metrics Report Shows Increased Scrutiny of Borrower Access to Servicers, Information, and Loss Mitigation Opportunities National Law Review

CFPB Metrics Report Shows Increased Scrutiny of Borrower Access to Servicers, Information, and Loss Mitigation Opportunities
This GT Alert covers the following: CFPB report on mortgage servicing COVID-19 pandemic response metrics for May-December 2021; Report metrics: Servicing Portfolio, Call Metrics, COVID-19 Hardship Forbearance Enrollments, COVID-19 Hardship Forbearance Exits, Delinquency, Borrower Profiles;

05/19/22

HomeHelpMN is accepting applications through June 17 to help Minnesotans avoid foreclosure MS Hale

HomeHelpMN is accepting applications through June 17 to help Minnesotans avoid foreclosure
Minnesotans who have fallen behind on their mortgages and face a foreclosure due to a financial hardship, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, can now apply for government assistance through the new HomeHelpMN program. Applications for assistance opened on Tuesday, May 17 at HomeHelpMN.org. The application period will end on June 17.

05/19/22

Winning an FCRA case on the back end of a foreclosure … on appeal in the 9th Circuit Clouded Titles Blog

Winning an FCRA case on the back end of a foreclosure … on appeal in the 9th Circuit
IThe U.S. District Courts never cease to amaze this author given the blatant facts and allegations presented by the Plaintiff (Gross) in his FCRA case against CitiMortgage, Inc. The lower court justices nearly always rule for the banks no matter what. Could it be because the federal judges are vested in these banks and are conflicted out? This is why Judicial Watch puts out a list of financial records (those that have been obtained) of the federal court system’s judges’ for all to see and review (at the following link):

05/19/22

Fannie Mae Downgrades Housing, Origination Forecast DS News

Fannie Mae Downgrades Housing, Origination Forecast
In their latest forecast, Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Group (ESR) has downgraded its GDP projections along with home sales and mortgage originations due to the current state of the economy.

05/19/22

Sudbury Offers Thousands In Mortgage Help To Residents Sudbury Patch

Sudbury Offers Thousands In Mortgage Help To Residents
SUDBURY, MA — Eligible Sudbury residents can get up to $3,000 in mortgage payment assistance, a program from the Sudbury Housing Trust made possible by funds from the federal ARPA stimulus package.

05/18/22

The Fed's $2.7 trillion mortgage problem Axios

The Fed's $2.7 trillion mortgage problem
If you took out a mortgage over the last couple of years, there's a good chance the holder of that loan is America's central bank — a consequence of its monetary stimulus efforts throughout the pandemic. Why it matters: The Fed will face a series of political and economic headaches as it attempts to move away from subsidizing home lending by shrinking its portfolio of mortgage-backed securities. The problem: Extracting itself from this market risks crashing the housing industry and creating intense political blowback for incurring financial losses.

05/18/22

Homeowners with Courage and Conviction Generally Win Foreclosure Cases Living Lies

Homeowners with Courage and Conviction Generally Win Foreclosure Cases
I often receive links to cases that either corroborate what I have been saying or challenge my conclusions. Many of those links are opinions from trial courts, and most of those are from Federal DIstrict judges (mainly because most, but not all, state court judges do not issue opinions justifying their rulings.

05/17/22

The Past Is the Present? New York Legislature Passes Retroactive Foreclosure Bill Mayer Brown

The Past Is the Present? New York Legislature Passes Retroactive Foreclosure Bill
It is not the easiest time to be in the mortgage business. Mortgage investors and servicers continue to deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on borrowers. Rising interest rates could drain the plentiful supply of refinance business from prior years and deter hopeful homebuyers from seeking new financing. Now, the New York legislature has added another layer of complexity by passing a bill that would significantly impact the residential mortgage foreclosure process in New York

05/17/22

Should I Withhold Payment and Place the Money in Escrow Living Lies

Should I Withhold Payment and Place the Money in Escrow
Wall Street is quietly shifting pieces around on a chess board that the homeowner does not know exists and cannot see. There are several examples of this. A shift from U.S. Bank to U.S. Bank Trust, alleged transfers (without payment) of alleged “accounts” from one named trust to another, the rise of “Legal Title Trustee” instead of just trustee, and the list goes on.

05/16/22

CFPB Releases Report on Mortgage Servicing Metrics CFPB

CFPB Releases Report on Mortgage Servicing Metrics
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a report examining mortgage servicers’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data, collected across 16 large servicers from May through December 2021, reveal homeowners continue to face significant risks and challenges connected to working with their mortgage servicers.

05/16/22

How to Defeat False Claims and Documents in Court Living Lies

How to Defeat False Claims and Documents in Court
The simple fact in almost every single foreclosure today is that the entity named as the claimant has absolutely no interest in the success or failure of the litigation. But they are addicted to the revenue that is generated from the permissive use of the claimant’s name.

05/13/22

‘Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act’ awaits New York governor’s signature The bill is expected to be signed by early June, but the process could drag until the end of the year Housing Wire

‘Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act’ awaits New York governor’s signature
Homeowners in New York who are knee-deep in foreclosure litigation may soon get a break, as a piece of legislation making its way to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk could discharge a swath of foreclosure cases pending in state and appellate courts. If Hochul signs the bill as-is, the statute of limitations for a lender to start a foreclosure action will be reverted to six years, as was the case prior to the Court of Appeals’ 2021 decision in Freedom Mortgage Corporation vs. Engel.

05/13/22

‘Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act’ awaits New York governor’s signature The bill is expected to be signed by early June, but the process could drag until the end of the year Housing Wire

‘Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act’ awaits New York governor’s signature
Homeowners in New York who are knee-deep in foreclosure litigation may soon get a break, as a piece of legislation making its way to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk could discharge a swath of foreclosure cases pending in state and appellate courts. If Hochul signs the bill as-is, the statute of limitations for a lender to start a foreclosure action will be reverted to six years, as was the case prior to the Court of Appeals’ 2021 decision in Freedom Mortgage Corporation vs. Engel.

05/13/22

$280 million in assistance available for homeowners financially impacted by the pandemic Funding will prevent foreclosures and utility shut-offs Times Bulletin

$280 million in assistance available for homeowners financially impacted by the pandemic Funding will prevent foreclosures and utility shut-offs
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) wants to remind Ohio homeowners that help is available if they’re facing foreclosure as a result of financial hardship due to the pandemic. The Save the Dream Ohio program provides assistance to eligible Ohio homeowners who are facing foreclosure or cannot afford to pay their mortgage, utility bills or other related housing costs as a result of economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

05/11/22

'A Historic Day:' Low-Income Detroiters Facing Eviction Or Foreclosure Will Get Free Lawyers Deadline Detroit

'A Historic Day:' Low-Income Detroiters Facing Eviction Or Foreclosure Will Get Free Lawyers
Thanks to a mix of federal aid, charitable help and a city council vote, qualifying Detroiters won't attend eviction or foreclosure hearings without an attorney.

05/11/22

U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY IN APRIL 2022 DECLINES SLIGHTLY Yahoo Finance

U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY IN APRIL 2022 DECLINES SLIGHTLY
Wed, May 11, 2022, 12:01 AM·5 min read Foreclosure Starts Remain Unchanged from Last Month; While Completed Foreclosures Decrease 36 Percent from Last Month IRVINE, Calif., May 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released its April 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 30,674 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — down 8 percent from a month ago but up 160 percent from a year ago.

05/11/22

A Promissory Note is NOT a debt. It is evidence of the debt and terms of repayment. Living Lies

A Promissory Note is NOT a debt. It is evidence of the debt and terms of repayment.
I can remember back when Nova Law Center was an old building on what had been a World War II airstrip. My fellow students and I would satisfy our need for speed on those runways. That was in 1974. I also remember my contracts professor, Samuel Bader (RIP). He pounded into our heads a simple but elusive fact of law. The note is not the debt. it is evidence of a debt.

05/10/22

Ohio lawmaker introduces bill that would make it harder for corporations to buy foreclosed homes in bulk WOSU

Ohio lawmaker introduces bill that would make it harder for corporations to buy foreclosed homes in bulk
A state lawmaker has introduced a bill that could help first-time homebuyers navigate the challenges posed by the current real estate market. The bill, SB334, is sponsored by Sen. Bill Blessing (R-Colerain Township). it would make it tougher for corporations to buy homes in bulk.

05/10/22

How Appellate Courts Get it Wrong Living Lies

How Appellate Courts Get it Wrong
The main reason that Appellate Courts get it wrong when a homeowner appeals a decision is that the homeowner admits the basic legally required components (elements) of a foreclosure action. In arguing the point the typical homeowner fails to address the issue of whether the loan still existed, whether the obligation was unpaid, and who has the “loan” on their books and records. In addition, this is probably a carryover from the labels that were used at trial — loan, lender, and servicer.

05/09/22

If the house is sold, is there anything I can do? Living Lies

If the house is sold, is there anything I can do?
At least 40% of the inquiries received by my office ask what they can do after the auction has occurred or even after the REO property has been liquidated. As I have stated repeatedly in the past, the further you go procedurally the less likely you are to obtain any relief. If you want any of this reality to change, you need to elect representatives to Congress and state legislatures who truly intend to block efforts seeking to enforce a virtual loan account instead of a real one.

05/05/22

FHA Amends CWCOT Post-Foreclosure Sales Rule DS News

FHA Amends CWCOT Post-Foreclosure Sales Rule
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has issued its Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2022-08, “Expanding Affordable Housing Supply Through FHA’s Claims Without Conveyance of Title.” By issuing ML 2022-08, the FHA will be adding an initial 30-day exclusive sales period for Claims Without Conveyance of Title (CWCOT) post-foreclosure sales for owner-occupants, HUD-approved non-profits, and governmental entities.

05/05/22

Bringing Federal Consumer Claims State Court 50 State Analysis Sstanding Rules NCLC

Bringing Federal Consumer Claims State Court 50 State Analysis Sstanding Rules
TThe Supreme Court’s decision in TransUnion L.L.C. v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190 (2021), creates serious constitutional standing obstacles for consumer litigation in federal court, particularly for class actions and claims seeking statutory damages or intangible injuries.

05/08/22

Biden Administration’s Continued Efforts to Connect Homeowners to Pandemic Relief Gold Rush Cam

Biden Administration’s Continued Efforts to Connect Homeowners to Pandemic Relief
May 8, 2022 - WASHINGTON - The Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development Marcia L. Fudge, Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Treasury Janet L. Yellen are calling on servicers of federally backed mortgages to make every effort to ensure no individual or family unduly experiences unnecessary hardship or foreclosure while assistance is available under the Homeowner Assistance Fund. The pandemic’s economic and public health impacts put millions of homeowners at risk of losing their homes. For this reason, President Biden’s American Rescue Plan established HAF to provide close to $10 billion in financial support to help families weather these challenges and remain in their homes. We are strongly urging all servicers of federally backed mortgages to pause foreclosure proceedings when they are notified by a HAF program administrator of a pending HAF application to avoid unnecessary harm to vulnerable homeowners.

05/06/22

Money available for homeowners affected by pandemic Times Reporter

Money available for homeowners affected by pandemic
COLUMBUS — The state has money for homeowners who are facing foreclosure as a result of financial hardship due to the pandemic. The Save the Dream Ohio program provides help to eligible Ohio homeowners who are facing foreclosure or cannot afford to pay their mortgage, utility bills or other related housing costs as a result of economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

05/05/22

Powell Says Fed Doesn’t Have a Credibility Problem with the American People – Despite Gallup Poll Showing Lowest Confidence Since 2008 Financial Crisis Wall Street On Parade

Powell Says Fed Doesn’t Have a Credibility Problem with the American People – Despite Gallup Poll Showing Lowest Confidence Since 2008 Financial Crisis
At the Fed’s press conference yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Pro Tempore Jerome Powell was asked by Mike McKee of Bloomberg Television a series of questions on monetary policy which ended with this: “Are you concerned about Fed credibility with the American people?” Powell answered the monetary policy questions but did not directly address the credibility issue. McKee then repeated the question, phrased as follows: “Do you think the Fed has a credibility problem?”

05/05/22

TRID may be another easy win for Homeowners Living Lies

TRID may be another easy win for Homeowners
since loss mitigation is a statutory condition precedent to foreclosure, there is a failure to comply with the condition that requires loss mitigation exhaustion before pursuing foreclosure, the steamrolling of homeowners is not just wrong, it is also a breach of statutory duty for which the homeowner can seek injunctive relief, damages, and attorney fees. TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures (TRID) is a series of guidelines that dictate what

05/04/22

The First City To Launch Its Own Bank Next City

The First City To Launch Its Own Bank
What becomes possible when the public owns the bank? Philadelphia wants to find out, with a public bank venture intended to support small businesses and break down the racial wealth gap.

05/04/22

ICE to Buy Mortgage-Software Firm Black Knight for $13.1 Billion Bloomberg

ICE to Buy Mortgage-Software Firm Black Knight for $13.1 Billion
$13.1 billion deal expands ICE’s reach into U.S. mortgage data
Transaction a win for former Black Knight chairman Bill Foley

05/04/22

Homeowners Alert! You Are Corresponding With Machines, Not People. Living Lies

Homeowners Alert! You Are Corresponding With Machines, Not People.
Most people do not spend their time keeping up with advances in technology. When it comes to their front door they know it has arrived. For about 12 years I have been telling people that there is a “high probability” that no human is making any decision and no human is doing anything with respect to their alleged loan account. The only exceptions are (1) a lawyer appearing in court and (2) a robowitness appearing at trial knowing only the content of a prepared script.

05/03/22

FCRA Might Be Fertile Ground for Individual and Class Actions Especially under CFPB Rules Living Lies

FCRA Might Be Fertile Ground for Individual and Class Actions Especially under CFPB Rules
if the CRC does not perform the investigation or performs it incorrectly, you can sue them. In a world where the ability to access credit matters more than the ability to access savings, nothing could be more important than these provisions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

05/03/22

Bill to Stop Foreclosures Heads to Hochul, Under Heavy Pushback from Banks The City

Bill to Stop Foreclosures Heads to Hochul, Under Heavy Pushback from Banks
The state legislature has passed a measure intended to counter a court ruling that made it easier for lenders to win cases against homeowners. Sponsors say industry warnings about unintended consequences are overblown.

05/02/22

Emotional Distress Damages After Latest Supreme Court Decision NCLC

Emotional Distress Damages After Latest Supreme Court Decision
This article describes what does and does not change after the Supreme Court’s April 28, 2022, ruling in Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C., that emotional distress damages are not available under federal discrimination causes of action based on the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

05/02/22

Why the CFPB Announcement is Very Important Living Lies

Why the CFPB Announcement is Very Important
when the time comes that a judge enters an order or judgment containing findings of fact, for example, that the records of the designated “servicer” are not business records that are not exempt from the hearsay rule, the poop will hit the fan.

05/02/22

“Court Bias” is an Unproductive Rabbit Hole Living Lies

“Court Bias” is an Unproductive Rabbit Hole
Practically every email and inquiry I get contains complaints about court bias. It is as though people think that there are humans on this planet who have no opinion or bias. They point out examples of being steamrolled, ignored or otherwise wiped out in foreclosure litigation and they blame the opposing lawyers for being evil (which they might be) and they blame the judge for being biased (which is probably true in most cases). * Here is my answer to all of that: Bias is not a sin. Nor is it insurmountable.

04/29/22

CFPB Bites of the Month - April Top 10 JDSupra

CFPB Bites of the Month - April Top 10
We thank you for reading our Top 10 and listening to our CFPB Bites of the Month webinars over the past two years. In this month's article, we share some of our top "bites" for the prior month covered during the April 20 webinar. So, what happened at the CFPB in the past month?

04/29/22

How Bias Works Against Justice in Foreclosure Litigation Living Lies

How Bias Works Against Justice in Foreclosure Litigation
If one takes a neutral view there is an inescapable and undeniable conclusion: millions of homes have been forced to sale, depriving the owners of property and money, and causing untold damage to families and careers without the court knowing to a reasonable degree of certainty that the loan account even exists.

04/28/22

Interpleader Might Be Useful in Revealing the Absence of Any Unpaid Loan Account Living Lies

Interpleader Might Be Useful in Revealing the Absence of Any Unpaid Loan Account
One of my constant comment contributors recently informed me and others that she was trying a new tack. She writes “My attorneys are making a demand that any refi money be placed with the Court and that the judge decides who he wants to pay.”

04/27/22

Global Megabanks Are Tanking – The Same Ones the Fed Bailed Out in 2019 Wall Street On Parade

Global Megabanks Are Tanking – The Same Ones the Fed Bailed Out in 2019
As long-term readers of Wall Street On Parade know well, we have regularly warned that the failure of Congress to meaningfully reform Wall Street by restoring the Glass-Steagall Act poses a national security threat to our nation in times of crisis. Instead of meaningful reform, Congress has stood by and watched the Fed bail out the global banks repeatedly since 2008 – either with direct loans or by keeping interest rates artificially low (“administered rates”) or through trillions of dollars in asset purchases from the banks (what the Fed prefers to call Quantitative Easing).

04/27/22

Living Truth: CFPB Moving Against FINTECH Companies Living Lies

Living Truth: CFPB Moving Against FINTECH Companies
It’s time to give a thumbs up to the agency that has up till now befuddled homeowners. The absence of regulation of nonbank FINTECH companies has been a giant loophole through which wealth was converted from homeowners to investment banks. I am pleasantly surprised by an announcement from the CFPB that will start monitoring and investigating these companies like Black Knight, Fiserv and CoreLogic — i.e., the REAL servicers who are involved in the collection of money that nobody is entitled to receive.

04/26/22

When the homeowners loses in the trial court what are the options? Living Lies

When the homeowners loses in the trial court what are the options?
Foreclosure litigation is a very special type of case. Normal rules of limitation and basic requirements of proof have been softened in favor of giving lawyers the opportunity of saying they represent a Bank that is the trustee of a trust. Those lawyers don’t need to assert that the trust owns any underlying obligation owed by the homeowner to the named Bank as trustee. It is all implied. And they never are required to show proof of authority to represent the bank. In fact, they have no contact with the bank.

04/25/22

Cleveland leads the nation in new foreclosure filings, Ohio third among states News5 Cleveland

Cleveland leads the nation in new foreclosure filings, Ohio third among states
CLEVELAND — New numbers out show the nation’s foreclosure rate is on the rise with Ohio one of the states with the sharpest increase and Cleveland number one among all major cities.

04/25/22

Texas Homeowner Harriet Nicholson is On the Road Seeking Justice Laws In NY

Texas Homeowner Harriet Nicholson is On the Road Seeking Justice
Nicholson knows Nationstar is plotting to steal her home because they know the judicial system is rigged against homeowners in Texas.
Nicholson v. The Bank of New York Mellon
(1:22-cv-03177)
District Court, S.D. New York
APR 19, 2022 | REPUBLISHED BY LINY : APR 25, 2022

04/25/22

JURISDICTIONAL CHALLENGES MUST NOT BE AIMED AT THE MERITS OF THE CLAIM Living Lies

JURISDICTIONAL CHALLENGES MUST NOT BE AIMED AT THE MERITS OF THE CLAIM
“Jurisdiction” is a term used to define whether or not the court has any authority to hear the case. Filing a bogus claim DOES invoke the jurisdiction of the court as long as it complies with the basic rules of court. Just because you call it a jurisdictional challenge doesn’t make it a jurisdictional challenge. The jurisdiction of the court is based upon several factors,

04/22/22

Supreme Court Supports Equitable Tolling Extend Legal Deadlines NCLC

Supreme Court Supports Equitable Tolling Extend Legal Deadlines
A unanimous Supreme Court on April 21, 2022, issued an important ruling applicable when consumer practitioners have difficulty meeting a limitations period found in consumer legislation. In Boechler, P.C. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 2022 WL 1177496 (U.S. April 21, 2022), the Court ruled

04/22/22

2021 update - Olympic Gold Medalist Cindy Brown Wins Hearing and Stunning Court Victory on Constitutional Right to Due Process and Dignity for Self-Represented Litigants Facing Vexatious Litigant Motions Sherry Hernandez

2021 update - Olympic Gold Medalist Cindy Brown Wins Hearing and Stunning Court Victory on Constitutional Right to Due Process and Dignity for Self-Represented Litigants Facing Vexatious Litigant Motions
School Lawyer and civil rights attorney Raye Mitchell delivers research and support in Cindy Brown vs. The Bank of New York Mellon in defending vexatious litigant claims by bank attorneys-The Ryan Firm APC.

04/22/22

So you think you’re in default, eh? Clouded Titles

So you think you’re in default, eh?
The author of this post will try to keep things simple without passing judgment. There is no doubt here that we are collectively living in troubled times. The rash of foreclosures continues now that the eviction moratoriums have been lifted for the most part. Those who did not undertake a loan modification or request a forbearance (that was actually granted) are probably feeling the sting of communication by the mortgage loan servicers in their mailing out of late notices on unpaid and delinquent mortgage loans. According to the terms of the mortgage or deed of trust (depending on which “state” you’re in), there is a specific section on Default. Understand that it’s the mortgage loan servicer’s obligation to collect the mortgage loan debt and route payments to the “lender”, no matter WHO that lender might be. The problem with defaults, loan modifications and the like is that so many of the loans out there today are securitized through the MERS® System. Since the MERS® System was taken over by the same company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, the information coming out of this entity is scarce to non-existent. Generally, if you miss a payment, the servicer is going to notify you by certified mail. You may have to sign for the letter. The biggest mistake that homeowners make is ignoring these letters, when in fact, this could be the very start of a long, drawn-out process where you can obtain a lot of useful and vital information that your attorney could use in a foreclosure defense posture, without having to pay gobs in legal fees. What is a QWR? That process is called a Qualified Written Request (QWR) under RESPA (the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) § 6. You can easily research this section of the law and discover that RESPA allows you to send a QWR to the servicer’s bona fide QWR address and ask the servicer to send you specific information, which is discussed below.

04/22/22

DannLaw Covid 19 Update 16–and hopefully our last Dann Law

DannLaw Covid 19 Update 16–and hopefully our last
The End of Covid Forbearance is here. Time to rework your loan. DannLaw founder Marc DannMortgage forbearance and other programs made available to homeowners during the COVID-19 pandemic are about to end. That means millions of homeowners are or will soon be pursuing loan modifications or other work out options with their lenders.

04/22/22

How to use your knowledge of securitization to win foreclosure and quiet title cases Living Lies

How to use your knowledge of securitization to win foreclosure and quiet title cases
In an effort to show the relevancy of securitization in the collection businesses established with each new transaction with homeowners, I have had some discussions about the usefulness of knowing who has access to funds paid by homeowners and who gets paid any money as a creditor of the homeowner.

04/21/22

Foreclosure Activity at New High Since the Pandemic Began Realtor Magazine

Biden Has Nominated a Man from the Sandy Weill/Robert Rubin/Tim Geithner School of Wall Street Hubris to Head Regulation at the Fed
Foreclosure starts and bank repossessions are at their highest numbers in the last two years. Most pandemic-initiated moratoriums have lifted by now and lenders are starting to resume foreclosures. Still, foreclosure activity remains well below historical levels. The number of properties with a foreclosure filing during the first quarter of 2022 climbed 39% compared to the previous quarter. Foreclosure filings are up much higher—132%—compared to a year ago, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q1 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

04/20/22

Biden Has Nominated a Man from the Sandy Weill/Robert Rubin/Tim Geithner School of Wall Street Hubris to Head Regulation at the Fed Wall Street On Parade

Biden Has Nominated a Man from the Sandy Weill/Robert Rubin/Tim Geithner School of Wall Street Hubris to Head Regulation at the Fed
In addition to being a law professor at the University of Michigan, Michael Barr also holds the title as the “Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.” The Ford School sits in a building called the Joan and Sanford Weill Hall, which was given that name as the result of a $5 million donation from the Weills. To anyone who hasn’t been in a coma since the Wall Street crash of 2008 –

04/20/22

Homeowner Beliefs and Fears Drive Losses in Court Living Lies

Homeowner Beliefs and Fears Drive Losses in Court
There is no “YES”. There are many people who get angry with me for ascribing some blame to the homeowners themselves for the toxic economic environment and the judicial environment resulting in the victimization of homeowners.

04/19/22

MERS and the problem of false agency Living Lies

MERS and the problem of false agency
Since the beginning of this century, The initial transaction with homeowners was the product of multiple layers of paperwork, most of which were neither identified nor accessed by consumers or their professional advisers. * Here is the deal:

04/18/22

A mortgage giant crunched 47 years of housing data. Here's what it found Inman

A mortgage giant crunched 47 years of housing data. Here's what it found
The new Fannie Mae Home Price Index aims to capture a broader picture of the housing market. What it found was the fastest annual pace of home price growth in nearly half a century

04/18/22

Notices To and From Servicer Might Mean Nothing at All Living Lies

Notices To and From Servicer Might Mean Nothing at All
In homeowner finance, ALL claims start with notices from third parties with whom the homeowner has previously had no communication. My suggestion is that homeowners start challenging those letters, statements, and notices as soon as they arrive. Such challenges make “tracks in the sand” for later use in litigation.

04/17/22

MAAPL for Housing Justice—$60K for Grace’s 60th! MAAPL.org

MAAPL for Housing Justice—$60K for Grace’s 60th!

Hi Everyone, Grace Ross here. I’m honored that the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending is celebrating my 60th birthday with a $60,000 fund raiser for the amazing work to bring justice to… everyone, really, in the US, given our country’s historically high rate of foreclosures.
Ever since I was a kid, my birthday candle wish was always about everyone having a home. That seemed just a reasonable and necessary thing — every human being should have a safe place to rest their head. Giving now will help reach that dream.
So, here I am today — working with MAAPL’s amazing, diverse leadership. If we succeed in this fight for justice, we’ll accomplish something never done before in US history: return vast stolen wealth and land. This foreclosure crisis — the worst since the one that fed the American Revolution— was started by the lenders. For the first time in history, after the Civil Rights Movement’s fights winning and ending the use of law to deny people of color the ability to own their home. Redlining and what was known as reverse redlining were outlawed. (This was where the few people of color who could get mortgages were given mortgages that were what is now called “doomed to foreclose”) And, for the first time, women got out from under needing their husband’s credit for a mortgage.
Those streams of folks came into being able to get a mortgage under the law to own their home only to find themselves targeted by the same reverse redlining practices. Those practices were sufficiently successful by the end of the 1990s that the lending industry started applying them to white folks – primarily working class white men – as well.
Foreclosure has affected every walk of life. We can now prove bank practices are not only civilly illegal, but usually criminally too. After 13 years of fighting, MAAPL is poised to turn this tide. How? With enough organizing and legal staff to blow away the prejudiced lie that people ”bought too much house” — most mortgages were targeted refinances, loans guaranteed to lose the home.
Join our online Celebration & Virtual Fundraiser with music, stories of hope and hard earned wins, plus the plan to bring the wealth home. #Black/Brown Wealth Matters
How? With your help. MAAPL needs $60,000 to hire organizing staff. Will you donate to make history with us?
Our movement also is looking for $360,000 in investment money for my birthday —a whole different way to contribute— for huge, multi-party, legal cases. Be in touch with me, Grace and I can connect you with this transformative and handsome investment opportunity.
And thanks for the honor, everyone.

04/16/22

State fund helps homeowners Record Eagle

State fund helps homeowners
TRAVERSE CITY — Hundreds of Michigan homeowners have already applied for grants to cover financial hardships brought on by the pandemic, and Traverse City has become the latest partner to the Michigan Homeowners Hardship Assistance Fund.

04/15/22

Preserving the Property Preservation Space DS News

Preserving the Property Preservation Space
Kerry Medel is Client Relationship Manager for Brookstone Management LLC, a nationwide firm specializing in preserving and maintaining vacant, pre-foreclosure, and REO assets.

04/15/22

Don’t wait until the end: Interlocutory appeals succeed where the issues are narrow Living Lies

Don’t wait until the end: Interlocutory appeals succeed where the issues are narrow
Aggressive litigation means basically that the lawyer or pro se litigant uses every tool in the box to force the opposition onto its heels or out of the courtroom. Each state has its own rules and laws governing interlocutory appeals.

04/14/22

Calif. AG encourages COVID-impacted reverse mortgage borrowers to seek relief Reverse Mortgage Daily

Calif. AG encourages COVID-impacted reverse mortgage borrowers to seek relief
Rob Bonta, the attorney general for the state of California, issued an alert this week to encourage more of the state’s residents to avail themselves of the California Mortgage Relief Program that includes assistance for forward and reverse mortgage borrowers who have been financially impacted by the economic effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

04/14/22

Hawaii Court of Appeals - Bank of N.Y. Mellon v. Colton, 146 Haw. 577 (2020) -- More evidence of judicial bias in US state courts? Scott Stafne

Hawaii Court of Appeals - Bank of N.Y. Mellon v. Colton, 146 Haw. 577 (2020) -- More evidence of judicial bias in US state courts?
OPINION OF THE COURT BY WADSWORTH, J. Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff-Appellant Mary Lee Colton (Colton) appeals from the judgment entered on February 10, 2017, by the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit (Circuit Court)1Link to the text of the note pursuant to Hawai'i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 54(b) (February 10, 2017 ...read more

04/14/22

Capital Markets, eClosing, Borrower Intelligence, Automation Products; Fannie and Freddie Relentless Changes Mortgage News Daily

Capital Markets, eClosing, Borrower Intelligence, Automation Products; Fannie and Freddie Relentless Changes
It’s Thursday. What should we talk about today? Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter? How about the jump in adjustable-rate locks as evidenced by the MBA’s figures? (Are your LOs well-versed in them?) Their share of applications last week was at 7.4 percent, which was the highest share since June 2019. How about this unique measure of wage inflation?

04/13/22

Take Charge America Offers Arizona Residents Free Rent & Mortgage Counseling, Guidance in Qualifying for $25,000 in Mortgage Assistance Business Wire

Take Charge America Offers Arizona Residents Free Rent & Mortgage Counseling, Guidance in Qualifying for $25,000 in Mortgage Assistance
-Arizonans facing foreclosure, eviction or struggling to pay their mortgage or rent can receive one-on-one housing counseling services from nonprofit agency Take Charge America, including the possibility of qualifying for up to $25,000 in mortgage assistance through the state’s Homeowner Assistance Fund.

04/13/22

Candidates for Office and Lawyers for Consumers Are Missing the Brass Ring Living Lies

Candidates for Office and Lawyers for Consumers Are Missing the Brass Ring
We need to elect candidates who run on an anti-bank platform. That means getting to them when they are just sorting out whether they will run or when they first start running. Any message that ties current day-to-day problems for citizens to the banks will resonate.r

04/11/22

Law Practices at Foreclosure Mills Could Lead to Prosecution Living Lies

Law Practices at Foreclosure Mills Could Lead to Prosecution
I doubt if it comes as any real surprise to the many law firms that quickly organized to file claims against consumers — especially homeowners. But the money was just too good to turn it down. In an article in the New York Law Journal by Jason Grant, he reveals that Attorney General Letitia James sued a law firm for

04/11/22

Fannie Mae announces title insurance shake up Housing Wire

Fannie Mae announces title insurance shake up
In a selling guide announcement released last week, Fannie Mae announced that it would be accepting written opinion letters from an attorney in lieu of a title insurance policy “in limited circumstances.”

04/08/22

CFPB’s appeal to Ocwen suit off to a rough start Housing Wire

CFPB’s appeal to Ocwen suit off to a rough start
U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that most complaints against servicer are barred because of 2014 consent order The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s attempt to revive a mortgage servicing misconduct lawsuit against Ocwen Financial Corp. is in choppy waters.

04/08/22

40-yr, Jumbo, Co-op, Audit, Credit, Homebuyer Tools; Freddie and Fannie Program News Mortgage News Daily

40-yr, Jumbo, Co-op, Audit, Credit, Homebuyer Tools; Freddie and Fannie Program News
The risk-free 2-year Treasury began 2022 yielding .73 and is now at 2.52 percent! Does your company offer 2-1 buydown loans? Do your LOs even know what a 2-1 buydown loan is? (If they don’t, bring them up to speed internally or through a program like XINNIX.) Things are changing.

04/07/22

RON is here to stay – Here’s what you need to know Housing Wire

RON is here to stay – Here’s what you need to know
Remote Online Notarization is a hot topic in the real estate title industry for good reason. An ALTA Vendor Survey showed that RON transactions increased by 547% from 2019 to 2020. While the pandemic thrust RON into the mainstream of the industry,

04/07/22

Compliance priorities on the horizon for 2022 ABA

Compliance priorities on the horizon for 2022
Predicting the new year’s compliance developments is easier in some years than others. In some years, a large piece of legislation (such as Dodd-Frank) must be implemented by regulators and the year (or in Dodd-Frank’s case, several years) will be dominated by new proposals and regulations to sort out.

04/07/22

Fannie and Freddie issue guidance implementing foreclosure hold for HAF applicants Consumer Finance Monitor

Fannie and Freddie issue guidance implementing foreclosure hold for HAF applicants
As previously reported, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will require servicers to suspend foreclosure activities for up to 60 days if the servicer has been notified that a borrower has applied for assistance from the Treasury Department’s Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF).

04/07/22

How Evidence Works for and Against the Consumer/Homeowner Living Lies

How Evidence Works for and Against the Consumer/Homeowner
It is easy to get lost in the weeds. Don’t make up your own words or definitions because your definitions have no relevance to your case. Do hold the accusing side to their words and to the legally accepted definitions of those words as contained in statutes and cases.

04/06/22

DannLaw, Zimmerman Law Offices file class action against Wells Fargo, say bank discriminated against Black borrowers The Dann Law Firm

DannLaw, Zimmerman Law Offices file class action against Wells Fargo, say bank discriminated against Black borrowers
-- Claiming that Wells Fargo has engaged in a “…pervasive pattern and practice of placing Black Americans at a disadvantage in comparison to White Americans with respect to their applications for mortgage loans,” attorneys from DannLaw and the Zimmerman Law Offices filed a class action lawsuit against the giant bank in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday, April 6, 2022.

04/06/22

Why it is important that it is not PennyMac or Ocwen etc. (It’s usually Fiserv) Living Lies

Why it is important that it is not PennyMac or Ocwen etc. (It’s usually Fiserv)
The biggest problem for nearly everyone viewing these pages is that besides the legal and financial jargon, the concepts are difficult to understand. So I keep getting questions and comments that basically amount to “So what” What difference does it make whether the named servicer is performing those functions or it is someone else?”

04/05/22

Why the UCC Matters in Foreclosure Cases Living Lies

Why the UCC Matters in Foreclosure Cases
The problem as illustrated by many scholarly articles and articles on this blog is that courts are given to treat plaintiffs and claimants as holders in due course without anyone asking them to do so.

04/04/22

After reaching historic lows, the foreclosure pipeline is starting to fill Inman

After reaching historic lows, the foreclosure pipeline is starting to fill
Although the numbers remain below historical levels, ‘it’s not going to be a surprise when we see the foreclosure numbers starting to rise,’ according to Daren Blomquist of Auction.com

04/04/22

Helping borrowers hold mortgage servicers accountable CFPB

Helping borrowers hold mortgage servicers accountable
On Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a friend-of-the-court (“amicus”) brief in McCoy v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a case in which two mortgage borrowers sued their loan servicer for refusing to answer their questions about their loans.

04/04/22

Mortgage Payment to Income Ratio Getting Into Pre-Meltdown Territory Mortgage News Daily

Mortgage Payment to Income Ratio Getting Into Pre-Meltdown Territory
Black Knight's latest Mortgage Monitor report was released this morning and it provided more timely insight on home price appreciation than last week's home price indices (HPIs) from FHFA and S&P Case-Shiller. The Mortgage Monitor's price data covers February whereas the other HPIs were limited to January.

04/03/22

The Morrises are now up at the Mass. SJC: to be HEARD, this MONDAY, 040422 at about 10:30am (time is not exact). MAAPL.org

The Morrises are now up at the Mass. SJC: to be HEARD, this MONDAY, 040422 at about 10:30am (time is not exact).
HSBC Bank USA v. MorrisSJC-13191 View Docket
Webcast Home Page

Summary: Mortgage Foreclosure-- This is a challenge to an eviction action after a mortgage foreclosure claiming that the underlying loan was predatory.

This is our first chance to show the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that it needs to stand up for the people of Massachusetts, especially the people of color and communities with a higher percentage of people of color who were targeted for the illegal, predatory, and, in fact, “prohibited” discriminatory loans that the industry across the board has rampantly engaged in.

We have all been horrified by what the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did to Alton King and said was ok to be done to everybody similarly situated. That is, anybody who is “post foreclosure” and needs fees waived to be able to fight for their rights in our courts can be denied. (Although we are fighting that in the lower courts and getting there… )

We have an opportunity to show the SJC that we are watching and that they need to do the right thing. Please put THIS Monday on your calendar.

We are still checking if observers can be in the Courtroom itself BUT that would be the most impressive. If you can’t make it OR we find out we can’t witness in person PLS plan to watch - we will figure out a way to let the court know how many people are watching!

Webcast Home Page
They need to know how many people are watching and how many people are going to be paying attention to whether they choose the people of Massachusetts over the mega-banks or not and whether they start the process of reparations and healing that we have a Constitutional right to.
Much love, Grace
MAAPL.org

04/03/22

UNCOVERED: A Greenwood judge auctioned foreclosed properties. His wife and children bought dozens. Index-Journal

UNCOVERED: A Greenwood judge auctioned foreclosed properties. His wife and children bought dozens.
Once a month, investors across the state turn up to the local seat of government looking for a bargain on real estate. On a Monday morning in Greenwood, they form a loose circle beside the big windows in the courthouse’s mid-century lobby, awaiting a chance to buy properties away from owners who can’t afford them anymore.

04/01/22

You Don’t Need to Call a Forensic Investigator as an Expert: He or she can be called as a fact witness thus avoiding any requirements to qualify an expert. Living Lies

You Don’t Need to Call a Forensic Investigator as an Expert: He or she can be called as a fact witness thus avoiding any requirements to qualify an expert.
I keep getting messages from homeowners who are furious with the corrupt system of the courts because they tried to call a witness to testify as an expert and they failed. Calling an expert means you must fulfill numerous requirements. One of them, the threshold question, is whether an expert is even needed.

04/01/22

NY Modifies Foreclosure Provisions JDSupra

NY Modifies Foreclosure Provisions
Effective immediately, New York S.B. 7698 has amended foreclosure requirements for residential mortgages by adding clarification that any complaint served in a proceeding initiated on a residential mortgage covering a one to four family dwelling must contain the affirmative allegation that at the time the proceeding is commenced (for loans governed by section six-l or six-m of the banking law) the plaintiff has complied with section six-l or six-m of the banking law. The bill further clarified that it shall be a defense to an action to foreclose a mortgage if a lender violates any provision of section six-l or six-m of the banking law or section thirteen hundred four of the Real Property Actions & Proceedings Law, for loans governed by these provisions.

03/31/22

It’s the small stuff that reveals the fraud Living Lies

It’s the small stuff that reveals the fraud
Several contributors to the blog have identified specific information regarding the true owner and operator of physical mail addresses used in connection with correspondence, statements, and notices sent out under the letterhead of some company that is claimed to be a servicer.

03/29/22

HMDA: The top 10 FHA lenders by volume in 2021 Housing Wire

HMDA: The top 10 FHA lenders by volume in 2021
Freedom Mortgage Corp. takes the top spot, originating $25.5 billion worth of FHA loans

03/29/22

Geoff Walsh of National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) publishes very informative article regarding foreclosure Living Lies

Geoff Walsh of National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) publishes very informative article regarding foreclosure
Almost everyone writing articles about consumer finance, mortgage loans, and servicing is now in agreement that there are viable meritorious defenses for the consumer. True, they are not obvious to the casual observer, which is part of the problem.

03/28/22

Gary Dubin on the Attack in California: Simple Truths About Foreclosure Defense Living Lies

Gary Dubin on the Attack in California: Simple Truths About Foreclosure Defense
Dubin reports that the status of judicial consensus in California is pretty much the way it was before he entered the battle in Hawaii. I think he is starting to change that with inventive ways to educate the courts and give them pause before they rubber-stamp another foreclosure.

03/25/22

So do I owe the money or not? Living Lies

So do I owe the money or not?
I think that the best answer you can give is no, there is not any money owed. You can only “go there” (money owed) if you describe the transaction as a loan. But every loan has some basic common sense characteristics or attributes:
There is no other reason or intent to give the consumer any money.
The transaction is legal — i.e., it complies with all federal and state laws, rules, and regulations governing lending and servicing.
The transaction creates a loan account reflected on the general ledger of the lender as an asset receivable.
The lender has an actual risk of loss if scheduled payments are not received.
The lender has funded the transaction by using its own assets or its own credit, wherein the lender is liable for repayment of the funds loaned to the lender.
The lender owns the loan account receivable when the transaction cycle is complete.
The lender’s business plan is to earn a profit through repayment of the loan together with interest and other fees or, as is frequently asserted, the profit is earned through the sale of the loan.
If the loan originated with the intent to sell it in the secondary market, the intent is to receive payment in exchange for a conveyance of the underlying obligation.

03/25/22

Financial assistance program helps homeowners affected by pandemic Upper Michigans Source

Financial assistance program helps homeowners affected by pandemic
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - If you are a homeowner that has been affected by the pandemic, there may be financial aid available for you. It’s no secret the pandemic has impacted us in many ways, including our money. However, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) is offering some relief for homeowners.

03/25/22

'It’s a feeling of security' | Charlotte organization helps prevent foreclosures and keep families in their homes WCNC

'It’s a feeling of security' | Charlotte organization helps prevent foreclosures and keep families in their homes
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Losing your home to foreclosure can be a traumatic event. That is why one organization is committed to helping families keep the roof over their heads. Plants fill every room of army veteran, Leon Grier’s East Charlotte home. “The greens really help relax me when I come out and look out the window, look at my pond,” Grier said.

03/24/22

Why we are still living with lies Living Lies

Why we are still living with lies
Nobody realized that investment securities brokers were seeking to convert themselves into a printing press for hypothetical money. They were allowing investment banks to securitize imagination. Any hypothetical event, movement or data can be securitized. Anything can be an asset class just because some investment bank says so.

03/23/22

These 3 Charts Strongly Suggest the U.S. Stock Market Has an Invisible Hand Propping It Up Wall Street On Parade

These 3 Charts Strongly Suggest the U.S. Stock Market Has an Invisible Hand Propping It Up
As someone who has watched trading screens for the past 36 years, it’s pretty easy to spot a fake market. As the charts below indicate, there is an invisible hand (or hands) pushing this stock market up when it should be plunging. The likely suspects are U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s Plunge Protection Team

03/23/22

About that “servicer” Living Lies

About that “servicer”
If you refer to the company that has been named as the “servicer” for your “loan”, as your servicer or your lender, you are already wrong. Regardless of what company is named as “servicer”, it is not receiving any payment that you have ever directed to them or any predecessor company that was designated as “Servicer” (most likely by a FINTECH company operating under license, and acting for an investment bank that does NOT own any indebtedness owed by you to anyone. The big “tell” is that their “Payment History” lacks any reference to disbursements.

03/22/22

Bankruptcy Dollar Amounts Going Up NCLC

Bankruptcy Dollar Amounts Going Up
Bankruptcy Code § 104(b) provides that the exemption amounts and other dollar figures in the Code are automatically adjusted for inflation every three years. The adjustments are based on changes to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Dept. of Labor, rounded to the nearest $25. New dollar amounts take effect on April 1, 2022, and will apply to all cases filed on or after that date.

03/22/22

Challenging SPS on a WAMU Origination Living Lies

Challenging SPS on a WAMU Origination
The underlying obligations had long since been eliminated by the process of securitization. But by not reporting the elimination of the loan account receivable, Wall Street has been able to maintain the illusion that they still exist.

03/21/22

If you don’t know how to read between the lines, you miss everything Living Lies

If you don’t know how to read between the lines, you miss everything
So in a minor release, you have the following, trumpeting the legal prowess of the Orrick firm, representing Credit Suisse and its subsidiary DLJ. A lawsuit was filed purportedly on behalf of U.S. Bank seeking to enforce repurchase obligations that DLJ had issued and which Credit Suisse would be required to honor if they were valid.

03/21/22

The Bank Foxes are Guarding the SEC Chicken Coop! Living Lies

The Bank Foxes are Guarding the SEC Chicken Coop!
If anything is crystal clear today, it is that there is no federal or state government agency that is going to help the consumer or specifically homeowners. In this re-publish of an article by RICHARD BOWEN, the complicity of the SEC in adding and abetting securitization illusions and delusions is readily apparent.

03/20/22

Federal Open Market Committee Raises Interest Rates As The Country Recovers From The Covid-19 Pandemic. Fed Plan 6 More Rate Increases MFI-Miami

Federal Open Market Committee Raises Interest Rates As The Country Recovers From The Covid-19 Pandemic. Fed Plan 6 More Rate Increases
The Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in four years. Thus, marking an end to the easy money that gave rise to the hottest mortgage market in American history. The Federal Open Market Committee was predicted to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. The FOMC designed the move to slow the pace of inflation by increasing the cost of mortgage borrowing. Inflation hit 7.9% for the year that ended in February. It is unknown if it slows the frenetic pace of a housing market with historically low supply.

03/19/22

Foreclosures are on the rise. Here’s what that says about the housing market Market Watch

Foreclosures are on the rise. Here’s what that says about the housing market
In January there was a seven-fold increase in foreclosure starts as compared to December, with roughly 33,000 loans referred to foreclosure, according to a report from mortgage data and analytics company Black Knight. What’s more, data from real estate data analytics firm ATTOM Data Solutions revealed that lenders repossessed 2,634 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures in February 2022, which is an increase of 70% from last year (though it’s still down 45% from last month).

03/18/22

Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.115 Conflicts with F.S. 679.203 Living Lies

Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.115 Conflicts with F.S. 679.203
F.S. 679.203: a security interest is not enforceable against the debtor or third parties with respect to the collateral and does not attach unless: … (b) Value has been given… [e.s.] Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.115:

03/17/22

JP Morgan Settles with Manhattan DA for “Hypothetical” Data reports and Fraudulent Lending Practices Living Lies

JP Morgan Settles with Manhattan DA for “Hypothetical” Data reports and Fraudulent Lending Practices
Once consumers and homeowners get it out of their head that they were not paid as part of a loan transaction and instead they were paid for participating in an undisclosed securities scheme, they will easily see that the money paid to them, coupled with a promise to pay it back, was a ruse in which the homeowner got paid only temporarily, offset by an even larger liability (including interest and fees).

03/17/22

The Fed’s Lack of Transparency Is Harming the Dollar as the World’s Reserve Currency Wall Street On Parade

The Fed’s Lack of Transparency Is Harming the Dollar as the World’s Reserve Currency
Yesterday, it was widely reported in the business press that Saudi Arabia is considering pricing its oil deals with China in China’s own currency, the Yuan, rather than in U.S. Dollars, which is the currency of choice for the bulk of the global oil trade. While it should be noted that this talk has been making headlines for the past four years without actually coming to fruition, the U.S. should stop taking the respected status of the Dollar for granted.

03/16/22

Mortgage demand falls as interest rates surge to multiyear highs CNBC

Mortgage demand falls as interest rates surge to multiyear highs
A sharp jump in mortgage rates last week soured demand from both current homeowners and potential homebuyers, causing mortgage applications to drop. With rates now back on the expected upward trajectory, following a brief drop at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, mortgage volume is likely to fall further in the coming weeks.

03/16/22

The Fog of War Is Providing a Smoke Screen for Trading Losses at a Dangerously Unreformed Wall Street Wall Street On Parade

The Fog of War Is Providing a Smoke Screen for Trading Losses at a Dangerously Unreformed Wall Street
We received an email alert from the House Financial Services Committee last Sunday indicating that its Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets will hold a hearing on March 30 titled: “Oversight of America’s Stock Exchanges: Examining Their Role in Our Economy.” You can file that hearing under too little, too late.

03/16/22

QWR: How to use RESPA Living Lies

QWR: How to use RESPA
RESPA is a consumer protection statute that regulates the real estate settlement process, including loan servicing and assignments. 12 U.S.C. § 2601(a). In 2010, RESPA was amended pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010), which, among other things, added provisions governing the way in which federal mortgage loan servicers responded to requests for information (“RFIs”) or assertions of error from borrowers. Dodd-Frank also created the CFPB, which is responsible for promulgating rules and regulations implementing RESPA.

03/15/22

Why Consumers (Homeowners) Don’t Owe the Money Living Lies

Why Consumers (Homeowners) Don’t Owe the Money
Any lawyer can win these cases by simply challenging the basic premises of the action, to wit: the existence, status, and ownership of the presumed loan account. there is no experience of default by any creditor. That means that the declaration of default is false. And that means that the conditions precedent to foreclosure are absent. This is the sticking point that derails most defense narratives.

03/14/22

Using the Homeowner Assistance Fund program to help borrowers prevent foreclosure CFPB

Using the Homeowner Assistance Fund program to help borrowers prevent foreclosure
As of March 1, 2022, over 768,000 mortgage borrowers remain in active forbearance. Many of these consumers are seriously delinquent and at risk of foreclosure unless they receive loss mitigation assistance from their servicers. The CFPB remains focused on preventing avoidable foreclosures to the maximum extent possible and expects mortgage servicers to do the same.

03/14/22

Uptick In Foreclosures? Fraudulent Transfers? Clouded Titles Blog

Uptick In Foreclosures? Fraudulent Transfers?
Years ago, when this author wrote Clouded Titles (his second work, which followed The Credit Restoration Primer, now in its 5th edition), now in its Mayday Edition, he set up an alert in his Google system settings to detect any reference to the phrase Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.

03/14/22

The Queer World of Foreclosures Coupled with Fake claims of Servicing Living Lies

The Queer World of Foreclosures Coupled with Fake claims of Servicing
Hat tip to Miles on this first one. A 2020 Sarasota, Florida Judgment illustrates the deep gaps between reality and fantasy in today’s world of foreclosure. This one is about a claimant (Plaintiff) named the “LSF11 Master Participation Trust” (more on that later) which is no more real than the infamous LSF9 Master Participation Trust.

03/11/22

Miami Judge Beatrice Butchko Kicked Off Foreclosure Case For Holding Mortgage Servicer And Their Lawyers Accountable MFI-Miami

Miami Judge Beatrice Butchko Kicked Off Foreclosure Case For Holding Mortgage Servicer And Their Lawyers Accountable
The Florida 3rd DCA has kicked a Miami Judge Beatrice Butchko off a foreclosure case. They also made the unusual move of barring her from considering an order to show cause. The proposed show cause order alleges Bank of New York Mellon and others associated with the case committed perjury. The appeals court said the case began as a straightforward mortgage foreclosure. However, it transformed into an ever-escalating battle that no longer resembles its original form.

03/11/22

Help available for Collier County residents facing foreclosure, eviction, housing instability Gulf Shore Business

Help available for Collier County residents facing foreclosure, eviction, housing instability
Collier County is expanding its scope to help more residents who are struggling to pay rent, mortgage or utilities. The county has allocated $7 million of the American Rescue Plan Act funds toward lessening the housing affordability issue. Qualifications include proof of income between 81% and 140% area median income (AMI), Collier County residency and financial strain during COVID-19.

03/11/22

New York Amends Contact Requirements for Certain Delinquent Borrowers JDSupra

New York Amends Contact Requirements for Certain Delinquent Borrowers
A&B ABstract: On February 24, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law Assembly Bill 8771 (2022 N.Y. Laws 48), amending single point of contact requirements for certain delinquent borrowers. What changes does the measure require for servicer protocols?

03/11/22

Wells Fargo Rejected Half Its Black Applicants in Mortgage Refinancing Boom Bloomberg

Wells Fargo Rejected Half Its Black Applicants in Mortgage Refinancing Boom
When Mauise Ricard III paid a $560.43 application fee to Wells Fargo & Co. on Valentine’s Day in 2020 to refinance his mortgage on a four-bedroom brick colonial in a leafy suburb of Atlanta, he had every reason to expect an easy ride.

03/11/22

Oregon Case Directly Corroborates My Analysis of Business Record Exception to Hearsay Living Lies

Oregon Case Directly Corroborates My Analysis of Business Record Exception to Hearsay
The bottom line and the importance of this analysis is that the basis for any claim in foreclosure is the enforcement of an unpaid debt and the proof of its existence and status, along with the proof of a default.

03/11/22

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Are in the Hot Seat: Sever Cozy Ties with Russia or Earn the Wrath of U.S. and EU Clients Wall Street On Parade

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Are in the Hot Seat: Sever Cozy Ties with Russia or Earn the Wrath of U.S. and EU Clients
Russia began its brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Two days later the European Commission, U.S., U.K. and Canada announced sweeping sanctions, which have grown in granular details since then. By early this week, hundreds of corporations with the most famous brands in the world had announced that they were closing their stores in Russia, or ceasing to ship their products there, or severing joint business operations in a rebuke to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.

03/10/22

Florida’s foreclosure rate 2nd highest in U.S. WFLA

Florida’s foreclosure rate 2nd highest in U.S.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Across the whole of the United States, foreclosures increased 11% from January. The state with the highest number of foreclosures was California, but Florida wasn’t far behind at No. 2, according to ATTOM, a real estate analyst company.

03/10/22

Barbarians at the Gate – In Russia and on Wall Street Wall Street On Parade

Barbarians at the Gate – In Russia and on Wall Street
This morning Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West were “absolutely unprecedented.” He went on to say that those sanctions made it “very hard to forecast anything.”

03/10/22

And for all those naysayers who assert “impossibility” of defense Living Lies

And for all those naysayers who assert “impossibility” of defense
Consider the recent success of Attorney Gary Dubin who just sent me a court order involving a California case he filed against the foreclosure and securitization players. He survived demurrer, received an order declaring the case to be “complex” and he successfully argued for a jury trial.

03/09/22

Verification of Foreclosure Complaints Is Also Fictional Living Lies

Verification of Foreclosure Complaints Is Also Fictional
Anyone who reads my blog knows that I have repeatedly asserted one fundamental rule. If you are going to attack the basis of the claim against a homeowner, you need to start very early. If you don’t, both of the allegations and the implied allegations will become baked into the case. That will give rise to inferences of fact and presumptions of law that can kill any later defense.

03/08/22

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Falls to 20-Year Low DS News

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Falls to 20-Year Low
According to CoreLogic, the nation’s delinquency rate in the U.S. in December 2021 hit its lowest recorded point since at least January 1999, as found in its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report.

03/07/22

The Big Question on Wall Street Is Which Banks Owe $41 Billion on Credit Default Swaps on Russia Wall Street On Parade

The Big Question on Wall Street Is Which Banks Owe $41 Billion on Credit Default Swaps on Russia
There is a known $41 billion in Credit Default Swaps (CDS) on Russian debt. There is likely many billions more in unknown amounts. There are also billions more in Credit Default Swaps on state-owned Russian corporate debt and non state-owned Russian corporate debt.

03/07/22

Fictional Financial Characters We Think Are Real: Donald Duck is your creditor and Pluto is your servicer. Living Lies

Fictional Financial Characters We Think Are Real: Donald Duck is your creditor and Pluto is your servicer.
Reno, Nevada. In 2009, 16 banks hired 16 highly prominent law firms to take deposition testimony from an expert on the process of securitizing debt. He had been named as an expert witness in a class-action lawsuit against MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., MERSCorp etc — actually three distinct entities, one of which, the main one whose name used as a billboard in foreclosures, has no assets, no employees, and nothing to do).

03/04/22

What you don’t know can hurt you. Who is an “Issuer?” Living Lies

What you don’t know can hurt you. Who is an “Issuer?”
No default (no loss) means no claim. No claim means no remedy. intrepid souls are wandering into the weeds trying to find out what it means that PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMIT) is referred to as an approved issuer of “securities.” The short answer is that none of it is true. PMIT does not own nor has it paid for any aspect of any debt, note or mortgage. What it issues as “Securities” is completely irrelevant to the instruments signed by the homeowner.

03/03/22

Pro Bono: How to find your case today Jacksonville Daily Record

Pro Bono: How to find your case today
There are many ways to get involved in providing pro bono services in our community, from reaching out directly to a legal services provider, working with a voluntary Bar association and participating in outreach events. Another way to find the right case or event for you is to check out the Florida Pro Bono Matters website at floridaprobonomatters.org.

03/04/22

What you don’t know can hurt you. Who is an “Issuer?” Living Lies

What you don’t know can hurt you. Who is an “Issuer?”
No default (no loss) means no claim. No claim means no remedy. intrepid souls are wandering into the weeds trying to find out what it means that PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMIT) is referred to as an approved issuer of “securities.” The short answer is that none of it is true. PMIT does not own nor has it paid for any aspect of any debt, note or mortgage. What it issues as “Securities” is completely irrelevant to the instruments signed by the homeowner.

03/02/22

Russian money flows through U.S. real estate NBC

Russian money flows through U.S. real estate
As President Joe Biden vows to punish Russia with financial sanctions by seizing yachts, mansions and other assets, members of the real estate community and lawmakers are skeptical about how successful he’ll be at getting access to the money Russians have been pouring into real estate for decades.

03/01/22

The Mediation Strategy Living Lies

The Mediation Strategy
The two things most overlooked by most lawyers for homeowners in litigation are discovery demands (and enforcement) and mediation. These strategies bring the real issue to the early attention of the court — that the opposition is unable or unwilling to produce the corroborating evidence that the lawyer wants the court to simply presume to be true.

03/01/22

Mortgage rates plunge just as home prices set another record CNBC

Mortgage rates plunge just as home prices set another record
Mortgage rates are sinking as markets contend with the ramifications of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and that means home prices are likely to continue surging. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage had risen close to a full percentage point from the start of this year up until last Friday, when it hit 4.18%, according to Mortgage News Daily. It then fell to 4.04% Monday and 3.9% on Tuesday. That is the largest two-day drop since March 2020, the start of the pandemic.

03/01/22

Appendix H to Part 1026 — Closed-End Model Forms and Clauses CFPB

Appendix H to Part 1026 — Closed-End Model Forms and Clauses
Interactive Bureau Regulations 12 CFR Part 1026 (Regulation Z) THIS VERSION IS THE CURRENT REGULATION

02/26/22

Vindication Comes In Small Packages Clouded Titles

Vindication Comes In Small Packages
The reason for the article on vindication is due to recent events occurring within a court case in the State of Kansas in the U.S. District Court, Wichita Division, where the Osceola County Forensic Examination was cited, under protest, with a motion to strike made by attorneys for the Bank of New York Mellon, which was denied by the Court. This means the Osceola County Forensic Examination sticks as evidence in the case. Needless to say, the lawyers for BONY Mellon were not happy. The Amended Complaint is shown below:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF KANSAS CARLOS E. MORAL and ) JULIE K. MORAL, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) Case No. 6:21-cv-01070-HLT-TJJ
) PHH MORTGAGE CORPORATION; ) OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, LLC; ) BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON ) TRUST COMPANY, NATIONAL ) ASSOCIATION; and INDECOMM ) HOLDINGS, INC. d/b/a INDECOMM ) GLOBAL SERVICES, ) ) Defendants. ) ) FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

02/25/22

ELDERLY HOMEOWNER FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE IN UNLAWFUL FORECLOSURE Ed Valejo

ELDERLY HOMEOWNER FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE IN UNLAWFUL FORECLOSURE
79 YEAR OLD ELDERLY HOMEOWNER FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE IN UNLAWFUL FORECLOSURE IN CALIFORNIA AGAINST U.S. BANK TRUST, N.A. AND ATTORNEYS: WRIGHT, FINLAY & ZAK, LLP. 4665 MACARTHUR COURT, SUITE 200 NEW PORT BEACH, CA 92660 TEL: (949) 477-5050 FAX: (949) 608-9142 They have been reported to the California BAR and the DFPI: Eunju Chagolla (she/her/hers), CFE, CPA Financial Institutions Manager, Debt Collectors Licensing California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation www.dfpi.ca.gov DFPI regulations@dfpi.ca.gov Fax to (213) 897-8860

02/25/22

It’s starting again. Foreclosures on the rise and everyone is “surprised.” Living Lies

It’s starting again. Foreclosures on the rise and everyone is “surprised.”
Homeowners have always legally and morally been entitled to bargain for and share in the infinite profits generated by securitization. So far they have received nothing. Homeowners have never been in default because to be in default there must be a lender, successor lender or creditor who has paid value for an unpaid underlying obligation due from the homeowner. No such party exists in the world of Wall Street “innovation.”

02/24/22

CFPB Initiative to Address Home Valuations DSNews

CFPB Initiative to Address Home Valuations
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently outlined options to ensure that computer models used to help determine home estimates are accurate and fair. The options will now be reviewed to determine their potential impact on small businesses.

02/24/22

New housing program in Orange County helping homeowners fight foreclosure 12 News Now

New housing program in Orange County helping homeowners fight foreclosure
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs launched the program statewide this week. A new program that's part of the American Rescue Plan will help homeowners across Texas who are in trouble. “If you have delinquent taxes, this would be your help. and I would encourage anybody who can to take advantage of this,” said Orange County tax assessor Karen Fisher. She said the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs launched the program statewide this week.

02/24/22

Illinois has $250 million to prevent a wave of COVID-related foreclosures Chicago Business

Illinois has $250 million to prevent a wave of COVID-related foreclosures
As new foreclosure filings surge, the state housing agency is offering up to $30,000 to homeowners who are still delinquent on payments because of COVID-related job losses.

02/24/22

Vacant Properties Trend Downward While Foreclosure Starts Surge Sevenfold National Mortgage Professional

Vacant Properties Trend Downward While Foreclosure Starts Surge Sevenfold
Vacant properties are inching downward in the first quarter of 2022, while foreclosure starts have surged sevenfold in January. KEY TAKEAWAYS

02/23/22

Court tosses Sacramento’s mortgage-lending lawsuit against Wells Fargo. Here’s why Sacramento Bee

Court tosses Sacramento’s mortgage-lending lawsuit against Wells Fargo. Here’s why
A lawsuit Sacramento launched against Wells Fargo three years ago over alleged discriminatory lending is ending without compensation to the city or to people who bought homes with expensive and risky loans. Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/equity-lab/article258270123.html#storylink=cpy

02/23/22

Fannie Mae’s February Forecast Revises Nearly Everything Mortgage News Daily

Fannie Mae’s February Forecast Revises Nearly Everything
Fannie Mae’s economists have again stepped up their expectations for the Fed’s response to escalating inflation. A 7.5 percent annual increase in the January Consumer Price Index (CPI), a 40-year high, prompted Fannie’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group to raise its forecast for a March increase in the Fed funds rate from 25 basis points to 50.

02/23/22

Mortgage applications drop to lowest level in over 2 years CNBC

Mortgage applications drop to lowest level in over 2 years
Climbing mortgage rates are hitting both potential homebuyers and refinance candidates. Total mortgage applications decreased 13.1% last week to the lowest level since December 2019, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to refinance dropped 15% weekly and were 56% lower than one year ago.

02/23/22

How much can a lawyer help a homeowner in distress? Living Lies

How much can a lawyer help a homeowner in distress?
have repeatedly stated that to get traction in the uphill battle of defending property from unlawful foreclosure claims, you need a lawyer. Being right is not enough. The playbook of your opposition is based almost entirely on outlasting you. This is because of loopholes the pleading rules and preapproved pleading forms for foreclosure. But how much good can the lawyer do? The answer is a lot if you start early.

02/22/22

Homeowners should unite in collective action not just for themselves but for all consumers who think they are paying off a loan Living Lies

Homeowners should unite in collective action not just for themselves but for all consumers who think they are paying off a loan
One very interested reader has corresponded with me about the unwillingness of the courts to act properly — and I agree with her. She cites many improper moves like what is being upheld their bad decisions and misconduct…holding cases without jurisdiction, meeting in the judge chambers, making deals with the attorney, allowing a case or cases when the party has answered the complaint and the other party did not and a counterclaim filed and judge ignores,

02/22/22

The Fed Just Added Short-Selling and Margin Loans to Its List of Trading Restrictions for Fed Officials – Opening a Big Can of Worms Wall Street On Parade

The Fed Just Added Short-Selling and Margin Loans to Its List of Trading Restrictions for Fed Officials – Opening a Big Can of Worms
On October 21 of last year, when the Fed originally announced its list of trading restrictions that it planned to impose on Fed officials, it made no mention of restricting its officials from short-selling (making bets on a decline in price) or preventing Fed officials from trading on margin. But when the Fed announced its finalized rules last Friday, “short sales or purchasing securities on margin” were added to the list of prohibitions. Why do we find that noteworthy? Because

02/21/22

Who Serves More People of Color in Mortgage Lending: Banks or Nonbanks? Urban Wire

Are the Big 4 Accounting Firms Focused on their Public Duty or Optimizing their Payday?
Part of a series of civil rights laws, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was passed in 1977 to fight explicitly racist redlining policies. The CRA requires federal bank regulators—the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—to evaluate the performance of banks and thrifts to determine how well each meets “the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.” Independent mortgage banks and credit unions—or nonbanks—are not subject to the CRA.

02/21/22

WHICH MAINSTREAM MEDIA NEWS OUTLET WILL BE FIRST TO REPORT EVIDENCED JUDICIAL TREASON VIOLATIONS IN THE FIRST CIRCUIT FEDERAL COURT? Mohan Harrihar

WHICH MAINSTREAM MEDIA NEWS OUTLET WILL BE FIRST TO REPORT EVIDENCED JUDICIAL TREASON VIOLATIONS IN THE FIRST CIRCUIT FEDERAL COURT?
To All Referenced Mainstream Media Outlets, Please be advised, the attached LEGAL NOTICE, officially filed with the US Court of Appeals (1st Circuit) on February 20, 2022, documents

02/21/22

Are the Big 4 Accounting Firms Focused on their Public Duty or Optimizing their Payday? Wall Street On Parade

Are the Big 4 Accounting Firms Focused on their Public Duty or Optimizing their Payday?
Editor’s Note: Auditors have come under a harsh light over their failure to detect massive frauds over the past two decades. The Big 5 are now the Big 4 as a result of Arthur Andersen’s audit failures with the energy company, Enron. Despite the sagging reputations of the remaining Big 4, conflicts of interest continue to pervade this profession. This is the news beat of Francine McKenna, a CPA, veteran financial reporter and now an independent journalist writing for Substack. In the article below, McKenna provides an overview of where things stand today and profiles three recent cases of Big 4 audit failures:

02/18/22

Banks Sink – Throwing More Cold Water on All That Talk that Megabanks Are a Great Investment Wall Street On Parade

Banks Sink – Throwing More Cold Water on All That Talk that Megabanks Are a Great Investment
There are apparently stock-picking analysts across Wall Street pumping out buy recommendations on stocks to the public who have never cast their eyes on those chilling derivative charts published quarterly by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. If the analysts had cast their eyes on those charts, the last thing they would be recommending right now are megabank stocks. We’re talking specifically about JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, which, together, control approximately 90 percent of the hundreds of trillions of dollars (notional/face amount) in derivatives held by all 4,900 banks and bank holding companies in the U.S. We’re also talking about the foreign banks that are significant derivative counterparties to these and other banks — such as Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Nomura and Barclays.

02/17/22

Murphy adds $10M to program that helps homeowners avoid foreclosure New Jersey Monitor

Murphy adds $10M to program that helps homeowners avoid foreclosure
Gov. Phil Murphy is allocating $10 million in federal COVID funds to a state program aimed at preventing foreclosures. The state Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency will use the dollars from the federal American Rescue Plan to offer financial assistance to some homeowners facing foreclosure and renovate and sell properties left vacant.

02/17/22

FBI Raids and Subpoenas Have Been Occurring on Wall Street. What’s Up? Wall Street On Parade

FBI Raids and Subpoenas Have Been Occurring on Wall Street. What’s Up?
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal dropped the bombshell that the Justice Department has been conducting raids on prominent short-sellers, including Muddy Waters’ Carson Block and Andrew Left of Citron Research. The Journal reported that the Justice Department “has seized hardware, trading records and private communications….”

02/17/22

Think Lenders are Not Liable? Think again! Dallas case illustrates the point Living Lies

Think Lenders are Not Liable? Think again! Dallas case illustrates the point
On September 23, 2021, a bankruptcy court in Dallas handed down a 145-page ruling in Bailey Tool & Mfg. Co. v. Republic Bus. Credit, LLC (In re Bailey Tool & Mfg. Co.), 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 3502 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. 2021), provided its answers to some of these questions, offering a cautionary tale of the potential consequences of a court viewing lender loan recovery conduct as overly aggressive behavior in a distressed situation.

02/16/22

Legal Aid Assists Struggling Homeowners with Foreclosure Prevention and Mortgage Relief Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County

Legal Aid Assists Struggling Homeowners with Foreclosure Prevention and Mortgage Relief
Across the county, financial hardships have either been created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. For homeowners who experienced reductions in income due to hardships like illness or job loss, paying their mortgage has been difficult. In response, the federal government allocated funds to create the California Mortgage Relief Program,

02/16/22

Robo-signing? Yes it is still going on (especially at Chase). That means that consumers are being sued for debts they don’t owe. Living Lies

Robo-signing? Yes it is still going on (especially at Chase). That means that consumers are being sued for debts they don’t owe.
Why robo signing? Because there is no creditor to sign it. And that is because there is no unpiad loan account on the accounting ledger of any company. There are just payment histories. You will never see disbursements to creditors from”servicers.” There are no unpaid accounts because everyone gets paid thorugh the sales of multiple levels of securities, the proceeds of which pay everyone in the securitization scheme far more than they ever paid the consumer as a “loan.”

02/16/22

Follow the Money Behind Senator Pat Toomey and His Boycott of the Vote on Fed Nominees Wall Street On Parade

Follow the Money Behind Senator Pat Toomey and His Boycott of the Vote on Fed Nominees
Yesterday, Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, orchestrated a boycott among his Republican colleagues on the Committee. Republicans refused to attend the scheduled vote at 2:15 p.m. yesterday for President Biden’s nominees to serve on the Federal Reserve. Without the presence of Republicans, the Committee lacked a quorum and could not vote.

02/15/22

ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 2170 California Legislature

ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 2170
An act to add Section 2924p to the Civil Code, relating to foreclosure. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2170, as introduced, Grayson. Residential real property: foreclosure sales.

02/15/22

Since the Fed Announced It Was “Tapering” Last November, It’s Actually Added $332 Billion in Liquidity with New Debt Security Purchases Wall Street On Parade

Since the Fed Announced It Was “Tapering” Last November, It’s Actually Added $332 Billion in Liquidity with New Debt Security Purchases
If you’re wondering why inflation is running hotter than it has in 40 years and why St. Louis Fed President James Bullard has broken with protocol and is openly criticizing the Fed on television for falling behind the curve on inflation, here’s a key part of that story.

02/15/22

The Payment History is not the Loan Account. Only the Loan Account Can show the Balance. If there is no Loan Account receivable on the Accounting Ledger there is no Balance. If there is no Balance there is no Balance Due. Living Lies

The Payment History is not the Loan Account. Only the Loan Account Can show the Balance. If there is no Loan Account receivable on the Accounting Ledger there is no Balance. If there is no Balance there is no Balance Due.
The problem starts with the Homeowner, who thinks that because he or she applied for a loan, they received it. This assumption is completely unfounded. The law is mostly procedural and logical. It requires building a foundation for a fact to be accepted as true. If there is no foundation, there is no fact. Every case I have ever won has been based on a lack of foundation.

02/14/22

Why the SEC Needs to Regulate Falsely Labeled “Mortgage Backed Securities” Living Lies

Why the SEC Needs to Regulate Falsely Labeled “Mortgage Backed Securities”
The SEC should be regulating these transactions because the investment banks are evading regulation through claiming an exemption that defines their financial product as a private contract and not a security subject to regulation by the agency. But they still label the financial product as a “mortgage backed security.” It does not take a legal genius to know that they can’t have it both ways. Either it is a security or it is not.

02/14/22

Fannie Mae to Transition the Transfer Agent / Certificate Registrar / Paying Agent Role on Single-Family REMIC Residuals Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae to Transition the Transfer Agent / Certificate Registrar / Paying Agent Role on Single-Family REMIC Residuals
Fannie Mae will be transitioning the Transfer Agent/ Certificate Registrar / Paying Agent role from U.S. Bank to Common Securitization Solutions (CSS), LLC for real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) residuals ultimately backed by Single-Family MBS pools and on all remaining Single-Family MBS definitive pools. The transition is currently scheduled to become effective March 1, 2022. CSS will engage J.P. Morgan Chase to assist in its Paying Agent role.

02/12/22

FEBRUARY 12, 2022 – BANK MUST PROVE AMOUNTS DUE AND OWING (TO A PENNY) Torrens Law Group

FEBRUARY 12, 2022 – BANK MUST PROVE AMOUNTS DUE AND OWING (TO A PENNY)
In foreclosure cases, don’t forget that the bank must not only prove a loan default and legal standing to foreclose, but must also prove the amounts due and owing to be entitled to a judgment of foreclosure. Keep in mind that if you are going to challenge the amounts due and owing, you should be specific and attack specific amounts the bank is claiming.

02/11/22

Court decision redefines covered errors in mortgage servicer loss mit National Mortgage News

Court decision redefines covered errors in mortgage servicer loss mit
A Second Circuit decision, Naimoli v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, issued in January, now provides that a loan servicer’s errors in handling a loss mitigation application are covered errors relating to the servicing of the mortgage — an important distinction under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and its implementing regulation, Regulation X, 12 C.F.R. § 1024.35. The ruling could have a chilling effect on loss mitigation and may open the door to new damages claims by borrowers.

02/11/22

CHILDREN LED STREET THEATER, IN PROTEST OF EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES DigiBoston

CHILDREN LED STREET THEATER, IN PROTEST OF EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES
A group of students will be gathering to raise awareness about keeping families in their homes. According to a media release, on Feb. 13, at 1 p.m., fifth graders involved in Boston Workers Circle and youth from City Life/Vida Urbana “will speak out to stop non-emergency evictions and foreclosures in the pandemic

02/11/22

Did a mortgage holder violate the Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR) by foreclosing when the property owner rejects an offer for a trial loan modification plan? First Tuesday Journal

Did a mortgage holder violate the Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR) by foreclosing when the property owner rejects an offer for a trial loan modification plan?
Billesbach v. Specialized Loan Servicing LLC Facts: An owner defaults on the mortgage on their home. The mortgage holder initiates foreclosure proceedings without first discussing foreclosure alternatives. The owner files a complaint under the California Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR) alleging the mortgage holder violated the HBOR by failing to conduct a pre-foreclosure workout.

02/11/22

The Fed Responds to Report that Fed Chair Powell Traded During FOMC Blackout Periods Wall Street On Parade

The Fed Responds to Report that Fed Chair Powell Traded During FOMC Blackout Periods
A Fed spokesperson has provided Wall Street On Parade with a detailed response to our article yesterday, which documented that trades were made in accounts in which Fed Chair Jerome Powell had a financial interest during a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in 2015 and another in 2019.

02/10/22

Foreclosure Activity Highest Since Pandemic Began Realtor Magazine

Foreclosure Activity Highest Since Pandemic Began
Completed foreclosures have reached their highest level since March 2020. Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions, jumped by 29% in January over December and are up by 139% compared to a year ago, according to the January 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, released by ATTOM Data Solutions.

02/10/22

Activist Group Reports that Fed Chair Powell Traded During FOMC Restricted Periods: We Fact-Checked It and It’s True Wall Street On Parade

Activist Group Reports that Fed Chair Powell Traded During FOMC Restricted Periods: We Fact-Checked It and It’s True
An anonymous activist group called Occupy the Fed reported in a Substack article on Sunday that Fed Chair Jerome Powell traded on the final day of a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on April 29, 2015, when he was a Fed Governor, and also on the final day of an FOMC meeting on December 11, 2019, when he was Fed Chair.

02/09/22

Foreclosure Defense and Complaint for Abuse of Process or Wrongful Foreclosure: Almost nobody understands the concept of splitting the note and mortgage. Living Lies

Foreclosure Defense and Complaint for Abuse of Process or Wrongful Foreclosure: Almost nobody understands the concept of splitting the note and mortgage.
The reason that certain words are used separately in legal forums is that the legal system has created separate definitions and functions for each such term. The following terms, usually used interchangeably in and out of court has caused most of the confusion and the opportunity to create and pursue false claims:

02/09/22

Jerome Powell’s Term as Fed Chair Ended Last Saturday. The Senate Has Not Reconfirmed Him. What’s Up? Wall Street On Parade

Jerome Powell’s Term as Fed Chair Ended Last Saturday. The Senate Has Not Reconfirmed Him. What’s Up?
At 3:00 p.m. last Friday, the Federal Reserve quietly released the following statement: “The Federal Reserve Board on Friday named Jerome H. Powell as Chair Pro Tempore, pending Senate confirmation to a second term as Chair of the Board of Governors. The action, effective February 5, enables him to continue to carry out his duties as Chair after the expiration of his term on the same day, and while the confirmation process is underway.

02/08/22

Kentucky assistance fund launched to help homeowners avoid foreclosures Whas11

Kentucky assistance fund launched to help homeowners avoid foreclosures
KENTUCKY, USA — Gov. Andy Beshear has launched a federally backed assistance fund that’s aimed at helping pandemic-affected homeowners avoid foreclosure. The program is funded through $85.4 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that the state received to protect homeowners impacted by COVID-19. The governor launched the program Monday along with the Kentucky Housing Corp. Under the program, qualifying homeowners can visit the website to apply for up to $35,000 in assistance.

02/08/22

Jamie Dimon Lands in the Cross Hairs of Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown Wall Street On Parade

Jamie Dimon Lands in the Cross Hairs of Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown
As Wall Street On Parade, two trial lawyers, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and one of the bank’s former lawyers have suggested, the largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase, has enshrined crime as a business model.

02/08/22

Wading through the difference between substantive claims or theories and the procedural opportunities to present them Living Lies

Wading through the difference between substantive claims or theories and the procedural opportunities to present them
A recent exchange of correspondence from a good client of mine (one of the legacy cases I am still directly litigating) produced questions and answers that mirror literally hundreds of inquiries I receive every week. I offer the following as guidance to both lawyers and clients.

02/08/22

Like it or not, desktop appraisals are here to stay Housing Wire

Like it or not, desktop appraisals are here to stay
Industry stakeholders take wait and see approach to desktop appraisal option, to start in March

02/08/22

Fannie Mae settles foreclosure discrimination case affecting Dayton, others for $53M Dayton Daily News

Fannie Mae settles foreclosure discrimination case affecting Dayton, others for $53M
A leading source of mortgage financing has agreed to pay $53 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the institution treated foreclosed homes in communities of color less favorably than in predominantly white neighborhoods, in the Dayton region and dozens of other metro areas.

02/07/22

Fannie Mae pays $53M to settle recession-era discrimination suit Housing Wire

Fannie Mae pays $53M to settle recession-era discrimination suit
The sum is the largest settlement for REO maintenance discrimination

02/07/22

Western Progressive LLC is named as Trustee or even Attorney on many forms, notices and recorded documents in foreclosures. Who is this Luxembourg LLC and Why do all paths lead back to Ocwen? Living Lies

Western Progressive LLC is named as Trustee or even Attorney on many forms, notices and recorded documents in foreclosures. Who is this Luxembourg LLC and Why do all paths lead back to Ocwen?
why such a company would ever be seen as a qualified party to (a) serve as a trustee on a deed of trust (b) make any claims whatsoever and (c) allow its name to be used by FINTECH service providers operating under contract with Merrill Lynch and its “successor” Bank of America.

02/05/22

Complaint Filed With the Mass. AGO Mohan Harrihar

Complaint Filed With the Mass. AGO
Evidenced RICO/COLLUSION VIOLATIONS involving the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General (MA AGO) and Boston law firm - NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH, LLP. The Boston firm previously served as retained legal counsel to Bank Defendants - WELLS FARGO, US BANK and CITIGROUP in the ongoing $42B Federal lawsuit - HARIHAR v US BANK et al (Docket No. 15-cv-11880, US District Court, Boston, MA).

02/04/22

NJ bill would turn foreclosed homes into affordable housing, keep families in their homes NorthJersey.com

NJ bill would turn foreclosed homes into affordable housing, keep families in their homes
To ensure that housing nonprofits purchasing foreclosed homes commit to transforming blighted structures into affordable housing, lawmakers amended a foreclosure bill in committee Thursday. Under A793, New Jersey would make it easier for family members or low-income buyers to purchase foreclosed homes by removing barriers in sheriffs sales.

02/04/22

NYC-area homeowners among the most vulnerable to foreclosure in the US: study NY Post

NYC-area homeowners among the most vulnerable to foreclosure in the US: study
Homeowners in the New York City metropolitan area are among the most vulnerable to foreclosure nationwide as middle-class wage earners struggle to keep up with surging housing costs, according to a report.

02/03/22

Wells Fargo Bank Illegal Foreclosure of 15 W. Spring St., Alexandria, VA American Legal News

Wells Fargo Bank Illegal Foreclosure of 15 W. Spring St., Alexandria, VA
The home was illegally foreclosed on in March of 2018 It was an illegal Foreclosure - Here are the documents to prove it: It has been stated in court by Lawyers from Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders for Wells Fargo Bank that they owned the loan and foreclosed on it- But, Wells Fargo Bank in taped conversations with owner Janice Wolk Grenadier deny that and put it in writing directly to the Court and in a Notarized letter:

02/03/22

Residents demand action on COVID-19 housing equity bill Lowell Sun

Residents demand action on COVID-19 housing equity bill
WESTFORD — Residents from across Massachusetts and representatives from the Homes For All Massachusetts coalition gathered at First Parish Church United Monday to draw attention to the state’s housing crisis. Focused primarily on the COVID-19 Housing Equity Bill, also known as “An act to prevent COVID-19 evictions and foreclosures and promote an equitable housing recovery,”

02/03/22

When Repos Blew Up in 2019, Hedge Funds Were $800 Billion Short U.S. Treasury Futures; Then Margins Blew Out Wall Street On Parade

When Repos Blew Up in 2019, Hedge Funds Were $800 Billion Short U.S. Treasury Futures; Then Margins Blew Out
New details have emerged to provide a fuller picture of the turmoil that was taking place in the dark corners of markets when the overnight repo market blew up on September 17, 2019 and the Fed had to run to the rescue with trillions of dollars in cumulative loans that went on for months.

02/02/22

“Payment History” is not the loan receivable account Living Lies

“Payment History” is not the loan receivable account
The payment history is not the loan receivable account by definition and it is never presented as such. Failure to recognize this obscure fact often results in failure. But those who do understand it, raise their chances of a successful defense from unlikely to very likely.

02/02/22

New Book Takes a Hard Look at How Hedge Funds Have Designed Trades to Tap into the Fed’s Money Spigot Wall Street On Parade

New Book Takes a Hard Look at How Hedge Funds Have Designed Trades to Tap into the Fed’s Money Spigot
As we reported on Monday, there’s a new book out from Simon & Schuster with the provocative title: The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy. The book, written by bestselling author Christopher Leonard, is sprinkled with eye popping revelations – particularly in

02/01/22

New Questions Emerge: Is the New York Fed Working for the American People or the Wall Street Banks that Own It? Wall Street On Parade

New Questions Emerge: Is the New York Fed Working for the American People or the Wall Street Banks that Own It?
Adding to a very long laundry list of questions about exactly whom the New York Fed serves, is the help-wanted ad that was posted four days ago. The ad is for a Financial Planning & Analysis Expert to work at the New York Fed’s headquarters in lower Manhattan. One part of the job description is this: “modelling of potential investment opportunities.”

02/01/22

Tax Forms Are Routinely Used to Convince Homeowners That They Have a LoanAccount Living Lies

Tax Forms Are Routinely Used to Convince Homeowners That They Have a LoanAccount
I receive information from many different sources. I analyze that information for relevance, materiality, and utility in connection with Foreclosure Defense. One of the things that has been brought to my attention by a contributor is the erroneous conclusion that is reached by homeowners when they receive tax forms from the “servicer.”

02/01/22

Virtual Loan Accounts and Virtual Creditors Have Now Graduated to Virtual Land and Virtual Mortgages Living Lies

Virtual Loan Accounts and Virtual Creditors Have Now Graduated to Virtual Land and Virtual Mortgages
Some people are going to lose a great deal of money because they pledged real money for fake land and fake mortgage loans. It has already been happening in the lending marketplace under fake claims of securitization.

01/31/22

What is a Qualified Written Request (QWR)? CFPB

What is a Qualified Written Request (QWR)?
A Qualified Written Request, or QWR, is written correspondence that you or someone acting on your behalf can send to your mortgage servicer. Instead of a QWR, you can also send your servicer a Notice of Error or a Request for Information.

01/31/22

Use of QWR and DVL is extremely important in counteracting the tracks laid down by securitization that fake a contractual relationship with the homeowner Living Lies

Use of QWR and DVL is extremely important in counteracting the tracks laid down by securitization that fake a contractual relationship with the homeowner
If you are not willing to challenge the basic assumptions of the loan or debt, then you probably should not even start any challenge or defense. If you are willing to do that you will probably win or force the “dark side” into a settlement that you find favorable to your interests.

01/31/22

Lancaster County program aims to help families at risk for foreclosure WGAL

Lancaster County program aims to help families at risk for foreclosure
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — It's the job of the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas to handle foreclosure cases when homeowners no longer pay their mortgage. Those cases often end with the bank selling the home to get the money owed. Foreclosures are expected to go up this year because of the pandemic, but a new program is working to keep families in their homes.

01/30/22

MAAPL

MAAPL Call-In NOW! Friday, January 28th (and leave messages on weekend if needed)

Reverse Foreclosures’ Injuries &
Tell the Judiciary Committee report out Anti-foreclosure bills! Your voice gets results! Call your state Representative & Senator.
Also call Judiciary Committee Co-Chairs Senator Jamie Eldridge (617-722-1120) and Representative Michael Day (617-722-2396)
Ask them to favorably report out of their committee:

  • · S/952/H1717: Moratorium on Non-Judicial Foreclosure
  • · S1065/H1615: Foreclosure Review Division
  • · H1807: Real Estate Title Protection Act

Make focused & important calls today* to get our bills reported out favorably.
Here’s what you do:
If you don’t know who your representative or senator is, go to WhereDoIVoteMa.com. Type in your address. It will tell you whom your state Senate and Representatives are and their phone numbers.
For each of the 4 calls, what do I say? Leave the message below (Legislator’s offices may be empty but staff check phones regularly):
“Hello, my name is . I live in name of your town.
Please favorably report out each of these bills:
S/952/H1717: A Moratorium on Non-Judicial Foreclosure. Non-judicial foreclosure of residential property leads to civil and criminal violations. We need a moratorium on it and require pre-foreclosure mediation instead. Lynn had a 97% success rate resolving the city’s foreclosures via mediation.
S1065/H1615: Foreclosure Review Division. This court is needed to fix the rampant illegalities non-judicial foreclosure produces. Few judges k now this area of law well. They must be located in a special court division where homeowners can go for justice.
H1807: Real Estate Title Protection Act: homeowners must rely solely on documents recorded in the Registries of Deeds for accurate information. It requires the real party in interest be named as mortgagee, creates filing deadlines, modernizes fines in related criminal statutes and requires monthly mortgage statements to inform homeowners for the first time not only the mortgage servicer, but mortgagee and note-owner.
Please, as my Legislator/Judiciary Chair, will you get these three bills reported out favorably?
Thank you.”
  • Once in every two-year session of our state Legislature, the laws that we are proposing (“Bills”) must get reported out of the committees that they were assigned to by a certain deadline or they are essentially dead for the 2-year session. That deadline is the middle of next week.

When you have finished calling the 2 co-chairs and your Representative and Senator, e-mail Grace Ross, MAAPL coordinator. Tell her who your Legislators are and that you asked them get RETPA reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee: maaplinfo@yahoo.com

01/29/22

2022 NCLC Consumer Protection Federal Priorites NCLC

2022 NCLC Consumer Protection Federal Priorites
To achieve economic justice for low-income and other disadvantaged people and to address the racial and economic inequality that the pandemic has made so apparent, we need major changes in federal consumer protections. The steps listed are common-sense reforms rooted in basic fairness that will fight fraud and help keep consumers in their homes, cars, and jobs so they can invest their wages in their local businesses and communities.

01/29/22

EVIDENCED RICO/COLLUSION VIOLATIONS INVOLVING MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH, LLP Mohan Harrihar

EVIDENCED RICO/COLLUSION VIOLATIONS INVOLVING MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH, LLP
01-29-2022 BREAKING NEWS (BOSTON, MA): As the campaign for Massachusetts Governor begins, voters are reminded of the evidenced RICO/COLLUSION VIOLATIONS involving the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General (MA AGO) and Boston law firm - NELSON MULLINS RILEY & SCARBOROUGH, LLP. The Boston firm previously served as retained legal counsel to Bank Defendants - WELLS FARGO, US BANK and CITIGROUP in the ongoing $42B Federal lawsuit - HARIHAR v US BANK et al (Docket No. 15-cv-11880, US District Court, Boston, MA).

01/28/22

Column: The housing crisis is not over Lawrence Eagle Tribune

Column: The housing crisis is not over
As we enter a new year amid a new COVID surge, tens of thousands of renters and homeowners are at risk of losing their homes — an unacceptable trauma for our families and communities. As a nonprofit community development corporation, Lawrence CommunityWorks (LCW), develops affordable housing and helps local families build the assets and skills they need to thrive. Since the pandemic began,

01/27/22

Why It’s Time for Foreclosure Tech Innovation Housing Wire

Why It’s Time for Foreclosure Tech Innovation
Collateral valuation is a critical component of mortgage lending and the home sales With the federal foreclosure moratorium expiring in 2022, the market will undoubtedly see growth in foreclosure transactions as it tries to catch up on both past and present loans. The return to working foreclosure is a perfect opportunity for those in the industry, whether on the servicing or legal side, to examine ways to improve efficiencies, stay compliant and keep up with demand.

01/27/22

A Government Study Shows that Wall Street Megabanks Have Dramatically Shifted their Derivative Exposure to Corporations Wall Street On Parade

A Government Study Shows that Wall Street Megabanks Have Dramatically Shifted their Derivative Exposure to Corporations
The last thing a volatile stock market needs right now is more surprises from the dark corners of Wall Street. Unfortunately, we can guarantee you that more surprises are coming in the way of uncleared derivatives blowing up on the balance sheets of publicly-traded corporations.

01/27/22

Complaint to CFPB — En Masse! Living Lies

Complaint to CFPB — En Masse!
I think everyone should send a complaint to the CFPB as follows: * Like millions of other homeowners, I have been trying to get one simple answer to one simple question: What is the current status of any unpaid loan account receivable due from me? And for years we have all failed to get any response that answered the question. Here is yet another example of how that question is evaded.

01/26/22

HUD AWARDS $1.4 MILLION TO SUPPORT HOUSING COUNSELING PROGRAMS IN NEW JERSEY Insider NJ

HUD AWARDS $1.4 MILLION TO SUPPORT HOUSING COUNSELING PROGRAMS IN NEW JERSEY
Awards provide HUD-approved housing counseling agencies and intermediaries with funding to maintain and expand critical services for the nation’s renters, homebuyers, and homeowners. WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday awarded $51.4 million in housing counseling grants to 177 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies and intermediary organizations.

01/26/22

If you want to win the defense of a foreclosure case, STOP AND THINK! Living Lies

If you want to win the defense of a foreclosure case, STOP AND THINK!
it is the failure to contest every element of every piece of correspondence, notice, or pleading that produces the “inevitable” result. People like to talk about the corruption of the courts and maybe they are right to a certain extent. Court bias is a problem. But a good part of that problem comes from the lack of proper litigation in defense of bogus claims.

01/26/22

Wells Fargo Deal Paying $12 Million for Mortgage Errors Approved Bloomberg Law

Wells Fargo Deal Paying $12 Million for Mortgage Errors Approved
Software error denied loan changes since 2013, plaintiffs say Affected loan borrowers to get up to $19,000 Wells Fargo agreed to pay $12 million to more than 1,800 mortgage borrowers to resolve litigation alleging a calculation error in the bank’s software wrongly assessed their eligibility for loan modifications, according to a settlement agreement approved by an Ohio federal court. The deal will provide $9.1 million to class members with the remainder going to pay attorneys’ fees and costs, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio said Tuesday. Each class member will receive between $1,000 to $19,000 under the deal

01/25/22

The REMIC and “Servicer” LIE Living Lies

The REMIC and “Servicer” LIE
see https://www.fhfa.gov/SupervisionRegulation/LegalDocuments/Documents/Litigation/FHFA_v_JP_Morgan_Complaint.pdf In a complaint filed on September 2, 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Association alleged the following: A mortgage servicer is necessary to manage the collection of proceeds from the mortgage loans. The servicer is responsible for collecting

01/25/22

Federal Agency Censors Names of Banks in a Bombshell Study on Wall Street’s Dangerous Derivatives Wall Street On Parade

Federal Agency Censors Names of Banks in a Bombshell Study on Wall Street’s Dangerous Derivatives
The Office of Financial Research (OFR) is the federal agency created under the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010. Its role is to provide early warnings to U.S. bank regulators and the public of systemic risks that threaten U.S. financial stability, so that another 2008-style Wall Street crisis can never again devastate the U.S. economy.

01/24/22

N.J. rolls out new COVID relief program for homeowners facing foreclosure WHYY

N.J. rolls out new COVID relief program for homeowners facing foreclosure
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday announced a relief program for homeowners facing foreclosure or displacement because of the coronavirus pandemic.

01/24/22

ready, AIIM, fire! How investment banks use AI to simulate communication between homeowners and US Bank, N.A. Living Lies

ready, AIIM, fire! How investment banks use AI to simulate communication between homeowners and US Bank, N.A.
IT IS ALL SIMULATION, SMOKE, MIRRORS AND LIES. YOU DON’T OWE THE DEBT THEY CLAIM YOU OWE. THEY OWE YOU MONEY. see also https://livinglies.me/2017/02/03/us-bank-business-rent-a-name-trustee/ AIIM is not a misspelling. The Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM), founded as

01/21/22

JPMorgan’s Board Made Jamie Dimon a Billionaire as the Bank Rigged Markets, Laundered Money, and Admitted to Five Felony Counts Wall Street On Parade

JPMorgan’s Board Made Jamie Dimon a Billionaire as the Bank Rigged Markets, Laundered Money, and Admitted to Five Felony Counts
Yesterday’s headline making the rounds was that JPMorgan Chase’s Board had given its Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, a pay raise to $34.5 million for 2021 that was 10 percent more than 2020.

01/21/22

Court authorizes class action against Carrington over servicing fees Housing Wire

Court authorizes class action against Carrington over servicing fees
Plaintiffs claim servicer violated Maryland's statutes by illegally charging $5 for monthly payments online or by phone

01/21/22

Missouri: Good New$ For “lenders” is bad new$ for “borrowers” Living Lies

Missouri: Good New$ For “lenders” is bad new$ for “borrowers”
Missouri law has long upheld properly conducted foreclosure sales, even if the sale price seems unusually low. In good news for lenders, and indeed for all parties to a sale, another court of appeals has rejected a borrower’s effort to overturn this policy and upheld a challenged foreclosure sale.

01/20/22

State announces settlement with hundreds of mortgage loan originators” The Telegraph

State announces settlement with hundreds of mortgage loan originators
On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and financial regulatory agencies from 42 other states announced settlements with 441 mortgage loan originators nationwide who the agencies say falsely claimed to have completed annual continuing education as required under state and federal law. Twenty-three of the loan originators hold licenses in Illinois.

01/20/22

Fannie Mae Forecasts a “Return to 'New' Normal” Mortgage News Daily

Fannie Mae Forecasts a “Return to 'New' Normal”
Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group writes that it expects 2022 to be a year “of transition for both the economy and the housing market.” While it hedges its bet as to whether COVID-19 will end any time soon, it expects the market and policy choices driven by the pandemic to be gradually be replaced by more typical pre-COVID economic and housing patterns.

01/20/22

The End of New York’s Foreclosure Moratorium JDSupra

The End of New York’s Foreclosure Moratorium
The hardship stays provided under New York’s COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 (EEFPA) officially ended on January 15, 2022. The EEFPA was the legislature’s response to protect New Yorkers affected by a financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic from the threat of immediate foreclosure or eviction.

01/20/22

Institutional Bias Must End For the Sake of Society Living Lies

Institutional Bias Must End For the Sake of Society
I have been inundated by emails and comments from people who are frustrated by the apparent futility of challenging claims whose success depends solely and entirely on the ability of the lawyer for a designated claimant to outlast their targets — i.e. consumers of fake debt products.

01/20/22

Is Citigroup Under Orders from Its Regulators to Break Itself Up? Wall Street On Parade

Is Citigroup Under Orders from Its Regulators to Break Itself Up?
The last thing that Fed Chairman Powell needs in his second term are the sleazy details of the Fed’s trading scandal being released by investigators and to have to bail out the same megabank that Fed Chair Bernanke secretly bailed out from December 2007 through at least mid-July 2010. Obviously, we’re talking about Citigroup.

01/19/22

A Nomura Document May Shed Light on the Repo Blowup and Fed Bailout of the Gang of Six in 2019 Wall Street On Parade

A Nomura Document May Shed Light on the Repo Blowup and Fed Bailout of the Gang of Six in 2019
There are numerous reasons that members of Congress, bank regulators, and mainstream media don’t want to talk about the repo blowup in 2019 and the massive Fed bailout that followed. Economist Michael Hudson previously explained how the Fed lacked authority to bail out a handful

01/19/22

Desktop appraisal option to start in March Housing Wire

Desktop appraisal option to start in March
The option will allow valuations based on tax records and property listing information

01/19/22

Getting a piece of the pie: How securitization can work FOR homeowners and not against them Living Lies

Getting a piece of the pie: How securitization can work FOR homeowners and not against them
There is no sale of the obligation, note or mortgage and so there is no securitization of debt. By splitting the attributes of behavior from the provisions of the executed documents and changing the description of the behavior, an investment bank could, in essence, sell the apparent debt an unlimited number of times without ever recording the sale of the debt, note or mortgage.

01/18/22

If you don’t know procedure you don’t know how to win. Living Lies

If you don’t know procedure you don’t know how to win.
The claim of securitization is present in virtually every case of a loan account receivable. It is a false claim. All subsquent claims to administer, collect or enforce the alleged loaon account receivable are therefore also false.

01/17/22

New Court Appellate Court Reveals Dangers of Forbearance and Modification Agreements Living Lies

New Court Appellate Court Reveals Dangers of Forbearance and Modification Agreements
See I have long argued that any correspondence or agreements executed by homeowners as “borrowers” presented a danger of waiving all of their home equity. This is true as to the fundamental equation and to the statute of limitations.

01/16/22

United States District Court - Gary Victor Dubin v. Christie Adams, et al., Scott Stafne

United States District Court - Gary Victor Dubin v. Christie Adams, et al.,
Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law, Law and Society, Social Justice, Philosophy Of Law

01/16/22

State of Georgia to announce new mortgage assistance program WRDW

State of Georgia to announce new mortgage assistance program
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is set to announce a new program that will provide residents with mortgage assistance. With stimulus funds totaling $354 million, the Georgia Homeowner Assistance Fund will assist homeowners with mortgage, delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, and past-due utilities, according to officials.

01/15/22

Organization working to match Schenectady-area homeowners facing foreclosure with grants Daily Gazette

Organization working to match Schenectady-area homeowners facing foreclosure with grants
SCHENECTADY — The pandemic-era moratorium on mortgage foreclosures has expired, prompting Schenectady housing and neighborhood organization BCNI to sound the alert about grants of up to $50,000 available for struggling homeowners.

01/15/22

NY eviction moratorium expires, residents urged to apply for rent relief, protection ABC7NY

NY eviction moratorium expires, residents urged to apply for rent relief, protection
NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York let its eviction and foreclosure moratorium expire on Saturday, but will once again let people apply for eviction protection and rent relief.

01/14/22

2d Circuit Federal Appeals Court Upholds Homeowner’s Right to Sue for RESPA Violations Living Lies

2d Circuit Federal Appeals Court Upholds Homeowner’s Right to Sue for RESPA Violations
See Naimoli v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 20-1683-cv, at *15 (2d Cir. Jan. 7, 2022) The following was decided by the court to be covered violations, including a catch-all provision in which anything related to “servicing” is included:

01/14/22

Economist Michael Hudson Says the Fed “Broke the Law” with its Repo Loans to Wall Street Trading Houses Wall Street On Parade

Economist Michael Hudson Says the Fed “Broke the Law” with its Repo Loans to Wall Street Trading Houses
Even within economic circles, there is a growing nervousness that the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States – with the power to

01/14/22

Foreclosure program paying off in Largo's battle against blight TBNWeekly

Foreclosure program paying off in Largo's battle against blight
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Central Florida eviction and foreclosure market is beginning to heat up as landlords and creditors look to finally shed their dead weight two years into the pandemic, a real estate attorney said.

01/14/22

Evictions, foreclosures heat up as legal system races to catch up WFTV

Evictions, foreclosures heat up as legal system races to catch up
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Central Florida eviction and foreclosure market is beginning to heat up as landlords and creditors look to finally shed their dead weight two years into the pandemic, a real estate attorney said.

01/13/22

What will servicing look like in 2022? Housing Wire

What will servicing look like in 2022?
Communication, borrower education and training of consumer-facing staff are critical

01/13/22

U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY DROPS TO AN ALL-TIME LOW IN 2021 PR Newswire

U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY DROPS TO AN ALL-TIME LOW IN 2021
today released its Year-End 2021 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings— default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 151,153 U.S. properties in 2021, down 29 percent from 2020 and down 95 percent from a peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010, to the lowest level since tracking began in 2005.

01/13/22

$2.7 Billion in Credit Default Swaps Blew Up One Day Before the Fed Launched Its Repo Loan Bailouts in 2019 Wall Street On Parade

$2.7 Billion in Credit Default Swaps Blew Up One Day Before the Fed Launched Its Repo Loan Bailouts in 2019
On September 16, 2019, exactly one day before the Federal Reserve would embark on its first emergency repo loan operations since the financial crisis of 2008, $2.7 billion in credit default swaps (CDS) on a single name blew up.

01/13/22

Example of Homeowner Doing Her Homework Living Lies

Example of Homeowner Doing Her Homework
You can have this done for you by a competent forensic investigator or you can do it yourself using FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests and other means. What is clear is that the procedures for QWR and DVL do not produce answers, although they do provide the foundation for lawsuits for statutory violations.

01/12/22

How Those Refi’s Were Turned Into Gold by the Investment Banks Living Lies

How Those Refi’s Were Turned Into Gold by the Investment Banks
Most people cannot conceive of why they should have been paid more at the purported “Closing” of their transaction than what they received or what they think was paid on their behalf.

01/12/22

Rea Life NJ Case: First Horizon Home Loans named as “lender” in 6 figure “loan,” foreclosed by EverBank who get judgment, judgement assigned to MTGLQ Investments who pays $100 Living Lies

Rea Life NJ Case: First Horizon Home Loans named as “lender” in 6 figure “loan,” foreclosed by EverBank who get judgment, judgement assigned to MTGLQ Investments who pays $100
First Horizon Home Loans files a foreclosure complaint in 2015, and during the proceeding, assigns the mortgage to Everbank who obtains judgment and Writ of Sale. Everbank assigns its Credit Bid to MTGLQ Investors, and the Bergen County Sheriff carries out the sale and issues the attached Deed for $100.00.

01/12/22

Judge Rakoff Signs a Dangerous Protective Order in Whistleblower Case Against 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase Wall Street On Parade

Judge Rakoff Signs a Dangerous Protective Order in Whistleblower Case Against 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase
On January 6, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff signed a dangerous Protective Order in the Shaquala Williams v JPMorgan Chase case which resides in the Southern District of New York. Williams is a whistleblower who

01/11/22

On March 31, the Fed Has to Name Names under Four of its Emergency Loan Programs to Wall Street. Will the Media Censor that News Also? Wall Street On Parade

On March 31, the Fed Has to Name Names under Four of its Emergency Loan Programs to Wall Street. Will the Media Censor that News Also?
It’s now day 13 since the Fed released the names of the Wall Street trading houses that borrowed $4.5 trillion cumulatively, just in the fourth quarter of 2019, from the Fed’s repo loan facility. Not one mainstream media

01/11/22

Mainstream Media Has Morphed from Battling the Fed in Court in 2008 to Groveling at its Feet Today Wall Street On Parade

Mainstream Media Has Morphed from Battling the Fed in Court in 2008 to Groveling at its Feet Today
The Fed has kept a very tight lid on the names of the banks that received emergency loans from three of its funding facilities that it abruptly launched in mid March 2020.

01/11/22

Foreclosure Inventory at 23 Year Low Mortgage News daily

Foreclosure Inventory at 23 Year Low
The national delinquency rate declined for the 7th consecutive month in October. CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insights Report for the month says that loans that were 30 or more days past due, including those in foreclosure represented 3.8 percent of all active mortgages.

01/10/22

Homeowners need to understand that they are investors, not borrowers. Living Lies

Homeowners need to understand that they are investors, not borrowers.
In nearly all cases that the amount of money paid to a “prior lender” is entirely or mostly fictional in all cases of refinancing and nearly all cases in purchase money mortgages. As long as the same underlying investment bank is the same for both the Buyer and Seller or the same for both the new “Lender” and the old “lender.”

01/10/22

Mortgage Relief Program announced for homeowners impacted by COVID-19 KATC

Mortgage Relief Program announced for homeowners impacted by COVID-19
Homeowners financially impacted by COVID-19 can now get assistance through a federally funded program. Governor John Bel Edwards announced the launch of the Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Fund, a federally funded relief program for homeowners financially impacted by COVID-19 who are behind on their mortgages and at risk of foreclosure.

01/09/22

JANUARY 9, 2022 – “BUT JUDGE, IF I COULD JUST EXPLAIN!” AVOIDING COMMON TRAPS OF REPRESENTING YOURSELF IN COURT Torrens Law Group

JANUARY 9, 2022 – “BUT JUDGE, IF I COULD JUST EXPLAIN!” AVOIDING COMMON TRAPS OF REPRESENTING YOURSELF IN COURT
Good Afternoon! I hope this newsletter finds you doing well. For this week’s newsletter, I want to offer a few useful tips in case you ever find yourself in a lawsuit but cannot afford legal counsel.

01/09/22

And this is why we have appellate courts … Clouded Titles

And this is why we have appellate courts …
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has reversed and remanded a RESPA-related case back to the District Court for the Western District of New York in a case involving Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC’s (NOTE: Ocwen has been purchased by PHH Mortgage of New Jersey.) alleged failure to record the homeowner’s mortgage instruments and its actions in losing key mortgage documents. The district court found for Ocwen in its summary judgment motion, stating that the Plaintiff’s asserted “errors” did not fall within Regulation X’s “catch-all provision”. The appellate court disagreed and reversed the lower court’s decision and sent the case back for further proceedings as directed by the appellate court. This case involved an alleged defaulted loan and a subsequent loan modification. The homeowner, Kim Naimoli, sued Ocwen because Ocwen denied her loan modification because of its own failure to record the mortgage documents. Takeways? Of note here is that Ocwen failed to record the mortgage. What lien right does it have it the mortgage document isn’t publicly recorded? There is no specific notice to the world, is there?

01/08/22

Foreclosures Soar 94% From 1 Year Ago Motley Fool

Foreclosures Soar 94% From 1 Year Ago
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit and unemployment became rampant, it became clear that many homeowners would risk losing their homes if aid wasn't doled out immediately. The government responded with mortgage forbearance -- an option that predates the pandemic, but one that wasn't universally guaranteed.

01/08/22

Part memoir, part history by a lawyer who fought foreclosures on family farms in the 1980s Texarkana Gazette

Part memoir, part history by a lawyer who fought foreclosures on family farms in the 1980s
Sarah Vogel returns to that grim era in "The Farmer's Lawyer," which recounts her work as the lead attorney for a group of North Dakota farmers whose lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture led to a nationwide class action that eventually overturned the heavy-handed lending practices that drove rampant farm foreclosures. Part memoir, part populist political history and part courtroom drama, Vogel's book is a charming, at times compelling recollection of a singular time in U.S. agriculture.

01/07/22

Cindy Brown News Alert Breaking the Insidious Silence Scott Stafne

Cindy Brown News Alert Breaking the Insidious Silence
Fresh off a California court victory in the Cindy Brown vs. Bank of New York Mellon case, this report showcases the ongoing crisis of inequalities in access to civil justice facing all Americans regardless of income or race and sets the stage for a long-awaited trial court showdown on March 15, 2022.

01/07/22

20-1683-cv Kim Naimoli v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC Marc Dann

20-1683-cv Kim Naimoli v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC
Appeal from the United States District Court
20 for the Western District of New York
21 No. 18 Civ. 06180 (EAW), Elizabeth A. Wolford, District Judge, Presiding.
22 (Argued April 5, 2021; Decided January 7, 2022)

01/07/22

Preventing a New York State housing emergency NY Daily News

Preventing a New York State housing emergency
The impending expiration of the eviction moratorium in New York State on Jan. 15, an undersupply of affordable housing and ongoing barriers to emergency rental assistance are all leading New York and many other states into a perilous winter of housing instability.

01/07/22

History of the American mortgage The Roanoke Times

History of the American mortgage
Homeownership has long been a part of the American Dream. Whether your generation, your grandparents’ generation, or your great-great-grandparents’ generation, most people equate the thought of owning a home with achieving the right type of success. After all, owning property can help you build wealth, give you access to equity, and offer something tangible to be passed down for generations.

01/07/22

How Much of That Bonu$ on Wall $treet Should Be Yours? Each Time You Use an Installment Plan You Are Creating a Huge Bonus to an Investment Banker Living Lies

How Much of That Bonu$ on Wall $treet Should Be Yours? Each Time You Use an Installment Plan You Are Creating a Huge Bonus to an Investment Banker
Some of the facts recited here are taken from the true story of one entrepreneur who turned $25,000 into $300 Million. Has anyone ever asked how entrepreneurs with only $25,000 to their name in 2001 now have a net worth of $300,000,000? Has anyone done the math? That money could not possibly have come from making loans using $25,000.

01/07/22

HUD Comes to the Aid of Colorado Wildfire Victims DSNews

HUD Comes to the Aid of Colorado Wildfire Victims
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has announced that it is offering federal disaster assistance for areas in Colorado impacted by straight-line winds and wildfires from December 30 that continue to linger.

01/07/22

A Busy Week Glenn Russell

A Busy Week
Today, I thought I would discuss what you should expect when you decide to “challenge” a foreclosure. I also wanted to discuss the different types of “foreclosure jurisdictions”, and different types of “mortgage theory jurisdictions. I will also emphasize the extremely unfair (and unconstitutional) non-judicial foreclosure process, and why I believe that it should be struck down.

01/07/22

These Charts Are the Smoking Guns in the Fed’s 2019-2020 Emergency Repo Loan Bailouts Wall Street On Parade

These Charts Are the Smoking Guns in the Fed’s 2019-2020 Emergency Repo Loan Bailouts
Nine days ago the Fed released the names of the Wall Street trading houses that had borrowed a cumulative total of $4.5 trillion in emergency repo loans from the Fed during just the last quarter of 2019.

01/06/22

Wall Street Banks Have an Alibi for their $11.23 Trillion in Emergency Repo Loans from the Fed – It’s a Doozy Wall Street On Parade

Wall Street Banks Have an Alibi for their $11.23 Trillion in Emergency Repo Loans from the Fed – It’s a Doozy
From September 17, 2019 through July 2, 2020, the trading units of the Wall Street megabanks (both domestic and foreign) took a cumulative total of $11.23 trillion in emergency repo loans from the Federal Reserve.

01/06/22

Finding the FINTECH Companies who really do the work of “servicing” payments and disbursements. Living Lies

Finding the FINTECH Companies who really do the work of “servicing” payments and disbursements.
Here is an example of someone who is asking tough questions that the banks and their lawyers will never answer. They won’t answer because any answer that is truthful would lead inevitably to the revelation that there is an absence of a loan account receivable and therefore any right to collect on it.

01/05/22

A Return to Robo-Signing: JPMorgan Chase Has Unleashed a Lawsuit Blitz on Credit Card Customers Pro Publica

A Return to Robo-Signing: JPMorgan Chase Has Unleashed a Lawsuit Blitz on Credit Card Customers
Early in 2020, as the pandemic gripped the nation, JPMorgan Chase offered to help customers weather the crisis by taking a temporary pause on mortgage, auto and credit card payments.

01/05/22

Meet Jed Rakoff, the Judge Who Exposed the "Rigged Game" Matt Taibi

Meet Jed Rakoff, the Judge Who Exposed the "Rigged Game"
On November 27, 2011, a federal judge named Jed Rakoff threw out a $285 million regulatory settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission, blasting it as “neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest.”

01/05/22

Mortgage relief comes to California as thousands face foreclosure Fox40

Mortgage relief comes to California as thousands face foreclosure
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — The nation’s biggest effort to help homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage because of the pandemic is underway in California. The effort is called the California Mortgage Relief Program, and those who are in need can begin applying for federal funds on Wednesday.

01/05/22

THREADING THE NEEDLE: IT IS WHAT THEY DON’T SAY THAT REVEALS THE TRUTH — AND YOU CAN USE IT! Living Lies

THREADING THE NEEDLE: IT IS WHAT THEY DON’T SAY THAT REVEALS THE TRUTH — AND YOU CAN USE IT!
So talk about splitting hairs — here is a statement from a company that is claimed by third parties to be the servicer of a “loan.” Note that the parties making the claim do NOT swear that PennyMac is servicing claims to administer, collect and enforce for

01/05/22

20 state attorneys general take aim at mortgage servicers Housing Wire

20 state attorneys general take aim at mortgage servicers
Some Federal Housing Administration-approved mortgage servicers have routinely flouted the agency’s loan modification program, according to Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and 20 other state attorneys general.

01/04/22

Foreclosures have cost Massachusetts homeowners nearly $100 million in equity since 2014 WGBH

Foreclosures have cost Massachusetts homeowners nearly $100 million in equity since 2014
omeowners in more than 30 cities and towns in Massachusetts collectively lost an estimated $97 million in equity through foreclosures over a six-year period, according to a new study by the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation.

01/04/22

loanDepot brings Ginnie Mae loan servicing in-house Housing Wire

loanDepot brings Ginnie Mae loan servicing in-house
loanDepot announced this week that it will begin servicing Ginnie Mae loans in-house, following a 2021 decision to do the same for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed loans.

01/04/22

Why I Think Homeowners Are Entitled to Receive a Second Payment From Investment Banks Living Lies

Why I Think Homeowners Are Entitled to Receive a Second Payment From Investment Banks
All homeowners who think they have a mortgage loan have received one payment at a “closing” — or a payment allegedly made on their behalf. For reasons explained elsewhere on this blog, such payments on their behalf are mostly fictional where the underlying investment bank is the same “director” of funds.

01/04/22

Redditors Raged Against the News Blackout of the Fed’s Bailout – Then All Hell Broke Loose When They Learned the Wall Street Banks Literally Own the New York Fed Wall Street On Parade

Redditors Raged Against the News Blackout of the Fed’s Bailout – Then All Hell Broke Loose When They Learned the Wall Street Banks Literally Own the New York Fed
We were attempting to hold the Fed, Big Media, and the Wall Street megabanks accountable with our article yesterday on mainstream media’s news blackout of the Fed’s release of the names of the Wall

01/03/22

Homeowners in New York can now apply for mortgage help Rochester First

Homeowners in New York can now apply for mortgage help
ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEM) — Starting Monday, January 3, those who have struggled to pay their mortgage because of the coronavirus pandemic can now apply for money to put towards their back payments.

01/03/22

Why You Should Get to Know Credit Default Swaps Living Lies

Why You Should Get to Know Credit Default Swaps
The investment banker was acting as the agent or conduit for both the actual creditor (“investor) who was lending the money to an investment bank and the homeowner “debtor” (borrower) was “borrowing” the money.

01/03/22

There’s a News Blackout on the Fed’s Naming of the Banks that Got Its Emergency Repo Loans; Some Journalists Appear to Be Under Gag Orders Wall Street On Parade

There’s a News Blackout on the Fed’s Naming of the Banks that Got Its Emergency Repo Loans; Some Journalists Appear to Be Under Gag Orders
Four days ago, the Federal Reserve released the names of the banks that had received $4.5 trillion in cumulative loans in the last quarter of 2019 under its emergency repo loan operations for a liquidity crisis that has yet to be credibly explained.

01/02/22

It’s not technical — It is very real! Securitization changed both sides of what appeared to be a loan transaction. It is now unrecognizable to lawyers. Living Lies

It’s not technical — It is very real! Securitization changed both sides of what appeared to be a loan transaction. It is now unrecognizable to lawyers.
Here is a line from another lawyer that I spoke with: SECURITIZATION CHANGED THE BARGAIN. ONLY THE FINANCE SIDE GOT WHAT THEY WANTED. People often criticize the points I make an appearance, articles, and pleadings because they think I am raising technical objections that won’t change anything. “You got the loan, didn’t you?” Actually no — virtually none of the transactions with homeowners

01/01/22

New Year's Day 2022 Glenn Russell

New Year's Day 2022
Over the last ten years, my usual practice is to sit down and assess what took place during the past year and then set forth a business plan for the coming new year. This year is a little different because I started planning for 2022 roughly about June of 2021. I started planning early, as it was obvious to see the handwriting on the wall for what is coming. Thus, unlike past years, I had a little extra time this year on New Year’s Day 2022.

01/01/22

2022: Recap of what we know about foreclosures and securitization Living Lies

2022: Recap of what we know about foreclosures and securitization
Here is a line from another lawyer that I spoke with: “The investment banks were not selling securities and they can’t say that they were because if they did say that then they would be saying that they were subject to registration requirements for initial public offerings. Their entire position is based on the

01/01/22

Consumer Law Rights Taking Effect 2022 NCLC

Consumer Law Rights Taking Effect 2022
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