Daily News related to the Foreclosure Crisis

The biggest unpunished heist in human history - Max Keiser

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12/31/21

About Me And Why I Decided To Start This Newsletter
After passing the bar, I then successfully argued one of the most high-profile cases involving mortgage foreclosure in America, [U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v.Ibanez, 458 Mass. 637 (Mass. SJC 2011)]. The oral argument before the Massachusetts Supreme Court can be seen here [Note, that I am the second attorney to speak for the Appellees on behalf of the LaRace family]. 1 I have continued to defend the LaRace family after the “Ibanez” decision. The financial industry is a “terminator” that does will stop advancing until it takes a house at foreclosure. The LaRace home is roughly valued at $140,000.00. During the subsequent ten (10) years and three subsequent lawsuits I have represented the LaRace family in, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and its “mortgage servicer” has spent many multiples of that figure, while I have never taken any fee, which includes the representation before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in “Ibanez”. Please see my website blog post here, for pleadings, transcripts, and the like from the ongoing LaRace litigation. Note, that arguing these cases is not for the faint of heart. The financial industry is also a formidable opponent with very deep pockets.

12/31/21

By Pancaking Term Loans, JPMorgan Had $30 Billion Outstanding from the Fed’s Emergency Repo Loans in the Last Quarter of 2019
Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, likes to perpetually brag about his bank’s “fortress balance sheet.” But in the fall of 2019, that fortress needed to borrow huge sums of money from the Federal Reserve – for still unexplained reasons.

12/31/21

The Peculiar Corruption at the Heart of Most Foreclosure Cases
I would ask HUD, and CFPB why they are not investigating and fining entities like PennyMac and Wells Fargo who frequently start cases in which the lawyers claim they are the creditor and then later admit to only being the servicer without ever actually

12/30/21

Delaware Federal District Court Challenges the Ghost Nature of REMIC Trusts and BY Implication the Role of Trustees
OK. This is subject to rehearing, reconsideration and appeal. But in Delaware where the financial industry is coddled to the point of absurdity (statutory trusts are not trusts), this ruling is highly significant. Allow me to say “I told you so.”

12/29/21

BetterMarkets.com publishes report on bailouts totaling $27 trillion. Can’t we do better than this?
Out of sign, out of mind. This report correctly describes the total in “bailouts” that went not to depository institutions but to risk-takers and frankly law violators on Wall Street. And part of the “bailout” was that those same businesses were suddenly chartered overnight to be licensed as commercial banking institutions — so that the “bailouts” could be received by them.

12/29/21

Wilmington Entities in Foreclosure
The “Wilmington” name shows up with what appears to be increasing frequency in foreclosures. The bottom line, in my opinion, is that whenever the “Wilmington” name appears in foreclosure cases, it is an attempt to launder title such that

12/28/21

Oregon home mortgage foreclosures moratorium expires on Friday; free help available
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — The foreclosure moratorium in Oregon that will end on Friday, Dec. 31 was established to prevent foreclosures for those who lost income or were unable to pay their mortgage as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

12/28/21

The Fed’s Doomsday Prophet Has a Dire Warning About Where We’re Headed
Thomas Hoenig knew what quantitative easing and record-low interest rates would bring.

12/28/21

Destroying, Hiding or Fabricating Evidence: Doctrines Regarding Spoliation of Evidence
The latest issue of the Florida Bar journal contains several interesting articles. One of them is entitled “Spoliation of Evidence and Non-party witnesses.” The author is Gary M Glassman, who is the attorney for Daytona Beach.

12/27/21

Stop Using the Labels: Homeowners Lose Foreclosure Cases When They Refer to the “Servicer”
You need to challenge the status of the company claiming to be a servicer by finding out what functions they really perform. I know I have contributed to the problem, but I think it’s time to stop using the labels that are promoted by the banks.

12/27/21

Congresswoman Maxine Waters Steps into the Ring as Referee in the Battle for Control of the FDIC
Maxine Waters is the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee. That Committee oversees the nation’s banks, including the megabanks on Wall Street that are serially charged by prosecutors with ever creative ways of looting the public. Waters’ Committee also oversees the bank regulators, which are frequently “captured” by Wall Street. One of those bank regulators has now come into the cross hairs of Waters.

12/25/21

Colorado will start oversight of fast-growing non-bank mortgage companies on Jan. 1
In the years since 2008's Great Recession, lending companies that aren’t regulated by the state government, from Quicken Loans to PennyMac, have come to dominate Colorado's mortgage market. That lack of scrutiny is about to change. Starting Jan. 1, Colorado's government will finally begin oversight of mortgage providers that operated outside of Colorado banking regulations. “In Colorado, we’re actually one of the last states to take action to give our state government the authority to oversee these non-bank mortgage servicers,” said Attorney General Phil Weiser. “Most states already have these regulatory oversight in place … And we’ve now addressed that failing.”

12/24/21

Dallas Fed, Home to the Largest Trading Scandal in Fed History, Quietly Runs a Help-Wanted Ad for a New General Counsel and Ethics Officer
The Dallas Fed has not publicly announced the retirement or dismissal of its General Counsel, Sharon Sweeney. And yet, it is currently running a help-wanted ad to replace her.

12/24/21

“I challenged that and the judge completely ignored the report and my challenge”: How homeowners without knowledge of legal requirements for practice in court lose cases they could have won.
People often tell me that they challenged something in court and that the judge completely ignored their challenge. The problem is that most people don’t know the elements of a legal challenge in court. Based upon my review of transcripts, reports, and proffers of evidence and testimony, nearly all such cases consist of raising questions in the expectation that the judge will answer the question.

12/23/21

Mortgage Delinquencies Improve While Active Foreclosures Fall
In its report on the November 2021 month-end mortgage performance statistics, derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market, Black Knight Inc. has found that the total U.S. loan

12/23/21

Court is Not a DYI Project
Simple answer: pro se litigants can win and do win. But they mostly lose and they lose because they know nothing about court procedure.

12/23/21

OCC Report Shows JPMorgan Chase Owns 62 Percent of all Stock Derivatives Held at 4,914 Banks in the U.S.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the regulator of national banks that operate across state lines, released a report on Monday that details the quantity and variety of derivatives held by commercial banks, savings associations and trust

12/22/21

A Bloomberg Column Says the Macho Culture and Risk-Taking on Wall Street Is Dead – in the Same Year that It Blew Up Archegos with 85 Percent Margin Loans
Two interesting things happened this week just one day apart. On Monday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of national banks, released its

12/22/21

Why You Need to Perform Investigation of Real Facts in the Real World
I state with great confidence that among those homeowners who perform and achieve a slam dunk win over the foreclosure lawyers, the great majority enjoy that victory because they did the investigation and hired a lawyer who knew what to do with the information (as opposed to slinging it at the judge and expecting the judge to make sense of it).

12/21/21

The Fed Gets Its Ducks in a Row for the Next Wall Street Bailout; Quietly Adds Goldman Sachs Bank, Citibank to Its New $500 Billion Standing Repo Facility
Two interesting things happened this week just one day apart. On Monday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of national banks, released its

12/21/21

What is the name of your client, foreclosure lawyer? The answer may surprise you.
There are judges across the land who are asking questions that are extremely uncomfortable for lawyers who are seeking protection under litigation immunity.

12/20/21

Justice Department and CFPB Put Landlords and Mortgage Servicers on Notice About Servicemembers’ and Veterans’ Rights
The Department of Justice and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued two joint letters today regarding important legal housing protections for military families. One letter was sent to landlords and other housing providers regarding protections for military tenants. A second letter was sent to mortgage servicers regarding military borrowers who have already exited or will be exiting COVID-19 mortgage forbearance programs in the coming weeks and months.

12/20/21

Forbearance rate dips to 1.67% in November
The vast majority of homeowners have exited their forbearance plan, the MBA numbers reveal

12/20/21

Undermining Justice From Within: How Government is Stifling the Ability of Homeowners, Lawyers and Even Judges from Protecting Basic Civil Rights Under Our Constitution
Sheila Bair was forced to resign as head of the FDIC. Very few people remember that Obama made her resign. That means she was fired. She objected to the “save the banks” strategy started by the Bush administration in 2008 and continued by the Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations.

12/19/21

Lancaster court to offer consumer debt resolution program in January
A new program to resolve credit card debt cases will begin Jan. 1 in Lancaster County Court. All cases that previously would have involved litigation will instead go into an alternative resolution program. The idea behind the credit card collection diversion program is to bring debtors and creditors together to work out their problems. The program is similar to the residential mortgage foreclosure diversion program created earlier this year; court officials wanted to get that in place first. That program started in August and had handled 72 cases as of Friday. That relatively low number reflects foreclosure moratoriums associated with pandemic, and the numbers will likely increase in the first quarter of 2022, according to program administrator Katherine Hecker. She noted that in 2019 there were 524 foreclosure cases here.

12/17/21

Undermining Justice From Within: How Government is Stifling the Ability of Homeowners, Lawyers and Even Judges from Protecting Basic Civil Rights Under Our Constitution
The only thing Judges have heard from all corners of the body politic is that the transactions with homeowners were in fact loans — frequently admitted by homeowners who are equally ignorant — and that any other legal approach (to foreclosures) would give an undeserved windfall to homeowners — which would somehow undermine the entire financial and social system of our country.

12/16/21

Mike Fratantoni on MBA’s 2022 mortgage market forecast
A look at origination volume, mortgage rates and margins

12/15/21

Mortgage Experts Fear a Foreclosure Wave as Protections Come to an End
When the COVID-19 outbreak first hit, it became clear that Americans would need all sorts of relief to stay afloat. That relief came in different forms -- stimulus checks, boosted unemployment benefits, and the option to pause mortgage payments through forbearance.

12/15/21

How a billion dollar housing bet upended a Tennessee neighborhood
Pandora Papers show a Wall Street plan to cash in on the foreclosure crisis by pouring money into rental homes, part of an unprecedented flow of global finance into US suburbs that has left stressed tenants in its wake.

12/15/21

Should I File Bankruptcy?
Although I am qualified to practice in bankruptcy court, I do not consider myself to be a competent qualified bankruptcy lawyer. On bankruptcy questions, you absolutely need to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer who only does bankruptcy.

12/14/21

Your State Could Decide to Open a Bank
For many Americans with limited or no experience with bank accounts, navigating the fees and policies that would make them account holders can be intimidating. And many small business owners seeking loans just can’t meet the standards set by traditional banks.

12/14/21

You Can Use This As a Template for How I Would Respond in a Discovery Dispute — Especially with Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae and Wachovia as the Originator
In a dispute between the attorney for the homeowner and the attorney for the alleged “lender”, there are a number of devices that are nearly universally applied across the country in order to ridicule and defeat the homeowner. The more you are aware of them, the better you will be prepared to deal with them.

12/13/21

Worried your house might end up in foreclosure? $197 million in relief funds can help
Opinion: If you own a home, meet certain income requirements and have experienced a financial hardship since 2020, you might qualify for help.

12/13/21

CFPB goes rogue under Rohit Chopra
In the final weeks of 2021, the mortgage industry received an unwelcome holiday gift from Consumer Financial Protection Board Director Rohit Chopra. The CFPB is preparing to announce multiple enforcement actions against several mortgage lenders for “deceptive practices” in dealing with COVID forbearance loans.

12/13/21

Biden Grants Disaster Assistance for Kentucky Tornado Survivors
HUD has announced the implementation and continuation of federal disaster assistance for areas in the Commonwealth of Kentucky affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, and tornadoes beginning on December 10, 2021.

12/13/21

Title automation allows for record volume
Title365's Kristen Estrella discusses how the company is powering a new standard for a premium title insurance experience

12/13/21

Why Retailers Have a Stake in Maintaining the “Securitization” System
EVERYONE IS GETTING A PIECE OF THE SECURITIZATION PIE EXCEPT CONSUMERS WITHOUT WHOM IT WOULD NOT EXIST

12/10/21

Florida is dangerously close to losing its independent, impartial and fair judiciary | Opinion
High-rolling groups, both in Florida and from out of state, seem call the shots in the state’s local and statewide elections, pumping millions of dollars into campaigns and candidates they believe will have their backs when it comes time to legislate. The result is smooth sailing for these big-money groups, while regular Floridians barely get a life jacket to stay afloat.

12/10/21

Pierce County, Washington Superior Court - JP Morgan Chase Bank NA v. David Morton
- Morton's Motion for Summary Judgment against Chase.

12/10/21

Foreclosure wave not in the cards as mortgage relief programs end
Most borrowers are getting back on track, and those who can’t have equity to tap

12/10/21

Move over Fannie, the non-QM loan is in the fast lane
In the world of mortgage-financing, there exists a product line defined by what it is not — non-qualified mortgage (non-QM), non-prime, non-agency or an alternative-documentation loan.

12/10/21

Tired of Banks Ruining Your Life? Being Angry Is Not Enough!
There is an important difference between sending letters to regulators complaining about lack of action on behalf of consumers and sending a QWR, DVL and complaints to CFPB and State Attroeny General on specific cases.

12/09/21

Statutes of Limitation in the Land of Enchantment
The New Mexico Court of Appeals recently concluded that a foreclosure action was not barred by the statute of limitation where a borrower made good faith payments and acknowledged the underlying debt in a signed affidavit.

12/08/21

Homeowners Win Only When They Litigate Properly — Not Because They Are Right
There is a difference between securitization, on the one hand, and securitization of debt, on the other. They are not the same thing. The entire scheme that is currently advertised or represented as securitization of debt is false.

12/07/21

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

12/07/21

Read This Article in Forbes Before It Gets taken Down
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/debt-relief/using-debt-verification-debt-validation-letters
It’s a business. Anyone can make a claim. Anyone can say that they are representing someone who has a claim. If you don’t contest it, the claim might be presumed as valid even though it has no basis in fact.

12/07/21

“Black Knight”: Banks Are Peddling A False National Narrative of Declining Foreclosures
I’m busy today so I can’t publish my usual long analytical article. But one thing that is constantly staring at me is the fact that the national press and news releases are in basic conflict with local media. And the fact that local media is going out of business isn’t helping.

12/06/21

Magna Bank, N.A. as Trustee for registered holders of certificates issued under the name of the Macandcheese Acquisition Trust, Inc. an inactive corporation, for a nonexistent trust, series 2022-XL-1
So a friend of mine left her phone in my car. Here is what I wrote to her: Thank you for leaving your phone in my possession, which as you know is 9/10s of the law. That means that even though you paid for it and you received ownership from the seller, I can now claim it as my property. So by possessing the phone I was able to issue and sell several certificates based upon the possible rental income I would receive from you for access to the phone you already own.

12/04/21

Foreclosure Resources: Who to Call for Help
For the basics on understanding foreclsoure, visit: https://www.usa.gov/foreclosure The Making Home Affordable (MHA) program provides help, including free counselors for advice and assistance with keeping you in your home or getting out safely. Visit the MHA website https://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/pages/default.aspx to learn what options you have and what you need to prepare. MHA has a hotline you can call anytime: 1-888-995-HOPE (tel:18889954673) or TTY 1-877-304-9709.

12/03/21

NJ bill tries to keep foreclosed homes within families and discourage investor flipping
New Jersey is trying to make it easier for family members or low-income buyers to purchase foreclosed homes by removing barriers during sheriff’s sales — and discourage big investors from flipping foreclosed homes — under a bill that passed through committees this legislative session.

12/03/21

How Could This Not Be a Loan?
if the investment bank paid the homeowner as an incentive payment rather than as a loan, then there is no debt any more than salary or wages can later be called a loan. The fact that the

12/02/21

Thousands could soon lose – or sell – their homes as Covid mortgage bailouts expire
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners could soon lose or sell their homes as Covid-related mortgage bailout programs expire.

12/02/21

Community Ventures receives $400,000 award from NeighborWorks
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Community Ventures has been awarded $400,420 in federal funding by NeighborWorks America via the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a bill that provides additional relief

12/01/21

Charting a Course
2021 was, in many ways, a year of transition, and in some ways a year of waiting for that transition to truly take hold. The mortgage servicing industry rose to the challenge of adapting to remote or hybrid work models while also assisting millions of struggling homeowners weather the unexpected storms of 2020.

12/01/21

Judge is kicked off foreclosure case that morphed into 'ever-escalating battle'
A Florida appeals court has kicked a judge off a foreclosure case and barred her from considering an order to show cause that alleges perjury by the Bank of New York Mellon and others associated with the case.

12/01/21

Here is How Wall Street Smoke and Mirrors Works
The idea that some company bearing the label of “servicer” is performing financial functions and accounting on behalf of an investor, a trust, a trustee is completely false from end to end.

11/30/21

JP Nonprofit ESAC Distributing $1.3M in Emergency Mortgage Funding
Jamaica Plain nonprofit Ecumenical Social Action Committee (ESAC) has been granted emergency foreclosure prevention funds to distribute to Boston homeowners who have been financially affected by COVID-19.

11/30/21

How Likely Is It That a Homeowner Will Win a Foreclosure Case?
The answer to this question depends upon the homeowner — not the judge.

11/29/21

The fallacy of construing negative decisions as bad decisions for homeowners
It’s not the job of courts to save litigants from their own admissions. Here is a simple rule: if you admit the existence of the loan account receivable and you admit the rights of the servicer and the currently named claimant, you have no viable basis to challenge standing or enforceability. “Yes, but” doesn’t count in court.

11/28/21

A class action has been brought in the Eastern District of New York against defendant Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc.,
(“SPS”), a servicing agent for residential mortgage loans, unlawful and deceptive acts, practices and misconduct in connection with the ownership and servicing of residential mortgage loans, including, but not limited to the following:

(i) making representations that late fees will be charged, and charging late fees, after the loan has been accelerated which is prohibited by the standard form mortgage agreement and the laws of the State of New York and other states, including, but not limited to, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont and California;

(ii) charging excessive and unreasonable inspection fees despite occupancy, which is in violation of the standard form mortgage agreement and Fannie Mae industry guidelines and regulations;

(iii) violating RESPA, 12 U.S.C. § 2605(e) by failing to timely and adequately respond to homeowner’s Qualified Written Requests concerning improper late fees and failing to take corrective action.

11/28/21

Dan Kildee leading effort to provide Michiganders with housing support
FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) - (11/28/2021) - Congressman Dan Kildee is announcing new efforts in Congress, helping Michigan families make educated decisions about housing and homeownership. In a letter, Kildee and 36 other Members of Congress are urging Congress to fully fund the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Counseling Assistance Program for the upcoming fiscal year.

11/27/21

Lend a Hand helped Patricia cover one month's mortgage to help her prevent foreclosure
The following is a profile submitted by South Shore Community Action Council on behalf of one of its clients who has been helped by The Patriot Ledger's Lend a Hand campaign. The person's name has been changed to protect their privacy.

11/26/21

NY homeowners, facing foreclosure due to pandemic, could be eligible for aid
BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG)—Federal funding is on the way to New York homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure. Households behind on their mortgages, property taxes and other housing expenses can get up to $50,000 in aid through the state’s recently-approved Homeowners Assistance Fund.

11/26/21

Housing Instability and Socioeconomic Disparities in Health: Evidence from the U.S. Economic Recession
While a number of studies have observed the effects of housing instability on health outcomes, fewer have emphasized pre-existing socioeconomic disparities in health and the influence of housing instability on subsequent health outcomes in the wake of the economic recession.

11/26/21

HOW THEY DID IT: CONVENTIONAL LOAN TRANSACTION EXPLAINED
The following link leads to an oversimplified chart of a conventional loan transaction, leaving out the actual people at each step and leaving out several of the computer servers:

11/24/21

Servicer Advances Are an Illusion Too
Like everything else, “servicer advances” is a false label. There is no money being advanced. But there is money received by institutional investors who bought certificates under the mistaken belief that they were mortgage-backed securities. They receive that money regardless of whether or not payments are made by homeowners.

11/23/21

Letter to FHFA re: Enterprise Regulatory Capital Framework Proposal
Re: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comments – RIN 2590-AB17

11/23/21

Optical Illusions and Cognitive Delusions Are the Foundations For Erroneous Decisions by Homeowners, Their Lawyers, and Judges
By the time most lawyers are retained to represent a homeowner, the homeowner has already created damage. The lawyer’s task is magnified by the need to first perform damage control before asserting claims and defenses.

11/22/21

Are Foreclosure Lawyers Lying?
The simple answer is maybe. But even the act of avoiding information that would inform the lawyer that his assertion or argument in court is false, does not make a case for accusing the Lawyer of lying. This is very frustrating for most people.

11/19/21

PODCAST: Helping homeowners At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than four million homeowners—credit union members among them—needed mortgage assistance. While many have recovered, there is still a need to support homeowners as they come out of forbearance. Helping homeowners depends on exceptional member care and communication. It also means considering what other support can be offered and what process changes can be made to deliver optimal outcomes.

11/19/21

THERE IS NO CONFLICT BETWEEN ARTICLE 3 AND ARTICLE 9 OF UCC: THE COURTS ARE JUST PLAIN WRONG
CASE DECISIONS ARE NOT SCRIPTURE. But they are precedent and you can expect that once a decision is rendered by an appellate court in a specific jurisdiction all the lower courts in that jurisdiction will most likely follow the reasoning and application of the law in that appellate decision.

11/19/21

NY foreclosure ban does not apply to shell companies, judge rules
As the pandemic drags on, New York’s foreclosure moratorium is starting to crack. On Nov. 12, an Orange County judge ruled that Wilmington Savings Fund could foreclose on and sell the home at 6 Turtle Knoll in Monroe.

11/18/21

NY homeowners behind on mortgages get $539M from feds
New York on Thursday became the first state in the nation to receive U.S. Treasury approval for Homeowner Assistance Fund aid. Nearly $539 million — the amount Gov. Kathy Hochul requested — will be distributed to homeowners at the greatest risk of foreclosure or displacement. The money is part of a $10 billion federal program in the American Rescue Plan.

11/17/21

REVERSE “MORTGAGES” ARE SUBJECT TO SAME DEFENSES AS ANY OTHER HOMEOWNER TRANSACTION
I am getting a lot more inquiries about reverse mortgages in which Foreclosure is threatened. That’s far, there appears to be no difference in the challenges and offenses available to homeowner homeowners between what is ordinarily falsely described as a “conventional Loan” and a “reverse mortgage loan.” The goal of the finance side of these transactions is the same: the sale of securities.

11/16/21

Foreclosed Homes Should Go To Families, Not Flippers: NJ Lawmaker
New Jersey Assemblywoman: "Black and Brown wealth is hemorrhaging through the loss of foreclosed property."

11/16/21

Black Knight fka Lender Processing Systems — Short memories can hurt you
Frankly, I am frequently bewildered by the astonishment of people who should know better. Everything that I report on my blog is derived from actual concrete reliable data and information and previous legal proceedings in which there were administrative findings of fact and legal consequences

11/15/21

STOP BLAMING JUDGES: Their position is wrong but NOT unreasonable
I have often been confronted with a situation in which there are reports of a judge that is bullying the lawyers or litigants. The result is that homeowners are blaming judges for entering rulings or judgments and cutting arguments short. And the perception is that the judges are part of some vast conspiracy to deny due process to homeowners.

11/12/21

Banking Agencies: Mortgage Servicers Should Prepare For Increased Scrutiny
The CFPB, OCC, FDIC, NCUA, and state financial regulators issued a statement this week ending the temporary supervisory and enforcement flexibility provided to mortgage servicers due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the agencies.

11/12/21

If you don’t understand the job of being a judge, then you can’t possibly win
The bottom line is that if you start off with a hostile attitude toward the judge, the possibility of a successful result for anyone defending a case diminishes to practically zero. Likewise for the litigant who expects the judge to carry water for one party or the other. Judges don’t carry water. They merely watch it and weigh it. That is their job.

11/11/21

New mortgage refinance programs from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expanding to reach more homeowners
For Stacey Foley, refinancing her mortgage was a no-brainer. After paying roughly 4.25% in interest on her existing home loan, refinancing at 3.25% with limited closing costs has saved her $200 monthly. “Two hundred dollars doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but over a year it is,” Foley said.

11/10/21

Regulators done playing nice with mortgage servicers
Temporary flexibility in supervision and enforcement given due to the Covid-19 pandemic is no longer valid

11/10/21

Unilateral Mistake: Equitable Defenses Explained — How homeowners can get the upper hand and defend against enforcement of contract that is different from the one they knew or intended
Homeowners are missing out on a huge opportunity for economic gain that balances the power between Wall Street and consumers.

11/09/21

Discovery Aimed at Insurance Accounts Might Yield Beneficial Results for Homeowners Challenging the Rights to Administer, collect or Enforce
if the payment is directed to the company claiming to be a servicer on behalf of a non-existing creditor, the homeowner’s liability for the scheduled payment is not reduced. Like most foreclosure sales, the proceeds from insurance are used as free money or revenue by all of the participants in the fake process of servicing.

11/05/21

How Wall Street is Committing the Perfect Crime
Back in 2006 on TV, I said something like this: “Given the size and scope of this illegal enterprise, there probably are not enough available assets in the world to purchase and hide from public scrutiny. The banks will inevitably expand into fields in which they have no interest, just like lending. The only way they can hide their illicit gains is by laundering them through the purchase, sale, and trading of assets, some of which will be just as fictitious as the alleged loans they are allegedly creating.”

11/04/21

Want to allege fraud? Not so fast
Both homeowners and lawyers like to throw around the term “fraud upon the court.” But it actually ends up diminishing the credibility of both. There are several reasons why you should not allege fraud unless you have indisputable sold proof that the documents and/or oral arguments were filled with statements that were known to be false when they were made.

11/03/21

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. How the “failure” of rating agencies on Wall Street directly impacted homeowners.
I think the article presents some very valuable information, insight and analysis. But it fails to take into account the central weakness. * see Credit rating failure 47.full * The certificates that are referred to as “mortgage-backed securities” are neither mortgage-backed nor securities

11/03/21

Fed sings the 'transitory' inflation refrain, unveils bond-buying 'taper'
WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve threw its weight back behind the drive for a full U.S. jobs recovery on Wednesday, restating its belief that current high inflation is "expected to be transitory" and, despite risks to that view, arguing that price pressures will ease and pave the way for stronger employment and economic growth in the months to come.

11/03/21

Zillow will stop buying and renovating homes and cut 25% of its workforce
The real estate company Zillow announced it's throwing in the towel on a program in which it bought, renovated and resold homes itself.

11/02/21

Those letters from the lawyer for the “servicer”: PHH
It is true that someone will execute a release of the lien. What is not true is that they have any authority to do so — nor is it true that PHH has any right to receive any money, whether it is a monthly payment or a payoff.

11/01/21

Servicers prepare for $10B homeowner assistance fund
Treasury said it will approve HAF plans in the coming weeks, but servicers still have questions

11/01/21

About that letter you receive from the company claimed to be your servicer: PennyMac
People keep getting letters and they tend to treat the information as real simply because it is in writing. That is the nub of the Wall Street scheme — send out written communication and documents without regard to the truth and people will assume that the document or letter would not have been sent if at least someone didn’t think it was true.

10/29/21

Here is another lie: Wilmington Savings Fund Society
The purpose of this terminology and sentence structure is to create names, not entities. These are bankruptcy remote, liaiblity remote, reality remote names without any legal person or entity appearing in the chain. And let me be clear — yes I do think that anyone who has entered into a transaction in which a mortgage and note were signed has good reason to contest to existence of any debt, since it is not claimed as owned by anyone. Such ownership is ALWAYS erroneously and deceptively implied. The banks are highly exposed on this issue and they know it. Their only strategy that works is deep pockets for the long haul, deception and intimidation.

10/28/21

RE: Senate Bill No. 1017 - Legislation to Strengthen Rules Governing Attorney Conduct; Penalties for Misconduct
My name is Mohan A. Harihar – I am an American-born Citizen, raised here in the Commonwealth, currently residing in Acton, MA. Since 2011, I have been in active/ongoing litigation stemming from Homestead Protection Errors and an illegal foreclosure – as identified by:
1. The US Department of Justice (DOJ);
2. Federal Bank Regulators; and
3. The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General (MA AGO)
I am writing to you in support of Senate/House Bill No. 1017, to provide an (ongoing) decade- long case example(s) of why stricter legislation is necessary for holding attorneys accountable.

10/28/21

Boston launches fund to help homeowners avoid foreclosure
The mayor of Boston announced a new program on Thursday that would use emergency funds to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, according to The Associated Press. Boston Mayor Kim Janey (D) framed the program as an effort to address job loss related to the coronavirus pandemic.

10/28/21

Congressman Brad Sherman: Wall Street Has Been Underwriting Cayman Islands Shell Companies and Passing Them Off as the Real Chinese Companies
Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) knows a thing or two about accounting and law. He has a law degree from Harvard, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He has previously worked as a CPA and Certified Tax Law Specialist. Sherman chairs the House Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets.

10/27/21

$7 million remains in Connecticut's COVID mortgage assistance fund
Connecticut doled out nearly $4.9 million in mortgage assistance during the first two phases of its homeowner assistance program, leaving just over $7 million in unused federal funds.

10/27/21

Why it isn’t really a trust — REMIC or otherwise.
The certificate holders are creditors of the beneficiary investment bank who is merely doing the business under the name or label of the “trust.” In short, it is a recitation of an investment bank doing business with itself.

10/26/21

QWR and DVL Guidelines
A QWR is a qualified written request under the rules of RESPA. A DVL is a debt validation letter under the rules of the FDCPA. Centers of either one must conform to the existing rules — not what they would like the rules to be.

10/26/21

Home price growth remained at record pace in August
Annual growth, at 19.8%, still at record level

10/25/21

Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now Says U.S. Third Quarter Growth Was Almost Nil at 0.5 Percent; Wall Street Economists Are Forecasting Over 3 Percent
This coming Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m., the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release its advance estimate for U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter. Some folks are going to have a lot of egg on their face at 8:31 a.m.

10/25/21

GSE forbearance rate declines to 1%
Total number of loans in forbearance decreased by seven basis points to 2.21% as of Oct. 17, according to MBA

10/25/21

New York poised to expand CRA rule to nonbank lenders
The New York State Senate delivered on Friday a bill to Gov. Kathy Hochul. She has 10 days to approve or reject

10/22/21

It’s A Lie, Pure and Simple
“Bank of New York Mellon as trustee for the certificate holders” is an exercise in deceit and fraud. Lawyers for homeowners should pay more attention to filing a motion to dismiss or a motion for more definite statement as to the identification of the claimant. It is simply human to try to skip to the main issue. But it is not wise if what you are skipping is in fact the main issue.

10/22/21

Black Knight: Foreclosure Starts Reverse Course in September, Pulling Back Despite Moratoria Expiration; Delinquency Rate Falls Below 4% for First Time Since Start of Pandemic
The national delinquency rate fell to 3.91% in September - the first time it's been below 4% in 18 months - marking a 2.3% decline from August and 41.3% from the same time last year

10/21/21

8 Florida federal judges had illegal stock ownership conflicts
Eight of Florida’s federal judges had financial interests in one or more of their cases, according to a blockbuster newspaper report that identified 131 judicial scofflaws across the nation. The Wall Street Journal’s investigation into how federal judges handled 685 lawsuits during the years 2010-2018 has become a hot topic in Congress.

10/21/21

Fannie, Freddie give green light for remote appraisals
Big changes are coming for housing in 2022. First, forget real estate agents setting up meet, greet and appraise meetings. Forget drive by appraisals. Forget appraisers price gauging homebuyers — especially in rural regions. Remote appraising is all the rage.

10/21/21

The Fed Is Subsidizing the Money Market Funds Operated by Larry Fink’s BlackRock as BlackRock Manages a Big Part of Jerome Powell’s Wealth
Last year, during the financial crisis, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell held five confidential phone calls with BlackRock’s Chairman and CEO Larry Fink.

10/20/21

Remote Online Notarization: Banks are ramping up the way they will conduct illegal foreclosures
Nobody talks about ICE. But it owns the New York Stock Exchange, MERS and an incredible buffet of FINTECH capabilities and it operates as though it is a governmental or quasi governmental agency. It isn’t. And its practices have been institutionalized by longevity and the courts who have no idea what Wall Street is doing.

10/19/21

ICE Mortgage Announces Expansion of MERS Remote Online Notarization Capabilities
ICE Mortgage Technology, part of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., has announced that MERSCORP Holdings Inc., the mortgage industry’s national electronic loan registry, is expanding its capabilities to now include industry-wide, secure storage of Remote Online Notarization (RON) videos for lenders, investors and servicers.

10/19/21

The Wall Street Journal and New York Times Censor Yet Another Major News Story on the Fed and the Mega Banks It Supervises
On October 13, Wall Street On Parade broke the story that the Federal Reserve had quietly released the names of the mega banks that had grabbed tens of billions of dollars of repo loans under the Fed’s emergency repo loan operations that began on September 17, 2019 – months before there was a COVID-19 case

10/19/21

“FOR THE CERTIFICATE HOLDERS” IS A DEAD GIVE-AWAY THAT THERE IS NO CREDITOR
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON AS TRUSTEE FOR THE CERTIFICATE HOLDERS OF CWABS, INC. ASSET BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-11. FACT CHECK 1. BONY IS NOT A TRUSTEE FOR ANY CERTIFICATE HOLDERS BECAUSE THE CERTIFICATE HODLERS ARE NOT BENEIFICAIRIES OF ANY TRUST. FACT CHECK 2: NO TRUST IS IDENTIFIED EVEN BY NAME. CONCLUSION: THE HOMEOWNER IS FIGHTING WITH A GHOST. THE INVESTMENT BANK IS HIDING BEHIND IT AND EVERYONE IS MAKING MONEY EXCEPT THE HOMEOWNER WHO UNKOWINGLY ALLOWED THE SECURTITIZATION SCHEME TO PROCEED WITHOUT ANY SALE OF THE DEBT.

10/18/21

FHFA to make desktop appraisals permanent
FHFA Acting Director Sandra Thompson also announced expansions to the eligibility requirements for refinance programs geared toward low-income borrowers

10/18/21

Basic Bookkeeping and Accounting Knowledge Can Keep False or Unreliable Information Out of Evidence
The current custom and practice is to substitute a partial report that is entirely hearsay (usually titled “Payment History”) for the expected and legally required loan account receivable. Such a report when revealed as such is not admissible into evidence if the homeowner raises an objection.

10/15/21

Exit your forbearance
It takes a plan to exit mortgage forbearance. Learn about your options, get expert help, and find the right option for you.
Plan your exit from mortgage forbearance:
Watch a video about your repayment options
Learn about your repayment options
Learn about how options vary by agency

10/15/21

Lay People Look at What the Document Says. Lawyers Look for What the Document Does Not Say
I am often sent documents to review. And most of the documents purport to grant authority to some person or entity to do everything (or at least something) necessary to complete the process of foreclosure. In virtually all cases documents that are allowed to appear are merely part of the illusion of authority and not the source of Authority. In short, the grantor does not say that it owns or has the authority to grant authority to anyone else. This is considered a fatal defect on most documents but it occurs regularly in foreclosure cases.

10/15/21

Foreclosure Filings Reflect End of Moratorium
As was probably inevitable, foreclosure files rose significantly in the third quarter of 2021 and appeared to accelerate in the last month of that quarter. The moratorium on foreclosures which was put in place in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic expired on July 31.

10/15/21

Fannie Mae: Mortgage rates and home prices will rise in ’22
Economists at Fannie Mae expect an increase mortgage rates and home prices in 2022 due to higher inflation, a tightening of monetary policy, and low home inventory.

10/15/21

The SEC Is Taking a Hard Look at Dark Markets, Except for the Darkest of All – Dark Pools
On Tuesday, SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee delivered an exceptionally well-researched speech on the rising dangers to the broader U.S. economy from the burgeoning dark private markets for non-publicly traded stocks. She makes many important points.

10/14/21

California Court Revisits Homeowner’s Bill of Rights
Borrowers regularly sue their loan servicers over alleged violations of the California’s complex Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR). Generally, the allegations have little merit. However, in the rare case that an actual violation exists, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District recently confirmed that a loan servicer can

10/14/21

Democratic lawmakers ask Justice Roberts for info on judicial conflict failures
Two Democratic lawmakers on Thursday asked U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for information on failures by judges to recuse themselves from cases in which they had financial conflicts as they questioned whether he had done enough to enforce ethics rules.

10/14/21

Mortgage Delinquency Rates Near Pre-Pandemic Levels in U.S.
CoreLogic's latest monthly Loan Performance Insights Report shows that 4.2% of all mortgages in the U.S. during July 2021 were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 2.3-percentage point decrease in delinquency compared to July 2020, when it was 6.5%. While overall delinquencies remain above the February 2020, pre-pandemic rate of 3.6%, this is the lowest rate since last March.

10/14/21

Foreclosures Tick Up After Moratorium Ends
The first bits of foreclosure data are starting to come through after the federal government’s foreclosure moratorium expired July 31 and the numbers are not as bad as some experts were predicting at the start of the moratorium.

10/14/21

Federal appeals court rules against investors in Boston low-income housing case
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston on Wednesday ruled that a Denver investment firm failed to prove its fight with a South End housing nonprofit belongs in federal court.

10/14/21

Senate Banking Chair, Sherrod Brown, Gives Fed’s Quarles a Scathing Bon Voyage
Yesterday was the last day that Randal Quarles served in the post as Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve. Senator Sherrod Brown, the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee that oversees the Federal Reserve, used the occasion to send a scorching letter to Fed Chair Jerome Powell assessing Quarles’ performance in the job, which began on October 13, 2017. Brown wrote:

10/13/21

Goldman Sachs: Home prices will rise another 16% in ’22
Home prices are currently up 20% year-over-year, but according to a new Goldman Sachs market forecast, they may not have reached their peak yet. Not even close. Goldman Sachs economists predict that home prices will grow another 16% by the end of 2022.

10/13/21

NY Judge Wilson: Prima Facie Elements Are not Issues of “Standing”
US Bank v. Nelson, 36 N.Y.3d 998, 1000 (N.Y. 2020) (“Whether a plaintiff is a party to a contract – and therefore can sue for breach of contract – is not a question of “standing.” New York law suggests that true standing must be pleaded as an affirmative defense. But whether a plaintiff is a party to a contract and, therefore, can sue for breach, is not a question of standing – it is an essential element of a plaintiff’s claim, which must be pleaded affirmatively in a complaint.”)

10/13/21

Quietly, the Fed Releases the Names of Banks that Got Billions in Emergency Repo Loans in 2019
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has quietly posted the names of the banks that grabbed billions of dollars under the Fed’s emergency repo loan operations that commenced on September 17, 2019 – months before there was a COVID-19 crisis anywhere in the world.

10/12/21

The Dallas Fed Board Is Now Complicit in the Robert Kaplan Saga
Last Wednesday, the Editorial Board of the Financial Times of London penned an editorial under a headline that read: “The Fed’s Trading Scandal Undermines Public Trust.” The editorial noted that the President of the Dallas Fed, Robert Kaplan, “held stakes over $1m each in 27 investments, and moved in and out of S&P 500 futures.

10/12/21

For those exiting “Forbearance” or Moratoriums — Be Careful What You Write!
After a few extensions, the mortgage payment pause officially ended — or will be ending soon — for 1.2 million out of an estimated 1.7 million loans that remained in forbearance as of August, according to CoreLogic. Wall Street is busy churning out even more disinformation than before because they are trying to avoid a mass revolution from consumers.

10/11/21

What the “affidavit” does NOT say is more important than what it does say
This is an example of how the investment banks are responding to me without specifically giving me or my websites oxygen. They are now attempting to file affidavits from parties that appear to be the actual claimant and who appear to be The owner of the underlying obligation, the legal debt, the note and the mortgage. In truth, however, none of that is true.

10/11/21

The U.S. Banking System Is More Dangerous Today than in 1929, Thanks to the Fed’s Reg U and Swaps – Two Well-Kept Secrets from the Senate Banking Committee
Regulation U is a 1936 Federal Reserve rule, that is still in force today, that allows federally-insured, taxpayer backstopped commercial banks to make margin loans for speculating in stocks. Unlike 1936, however, Wall Street trading houses are today allowed to own their own federally-insured, taxpayer backstopped commercial banks.

10/08/21

The Week Ahead: Balancing Regulatory and Operational Changes as Foreclosure Volume Increases
On Wednesday, October 13, Legal League 100 presents its webinar, "Investors Perspective on the Restart of Foreclosures" at 1:00 p.m. CDT. In an industry that is changing constantly, how can one prepare for the constant flux in incoming business? Volume is sure to be on the rise, but are you prepared? In addition to juggling staffing and operational issues, are you ready to tackle the new servicing rules that require a solid understanding of the law?

10/08/21

BARE NAKED TITLE: THE FOUNDATION OF FAKE SECURITIZATION OF DEBTS AND ALL FORECLOSURES
The mistake that lawyers and pro se homeowners are lured into making is that they think that the pooling and servicing agreement is the trust agreement. It isn’t.

10/07/21

How to Prevent a Foreclosure
Financial setbacks could likely happen, which is why it’s important to inform your lender right away so they can help you as quickly as possible.

10/07/21

Citigroup to Facebook, it’s about power
On Sunday, October 3rd, I saw the 60 Minutes story about Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower. I was absolutely blown away in so many different aspects. I was thrown back to 2011 when I did a 60 Minutes story based upon my whistleblowing at Citigroup.

10/06/21

Mortgage Application Volume at Three-Month Low
Mortgage applications declined by the largest margin in three months during the week ended October 1. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index,

10/05/21

Good Foreclosure Defense Gets Down to Basics: No Default
I see in threads of emails that are shared with me considerable discussion and debate over whether the “loan” was sold. The parties who have trouble even conceiving of a scenario in which the original homeowner transaction was not sold are those who are looking at documents. In securitization today, virtually NONE of the documents are real, true, or authentic.

10/05/21

Watch Senator Elizabeth Warren Explain in a 9-Minute Speech on the Senate Floor Today the “Culture of Corruption” at the Fed and How Powell Has “Failed as a Leader”
After watching the video below, if you have further doubts, consider this: On August 7 of last year, Wall Street On Parade reported that Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, was having private phone calls with BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink, while BlackRock managed upwards of $25 million of Powell’s personal money and the Fed awarded three no-bid contracts to BlackRock for emergency lending facilities.

10/04/21

New Documents Show the Fed’s Trading Scandal Includes Two of the Wall Street Banks It Supervises: Goldman Sachs and Citigroup
In the late eighteenth century, men gathered under a Buttonwood tree at 68 Wall in lower Manhattan and traded stocks among themselves. That’s not how it works today.

10/04/21

SUE THE INDIVIDUALS, NOT JUST THE COMPANIES
Hat tip to Summer chic From the very beginning — when homeowners or prospective homeowners are first applying for a loan or refinance — they are faced with (a) understanding the transaction (something that TILA was supposed to fix) (b) whether to go on offense and (c) whether to just wait and go on defense.

10/03/21

DannLaw COVID-19 Update 15
As America struggles to shake the curse of COVID-19, millions of homeowners impacted by the pandemic continue to face numerous challenges, including determining what to do when mortgage forbearance ends. In this update, we’ll outline the available options and offer sound advice on how–and how not–to proceed.

10/02/21

Wall Street’s wild party in jeopardy as Fed threatens aid cutoff
Massive support from the Federal Reserve has sent U.S. stocks and bonds soaring and enriched investors ever since markets almost collapsed at the onset of the pandemic. Now, the party may be ending.

10/01/21

The Justice Department Has 58 Documents About Its New Criminal Chief that It Doesn’t Want the Public to See
We’re sorry to have to tell you this, but the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process, where the public and members of the press can request information from their government and get a meaningful response, is as dead under the Biden administration as it was under the Trump, Obama and George W. Bush administrations. In no small part, this is why the United States of America, which regularly lectures other countries on what it means to be a democracy, has lost the trust of the American people.

10/01/21

REPORT VIOLATIONS
Information from the public is vital to the work of the Antitrust Division. Your e-mails, letters, and phone calls could be our first alert to a possible violation of antitrust laws and may provide the initial evidence needed to begin an investigation.To report general antitrust violations, such as price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation, contact the Citizen Complaint Center.

10/01/21

As Statewide Eviction Moratorium Expires, Attorney General Bonta Reminds Homeowners and Renters of Rights and Protections Under California Law
OAKLAND – Following the expiration of the statewide eviction moratorium, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a consumer alert reminding California’s tenants and homeowners of their rights and protections under California law. Attorney General Bonta provides the following information to help Californians understand the protections in place as of October 1, 2021, to help prevent evictions and foreclosures during the pandemic.

10/01/21

If a “Holder” Can Enforce a Promissory Note, Why Can’t He Enforce a Mortgage?
If the claimant is only a holder it is highly probable that he is neither a holder in due course nor a true lender or creditor. If it was otherwise, he would say so. And only a party who has paid value for the underlying obligation may enforce a mortgage. (Article 9 §203 UCC, adopted verbatim in all U.S. jurisdictions).

10/01/21

Yvanova not Ibanez
I don’t know why I keep doing it but ever since both decisions were in existence I have continually mixed up the names. I did it again in the webinar yesterday when I referred to the Ibanez decision from Massachusetts when I meant to refer to the Yvanova decision in California. I’m sorry! The Yvanova decision was the one in which

09/30/21

Regulation, forbearance leaves mortgage servicers in a bind
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused historic, unprecedented challenges for mortgage servicers. Forbearance deadlines get pushed back seemingly in perpetuity, and an unproven, inconsistent technology infrastructure has the potential to result in a series of foreclosure and loss mitigation crises.

09/29/21

Meet Rohit Chopra, the new CFPB director
The mortgage industry collectively shuddered today as the Senate approved Rohit Chopra as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for a five-year term.

09/28/21

Loan origination complaints spike during pandemic
Loan origination-related consumer complaints rose significantly over the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) report published last week.

09/28/21

Free Law Project Creates the First Online Database of Federal Judicial Financial Disclosures
At Free Law Project, our mission is to make legal information free and open to all, and especially to journalists, researchers, and academics. That is why we are excited to announce the creation of a new, first-of-its-kind database of federal judicial financial records.

09/28/21

Federal judges say they 'mistakenly' broke the law in these cases. Yeah, right.
A report Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal found rampant lawlessness among the federal judiciary, with more than 130 judges hearing cases in which they had a financial interest.

09/28/21

That “Servicer” is Not What You Think It Is and Definitely What They Say They Are
You definitely need a licensed trial attorney representing you. I know it is difficult to find, but start looking like your life depended upon it. Right now, from a bird’s eye view, most people would conclude that everything looks right with the chain of title. You need to educate a lawyer and judge so that they take a closer look.

09/27/21

Suing the REMIC Trustee is a good idea but it is tricky
All causes of action against the REMIC trustee are going to be tricky. By contract, they have no duties and no responsibility for anything that happens with the trust. In court, they never actually appear.

09/26/21

LoanDepot Whistleblower Files Suit for Retaliation, Revealing the Continuation Same Practices as the 2008 Crisis
“Tammy Richards, the former head of operations at loanDepot, said the company’s founder was behind a scheme to flout regulations.” NY Times.

09/24/21

Anonymous donor saves ex-Cuban political prisoner from homelessness in Miami
MIAMI – Ana Rodriguez was preparing to live in her car outside of the Versailles Cuban Bakery in Miami’s Little Havana. The former Cuban political prisoner and author had packed everything from the home where she had lived for decades. She had never imagined she would be homeless at 82 years old. A Cuban-American businessman who wishes to remain anonymous prevented the tragedy. Rodriguez met him in person and he made him a promise that he kept.

09/24/21

New Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) take effect November 30, 2021
The first comprehensive federal debt collection regulations interpreting the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) take effect November 30, 2021. This article summarizes new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Regulation F with links to free resources

09/24/21

FHFA extends multifamily forbearance indefinitely
Multifamily property owners who are struggling to make mortgage payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic now will have access to forbearance programs indefinitely in the case of loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today. Forbearance options for multifamily mortgages backed by the GSEs were set to expire on Sept. 30, but the FHFA has extended until needed.

09/24/21

Homeowners Have Gained $2.9 Trillion in Equity
CoreLogic’s Homeowner Equity Report for the second quarter of 2021 has found that U.S. homeowners with mortgages (which account for roughly 63% of all properties) have seen their equity increase by 29.3% year-over-year, a collective equity gain of more than $2.9 trillion, and an average gain of $51,500 per borrower, since Q2 of 2020.

09/24/21

Watch Out for ” Freedom-Financial” — another enterprise that says they will get you out of debt when they make money by getting you deeper in debt.
You get an email soliciting you to call or submit information. If you don’t look at the return email address you might think it was coming from a licensed company. It even has a “Disclosure box” at the bottom name-dropping various banks and financial entities to make it look good.

09/23/21

Organization helps people prevent foreclosures, achieve homeownership
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Home of Virginia is helping people prevent foreclosures, along with helping people achieve the milestone of homeownership. During the pandemic, many of Home of Virginia’s clients have been facing a lack of employment or inconsistent work hours, leading to financial challenges. Many people are on mortgage forbearance, but that will be ending soon, especially for people who have been on it since March 2020. Shari Williams, a foreclosure prevention specialist, is working to keep clients in their homes.

09/23/21

1.5 Million Americans Face a Financial Cliff as Mortgage Forbearance Ends. These Are Their Options
If it hadn’t been for a mortgage forbearance program, Destiny Blackmon says she could have lost her home. A photo of Destiny Blackmon and her husband Destiny Blackmon and her husband pose for a photo at the site of their new home construction in 2017.Courtesy of Destiny Blackmon Blackmon had just returned to work after dealing with a medical issue when the COVID-19 pandemic hit

09/23/21

It’s fraud when people do it but not when banks do it.
In a land supposedly subject to equal protection under the laws, the reality is far different. The use of fraudulent documents to defraud banks lands the perpetrator in prison and all his assets seized.

09/22/21

Foreclosure Starts Rise Following Moratorium Expiration
Delinquencies hit a new post-pandemic low in August as the national delinquency rate fell by 84,000 loans or 3.48 percent compared to July. It was 41.84 percent below the level in August of 2020.

09/22/21

Holy Crap! This COURT OPINION (IN RE DAVIS) is everything I have been saying about rescission, procedure, pleading, proof, the burden of proof and the intent of the financial community to commit fraud upon homeowners and the courts.
“BOA also submitted satisfactions of mortgage listing the face amount of loans to the Debtor that were satisfied, but these documents do NOT demonstrate the balance owed or WHO satisfied them.” (e.s.)

09/21/21

A closer look at the 2008 financial crash
This Friday’s guests on Krystal Kyle & Friends will offer us some devastating, much-needed insight into the 2008 financial crisis — taking a careful look at the system that allowed the financial industry to destroy the stability, homes, and livelihoods of countless Americans.

09/21/21

In Big Affordable Housing Lawsuits, Boston Firm Nixon Peabody Is Taking The Side Of The Investors
The Boston law firm Nixon Peabody has built a national reputation in affordable housing — advising nonprofits and developers, churches and housing authorities. The firm boasts lawyers who’ve had a hand in “every major federal affordable housing initiative in the last 40 years.”

09/21/21

Wells Fargo Bitch Slapped With $400 Million Investor Lawsuit Alleging Bank Failed To Protect Investors Over Robo-Signing
Wells Fargo bitch slapped with a robo-signing lawsuit? Yes, and this time it’s from bond investors. Taconic Capital Advisors filed a $400 million suit against Wells Fargo in New York Supreme Court. The suit alleges

09/21/21

Who gets a QWR or DVL and When?
After some reflection, legal research and analysis I have come to the conclusion that a very good way for homeowners to put tracks in the sand that they can use later with success is to use the following protocol — subject to the opinion of local counsel:

09/20/21

Lawlessness in Courts Inspires Lawlessness on the Streets
A society without rules is not a society. As Americans we agree, at birth or naturalization, to follow the rules. And between the executive branch of government that enforces the rules and the judicial branch of government that applies the rules to decide controversies, we know we live in a country people and businesses will be governed by the rules.

09/18/21

A New Housing Regulator Could Make The American Dream More Accessible For Millions
The Biden administration is close to announcing the nomination of a key regulator with broad powers to change the $11 trillion mortgage market and reshape the American dream of homeownership, sources tell NPR.

09/17/21

Mortgage foreclosures rise as moratorium ends: Options for homeowners who might be at risk
Foreclosure activity is likely to remain slightly elevated over the next three months after rising in August, according to a new report from ATTOM, a mortgage data company and parent company of foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac.

09/17/21

FEDERAL RESERVE Fed Chief Powell, other officials owned securities central bank bought during Covid pandemic
Amid an outcry about Federal Reserve officials owning and trading individual securities, an in-depth look by CNBC at officials’ financial disclosures found three who last year held assets of the same type the Fed itself was buying, including Chairman Jerome Powell.

09/17/21

Where is government when you need it?
In practice, the current foreclosure practices, which violate substantive, procedural, and evidentiary law at every turn represent a form of extortion upon the American homeowner. Government agencies continue to ignore the obvious and outright deceit and trickery involved in the sale of securities that do not sell loans, and the foreclosure of loans that no longer exist.

09/15/21

Bill Paatalo Explains His Findings in Common “Rent-A-Charter” Scheme Employed by Banks
Anyone who has participated in or investigated Organized Crime knows that the key ingredient for success of the enterprise is paying people to take the heat if the situation gets sticky. You just need to pay them enough to do your bidding. Investment Banks have institutionalized this concept with their use of an illegal “Rent-A-Charter” scheme. It’s entirely illegal but it works because it looks legal (facially valid).

09/15/21

FHFA Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend the Enterprise Regulatory Capital Framework
?????Washington, D.C. – Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it is seeking comment on a notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend the Enterprise Regulatory Capital Framework (ERCF) for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises).

09/14/21

The Legacy Of Racist Housing Covenants And What's Being Done To Eradicate Them In Home Deeds
Several states are moving to make it easier for homeowners to strike language in the fine print of home deeds that restricts sales to people of color. Racially restrictive covenants — legal contracts embedded in property deeds — have long been unenforceable and have left a legacy of housing discrimination.

09/14/21

Treasury removes restrictions on investment properties
Suspension of recent PSPA amendments restricting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is in line with administration's goal to boost housing supply

09/14/21

Miami-Dade mayor steps in to keep 82-year-old former Cuban political prisoner from being evicted
MIAMI – Tuesday was the deadline for a South Florida senior citizen fighting to stay in her home. A judge refused to issue a stay for an eviction order, but Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava stepped in at the last minute. “Almost a certainty that Ana was going to be thrown out on the street,” said attorney David Winker. “We were making contingency plans on where she was going to go this morning.”

09/14/21

The “argument” over evidence
The argument between well intentioned people over “evidence” stems mostly from an erroneous understanding of the legal definition of the word “evidence.” Evidence is not simply information. Evidence is any document, exhibit or testimony that is admitted by a judge into the court record as being probative of the truth of a fact that is asserted or implied.

09/13/21

Long Island Man Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Dear SDNY: You probably got the wrong guy. He can’t be guilty of stealing anything if there was no victim. You portray the victims as homeowners. They indeed were victims but not the victims of this defendant. They were the victims of fraudulent foreclosures on behalf of entities that had no right, title, or interest in the underlying debt and who therefore could claim no injury from non-payment.

09/13/21

MORTGAGE FORBEARANCE ALERT! Don’t Be Caught Facing Foreclosure. You Have Options!
MORTGAGE FORBEARANCE ALERT! Some homeowners will soon come to the end of their 18-month mortgage forbearance period. As a result, borrowers affected by the pandemic will have to figure out how to repay their back payments. Fortunately, most loan servicers don’t want to foreclose. Believe it or not, lenders don’t want to foreclose. Therefore, they are offering several repayment options than can help keep borrowers in their homes.

09/13/21

Twelve-tips-homeowners-after-natural-disasters
In the wake of recent natural disasters, two detailed new sections covering homeowner rights and risks following a natural disaster have been added to NCLC’s Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications Chapter 12. For a limited time, no subscription is required for access to Chapter 12 (also including a third section on special COVID rights).

09/12/21

Opinion | It’s Time to Dismantle America’s Residential Caste System
America is starkly divided between neighborhoods that benefit from overinvestment and those that suffer from disinvestment. But identifying the geography of racial inequality also offers a mechanism for change.

09/12/21

Elderly Miami woman claims bank used forged documents to foreclose on her home
An 82-year-old South Florida woman is continuing to fight foreclosure. MIAMI – An 82-year-old South Florida woman is continuing to fight foreclosure. A final 24-hour eviction notice was placed on Ana Rodriguez’s door on Sunday. She is a former Cuban political prisoner. “When I saw the eviction, I feel it was so cruel to do that in this day,” Rodriguez said during a press conference on Sunday.

09/10/21

The Week Ahead: Examining the State of the Housing Market
On Friday, September 17, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies will present a webinar titled “The State of the Nation’s Housing” from 11:15-12:15 p.m. CDT. In this presentation, Daniel McCue, a Senior Research Associate at the Center, will discuss “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2021,” a report authored by the Center analyzing trends in the market over the past year.

09/10/21

Deuteronomy: Securitization for those who read scripture
It seems like from the beginning of time most people understood that there was something intrinsically wrong with borrowing and lending, especially if it extended for more than seven years. There is complete agreement on that in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

09/10/21

How the Moratorium’s End is Affecting Foreclosure Activity
Housing professionals have long been anticipating the response to the July 31 expiration of the federal moratorium on foreclosures. With August numbers coming in, analysts say there has indeed been a rise in foreclosure activity, but they do not expect a large influx.

09/10/21

CFPB releases new mortgage servicing rule: What it means for homeowners
The number of borrowers in both government and private sector Covid mortgage bailout programs is falling fast, but for those still in trouble, the future is not as bleak as originally thought.

09/09/21

CFPB releases new mortgage servicing rule: What it means for homeowners
As foreclosure moratoriums come to an end, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new mortgage servicing rule that took effect Aug. 31 to help prevent foreclosures for borrowers facing delinquency. The rule will prevent most foreclosures from taking place before January 2022.

09/07/21

Updated RECORD OF SETTLEMENTS: i.e. HOMEOWNERS DID NOT CREATE THIS CRISIS
Updated as of January 2020 with updated links: As a homeowner, I am tired of the “Deadbeat” narrative. At this point in our history it is laughable. To prove mypoint……I am posting this list of settlements, white papers, investigative reports and studies, all pointing to collusion byindustry insiders.Courts have stated that homeowners were not harmed. Yet when the lenders and servicers are allowed to arbitrarily addcharges, stop payments and issue trial modifications with no intention of following through, the homeowner is harmed.When the MERS website contains more than one lender/servicer listed as the owner/holder of the note, the homeowner isharmed. When the lender/servicer refuses to give us an accounting and yet they are able to raise our payment or addcharges that they are not required to verify, the homeowner is harmed, and the “lender” can use this power as extortionto remove the homeowner from their home, or increase their debt without cause and without oversight

09/07/21

Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications...2.4 Payment Application Problems
2.4.1 Misapplication of Payments The misapplication of payments can arise from a servicer’s sloppy procedures or purposeful efforts to generate more revenue. Unfortunately, the misapplication of a single payment can have a snowballing effect that leaves homeowners fighting foreclosure and struggling to repair their credit.

09/07/21

A Lawsuit against the County Recorders for the Bold and Brave Homeowners who want to see a real change
There are very few County recorders who would deny that the quality of title has been at least diluted and diminished by fabricated documents. Many would say and have said that title is now corrupt as a result of the extensive cover-up engineered and manufactured by investment banks who are acting through multiple layers of intermediaries.

09/07/21

Homestead Protection Error - An Open Letter to Governor Charlie Baker
Page 18 September - 2021 The Valley Patriot
valleypatriot.com
September 7, 2021 VIA EMAIL COMMUNICATION The Honorable Charlie Baker Governor of Massachusetts Massachusetts State House Office of the Governor 24 Beacon Street, Rm. 280 Boston, MA 02133 RE: HOMEOWNER’S PLEA TO CORRECT EVIDENCED HOMESTEAD PROTECTION ERRORS

09/03/21

Servicers DO NOT handle the Money or the Accounting: they only pretend to do so to offer fake business records” into court evidence
The big problem in legal practice is acceptance of the idea that the servicer is the servicer. The practice guide is simple: test that proposition before you do anything else. This is the same strategy as what the litigator should do with the REMIC Trust, the REMIC Trustee and others.

09/02/21

Senator James Sanders Jr. and State Legislature Extend Moratorium on Residential and Commercial Evictions and Foreclosures
Senator James Sanders Jr. and State Legislature Extend Moratorium on Residential and Commercial Evictions and Foreclosures Senator James Sanders Jr. and his colleagues in the Senate and the Assembly voted to extend the moratorium on residential and commercial evictions and foreclosures until January 15, 2022. This was the result of a three-way agreement between the Governor and the legislature during an Extraordinary Session.

09/01/21

The Key to Winning for Homeowners: Enforcement of Discovery — Sanctions
Arthur Younger, a famous lecturer of nearly unparalleled skill, was fond of saying that “until you have done 50 trials you are not a trial lawyer. My condolences to the first 50 clients.”

08/29/21

The Federal Reserve is failing America
The debate over inflation is getting more intense. At the end of July, yearly price increases reached 5.4%, fueling a new round of debate between inflation doves and inflation hawks. Doves suggest price hikes are a temporary blip that will recede once the production bottlenecks caused by the pandemic resolve. Hawks think a plummeting dollar is here to stay, pointing to the massive increase in the money supply since 2020. We’re in the middle of the hottest economic controversy since the battle over the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.

08/29/21

VA offering mortgage relief to thousands of veterans at risk of foreclosure
Thousands of veterans and their families are in danger of losing their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A new government-wide effort could help them keep a roof over their heads.

08/28/21

Why the Fed is about to stop the party on Wall Street (and what it means for you)
It's basically official at this point: The Federal Reserve will soon wind down its pandemic-era stimulus measures, a process Wall Street nerds call "tapering." But what, exactly, does that mean? And why does it put investors on edge?

08/28/21

Conspiracy? Maybe Not!
WILL THE MORATORIUMS EVER END? Of course they will … the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled (6-3) against the Biden Administration’s revised version of the CDC-imposed moratorium. You knew it would happen at some point.

08/27/21

The Promise: Examinations of Initial Foreclosure Claims
The current foreclosure marketplace consists almost entirely of “next claimants” without successors. the task of the legal practitioner or pro se homeowner is to attack the facial validity

08/27/21

Waters Statement on Supreme Court Decision to End CDC Eviction Moratorium
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement following a 6-3 Supreme Court decision that ended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium.

08/27/21

Foreclosure rates for all 50 states in July
Foreclosure rates in July 2021 The number of U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in July was 12,483, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. This is up roughly 40% from July last year,

08/26/21

Supreme Court throws out Biden administration eviction moratorium
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration's Covid-related eviction moratorium. "Congress was on notice that a further extension would almost surely require new legislation, yet it failed to act

08/26/21

Other relevant issues
If you look at the bottom of the Clouded Titles Blog page, you’ll notice at the end of the script at the very bottom, it says “… and other relevant issues.” There was a reason for adding this phrase because from time to time, consumers can (and are being) affected by more than just foreclosure.

08/26/21

The SEC Is Allowing 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase to Trade Its Own Bank Stock in its Own Dark Pools
JPMorgan Chase is unique among the mega banks on Wall Street – and not in a good way. It owns the largest federally-insured bank in the United States despite a rap sheet that would make the Gambino crime family jealous.

08/25/21

Hearsay Rule Defined
The hearsay rule and exceptions to it are deceptively simple. It is the application of the rule and exceptions that are complicated.

08/25/21

Adverse Possession is NOT an option
Stop talking about it. It is a distraction from the real facts — that the claimant has no claim and may not even exist. Don’t pay any money to anyone who promises a quick fix to your foreclosure problem. It can only be successful if

08/25/21

The Secret Bias Hidden in Mortgage-Approval Algorithms
Nationally, loan applicants of color were 40%–80% more likely to be denied than their White counterparts In certain metro areas, the disparity was greater than 250% Even accounting for factors lenders said would explain disparities, people of color are denied mortgages at significantly higher rates than White people

08/24/21

Federal Judge Dismisses Investor Lawsuit Against Housing Agency
A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by an investment firm against the Washington state housing commission, in a case that’s been widely watched by housing officials in Massachusetts and around the country.

08/24/21

$1, $10, other valuable consideration — what was the other valuable consideration?
The musical chairs element of parties and instruments is designed to confuse homeowners and lawyers and suppress challenges. It is part of the Wall Street playbook becasue it works without challenge.

08/23/21

Three of the Fed’s Wall Street Bailout Programs Vanish from Its Monthly Reports to Congress
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision, Randal Quarles, would desperately like to make three of the Fed’s emergency bailout programs to Wall Street disappear from further scrutiny by Congress or the American people.

08/23/21

SECURITIZATION IS THE OPIOID OF WALL STREET. It will eventually bring destruction
There are only two times the transaction with homeowners is characterized as a loan. First when the homeowner signed the documents, thinking it was a loan. Second when the players come back to the table with false claims for enforcement

08/23/21

ADVANCES, explained
THE VALUE OF THE LAND RECORDS Most homeowners that retain counsel to look into matters involving foreclosure only scrape the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dealing with REMIC trusts. A REMIC (Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit) is a common law trust set up

08/20/21

QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ASKING
THE VALUE OF THE LAND RECORDS Many homeowners who really understand what’s in the county land records (previously discussed in other articles on this blog) “get” the fact that checking these records often is like checking your credit history often by ordering credit reports and looking to see what’s posted there in the trade line items. This author has put together a book on the subject (The Credit Restoration Primer), which goes into detail about how to request and analyze the information contained within your credit report,

08/20/21

Investing in Ocwen Financial is Like Buying a Share in the Titanic
The product being sold by OCWEN FINANCIAL SERVICES is its common stock — and probably its integrity

08/18/21

Is HUD and FHFA’s new agreement a game changer?
Memo of understanding formalizes coordination of existing and potential investigations

08/18/21

The Ethical Challenge to the Legal Profession in the Era of “Securitization”
Securitization, by definition, means the acquisition of an asset through payment for a security (e.g. “certificate”). If that event has not occurred, then there is no securitization.

08/18/21

FHFA proposes ambitious housing goals for GSEs
Proposed housing goals would require Fannie and Freddie to increase mortgage purchases in minority and low-income communities

08/17/21

The Constitutional Problem: Wall Street Fundamentally Altered the “Lending” Transaction from Legal to Illegal
The bottom line of a successful defense to Foreclosure Defense is that those who are successful understand that Wall Street changed the conventional home loan equation from legal to illegal. This is not a technical point.

08/16/21

Loans Were NOT Securitized. If you admit they were securitized you are admitting the claim for foreclosure.
It is not correct to say that anything was securitized. Issuing securities does not mean the securitization of an asset occurred. The purchase of an option is not securitization of an asset even though the option is a new “security.”

08/15/21

New York Amends Foreclosure Requirements for Residential Mortgages
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed into law Senate Bill 5785 (SB 5785), which makes the affirmative allegation provisions that are currently available only for high-cost loans and subprime home loans applicable to foreclosures of residential mortgages covering one to four family dwellings.

08/15/21

Caution is needed in use of AI for lending
Artificial intelligence has insinuated its way into our daily lives, whether we are aware. From opening our smartphones with facial recognition, to travel and commuting assistance, to personalizing our feeds on social media, AI is with us from dawn to dusk and beyond.

08/13/21

We need to move on’: Judge rejects delaying Miami eviction of ex-Cuban prisoner
MIAMI — A judge denied a motion Thursday to delay the ouster of former Cuban political prisoner Ana Rodriguez from her Miami home after her lawyer sought an emergency hearing to argue the recently extended eviction moratorium should apply to her case.

08/13/21

Zillow, Other Tech Firms Are in an ‘Arms Race’ To Buy Up American Homes
Zillow is doing a $450 million bond deal to get the money it needs. Opendoor went public via a Chamath Palihapitiya-backed SPAC deal to scale as quickly as it can. Even Rocket Homes is getting into the action. The race is on among tech firms to gobble up U.S. housing stock and dominate the increasingly competitive high-tech house-flipping market, otherwise known as the fast-growing “iBuyer” industry.

08/13/21

How Wall Street Changed Lending in Secret Ways
The inability or unwillingness of the legal profession to admit its ignorance of advanced sophisticated financial innovations has produced an age-old problem. In 400 B.C. Socrates was put to death for revealing it.

08/13/21

Bid rigging scams are possible only because there is no creditor to pay
Much has been said and written about various scams involving bid-rigging. That’s where the parties involved agree to not bid against each other in exchange for getting title to the foreclosed property at a low price. It’s illegal. It’s a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. And if anyone other than an investment bank does it, they are likely to go to jail. But if you are an investment bank and you do it, but not directly in your name, nobody goes to jail. And that, in my opinion, is the problem.

08/12/21

SUPREME COURT OF WASHINGTON Seattle v. Long
-fine for impounding car where homeless man was living violated federal excessive fines clause. Three judges also find violation of Homestead law.

08/12/21

HUD and FHFA join forces on fair housing enforcement
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency today announced that they will work hand-in-hand to strengthen, coordinate and increase fair housing enforcement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

08/11/21

CFPB gives mortgage servicers third degree
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is fulfilling its promise to scrutinize mortgage servicers, and some servicers are riding the forbearance exit wave better than others.

08/11/21

Is a holder the same as a creditor and what is the difference?
Wall Street banks have weaponized confusion among people in the legal profession that starts in law school. In so doing they have created a virtual creditor when the law requires a real creditor. But they have

08/10/21

Wall Street Has Invented the Concept of a Virtual Loan — Contrary to Law
The money proceeds from the forced sale of homes is not going to get paid to anyone who owns a loan account receivable. In effect, the courts are proceeding as though reformation has occurred without going through the process of reformation in which both sides

08/09/21

Four reasons why landlords should take advantage of federal rental assistance
If you’re a landlord, you might depend on rental income to cover your own housing costs. This means that if your tenants had trouble paying their rent during the coronavirus pandemic, it could affect your financial well-being too.

08/09/21

3,041 CRIME SCENES
Why the foregoing number? That’s how many counties, boroughs and townships there are in America that contain public land records. I recently received a video interview which contains the commentary of John O’Brien (Southern Essex MA Register of Deeds) and Jeff Thigpen (Guilford County NC Register of Deeds), both of whom I know and respect.

08/09/21

Attorney Tom Ice had it right in 2015 in Florida Bar Journal Article
Tom Ice has been a successful litigator for homeowners challenging foreclosures. In 2015 he wrote an article that was published in the Florida Bar Journal detailing exactly what was wrong with the legal analysis in the courts. He pointed out exactly what was happening:

08/06/21

A Congressional Call to Strengthen Foreclosure Protections
Rep. Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, has issued two letters to federal agencies and banking regulators urging them to strengthen foreclosure and mortgage servicing protections for borrowers to provide greater oversight to prevent unnecessary foreclosures during the pandemic.

08/06/21

Zombie foreclosures are like any other foreclosures: Challenge it in timely fashion and you are likely to be successful
The problem with zombie foreclosures is not what you think, at least not entirely. You probably sum up the problem as the banks need to foreclose so they can’t least write off the debt. They then abandon the properties if

08/06/21

The federal foreclosure moratorium has ended. Here’s what to do to save your home
The federal foreclosure moratorium came to an end on July 31. In anticipation of this, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established some temporary safeguards to give borrowers time to explore their options — but those don’t take effect until August 31. What happens to borrowers in the 30 days between?

08/06/21

WASHINGTON SUPREME COURT - Singleton Torrens Title Application
Singleton's Reply to Title Examiner's Response to Singleton's motion for discretionary review Scott Stafne

08/05/21

A new CFPB final rule effective August 31, 2021
amends RESPA Regulation X early intervention and loss mitigation requirements, found at 12 C.F.R. §§ 1024.39 and 1024.41. The amendments provide significant new rights to homeowners exiting a mortgage loan forbearance or experiencing a payment hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

08/05/21

Bill Black Pt 9/9 — The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One
The final segment of our series with Bill Black on modern American financial fraud.

08/04/21

How to Stop Foreclosure
Here are five effective strategies that could help save your house.

08/04/21

He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rules: Thousands of Foreclosure and Eviction Cases Lacking in Jurisdiction and/or Merit
…homeowners would do well to consider the possibility that they don’t deserve to be dunned in collection or foreclosure because they are only the victims of a perverse scheme

08/03/21

U.S. Banking System Has a $168 Trillion Nightmare Looming. It Was Ignored in Written Testimony for Today’s Senate Banking Hearing
Risky derivative bets made by the mega banks on Wall Street, offloaded onto inadequately capitalized counterparties, were at the core of the collapse of the U.S. financial system in 2008.

08/03/21

Understanding the “Warehouse Lending” Trick
Warehouse lending is a legitimate method of financing. I borrow money from you in order to lend money to Jane Smith. In effect, it is arbitrage of interest rates since the

08/02/21

Latest Information on Homeowner Protections Coming Out of Moratoriums Ending July 31
there is nothing wrong with homeowners winning these cases. Nobody is getting hurt when homeowners win. But everyone gets hurt when the investment banks win using hidden interemdiaries and sham conduits to profit off the misery of homeowners.

07/30/21

FHA, FHFA Extend Eviction Moratoria Through September
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) are extending the moratorium on single-family real estate-owned (REO) evictions until Thursday, September 30, 2021. The REO eviction moratorium applies to properties that have been acquired by a GSE through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions.

07/30/21

Foreclosure Defense in a Nutshell
The goal of the foreclosure defense strategy is to undermine the ability of the foreclosrue mill to put on a case — not to prove that the allegations are wrong.

07/28/21

Certain Foreclosure Moratoria Set to Lift on July 31
At the close of this month, certain moratoria on foreclosures and evictions are set to lift. While prior deadlines have been extended, it remains to be seen whether another continuance will be granted amidst an increase in the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

07/28/21

New 2022 data standards could head off foreclosure errors in transfers
The restart of foreclosures is intensifying challenges involved in ensuring correct and compliant information is received when mortgages or related cash-flows transfer, but one such hurdle could be eliminated soon.

07/28/21

FHA Introduces Simplified COVID-19 Recovery “Waterfall”
FHA's goal is to reduce required documentation & allow servicers to provide greater payment reductions for homeowners

07/28/21

Overview and Implications for Individual Mortgage Loans
In one short month—from June 24 to July 23, 2021—the White House and federal agencies have announced fourteen separate actions to help mortgage borrowers facing financial hardship from the pandemic.

07/28/21

The Fed Announces Plans to Permanently Backstop Wall Street with a Standing Repo Loan Facility of $500 Billion…Starting Tomorrow
You really can’t make this stuff up. A G30 Working Group Chaired by Tim Geithner, the former President of the New York Fed, that secretly sluiced $29 trillion to bail out the Wall Street banks from their hubristic collapse in 2008, released a report today calling for a Standing Repo Facility from the Fed that would be “open to a broad range of market participants….”

07/28/21

Tracking The Presumed Payment of Value for the Underlying Debt
One of the bigest lies in documents related to transctions with homeowners is “for value received.” In most cases no such “value” was paid or received by either of the parties to that document.

07/27/21

Foreclosure Defense: Holder in Due Course Argument Refined. It’s no magic bullet but it can be used effectively
You should be careful about any argument based on the holder in due course. It is true that in order to enforce any rights under a security instrument, lien or mortgage the claimant must have paid value for the underlying obligation assuming the obligation still exists.

07/26/21

Attorney Bruce Jacobs in Miami Fl is Reaching Out — I think you support him if you are concerned about fraudulent foreclosures
Any attorney who has represented homeowners attempting to challenge illegal foreclosures will tell you that there is something inherently wrong with the foreclosure process as it is being applied. Bruce Jacobs, a 25 year veteran of judicial battle, is

07/26/21

U.S. Bank is Sham Conduit For Illegal Claims Against Homeowners
Trust is not a negotiable commodity. And there is nothing in statuory or common law that says otherwise. If a named trustee does not wish to h ave any fiduciary responsiblity to manage the

07/26/21

Fed weighs curbing cash machine as critics warn of housing, stock bubble
Shortly after the pandemic struck last year, the Federal Reserve began buying billions of dollars in government debt every month to drive down borrowing costs and keep the economy from collapsing.

07/23/21

Fact Sheet: Biden Administration Announces Additional Actions to Prevent Foreclosures
Across America, a strong economic recovery is taking hold. Since President Biden took office, more than 3 million jobs have been created—600,000 a month on average. The American Rescue Plan is working,

07/23/21

White House acts to prevent foreclosures, evictions as moratoriums near end
WASHINGTON (SBG) — With just over a week until federal moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures are scheduled to expire, President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to put resources in place to ensure low-income families do not lose their homes, but housing policy experts say the government’s efforts might not go far enough.

07/23/21

After JPMorgan Chase Admits to Its 4th and 5th Felony Charge, Its Board Gives a $50 Million Bonus to Its CEO, Jamie Dimon
The unthinkable is happening with alarming regularity at the Frankenbank JPMorgan Chase. Over the last seven years, with Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon at the helm, JPMorgan Chase has managed to do what no other federally-insured American bank has

07/23/21

Elephant in the living room: That’s not a bump under the rug, it’s a mountain
It comes as no surprise to learn that the investment banks have been hiding things from us for decades, since 1983 when the era of securitization of debt came into existence.

07/22/21

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Update all Uniform Legal Instruments
On July 7, 2021, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) introduced new uniform instruments (notes, security instruments, and riders) for use with loans to make them eligible for purchase by the GSEs. Lenders may begin using the new instruments immediately but must do so for all transactions closing on or after January 1, 2023.

07/21/21

The Developing Impact of Hunstein
In a decision that sent shock waves through the debt collection industry, the 11th Circuit held on April 21 that the seemingly benign act of electronically sending information to a letter vendor for inclusion in a standard form dunning letter violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).

07/21/21

Elements of Discovery in Foreclosure Cases
If you want to pursue discovery, you have to follow the rules. The right to demand and enforce discovery does not exist in a vacuum. There are specific rules that provide for specific periods of time in which discovery

07/20/21

Homeowners: Where is the OUTRAGE?
Homeowners have been brainwashed into thinking that there was never anything wrong with their “loan” transction at the beginning, in the middle or in the end when they lose their house.

07/19/21

How you can make the system work against the banks in foreclosure cases.
Among the people who litigate Foreclosure cases on a regular basis, it is well known that the alleged “trustee” of the implied trust possesses neither knowledge nor control over the foreclosure proceeding.

07/18/21

COVID-19: CFPB Narrows Servicers' Obligations in Final COVID-19 Mortgage Servicing Regulations
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a series of proposed amendments to the federal servicing regulations designed to assist mortgage borrowers impacted by the pandemic and to prevent a wave of “avoidable foreclosures.”1 The proposed amendments to Regulation X, issued in April 2021, required, among other things, additional intervention and communications regarding loss mitigation options, provided servicers with the ability to issue loan modifications upon the receipt of incomplete applications in certain instances, and prohibited the initiation of most foreclosure proceedings before January 2022.

07/18/21

CFPB Finalizes Amendments to Regulation X to Protect Borrowers Against Forthcoming Increase In COVID-19 Foreclosures
On June 28, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized amendments to the implementing regulation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Regulation X, which would establish temporary protections for mortgage borrowers as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and various Federal and State foreclosure moratoria are phased out over the summer.

07/16/21

How the courts are chilling access to the courts, and why they smack down defenses of homeowners in foreclosure
Some people think I am blaming them for not knowing how to navigate the court system. We actually don’t have a dispute between us. The conflict is between two fact patterns that produce an inequitable result for homeowners.

07/16/21

TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, No. 20-297: SCOTUS RULES ONLY CONCRETE INJURY GIVES STANDING
This new case was decided by the United States Supreme Court about 3 weeks ago. It is extremely interesting on many levels.

07/16/21

Here’s what the Biden administration's new mortgage servicing rules mean for you
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) each issued new mortgage servicing rules at the end of June that put regulations in place to help homeowners who are still struggling to make payments on their mortgage loans due to COVID-19.

07/15/21

VA Extends Foreclosure, Eviction Moratoriums
Veterans who otherwise could face foreclosure or eviction because of the Covid-19 pandemic now will have more time to get their affairs in order.

07/15/21

How the Banks Are Lying to Us
like all con games, anyone with an interest can pull the plug on it. A good lie by definition is one that is believed by the listener or reader. In order to pass off a good lie, the source must be considered credible (i.e., a con man) or

07/14/21

Foreclosure Defense: The problem with explaining securitization
Winston Chuchill was fond of saying that we should walk our dog three times per day regardless of whether or not we had a dog. Some readers will remember that

07/13/21

The Federal Reserve Has Radically Changed from a Central Bank to a Bailout Kingpin. Americans Just Haven’t Paid Attention – Until Tonight
This evening, the PBS program, Frontline, will do something that corporate broadcast media has failed to do since the financial crash of 2008. Frontline will air the results of its year-long investigation of the most powerful financial institution in the world – the central bank of the United States – known as the Federal Reserve, or simply “the Fed.”

07/13/21

Does Discovery Invite Fraudsters to Invent Backdated Documentation of Nonexistent Transactions?
I have divided the rules of evidence into two categories that are useful to homeowners seeking out a judgment or final order in their favor.

07/12/21

COVID-19 Housing Protections: Mortgage Forbearance and Other Federal Efforts Have Reduced Default and Foreclosure Risks
The CARES Act included a foreclosure moratorium and provided mortgage borrowers with options to temporarily suspend payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of borrowers took advantage of these protections—particularly Black and Hispanic borrowers, as well as first-time and rural homebuyers. However, the moratorium ends on July 31, 2021.

07/12/21

Why securitization gives everyone a headache and nobody wants to do anything about it.
A major problem in finance is that a lot of lawyers became lawyers because they did not like math, while a lot of bankers and traders became bankers and traders because they did not like to read.

07/11/21

Frontline Investigates the Federal Reserve: Is It a Captured Regulator that’s Wrecking the U.S. Economy with Asset Bubbles?
Fed Chair Jerome Powell will take his seat before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday at noon and before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. for his semi-annual testimony on monetary policy.

07/11/21

Quantum of Justice - The Fraud of Foreclosure and the Illegal Securitization of Notes by Wall Street
Follow real estate developer/investor, Douglas Boggs', own "David and Goliath" story, where he acted as his own attorney against Wells Fargo Bank for fraud. Doug clearly exposes the depth of fraud in the foreclosure system, failures of the justice system, corruption of Wall Street and the illegalities of the Securitization of notes by Wall Street.

07/11/21

Thousands in South Florida could face foreclosure with federal protection coming to an end
Time is running out for thousands of South Florida families who are facing foreclosure on their homes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, the nightmare started more than a year ago but was stalled by willingness of government officials to prevent banks from forcing people out during an unprecedented public health crisis.

07/09/21

Homeowners defending foreclosures must come to terms with the content of existing laws and rules and stop complaining about how those laws and rules should have been drafted.
[Excerpt from my upcoming book “KEEP YOUR HOUSE”] Most discussion amongst homeowners centers on ways to “escape” debt, instead of ways to undermine the enforcement of a claim that is not based on any real duty or debt.

07/09/21

Real estate is a people business, but automation can help
AI, machine learning and computer vision can reduce appraisal bias

07/08/21

Wells Fargo tells customers it’s shuttering all personal lines of credit
Wells Fargo is ending a popular consumer lending product, angering some of its customers, CNBC has learned. The bank is shutting down all existing personal lines of credit

07/07/21

Is it a trust or not?
As it relates to ownership of the subject underlying debt in a claim for foreclosure it is almost certain in every case that no trust exists.

07/06/21

Bill Black Pt 7/9 -The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One
Bill picks up the history of financial fraud with the Obama administration. Finance has targeted Black and Latinx families with sub-prime and liars loans and the crash wipes out 60-70% of their accumulated household wealth. What does Obama do? Bill joins Paul Jay on theAnalysis.news

07/06/21

The difference between forensic and legal analysis
You need both. One identifies the factual issues that are inconsistent with the claim against the homeowner. The other identifies the legal issues asserted by the foreclosure mill that are not supported by fact

07/05/21

Keep the envelope!!!
the point you are (or should be) asserting is that the company being used as a source of documents and source of testimony (the apparent servicer) about the homeowner transaction had nothing to do with the origination, maintenance, administration, accounting, custody, collection or enforcement of the rights and obligations arising from the original transaction.

07/05/21

The FED Makes Sure Banks & Wall Street Can’t Fail (But The Country Can)
If Americans only understood the corruption surrounding money, and the enormous greed in the financial sector of the American economy, they would understand how money is being stolen

07/04/21

Broward judge ignores tainted bank documents to justify foreclosures, watchdog report charges
Broward Circuit Judge Andrea Gundersen, who runs the court’s foreclosure docket, often rules for banks and against homeowners even when the banks use sketchy documents, a consumer watchdog charges in a recent report. Released in May, the report got scant attention until Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko took the dramatic step of holding Bank of America, the Bank of New York Mellon and their lawyer in contempt for failing to answer questions about possible fraud in a foreclosure case.

07/03/21

Long Island man who hasn’t paid his mortgage in 20 years dodges eviction again
A Long Island man who hasn’t paid his mortgage in more than 20 years got another free pass from the courts this week after hiring a new lawyer.

07/02/21

You are Invited to APON’s Online Q & A 4:30 PM EST, Tuesday, July 6th
The American Property Owners Network (APON), a new non-profit organization whose mission is to help unite homeowners and property owners against massive lending and foreclosure fraud, is going to court in Florida with a formal action to change foreclosure court process and forms.

07/02/21

Successful and Unsuccessful Appeals.br> you can use your knowledge … to ask for things that the foreclosure mill will never provide even though they are required to do so under the rules of civil procedure and more importantly

07/02/21

Mortgage servicers brace for fallout as Covid bailout comes to an end
The nation’s mortgage servicers are gearing up for the biggest wave of delinquent loans since the subprime mortgage crisis, but this time they say they are ready.

07/01/21

CFPB's New Foreclosure Limits Will Be Tough On Servicers
With foreclosure moratoriums scheduled to expire at the end of July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week issued the finalized amendments to the federal servicing regulations, Regulation X.

06/30/21

Supreme Court Ramirez Decision
On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its anxiously awaited decision in TransUnion L.L.C. v. Ramirez, 2021 WL 2599472 (U.S. June 25, 2021). The 5-4 decision follows up on the Court’s 2016 decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), which, like Ramirez, also addressed whether the injury a consumer suffered due to an inaccurate credit report met the concreteness requirement for Article III standing.

06/30/21

CFPB: lenders engaged in redlining, reported bad data
Agency identified "redlining," violations of the Truth in Lending Act, data disclosure errors

06/29/21

3 Things You Should Know About the New Mortgage Rules From The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Millions of homeowners around the country who are behind on their mortgage payments can look forward to added protections from foreclosure through the end of 2021 under new rules finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

06/29/21

FHFA won’t give servicers break on CFPB rule
Move clarifies how servicers should approach the month-long gap between the foreclosure moratorium expiration at the end of July, and the CFPB rule

06/29/21

Supreme Court declines to stop federal moratorium on evictions
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to end the federal government's temporary ban on evictions, which now is scheduled to expire in July.

06/29/21

Supreme Court Opinion on federal moratorium on evictions
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to end the federal government's temporary ban on evictions.

06/29/21

CFPB beefs up protections for struggling homeowners, but will not ban foreclosures
About 2 million homeowners are still in some type of mortgage forbearance amid the health and financial fallout brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. While the U.S. government extended

06/28/21

Advocates Push for Increased Enforcement and Later Rule Sunset to Prevent Improper Foreclosures as the CFPB Issues Final Servicing Rule
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released its final rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) related to helping homeowners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rule contains important consumer protections

06/26/21

Next Foreclosure Round Will Be Expensive
A new ruling from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal could mean that the losing party—on any side of a foreclosure case—could be held accountable for attorney fees.

06/25/21

Loans as Securities Investments: Homeowners Are Due Their Share of the Profits. Without them there would be no profits. Without their homes there would be no certificates sold to investors.
Since the first time I seriously looked at what securities brokerage firms on Wall Street talking about derivatives and securitization (around 1970), I have always thought that the consumer contract was a disguised securities scheme

06/24/21

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Extension of COVID-19 Foreclosure Moratorium
Today, the Biden Administration announced an extension of the foreclosure moratorium for federally-backed mortgage loans (the “Presidential Announcement”). To implement the Presidential Announcement, the federal agencies (i.e., HUD/FHA, USDA, and VA) and GSEs (i.e., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have announced (or are anticipated to announce) extensions of the foreclosure moratorium until July 31, 2021.

06/24/21

Here Come Wall Street Rental Communities: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
If you’ve been following our reporting of JPMorgan Chase since Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon has been at the helm, you’re aware of one striking fact: this bank has a pattern of getting into bed with unsavory characters:

06/24/21

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Initiatives to Promote Housing Stability By Supporting Vulnerable Tenants and Preventing Foreclosures
Across America, a strong economic recovery is taking hold. Since President Biden took office, more than two million jobs have been created. The American Rescue Plan is working,

06/24/21

CDC extends eviction moratorium a month, says it’s last time
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has extended the nationwide ban on evictions for a month to

06/23/21

Fed Chair Powell Misleads House Hearing on Wall Street’s Bailout Programs
Yesterday the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis convened a hearing at 2 p.m. to receive testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The title of the hearing was “Lessons Learned: The Federal Reserve’s Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.”

06/23/21

“Securitization” is not the sale of homeowner debt and is not the product of free market transactions
Securitization is a lie. And so far nearly everyone, including homeowners, believes the lie. Small wonder that the courts also believe it — especially when homeowners admit the truth of the lie.

06/23/21

VA Allows Further Deferral of Forborne Payments, Allowing Borrowers to Resume Their Regular Monthly Payments
CONTENTS VA Allows Further Deferral of Forborne Payments, Allowing Borrowers to Resume Their Regular Monthly Payments
The VA’s Final Rule Is Significantly More Protective Than Their Original Proposal
New Options for VA Borrowers Unable to Afford Their Pre-Hardship Mortgage Payments

06/23/21

Biden Dismisses Calabria as FHFA Head
FHFA spokesperson Raffi Williams confirmed to reporters at Politico that Mark Calabria, the agency's director, has been dismissed.

06/22/21

LA County supervisors extend moratorium on evictions through Sept. 30
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl recommended the extension — which she said is protecting tens of thousands of residents from eviction — and also acknowledged that small landlords are struggling and need assistance.

06/22/21

Homeowners behind on their mortgages could soon win extra time to get caught up, a federal consumer watchdog agency tells CBS MoneyWatch.

06/22/21

Everyone assumes that the company claiming to be a servicer is a servicer. But it isn’t.
Servicing is about money. If the money paid by homeowners is not deposited by their own employees into a financial account owned by the company claiming to be a servicer, then they have no right to record the receipt of such money. And they don’t.

06/21/21

Banks and Foreclosure Mills Exploit Confusion About Assignments of Mortgage and Endorsements of Notes
so far, the banks have been exceedingly successful, causing the foreclosure of millions of homes by people who don’t own and never wanted to own the obligation.

06/21/21

Support Bruce Jacobs, Esq. and Floridabulldog.org: They are telling truth to power
Congrats to Florida Bulldog on running a story that the media giants are not only failing to continue their investigative reporting, but refusing to print stories produced from other credible sources on the huge subject of fraudulent foreclosures.

06/19/21

With moratorium ending, more than 8 million households face foreclosure or eviction
Even as the nation rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, more than 2 million homeowners are behind on their mortgages and risk being forced out of their homes in a matter of weeks, a new Harvard University housing report warns.

06/18/21

The housing market outsmarted the foreclosure crisis
Loss mitigation waterfalls, forbearance and whole lot of equity are giving borrowers a fighting chance

06/18/21

Miami judge warns big banks to stop playing cruel foreclosure games with people’s homes
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko is warning national banking giants and their counsel they’ll pay a hefty price if they commit fraud or violate due process or ethics rules to drive mortgage debtors out of their homes.

06/18/21

JPMorgan, Citigroup and BofA Ruled Not “Fit” to Participate in Huge European Bond Offering Because of Past Crimes
How embarrassing it must be for Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, that three of the largest banks in the U.S. that are supervised by the Fed, have been deemed not trustworthy enough by the

06/18/21

With Autopen technologies, something is missing — a person.
People and lawyers often say that the judge would not listen. That isn’t true. The judge is listening. He or she is just not hearing well founded objections raised in a timely manner.

06/17/21

United States: CFPB Takes Actions To Limit COVID-19-Related Mortgage Foreclosures
On April 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to amend Regulation Z, specifically to "prevent avoidable foreclosures" due to the COVID-19 pandemic "as the emergency federal foreclosure protections expire."

06/17/21

“Servicer” reports are not exceptions to the rule against permitting hearsay as evidence
The rule against hearsay does not only impact oral statements—it also applies to written documents, and, unless the proffered evidence falls within one of the multitude of hearsay exceptions or statements that are otherwise categorized as nonhearsay, it is inadmissible in court.

06/16/21

Eviction protections for renters will extend beyond June in these locations
With millions of Americans still behind on their rent, some states and cities will continue to ban evictions after the national moratorium expires.

06/16/21

Why knowledge of accounting is important to understand how the apparent debt vanishes in the context of securitization.
The big change occurred when the Wall Street securities firms forced securitization practices over the line. Whereas the purpose of securitization had always been to reduce risk, the investment banks meant to eliminate it.

06/15/21

Securitization Refined For Defense of Foreclosure
Homeowners attempt to “disprove” the presumed facts by raising questions. But the questions are directed to the judge instead of to their predator. The judge has no obligation to answer such questions and in the absence of some procedural reason raised by the homeowner will and must decide in favor of the fraudster because the victim failed to properly defend.

06/14/21

Back to Basics: Here is what you need to know when you start defending against foreclosures and other collections
Although you issued a promise to pay, it does not currently appear as an asset on the books of any company or person. THAT ABSENCE IS A FATAL DEFECT IN ANY CLAIM AGAINST YOU.

06/12/21

When Justice Vindicates …
Score a move forward for Miami-Dade foreclosure defense lawyer Bruce Jacobs. An Ackerman foreclosure mill attorney and his clients are in hot water with Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko

06/11/21

How the Lawyers for the Banks Lie to You and the Courts
documents that pledged, sold, transferred anything relating to transactions with homeowners were regularly fabricated with false information and then used in subsequent documents as though there was actual trading going on. But there wasn’t. And there isn’t.

06/10/21

Change the Rules, Forms and Procedures to Comply With Existing Law
Back when we all made live appearances at seminars for lawyers seeking Continuing Legal Education, I would go to any CLE seminar that involved banking, securities, property law, contract law, or litigation.

06/10/21

Alleged Perjured Testimony and Robo-Signing From the Banks
Friday, June 25th is going to be an important day. Judge Beatrice Butchko of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court ordered a partner at Akerman and his clients to a hearing about their alleged perjured testimony during an evidentiary hearing.

06/10/21

Millions Could Face Eviction With Federal Moratorium Ending And A Logjam In Aid
Mehran Mossaddad has spent much of the pandemic scared and lying awake at night. He's a single dad with an 10-year-old daughter living outside Atlanta.

06/09/21

Stop Assuming You Know Investment Banking
What is hearsay evidence? The greatest challenge in unraveling the securitization mess is that that courts, judges, homeowners, and lawyers think they know what they are talking about. They do not.

06/08/21

Why the Ban on Hearsay Evidence Is So Damn Important in Foreclosures
What is hearsay evidence? The old Rules on Evidence did not define hearsay. Evidence is hearsay if the probative value is not based on the personal knowledge of a person. The knowledge is that of another person and is not a witness to the case.

06/07/21

Former Cuban political prisoner on the verge of eviction wins reprieve in court
Former Cuban political prisoner Ana Lazara Rodriguez, who was on the verge of eviction Friday after being served with a writ of possession — the final document in the eviction process that gives recipients 24 hours to vacate the premises — was granted a reprieve Monday by Miami Circuit Judge Peter R. Lopez,

06/07/21

Why are you need to understand the difference between the mortgage and the note
Most pro se litigants and many attorneys start the defense with “yes, but”. But the successful defense starts with “what obligation?”

06/05/21

Eviction and foreclosure are top concerns of ALICE population during pandemic
Eviction or foreclosure is a top concern of households identified as ALICE—an acronym for asset limited, income constrained, employed—during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the Rappahannock United Way.

06/04/21

Forbearances Tumble Due to May Expirations
The number of loans in forbearance declined sharply over the course of the past week. Black Knight said the number of homeowners exiting their plans jumped to the highest level in four weeks due to end-of-May expirations. There were also noticeable declines in the number of borrowers returning to the program as well as new participants.

06/03/21

How to Understand the Game of Foreclosure: Baseball and Debt
It is very challenging for someone like me to find the best words to describe what the Wall Street banks are doing. Back in 2006, I used the food processor analogy. I said if you put the apple, orange, and banana in the food processor it is impossible to bring the apple to court with you because you can’t reinvent it. It’s gone. That was interesting but it didn’t help as many people as I wanted.

06/03/21

Consumer Harm & the Foreclosure Moratorium
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) once again raised warning flags for the mortgage industry with their recent proposal to prohibit servicers from initiating foreclosures until after December 31, 2021. However, regardless of the proposed rules, the need for streamlined, scalable processes to address a sudden influx of hardship requests is becoming increasingly urgent.

06/03/21

Lessons Learned from Spokeo v Robins
The whole idea behind the ruling in Spokeo was narrow in nature. The U.S. Supreme Court (May 16, 2016) was asked whether Robins (the consumer bringing suit against the people search engine Spokeo) had standing to maintain an action in federal court under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

06/03/21

Revised PPP Loan Forgiveness Applications and Guidance - Update #4
Below are 10 important things to know about the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) Loan Forgiveness ?Applications and the detailed instructions for the revised and updated applications posted on May 24, 2021, ?as well as other forgiveness procedures as updated by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, ?and Venues Act (the “Economic Aid Act” or “PPP2 Act”).

06/02/21

Strict Foreclosure Under New York Law—2.0
In this edition of her Secured Transactions column, Barbara M. Goodstein discusses '111 West 57th Inv. LLC v. 111 W57 Mezz Inv’r LLC', an Appellate Division ruling that is interesting for its interpretation as to the persons entitled to notice of and a right to object to a strict foreclosure under §§9-620 and 9-621.

06/02/21

Oregon reinstates moratorium on foreclosures through at least June 30
Oregon homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgages due to the coronavirus pandemic will be protected from facing foreclosure until at least the end of the month.

06/02/21

It's About to Get Easier for Over a Million Homeowners to Refinance Their Mortgages
Two new mortgage refinance programs launching this summer should make it a little easier for lower-income borrowers to save on their home loan payments.

06/02/21

Call to Action: A Major New Project for Homeowners —Grass Roots Petition to Change Rules of Foreclosure
Many of you are aware that I am involved with APON (American Property Owners Network) in Project Rule Change involving a Petition for changes in the rules, procedures, and preapproved forms currently utilized in foreclosure.

06/01/21

Here we go again with Jay Patterson
In this episode, Martin talks with Jay Patterson about the possible foreclosures looming in the near future after things start to return to normal after the pandemic and what will happen with forbearances.

06/01/21

Forbearance re-entries making life difficult for servicers
Servicers’ forbearance portfolio volumes managed to drop one basis point last week to 4.18%, the 13th consecutive week of declines. However, some unfortunate trends are beginning to crystalize.

05/30/21

Why Democrats Are Angry At Wall Street
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, hasn't forgotten the Great Recession. In the first half of 2007, Brown recalls, there were more foreclosures in his hometown than anywhere else in the country. It was a period that led to the Global Financial Crisis: Millions of Americans lost their homes, while banks and other corporate sectors were rescued by billions of dollars in bailouts.

05/28/21

House Hearing: Only Jamie Dimon’s Microphone Mysteriously Malfunctions During Pivotal Questioning
CEOs from the six largest banks on Wall Street testified under oath yesterday before the House Financial Services Committee. But only one CEO, Jamie Dimon, had an ear-piercing electronic sound emanate from his microphone, which blocked out the sound of his voice, when he was asked key questions by two separate members of Congress.

05/28/21

Mortgage Foreclosure Freeze Ends Soon — Here Are the Banks Extending the Moratorium
An important COVID-era protection against foreclosures is about to end, and some banks will not extend the benefit. Currently, Americans are protected from losing their homes through a foreclosure moratorium on federally backed loans.

05/28/21

There is no conflict of laws. There is conflict in understanding them.
It is correct to say that Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code adopted in all US jurisdictions applies to negotiable instruments and that article 9 applies to secured transactions.

05/28/21

Why Securitization Does and Should Make a Difference to Consumers Who Think They are Borrowing.
It’s true. Transactions with consumers have in fact been securitized. What consumers and their lawyers fail to realize is that the securitization of the transaction does not mean that securitization of the underlying obligation or legal debt has occurred.

05/27/21

Bank of America and Chase could restart mortgage foreclosures as early as July, but Wells Fargo is waiting until 2022
It’s been over a year since lenders and the federal government stepped in to help Americans stay in their homes amid the global health and economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. And many Americans still need that support.

05/26/21

How Wall Street Manipulates MEDIA and Interest Searches, Producing Financial Suicide By Homeowners and Other Consumer “borrowers” who fail to challenge Claims for Administration, Collection and Enforcement of “Debt”
There are two things that are absolutely true. You can prove it by doing the work yourself.

05/26/21

Family Hit With Thousands in Unexpected Fees During Foreclosure
With thousands behind in mortgage payments, foreclosures are expected to rise. NBC 6 Investigators have one family’s fight against foreclosure and how they were hit with tens of thousands in unexpected fees.

05/26/21

17% of Mass. residents worry they could face foreclosure, eviction in the next two months
While the pandemic has shaken up life for millions of Americans, it has thrust those already in precarious housing situations into survival mode.

05/25/21

Three Wall Street Mega Banks Have Admitted to a Combined Eight Felony Counts; But Don’t Expect the Word “Felony” to Come Up in Wednesday’s Senate Banking Hearing with their CEOs
On Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee will haul each of the CEOs of the largest U.S. banks on Wall Street to a hearing. Three of those banks have been charged with, and admitted to, egregious felonies. But we will be shocked if any

05/24/21

Concerns Grow as Foreclosure Moratoria Date Nears
An analysis by QuoteWizard, a LendingTree company, of American homeowners and renters has found that an increasing number are growing more concerned of keeping a roof over their head as foreclosure moratoria dates grown closer and unemployment levels remain unstable.

05/24/21

The Never-Ending Battle: Fair Housing Advocates and the Fight Against Modern-Day “Shadow” Redlining (Part 2)
If it holds true that the key to generational wealth in America is, and has largely always been, homeownership, then the opposite holds true for intergenerational poverty. When a person is locked out of the single most commonplace and realistic way to create and sustain wealth in our country, they spend a lifetime wallowing in poverty—or at least in the inability to have access to one of the most tried-and-true methods of rising up into a higher economic class.

05/23/21

Reposting Our Analysis and Conclusions Published about One Month Before the 2008 Crash
The only thing we got wrong was that in many cases the originated transaction was not a loan and investors were never purchasing homeowner transactions. They were purchasing unsecured IOUs issued by investment banks who were operating under the name of a fictitious trust that was created solely for receiving bare naked title to documents, while expressly excluding any right, title or interest to any debt, note or mortgage.

05/22/21

Mr. Cooper and Google Partner on New AI Initiative
Mr. Cooper Group Inc. and Google Cloud have joined forces to create a digital mortgage servicing platform, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, and cloud scalability to ease the distribution, signing, submission, and review of loan documentation.

05/22/21

Biden's $10 billion in mortgage aid is on the way — here's how you qualify
Though there are signs the coronavirus cloud over the U.S. economy is lifting, millions are still facing serious financial strains from the pandemic, including the risk that they'll lose the roofs over their heads.

05/21/21

CDC Eviction Moratorium Not Quite Over: Where Do We Go From Here?
Last September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ordered a nationwide eviction moratorium on residential properties. 85 Fed. Reg. 55,292 (Sept. 4, 2020). On May 5, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia held that this order was invalid; but on May 14, 2021, despite finding that the CDC did not have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, the court stayed its opinion pending appeal.

05/21/21

Attorneys David Winker and Bruce Jacobs Call Attention to Looming Foreclosure Crisis
Local Miami victims of predatory lending practices and their attorneys came together to hold a press conference across the street from a Bank of America on Ponce de Leon Ave in Coral Gables on May 19, 2021. At the event,

05/21/21

A Black Woman Says She Had To Hide Her Race To Get A Fair Home Appraisal
A number of studies have found that Black-owned homes are undervalued when compared to those of white homeowners. This is especially true in historically Black neighborhoods. A 2018 report by the Brookings Institution

05/21/21

Stop Using the Word “Servicer”
The courts will always at least initially consider the points that you are raising to be technical attempts to escape liability for a legal debt. You need to reframe the situation.

05/21/21

WASHINGTON SUPREME COURT - Laura Cozza v. PNC Bank National Association
Petition for Discretionary Review

05/21/21

SNOHOMISH COUNTY WASHINGTON SUPERIOR COURT - Bergerons' Response
to Deutsche Bank's Motion to Dismiss Bergerons' Counter and Cross Claims

05/20/21

They going to show up and kick me out": Millions face eviction when moratorium ends
Dallas — Families across the U.S. don't know if they're going to have a place to stay as states challenge the federal moratorium on evictions imposed during the pandemic. The trickle of evictions could soon become a flood as renters owe $53 billion to landlords.

05/20/21

I wonder if Google understands that they just signed up for assistance with preparation of fraudulent documentation
Mr. Cooper Group Inc. and Google Cloud have joined forces to create a digital mortgage servicing platform, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, and cloud scalability to ease the distribution, signing, submission, and review of loan documentation.

05/19/21

BLACK KNIGHT, CORE LOGIC MOVE TO AUTOMATED VALUATION FOR APPRAISALS
Appraisal fraud creates civil and criminal liability. And it turns out that licensed appraisers are still uncomfortable with the current system of faking appraisals. So the investment banks,

05/19/21

Olympic gold medalist living in car outside her Villa Park home amid identity theft legal battle
Olympic gold medalist and retired basketball player Cindy Brown is living in her car outside her Villa Park home after she says she became a victim of identity theft in a legal battle that’s spanned more than a decade.

05/19/21

How to Actually Prosecute the Financial Crimes of the Very Rich
I quit the DOJ because I no longer wanted to participate in a system this permissive.

05/17/21

CoreLogic: Equity Growth Among Homeowners May Provide Significant Foreclosure Barrier
Two companies have issued reports on the strong gains in homeowner equity. Not only is this an indication of building household wealth and the ability of the housing market to withstand some of the economic damage of the pandemic according to ATTOM

05/16/21

Color of Money: COVID forced more borrowers to be late on their mortgages than at any time since the Great Recession, CFPB reports
The nation’s consumer watchdog agency says more borrowers are behind on their mortgages than at any time since the Great Recession. And the situation is even worse for Black and Hispanic borrowers, who are twice as likely to be delinquent or in a forbearance program as white borrowers.

05/14/21

NINTH CIRCUIT - Jay J. John v. Quality Loan -
Johns Reply to the Answering Brief by Deutsche Bank, as trustee, and Nationstar

05/14/21

The Week Ahead: Servicers Brace for the Future
On Wednesday, May 19, Legal League 100 presents its Spring Servicer Summit, an online virtual event from 10:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. CDT. The event will bring together mortgage servicing executives and government representatives from across the industry,

05/14/21

Is it a Loan or Not?
There is a law against murder, but the law defines murder. So if you accidentally kill someone or kill someone in self-defense it is not murder even though the same shot was fired. The same is true for obligations.

05/12/21

The Big Trap Door for Foreclosure Defense Litigants and Lawyers: Damnum Absque Injuria
In the introduction of pleadings or memorandums of law, I often read that tens of millions of mortgage loans were sold into the secondary market. It might look like that, but nothing could be further from the truth.

05/11/21

“Servicers” Post Losses: Why? Because most of their revenue and profit comes from foreclosures not servicing
If servicers were actually collecting money and dispersing money they would not be reporting heavy losses. The truth is that they don’t collect any money and they don’t make any disbursements to “investors.” That is why they can’t answer questions about collection or disbursements. They are not servicers as we think of servicers.

05/11/21

At $49.1 Trillion, the U.S. Stock Market Is Larger than the Combined GDP of the U.S., China, Japan and Germany
When the motherlode of stock market bubbles finally pops, exposing the corrupt edifices on which it was built, you can count on one thing for sure – there will be lots of testimony before Congress that no one could have seen it coming.

05/10/21

OCC Defined Securitization in 1997: This doesn’t look like what is going on now
Just to make sure readers understand that my writing on securitization is based on the actual definition of securitization and not some theory, it would behoove cynical readers to read the original source material for securitization of loans.

05/10/21

CFPB foreclosure moratorium ‘unnecessary, overbroad’
CUNA supports the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Regulation X amendments regarding streamlined modifications, but strongly objects to a proposed moratorium on foreclosures until 2022.

05/08/21

Skipping mortgage payments? Here’s what you need to know when it’s time to resume
Mortgage servicers took their sweet time last spring advising customers affected by the pandemic about their right to hit the pause button on making payments with no documentation required, and no penalty charged to get back on track. Now that most of those borrowers are preparing to resume making payments, mortgage servicers are again facing criticism for not being straight with their customers about their options.

05/07/21

Keep Your House: Understanding the lies about the FDIC.
I receive lots of inquiries about foreclosures where the FDIC is involved somewhere in the chain of events. Here is the first point: except in very rare instances, the FDIC is never involved in the title chain.

05/07/21

Forbearance Exits Soar as More Plans Expire
There was a sharp decline in the number of loans in forbearance during the week ended May 4.

05/07/21

TK Newsletter: Introducing "Racket of the Week"
Scandals are coming fast and furious in Wall Street's bubble economy. TK introduces a shortcut guide to tracking financial scandals

05/07/21

North suburban man’s COVID mortgage forbearance nightmare
The plans are being extended for many borrowers in hopes the economy improves. But Gregg Pupecki got a big shock when his loan servicer demanded a lump-sum repayment.

05/06/21

Foreclosure and Eviction Moratorium End in Sight, What Next?
The end of federal foreclosure and eviction moratoriums is on the horizon, leaving many wondering, “what’s next?” On one side,

05/05/21

Federal judge vacates CDC's eviction moratorium
A federal judge on Wednesday vacated a nationwide freeze on evictions that was put in place by federal health officials to help cash-strapped renters remain in their homes during the pandemic.

05/05/21

This Senate Hearing Video should be seen by anyone who defends foreclosures or any consumer “finance” transaction
The only names you see are the ones that the Wall Street banks want you to see. They’re all placeholders, brokers, or conduits. None of them do anything. They don’t lend money, they don’t collect money and they don’t own any debt, note or mortgage.

05/05/21

New York State Senate Extends Foreclosure and Eviction Moratorium From May 1, 2021 ?Until August 31, 2021
On May 3, 2021, the New York State Senate voted to extend the moratorium on foreclosure and eviction actions provided in the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 (S.9114/A.11181)(the “Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act”)until August 31, 2021.

05/05/21

Complaints about mortgage servicers are soaring as millions of Americans still can’t make their monthly payments
A year into the pandemic, some homeowners say loan servicers aren’t giving them clear information about mortgage forbearance.

05/04/21

New homebuyers would get tons of cash under plans from Biden and his party
One of President Joe Biden’s campaign proposals was a $15,000 incentive to help first-time homebuyers achieve the American Dream. His Democratic party allies have taken that proposal and are running with it...To qualify, individuals must meet income requirements and be "first-generation" homebuyers, meaning anyone who has either never owned their own home or who owned a home once but lost it due to financial distress, including foreclosure.

05/04/21

Mortgage complaints hit three-year-high, CFPB says
Director reiterates: "As we warned mortgage servicers last month, unprepared is unacceptable.”

05/04/21

Fannie and Freddie Told to Write Their Wills
The GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been given orders to develop so-called living wills. Such wills are credible resolution plans that outline

05/04/21

Does the Mortgage Follow the Note or Vica Versa?
The key to all successful foreclosure defense strategies is to test the facts instead of assuming you know. Most people have their eyes glaze over as soon as you start talking about this.

05/04/21

A practitioner’s guide to helping people facing homelessness access stimulus payments — also known as Economic Impact Payments (EIP)
If you work with or serve people in your community who are experiencing homelessness, take these steps to help them receive much-needed financial relief.

05/04/21

CFPB Issues Reports Detailing Mortgage Borrowers’ Continuing COVID-19 Challenges
– The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released two reports today showing that more work needs to be done to help mortgage borrowers coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn.

05/03/21

Signatures Without People: Don’t Believe the Documents: They Are Not real.
Be aware that in many cases no human hand has ever touched the documents. Nobody signed it. Securitization was always intended to extinguish the debt without barring the ability to enforce it. This legal impossiblity has been treated as “law” for nearly 25 years.

05/02/21

CFPB Seeks to Hold Mortgage Servicers Accountable, and Establish New Mechanisms for Protecting Borrowers, Against Forthcoming Increase In COVID-19 Foreclosures
This month the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) doubled-down on its earlier warning that the end of 2021 could see widespread foreclosures as COVID-19-related protections expire, by issuing guidance to mortgage servicers, and a notice of proposed rulemaking, regarding actions mortgage servicers can take to deal with the onslaught.

05/02/21

Servicers Should Prepare for Foreclosure Surge
A key federal watchdog agency has warned companies that administer mortgages, either for themselves or on behalf of investors, that they must be prepared for the coming surge of borrowers seeking relief. Unprepared is unacceptable, said Dave Uejio, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “There is a tidal wave of distressed homeowners who will need help in the coming months,” he said.

05/02/21

Is the US headed toward a new housing bubble?
The staggering rise of U.S. home prices is forcing thousands of aspiring buyers into grueling, often risky bidding wars, raising questions about whether the torrid housing market could be in a bubble.

05/01/21

New York’s Highest Court Makes Key Rulings in Favor of Lenders Clarifying What Accelerates and De-Accelerates a Mortgage Debt for Statute of Limitations Purposes
The New York Court of Appeals’ decision set bright-line rules that a noteholder’s voluntary discontinuance of a foreclosure action, in itself, revokes the acceleration of a mortgage debt, and a default letter stating that the debt “will” be accelerated does not accelerate the debt. The Court of Appeals also held

05/01/21

Long Island man dodges eviction for 20 years, living in house he doesn’t own
A Long Island man who only ever made one mortgage payment has deftly used the courts to stay in the house for 23 years — for free, according to legal papers.

04/30/21

Inequalities in housing hardship declined because everybody is now worse off
Through the course of the pandemic, we have investigated the disproportionate pandemic impacts on U.S. families. In June, we reported that Black and Hispanic Americans faced higher rates of housing hardship than white Americans, and we

04/30/21

Research Trust Law in Your State: Trust officer must sign, not agent or servicer.
It’s nice to be in the position where people do research and send it to me. It seems that Florida Statutes explicitly prohibit anyone other than an authorized trust officer who works for the alleged trustee to sign any oath, affirmation or certification.

04/28/21

CFPB Delays QM Rule Compliance and Patch Demise
Lenders will have more than an additional year to comply with the General Qualified Mortgage (QM) Rule. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says it is formally delaying the mandatory compliance date for the new rule from July 1, 2021 to October 1, 2022.

04/28/21

Plausible Deniability in Action: See 2010 Deposition of Erika Lynn Lance from Nationwide Title Clearing
I was recently reminded of this deposition. The witness quite innocently indicts the entire foreclosure process as being extra-legal without realizing it. Extra-legal is merely a phrase used by me and some others to describe something that is not prohibited by statute specifically but is (a) not authorized by law and (b) not consistent with existing laws as to intent and content.

04/27/21

Banks Make Fake Threats About “True Lender” Language in Illinois Law
This is a lot like 2008. But then the banks threatened to pull the plug on all trading platforms for bonds and other securities. They managed to convince a large number of decision-makers in the nation’s capital and in State capitals around the country that if securitization “infrastructures” were compromised, the entire financial system would collapse thus bringing the entire economy to a halt and the end of civilization as we knew it. It was a lie then and it is still a lie. But everyone in legislation, regulation and adjudication bought it hook, line and sinker.

04/25/21

Biden signed $10 billion in mortgage help for homeowners. Do you qualify?
Millions are still at risk of losing their homes as a result of the economic crisis fueled by the pandemic. More than 10 million U.S. homeowners are behind on their mortgage payments and are experiencing "housing insecurity," according to census data. If you're in that group and your debt is piling up, the White House set aside $10 billion in the recent COVID relief package to help Americans pay their housing costs.

04/25/21

This Is The State People Are Most Likely To Lose Homes
Shortly after the outbreak of COVID-19, the Census Bureau launched a vast initiative to measure the effects of the disease on Americans. It is called the Household Pulse Survey. So far, the results have been released in three phases,

04/24/21

Local homeowners shocked by thousands in unauthorized mortgage payments withdrawn from their bank accounts
Homeowners across the country, including eastern Suffolk County, woke up to a shock this morning when they learned their mortgage servicing agency had withdrawn multiple payments from their checking accounts overnight. Payments to the Texas-based mortgage servicing company known as Mr. Cooper

04/23/21

Memphis faces eviction crisis after court strikes down federal ban
On paper, Americans who have fallen behind on the rent are protected from eviction until July under a federal order. But at least three courts have recently issued rulings effectively nixing the eviction protection,

04/23/21

Should we be paying more attention to E-Discovery?
Investigation reveals that most of the documents are prepared, executed, notarized and recorded without human hands. Electronic Discovery is a fairly new practice area in trial law. I recommend that attorneys in particular pay careful attention to new developments in E-discovery

04/23/21

Legal Death Trap: About Those Letters You Get from the “Servicer”
THIS IS ABOUT MONEY, NOT DOCUMENTS When a homeowner starts asking questions about the existence, ownership and authority over their debt, note or mortgage, they will at best be misled and probably be the recipient of bald-faced lies.

04/21/21

Cost of Doing “Business”: Media Reports Vanish as Settlement Figures Total Hundreds of Billions of Dollars
If the investment banks are stopped at some point, they will scream because someone took their favorite toy away — not because they lost any money. Quite the contrary — with the trillions they have stashed all over the world it will be decades before they ever run out of cash.

04/21/21

FHFA Extends COVID-Related Loan Flexibilities
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Wednesday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the enterprises that the FHFA oversees, will extend temporary loan origination flexibilities designed to ensure continued support for borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic until May 31.

04/19/21

Evictions in Violation of CDC Moratorium May Violate Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The CFPB today released an important interim final rule that puts some real teeth behind the CDC's COVID eviction moratorium.

04/19/21

CFPB begins cracking down on mortgage servicers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is making good on its threats to police mortgage servicers. In late January, the agency released

04/19/21

CFPB Interim Rule: Requires Written Notice to Consumers on Eviction Moratorium
A new interim final rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau clarifies accountability for illegal evictions under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

04/19/21

Housing market is headed for a slowdown say Fannie, Freddie
The economy is improving, homebuyer demand remains strong and COVID-era restrictions are easing, but mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each predicted a slowdown in the housing market as mortgage originations decrease in 2021.

04/19/21

The Surprising Reason the Nation May Avoid Another Foreclosure Crisis
While the COVID-19 pandemic has rocked the economy, the housing market has defied all predictions by remaining strong. Unlike the last financial crisis, home prices are soaring to new heights,

04/19/21

Gary Dubin, Esq. Takes on the Entire State of Hawaii
Dubin was disbarred by the Supreme court for the State of Hawaii. I have previously written about his situation because, in my opinion, he is the target of investment banks who have an out-sized influence on government.

04/19/21

Consumer watchdog group issues policy to strengthen national eviction moratorium
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said on Monday that lawyers for property owners who violate the national ban on evictions could face federal prosecution and other consequences.

04/16/21

CFPB Issues Proposed Rule to Amend Regulation X
The CFPB recently issued a proposed rule and requested public comment on proposed amendments to Regulation X intended to assist borrowers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The proposed amendments would establish a pre-foreclosure review period to provide an opportunity for borrowers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic to be evaluated for loss mitigation before a servicer files for foreclosure.

04/16/21

Lying and Signing for Dollars: How It Became Big Business to Provide Fake Documents for Foreclosures
Long before the term “robosigning” was coined I had come to the conclusion that investment banks on Wall Street were (a) not the owners of loans and (b) were faking the transfer of loans.

04/15/21

The Rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – Module D:
Treasury’s GSE MBS Purchase Program Michael Zanger-Tishler and Rosalind Z. Wiggins
Yale Program on Financial Stability Case Study
As the housing crisis escalated during the second half of 2007

04/15/21

U.S. Foreclosure Activity Grows Despite Government Moratorium
Today, ATTOM Data Solutions released its first-quarter U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for 2021, which shows that foreclosure filings were up 9% from the previous quarter but down 78% from a year prior.

04/14/21

Garfield Continuum Defense: How To Use Mediation to Your Advantage
The essence of the Garfield defense is to (a) get the Judge mad at the foreclosure mill and (b) reveal the inability to produce one iota of evidence of a money trail, thus rebutting the clear legal presumptions arising from the supposedly facial validity of fabricated documents containing untrue statements.

04/13/21

Mortgage Banks Report 2020 Financials Shattered Last Years Records
While most of us couldn't wait for 2020 to be over, it turns out to have been a superlative year for mortgage originators. The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) annual Mortgage Bankers Performance Report shows the profit

04/13/21

Securitization is Hybrid of Supply Chain Finance: The Key word is CHAIN
First, let me say that there is nothing wrong with supply chain finance. In one form or another, it has been used for thousands of years. The same can be said for securitization — if that is what is really happening.

04/13/21

Jake Auchincloss is introducing his first bill as a member of Congress The focus? Debt collection protections for people going through foreclosure.
Exactly 100 days into his career in Congress, freshman Rep. Jake Auchincloss is slated to file his first bill Tuesday evening. According to his office, the Massachusetts congressman is introducing the Non-Judicial Foreclosure Debt Collection Clarification Act,

04/12/21

Fed Chair Jerome Powell Goes on 60 Minutes to Present a False Narrative on Mega Banks He Supervises Loaning Out their Balance Sheets to Hedge Funds
The CBS “investigative” program, 60 Minutes, gave Wall Street a pass again last night. This time around 60 Minutes’ host Scott Pelley interviewed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The Fed, and by extension, Powell, are in charge of

04/12/21

They Are Trading on Data, Not Ownership
The word “derivative” is used like “alakazam!” It is as if the word conjures up some magical mystery formula by which brokers and traders can engage make money without ever investing in anything real.

04/12/21

Fannie/Freddie Announce End Dates for QM Rules
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) have released information to their lenders confirming that any loans they purchase after July 1, 2021 must conform to the agreement made on their behalf in January by the

04/08/21

Can the CFPB's new forbearance rules prevent a foreclosure crisis?
While forbearance numbers have declined somewhat in recent weeks, around three million homeowners are still behind on their mortgages. As foreclosure moratoriums are set to expire later this year, the housing market is now facing the risk of a shock from millions of homeowners going from forbearance straight into foreclosure. To prevent such a shock to the system, the CFPB has released a proposed set of rule changes for servicers and borrowers to prevent the end of forbearance turning into a catastrophe for the whole mortgage industry.

04/06/21

A Conspiracy of local County Auditors. . and some less than forthcoming Legislators
Apparently here in Washington State our elected leaders believe that they know what isbest for us. . . without even asking

04/06/21

WASHINGTON COURT OF APPEALS ONE - Larsons' opening brief in registration of title (Torrens Act) appeal
In the Court of Appeals for the State of Washington Division One - Washington Court of Appeals Division One - Christopher and Angela Larson v. New Century Mortgage

04/06/21

Court Clarifies Evidentiary Requirements for Foreclosure Filings
The Florida Fifth DCA reversed a summary judgment of foreclosure finding, Eagle Home Mortgage, LLC (“the bank”), failed to proffer sufficient evidence that it satisfied conditions precedent. Parkin v. Eagle Home Mortgage, LLC, 5D20-160, 2021 WL 833298 (Fla. 5th DCA Mar. 5, 2021).

04/06/21

Attack the “Successors”
In analyzing the paperwork in front of you, make sure you read every word and do not accept anything said at face value. A popular ruse by foreclosure mills is the use of the word “successor.” I have been saying that this word is used as a cover-up for “we don’t have title to the debt, note or mortgage.” That means they have no loss connected with a claimed scheduled payment that was not received by a “Servicer” who had no right to receive it in the first place.

04/05/21

Summary Judgment is the way that the foreclosure mills avoid answering reasonable discovery demands.
The simple answer is that they do it because they can and because they generally get away with it, because most of the time their opposition is a layperson who knows nothing about the rules of civil procedure. JUdgment gets entered and the homeowner loses their largest investment, their home, and usually their lifestyle. sometimes they lose their marriages too or their lives when they commit suicide.

04/05/21

Consumer protection group proposes rule to prevent foreclosures until 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a rule Monday to prevent a wave of foreclosures this fall, when certain Covid-era protections for homeowners are set to expire. The proposal, which would need final approval, generally prohibits mortgage servicers from initiating foreclosure

04/05/21

Covid 19 Bankruptcy Provisions and Sunsets
CONTENTS COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act Signed by President March 27
Bankruptcy Relief Provisions Sunsetting on December 27, 2021
Bankruptcy Relief Provisions Sunsetting on March 27, 2022

04/05/21

CFPB Proposes Mortgage Servicing Changes to Prevent Wave of COVID-19 Foreclosures
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed a set of rule changes intended to help prevent avoidable foreclosures as the emergency federal foreclosure protections expire.

04/04/21

Consumer Finance Law – COVID-19 Year in Review
The year 2020 was a tumultuous one given the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for the mortgage lending and servicing industry. In response to sudden stay-at-home orders and a sharp drop in employment rates, federal and state policymakers moved quickly to offer financial relief to consumers and borrowers. While facing their own pandemic-induced operational hardships, mortgage lenders and servicers swiftly adjusted their business plans to adopt mortgage forbearance requirements and react to foreclosure moratoriums provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Balancing new regulatory requirements and a significant uptick in consumer demands kept lenders and servicers on their toes.

04/03/21

Biden signed $10B in mortgage help for homeowners. How do you get money?
The latest COVID relief package signed into law by President Joe Biden sets aside billions for homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments and other bills related to owning a home.

04/03/21

Episode 114 – When The Whistle Blows with Richard Bowen
Steve Grumbine welcomes the uncompromising and incorruptible Richard Bowen to the studio to discuss the intricate web of deception and fraud more commonly known as our private banking system.

04/02/21

In the Court of Appeals for the State of Washington Division One
In the Court of Appeals for the State of Washington Division One - Washington Court of Appeals Division One - PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, its successors in interest and/or assigns v. LAURA COZZA - APPELLANT'S COZZA'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION

04/02/21

Mortgage companies warned to take steps now to avoid foreclosure ‘tidal wave’
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) wants to avoid a wave of home foreclosures later this year and is warning mortgage servicers to take steps to help these homeowners.

04/02/21

How to use “Unpublished” Opinions
One of the peculiar aspects of foreclosure litigation over the past two decades has been the overuse (by appellate courts) of instructions not to publish opinions that favor homeowners in litigation. So the homeowner wins in that case but other homeowners and their attorneys probably never hear about it.

04/01/21

Still think it was a loan, think again! Look at these allegations from investors who thought they were buying loans.
If Countrwide was really a lender it would never have entered into this transction as a loan. If Countrywide was an underwriter it would never have approved this as a loan. Common sense dictates that Countrywide was an aggregatgor of data that was massaged to meet the instructions and needs of an investment bank.

03/31/21

The Difference Between a Hearsay on Hearsay “Report” and a Legally Admissible Accounting Record
A report is not a record. It is a statement made about a record and it is by definition a statement made out of court by often unknown persons. That means it is at least hearsay and probably lacking in the foundation since the person who made entries from which the report was generated is unknown and cannot be questioned.

03/31/21

Courts Are Wasting Time, Not Saving It: Apply the rules of evidence and both claims and defenses will fall.
The excuse for the sloppy ways that the rules of civil procedure and the rules of evidence are applied in a case where the foreclosure process is invoked has always been “limited judicial resources.”

03/30/21

The Case Against Foreclosure Mill Law Firms and Attorneys
How is a foreclosure rescue scam any worse than a foreclosure theft scam? Or the real question — why is one scam punished and the other is rewarded with government help?

03/29/21

Basics of Trust Administration
What exactly does U.S. Bank, Deutsch Bank or Bank of New York Mellon “as trustee” do for “REMIC Trusts”? It might be as simple as nothing at all.

03/29/21

CDC will extend national eviction ban through June 30
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended the national ban on evictions through the end of June.

03/28/21

Credit Suisse Owned Select Portfolio Servicing Busted! Servicer Accused Of Jerking Around Black Homeowners, Again!
Select Portfolio Servicing is busted jerking around people of color. This isn’t the first time. I’ve written about this multiple times. However, this time it was WFTV Reporter Todd Ulrich in Orlando who busted them. Ulrich also received the run around from SPS. As a result, he reached out to me for assistance.

03/27/21

We can't suspend evictions and foreclosures forever
As the coronavirus shuttered much of the nation's economy last year, policymakers imposed a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures to keep millions of families from losing their homes.

03/26/21

How to Attack Facial Validity of Lawsuits, Summons and Other Foreclosure Documents
“Facial validity” consists of two words that are usually completely misunderstood in courts of law and frequently either misused or abused by the proponents of false claims on behalf of the false claimant or butchered by either neglect or inexperience by homeowners and their lawyers. And sadly most judges overapply it even in the face of gross abnormalities and fatal deficiencies.

03/25/21

Servicers are Not Servicers: Their Reports Are Not Business Records
Since the reports presented in court are generally NOT made in the ordinary course of the “servicer’s” business they are inadmissible hearsay.

03/25/21

Congress Introduces Resolution to Rescind OCC’s “Fake Lender” Rule, Which Protects Predatory Lenders’ Evasions of State Interest Rate Limits
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Advocates at the National Consumer Law Center today applauded Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Congressman Jesus “Chuy” García (D-IL-4) for their plans to introduce Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions to eliminate a Trump-era regulation that helps lenders charging 179% APR or more evade state- and voter-approved interest rate caps. The resolutions are expected to be introduced today in the Senate and tomorrow in the House of Representatives.

03/25/21

OCC: Mortgage Performance Declines in Fourth Quarter
The share of current and performing first-lien mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 93.3%, down from 96.5% a year ago, according to the Mortgage Metrics Report released by the OCC today. Mortgage performance in the fourth quarter declined from a year ago as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic according to the report.

03/25/21

Then here I get hit in the face with this’: Homeowners claim mortgage terms not what they agreed to
APOPKA, Fla. — An Apopka man claims he paid off his mortgage, but now the lender is demanding five more years of payments, and he feels the company is holding his home hostage. He says the loan servicing company refuses to give him answers, so he called Action 9.

03/23/21

On One Day Last Year, the Fed Had $495.7 Billion in Loans Outstanding to Unnamed Wall Street Trading Houses
Yesterday the Federal Reserve released its “audited” financial statements with the following caveat, among numerous others:

03/23/21

Should States Be Obligated to Assign and Pay for Counsel to Defend Foreclosures?
By presuming that virtually all defenses to foreclosures, other than payment, are without merit and futile, and by administering discipline or injunctions to lawyers who prove otherwise, the state has created a gap that only the state or Federal government can fill.

03/22/21

Investment banks are pushing technical agenda on “integrated records” that would deny homeowners’ due process.
When you lose your home in foreclosure, it is an involuntary gift to an investment bank that has already earned 12 times the amount of the transaction with you. The investment bank does NOT record the interest, principal or forced sale payment on any loan account receivable because there is no such account.

03/19/21

The New Untouchables
Real Progressives and the creators of “The Con” present a new series, “The New Untouchables:? The Pecora Files,” meticulously detailing the rampant financial fraud that has been poisoning our economy for the last century, and?what is to be done?about it.? “The Con” took a simple but revolutionary approach to explaining the epidemic of elite fraud driving the great financial crisis of 2007-2008. The New Untouchables presents the heroes, one at a time, who sought to prevent it and hold the elite predators accountable. New episodes every Sunday 8pm ET / 5pm PT View the trailer, then scroll down to binge the latest episodes!

03/19/21

With Forbearance Periods Ending, Corelogic Looks at Options for Borrowers to Exit
The number of loans in forbearance experienced the largest weekly decline since early January as servicers reviewed the hundreds of thousands that are due to expire at the end of March.

03/19/21

What You can Do About The Difficulty With Finding and Hiring an Attorney
It’s not difficult to identify the beneficiary of this phenomenon: it’s the Wall Street investment banks that are falsely claiming to have securitized transactions with homeowners that are falsely represented and labeled as loans.

03/18/21

Report: Foreclosures climb in February, still historically low
U.S. foreclosure filings saw an uptick in February, but they are still down considerably from a year ago, thanks to the pandemic foreclosure moratoriums.

03/17/21

Basic Premise in Foreclosure Defense: Documents Are Not Events
The fundamental error of most homeowners, lawyers, and frankly judges, is the failure to distinguish between the real world and the fictional world portrayed by documents in front of them.

03/16/21

Powerful alternatives to predatory lenders: Postal Service banking and public banks
The payday and auto title loan industry exists only because vast swaths of the United States lack even one traditional bank in the community. It is that simple.

03/16/21

Our Ignorance Has Created a System That Chills Homeowner Access to Courts and Attorneys
The real problem is that stockbrokers masquerading as investment banks have committed the greatest economic crime in human history and have managed to cover it up by huge investments into the system wherein they control the narrative.

03/14/21

Wall Street vs. Workers
“The economy isn’t physics – it’s not governed by scientific laws outside our control. It’s made up of people making choices about our values and what kind of society we want to live in.

03/15/21

What to do about Court bias
Bias is a state of mind. Everone has a mind and if they are living they have a state of mind. So every judge has some biases. In our system of court procedure, bias is ONLY important to impeach a witness or to ask the trial judge to recuse themselves — or beyond that,

03/12/21

SBA Extends Deferment Period for all COVID-19 EIDL and Other Disaster Loans until 2022
Washington, March 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Small Business Administration announced extended deferment periods for all disaster loans, including the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, until 2022. All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2020, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 24-months from the date of the note. All SBA disaster loans made in calendar year 2021, including COVID-19 EIDL, will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 18-months from the date of the note.

03/12/21

Foreclosure Rise Despite COVID Moratoriums
While the federal moratoriums are keeping the numbers low, ATTOM Data Solutions reports that 16 percent more residential properties received a foreclosure filing in February compared to a month earlier.

03/12/21

The note is evidence of the debt and the terms of repayment. It is not the debt itself
The only way that the note can be used in any claim for administration, collection or enforcement is if it is evidence of an existing underlying obligation. It is the underlying transaction, not the note, that creates the liability of the maker of the note.

03/11/21

Federal judge in Ohio rules CDC exceeded authority with eviction ban
A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its authority when it banned evictions nationwide.

03/10/21

Banking on Bullshit
Anastasia Nesvetailova and Ronen Palan’s recent book argues that the financial system is built on a system that incentivizes sabotage and cheating.

03/10/21

How Homeowners Can Win On Appeal in Foreclosure Cases
The bottom line in trial court actions defending foreclosures is that generally whatever you’re thinking about your defense, you need a little more than that. On Appeal, you need a lot more than what you are supposing will present the foundation for an opinion that reverses the trial court.

03/09/21

“Modifications” and Mediations are Opportunities for Homeowners to Deliver Blows and Setbacks to Self-proclaimed “Servicers”
When presented with a situation in which a court has ordered mediation or where a proposed modification has been offered, practicitioners (lawyers) should be asking themselves what they would do if they knew for a fact that

03/09/21

Home / Commentary / Is a Foreclosure Crisis in the Cards? There’s no real way to gauge how many people entering the mortgage forbearance programs will fail to resume payments. So there is no way to determine what foreclosures will look like once these programs end. Will we see a tsunami like we saw during the Great Recession? Or will it be something more manageable that won’t disrupt the market?

03/07/21

DannLaw Covid-19 Update 13
A lot has changed since we posted our last update. A new president is in the White House, mortgage forbearance programs and foreclosure moratoriums have been extended by the federal government, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package is working its way through Congress, millions of Americans have been vaccinated against the coronavirus and the entire U.S. population may be inoculated by early summer. For the first time in a very long time, there is light at the end of the COVID tunnel. Unfortunately, that light could become an oncoming train for homeowners who make unwise or incorrect decisions when forbearance and foreclosure relief programs sunset in the months ahead.

03/05/21

Residential Leasebacks: A Tool Against Future Foreclosure Crises?
In 2009, I began purchasing single-family (SF) and small multifamily foreclosures with the strategy of refurbishing and renting the assets until the market recovered. Our company was able to

03/05/21

“Random” Lien Releases Causing Trouble at Ocwen
It has been happening for at least 10 years. Most homeowners never knew it happened. They were served with foreclosure notices and they simply walked away thinking that they had an unpaid account receivable with their name on it and that foreclosure was inevitable.

03/03/21

Loans Should Be Local
In today’s technology, there is no good reason why all banks, large and small should not be competing for the same customers for services relating to demand deposit accounts and even long-term deposits. They are all equally dependent upon the same technology backbone, electronic funds transfer, and everything else.

03/03/21

The “Holder” Myth: How Wall Street Baffles the Courts
In a very recent deposition expertly done by a lawyer in an extremely conservative state, the grossly illegal plan to falsely present a scenario of “securitization of loans” was laid bare despite many attempts by an experienced witness who confessed that he was primarily a teacher to other witnesses for Mr. Cooper d/b/a Nationstar.

03/02/21

Gary Dubin, Esq. Fights Back! Petitions U.S. Supreme Court for Violations of Due Process
I learned early (2006-2011) on when some 26 state bar associations filed various types of complaints or started investigations of my efforts to help homeowners. I fought them all back. Meanwhile, I have seen one lawyer after another falling victim to imaginary violations or discipline that was about 10 times worse than lawyers doing anything other than foreclosure defense.

03/01/21

New report highlights housing insecurity and the need for aggressive action
Today, the CFPB released our first analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing. The good news is that actions taken by both the public and private sector have, so far, prevented many families from losing their homes during the height of the public health crisis. However, as legal protections expire

03/01/21

Wall Street Is Still Selling the Myth That Transactions With Homeowners Were Loans and That Risk IS Properly Allocated to Homeowners Instead of Securitization Schemers
Today we are still living with the myth that the transactions with homeowners were loans, that the concealed risks absorbed by homeowners should not be compensated, and that administration, collection, and enforcement of nonexistent accounts receivable should be allowed. We can all change that by being open to the idea that maybe it isn’t the way that Wall Street is selling it.

02/27/21

Justice Dept. to appeal judge’s order on eviction moratorium
The Justice Department said Saturday it will appeal a judge’s ruling that found the federal government’s eviction moratorium was unconstitutional.

02/25/21

Federal judge rules eviction moratorium is unconstitutional
A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that the federal moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional, according to court documents. US District Judge John Barker

02/25/21

FHFA Extensions Will Align COVID-19 Mortgage Relief Policies
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Thursday announced extensions of several measures that the agency says will align COVID-19 mortgage relief policies across the federal government.

02/24/21

Biden administration may undo certain Trump-era mortgage rules
The Biden administration hinted it may dismantle mortgage rules inked during the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency

02/24/21

The LaSalle Bank Myth
The progression from LaSalle Bank to Bank of America to US Bank is highly suspect. While it is true that there was a merger between Bank of America and LaSalle Bank, It is equally true that the merger was preceded by a reverse merger between LaSalle Bank and ABN AMRO.

02/23/21

Lawyer: Woman fighting to keep longtime Miami home that was foreclosed on and re-sold
MIAMI – Ana Rodriguez is 82 years old. There’s a book about her life. How, as a young med student and member of the anti-Castro underground in Cuba, she was imprisoned by the regime for 19 years. She was released, eventually becoming a United States citizen and making it her home. Now, comes a fight to literally keep her home.

02/17/21

Why Fraud Charges Keep Getting Kicked Out by the Courts
This is tricky. I have often had complaints dismissed because I didn’t make it over the threshold requirements for surviving a motion that attacks the elements of fraud. So in answer to many questions posed to me, the main reasons why fraud allegations are ignored or dismissed are as follows:

02/16/21

Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: FHA, VA, USDA Foreclosure and Eviction Moratoria, and Forbearance Application Deadline, Extended to June 30; Current List of Time Periods for GSEs, Federal Agencies and West Coast States Foreclosures and Evictions, and Forbearance Applications
Following last week’s FHFA announcement extending the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac foreclosure and eviction moratoria and their deadlines for applying for COVID-related forbearance, the White House announced on February 16 that FHA, VA, and USDA will extend their single-family residential foreclosure and eviction moratoria, and their deadlines for applying for COVID-related forbearance, to June 30, 2021. Additionally, the amount of time a borrower may be in a COVID-related forbearance will be increased for an additional six months for those who first enrolled in a forbearance plan before June 30, 2020.

02/16/21

Biden extends foreclosure moratorium and mortgage forbearance through June
The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it would extend the foreclosure moratorium and mortgage forbearance through the end of June. The actions would block home foreclosures and offer delayed mortgage payments until July, as well as offer six months of additional mortgage forbearance for those who enroll on or before June 30.

02/16/21

Look at the Name of the Foreclosure Plaintiff or Beneficiary: Challenge the Deficiencies Early in Litigation.
A simple fact that eludes most pro se litigants is that they are litigating with a ghost. They have no obligation to defend the claim of a ghost except to challenge the foreclosure mill to at least allege or produce an exhibit that

02/15/21

The Foreclosure Case Against You
The foreclosure case against you is an allegation claiming that you owe money to the claimant, that you failed to pay it, and a demand that the court force you to pay it. The allegations are contained in the body of the complaint, if

02/15/21

FHFA Increases Actions to Prevent Home Loss
Foreclosure prevention actions are mounting, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. A total of 107,609 were completed by the Enterprises in November—with the total hitting 5,499,159 since September 2008. It marked the start of the conservatorships. Meantime, permanent loan modifications have accounted for about 44% of these actions.

02/12/21

THE CON: The American Dream Dies Where Power Lies
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, filmmaker Eric Vaughan was approached by his friend and colleague, Patrick Lovell, one of nearly 10 million Americans who lost their home in the crisis, with a simple question: how did this happen? Thus began their nearly 10 year journey of making THE CON, a five-part documentary series and in-depth investigation into the origins and aftermath of “the largest criminal conspiracy in American history.”

02/12/21

Banks are not loaning their own money because they don’t need to
The nation’s biggest banks are reporting lower and lower volumes of loans from their own balance sheet — just as I predicted 14 years ago. The latest article is by Shahien Nasiripour of Bloomberg and reprinted by Washington Post.

02/11/21

Low Foreclosure Rates May Obscure ‘Market Reality’
Low numbers are attributed to CARES Act protections, but some states have reported an increase in foreclosure starts.

02/09/21

Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: FHFA Announces Extension of Time Periods for GSEs’ Foreclosure and Eviction Moratoria; List of Current Time Periods for GSEs, On February 9, the Federal Home Finance Agency announced extensions of time until March 31, 2021 for the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae COVID-related foreclosure and eviction moratoria, and allowed an additional three months of forbearance for borrowers in a forbearance plan as of February 28. Other federal agencies and various states have also extended such deadlines for foreclosure and eviction moratoria, and for borrowers to apply for forbearance. Below are the new deadlines for the GSEs, federal agencies and California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona.

02/09/21

FHFA Extends Foreclosure Moratorium, Forbearance Period
FHFA Tuesday announced another extension of its foreclosure and eviction moratorium through March 31. That means a ban on single-family foreclosures for loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

02/08/21

How the SEC Is Used by Wall Street Brokers to Deceive the Courts, the Public and the Legal Community
The question is related to whether the SEC had undertaken any analysis of supposedly exempt MBS certificates. It is obvious that it has not done so. The agency has taken a position that is contrary to express factual and legal findings in thousands of cases

02/05/21

13 Questions: Here is what the OCC said should be minimum operating standards for “servicers”
On April 19, 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published “Operating standards for scheduled foreclosure sales.” This was about 5 years after public recognition of the mortgage meltdown, and 1 year after the infamous 50-state settlement

02/04/21

Following push from Klobuchar, USDA suspends farm loan collections and foreclosures
FEB 4, 2021 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is suspending past-due debt collections and foreclosures for nearly 10 percent of all farmers borrowing under Farm Service Agency programs.

02/03/21

Ocwen (PHH) Slammed with Lawsuit by 33 State Attorneys General
The new suit is about charging illegal fees. But if the attorney generals of each state want real leverage they need only demand discovery responses to one simple question: Name the Creditor Who Authorized You to Act as Agent, Servicer, or Power of Attorney.

02/03/21

Always wrong, never in doubt. IRS Struggles With REMIC Relief
see https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/irs-extends-remic-and-trust-relief-9911184/ Always wrong, never in doubt. The problem is not whether REMIC trusts, trustees, and beneficiaries should be given extensions on reporting and other relief on the cash flow generated or delayed through REMICs.

02/02/21

IRS Extends REMIC and Trust Relief Guidance for COVID-19 Emergency-Related Mortgage Forbearances and Modifications
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2021-12 on January 14, extending the safe harbors in Revenue Procedures 2020-26 and 2020-34 to September 30, 2021. This LawFlash discusses the portion of Revenue Procedure 2021-12 relating to Revenue Procedure 2020-26.

02/02/21

The SEC.GOV Scam Played By Foreclosure Mills
Sec.gov is basically used by foreclosure mill lawyers as an ftp site on which documents are stored rather than registered or reviewed for facial validity. But they use it to mislead the court

02/02/21

CFPB's New Seasoning Rule is Already Showing Promise
The Urban Institute (UI) has looked at a final mortgage rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in late 2020 which would provide a 3-year pathway to safe harbor for loans that are a rebuttable presumption or nonqualified mortgage at origination.

02/01/21

Why the SEC Should Enforce Securities Laws and Regulations Against Wall Street Brokers Who Issued “certificates” Under False Pretenses
Investors who sued based upon “bad underwriting” have received settlements. Homeowners who sue based upon “bad underwriting” are given the boot. Either they are told they cannot sue proactively or they are defeated later because the trial judge thinks

01/28/21

FHFA’s Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Activity Report
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released the Federal Property Manager’s 21-page Foreclosure Prevention, Refinance Report for October 2020. The full document details the entire month, but here are some highlights.

01/28/21

DANIEL LEWIS and ROSANNA LEWIS v. US BANK NATIONAL ASSOC., ETC., 19-0942 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2020)
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FOURTH DISTRICT DANIEL LEWIS and ROSANNA LEWIS, Appellants, v. US BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, ET AL., Appellee. No. 4D19-942

01/28/21

The Black Hole at the Heart of the Eviction Crisis
One-third of U.S. counties have no available annual eviction figures. Congress can create a nationwide database to better target relief.

01/27/21

Nothing is or was securitized. No sale of any asset occurred.
The main obstacle to homeowner success in the courtroom is the asymmetry of information causing the homeowner to believe that they were part of a loan transaction instead of merely being compensated for a concealed business plan that was completely reliant on the homeowner’s unknowing cooperation.

01/26/21

Latest Moratorium Extensions Are Two-Edged Sword
The new president is facing incoming fire from all directions. If he does not extend the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, hundreds of thousands of people are going to be homeless. But the extension does not come without costs.

01/25/21

It Must Be a Loan”: Don’t Pretend You Read and Understand the Documents
“Because corporations and their lawyers know most consumers don’t have the time or wherewithal to study their new terms, which can stretch to 20,000 words — about the length of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” — they stuff them with opaque provisions and lengthy legalistic explanations meant to confuse or obfuscate.

01/25/21

Janet Yellen Confirmed By Senate, Making History As First Female Treasury Secretary
The Senate quickly confirmed Janet Yellen to be Treasury secretary on Monday, days after she won unanimous backing from both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee.

01/21/21

CDC Director Will Extend Federal Eviction Moratorium Until March 31
As Massachusetts experiments with expanded monetary and legal assistance to prevent evictions during the pandemic, the Biden administration is making eviction policy a central part of his early executive actions to address what he described as an "almost unprecedented housing affordability crisis."Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky announced Wednesday that she will extend the federal eviction moratorium until at least March 31.

01/20/21

A Look at the Potential Foreclosure Wave of 2021
This week, DS5 Inside the Industry featured an interview with Rick Sharga, EVP at RealtyTrac, a foreclosure data company, where he is responsible for developing and executing a strategic marketing plan to optimize growth and drive business development.

01/20/21

Biden extends the national ban on evictions through March 2021
President Joe Biden on Wednesday extended the federal ban on evictions through March 2021 with an executive action in one of his first official acts following inauguration.

01/20/21

Highlights from Janet Yellen’s Confirmation Hearing for Treasury Secretary
The mood among Democrats in Washington was captured at the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday for former Fed Chair Janet Yellen to become the new Treasury Secretary.

01/20/21

Modifications Are Part of the Big Lie: Don’t send that application for modification if you don’t want to waive important rights.
The application for modification licenses New Rez aka PHH aka Ocwen to sell, distribute the personal data and transaction data to third parties. Besides the obvious problems with data privacy, this confirms the apparent voluntary participation of the homeowner in a securities scheme that was and still is concealed from the homeowner.

01/19/21

Denial is not a Defense: Registrars and Clerks Are Missing the Point and Most of Them Know It
It is the transfer document itself that suggests there was something to transfer. And it suggests that there really is a transferor and transferee because that is what is written on a piece of paper. But there is no transaction that is memorialized. It is all fiction. Nothing was transferred. But that fiction leads to defeat for homeowners unless it is aggressively contested.

01/19/21

Wall Street Fears Gary Gensler Because He Knows Too Much
Last Tuesday, Wall Street was stewing over the Reuters report that President-Elect Joe Biden was likely to name Gary Gensler, the former Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as the new Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

01/18/21

Janet Yellen Is Set to Inherit a Helluva Lot of Power, Thanks to Stealthy Changes in the Law
At 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, one day ahead of President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, the Senate Finance Committee will hold the confirmation hearing for Janet Yellen to become the next U.S. Treasury Secretary. In that role,

01/18/21

Banks have failed to produce any evidence that isn’t false and fabricated
If it were true that the claimants and plaintiffs in foreclosures were real, you would have reams of pleading, exhibits, and evidence showing that — and there would be very few defenses left for homeowners.

01/15/21

Another Dubin Victory for Homeowners In Hawaii. How crazy is it that he is under fire?
There are several things in this case that I find astonishing. * First and foremost is the fact that here is another victory by Gary Dubin on behalf of a Hawai’i citizen fighting to defend his home against an unlawful, illegal and fraudulent claim. And yet, the same court granting his appeal is taking him out of the playground as though somehow they are protecting Hawai’i citizens. NUTS!~

01/15/21

Another Dubin Victory for Homeowners In Hawaii. How crazy is it that he is under fire?
There are several things in this case that I find astonishing. * First and foremost is the fact that here is another victory by Gary Dubin on behalf of a Hawai’i citizen fighting to defend his home against an unlawful, illegal and fraudulent claim. And yet, the same court granting his appeal is taking him out of the playground as though somehow they are protecting Hawai’i citizens. NUTS!~

01/15/21

Servicers relent one case at a time: The Great Escrow Balance Game. Getting money just because you asked for it.
Playing with the escrow balance and asking for more money is one of many games the “servicers” play in the Great Securitization game. Relentlessness in challenging (1) the authority of the company pretending to be a servicer and (2) their rendition of the escrow balance

01/15/21

Black Americans suffered the most under Trump-era consumer-protection agency, study finds
Elizabeth Warren tells MarketWatch: ‘For several years, the Trump administration has undermined the CFPB, tossing out important consumer protections and refusing to enforce the law, often at the expense of Black and brown Americans and low-income communities…’

01/14/21

Foreclosure Filings Drop to 16-Year Low
Nationwide foreclosure activity plummeted in 2020 to record depths, according to new statistics released by ATTOM Data Solutions.

01/13/21

Sherrod Brown, One of Wall Street’s Biggest Critics, Set to Take the Gavel at Senate Banking
On January 7, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, released a statement indicating that he is to become the new Chair of that Committee. The announcement came as the Democrats are set to take control of the full Senate from Republicans as a result of the Georgia runoff.

01/12/21

If you have CYNTHIA RILEY’s “signature” on any document in your chain of title you need to read this. Same for Jess Almanza.
MFI-Miami has a file cabinet filled with foreclosure files containing Riley’s stamp that weren’t consummated until months or years after she left Washington Mutual. https://mfi-miami.com/2017/11/jpmorgan-chase-1/ Nearly 2/3 of the Washington Mutual Promissory Notes in foreclosure contain an endorsement stamp of former Washington Mutual Vice President Cynthia Riley. Riley was a Vice President of Washington Mutual until November of 2006 Nearly half of the Washington Mutual loans currently in foreclosure were consummated after November of 2006.

01/11/21

IS ANY OF THIS REAL? From LaSalle Bank to ABN AMRO and LaSalle Bank to Bank of America Ending With U.S. Bank
The progression from LaSalle Bank to Bank of America to US Bank is highly suspect. While it is true that there was a merger between Bank of America and LaSalle bank, It is equally true that the merger was preceded by a reverse merger between LaSalle Bank and ABN AMRO.

01/10/21

When Do CARES Act Forbearance Rights and Foreclosure Moratoriums End?
The March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) contains a number of provisions that help borrowers with federally backed mortgage loans. Among these are forbearance protections for borrowers with single-family loans and multifamily loans. However, only one of the forbearance provisions has a clearly defined period when the rights are available. As detailed below, the various federal agencies are taking a piecemeal approach to forbearances, resulting in differing deadlines for different types of federally backed mortgages and lots of confusion for the servicers who have to implement the forbearance programs.

01/09/21

NY Stays Residential Evictions, Foreclosures Through Feb. 27
On December 28, 2020, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 (EEFPA) which became effective immediately. The new law includes separate components related to residential evictions, mortgage foreclosures, tax foreclosures, negative credit reporting, credit discrimination, and tax renewal exemption protections. This alert will primarily focus on the EEFPA’s effect upon mortgage foreclosures, negative credit reporting, and credit discrimination.

01/08/21

Tax Free Scheme Robs Homeowners and Investors — Trillions Owed to IRS and State Tax Authorities
Hat tip to Summer Chic There are many ways this fraudulent conduct can be stopped or modified. One of them is for taxing authorities to take notice that most of the money generated from the scheme was never reported as income resulting in astronomical underpyments of income tax, transfer taxes, recording fees, etc.

01/08/21

After Mnuchin Demanded that Fed Chair Powell Return Hundreds of Billions from Its Emergency Lending Facilities, Fed Sends Back Just $41.3 Billion
We have become convinced that the allocation of $454 billion under the CARES Act stimulus legislation to cover any losses incurred in the Fed’s emergency bailout programs was a dog and pony show created by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (who has testified to Congress that he helped write the legislation) in order to provide Mnuchin with a slush fund to trade in markets.

01/07/21

Death and Mayhem Inside the Capitol Building and the Stock Market Gains 437.8 Points. Why?
As a violent mob of Trump’s citizen militia scaled walls, broke windows and seized control of the Capitol building yesterday around 2 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a new intraday high of 31,022.65. It gave up very little by the 4 p.m. close, gaining 437.8 points on the day.

01/06/21

Homeowner’s Dilemma and Pro Se Nightmare: Wanting the system to change is not the way to win a case
Homeowners win because there is no legal claim against them. But they will lose every time if they fail to establish the inability or unwillingness of the foreclosure mill to come up with concrete evidence that there is, in fact, a loan receivable entry on the accounting ledgers of the claimant and that it got there by virtue of a real-world transaction in which value was paid for the underlying obligation.

01/05/21

Consumer Law Rights Scheduled To Go Into Effect Or Extended In 2021.
Availability of Chapter 13 Discharge Despite Missed Payments
Protection of Stimulus Payments from Bankruptcy Trustee
Protection Against Discrimination
CARES Forbearance Claim
Continued Utility Service

01/05/21

In most cases the originator labelled as “lender” was never the lender and never owned the debt — so it could not transfer or convey the loan to anyone
The challenge to homeowners and attorneys who represent homeowners in foreclosure proceedings, is to see the written documents not as presumptively true, but rather as presumptive lie.

01/05/21

This article lists federal and state consumer law changes that are scheduled to go into effect in 2021.
This article lists federal and state consumer law changes that are scheduled to go into effect in 2021. This includes new rights and also rights and programs that were scheduled to terminate in 2020, but are now extended into 2021.

01/04/21

Some Pandemic Protections for Consumers Could Become Permanent
A woman walks past a personal finance loan office in Franklin, Tennessee. Officials in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., have taken emergency action to protect consumers during the pandemic, including enacting temporary measures to curtail aggressive debt collection. Some want to make the protections permanent.

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