1. Dylan Ratigan | Beau Biden on his Fight to Investigage the Banks
2. Dylan Ratigan | Delaware AG Beau Biden: Fighting Fraudclosure
3. Dylan Ratigan | Fixing America’s Foreclosure Problem (VIDEO)

When it comes to defending homeowners against wrongful foreclosure, or suing banks on behalf of homeowners, Attorney Nathan Fransen, of the firm Fransen & Molinaro in Corona, California is a very smart, experienced and dedicated attorney.  This I know for a fact.

How do I know this?  It’s simple.  Over the last few years, I’ve watched him literally bang his head against the wall as California’s courts have unabashedly approved of MERS, disregarded flaws in the securitization process, not cared one bit who signed what, and in general ignored everything having to do with foreclosure cases except the fact that the borrowers hadn’t made mortgage payments in so many months.  He argued complex legal theory and simple fraud… he was honing his approach, and although he had his share of frustrating days, he was careful which cases he took on, never following an unproductive path twice.  I’d refer potential clients to him fairly often, and in most cases, he’d talk them out of filing suit against whoever they had thought they had wanted to file suit against.

Don’t tell him I said it, but he’s also just generally a very smart person, you know, paid attention in school kind of person… fairly well-read… knew about things outside his area of expertise… the whole bit.  He also had both the patience and ability to explain things about the law to me when I was frustrated over how things weren’t working.  When someone can keep complicated things simple, you know they understand them inside and out… and when they can hold their own in a debate with me… well, I’m sorry but that’s saying something.

So, he called me a few weeks back and told me quite nonchalantly that he’d had a very good week.  I was happy to hear that someone had.  What was so good about it?  Well, he had won two of his cases and at least one would result in his client getting a “free house.”  The other might be a free house too, or maybe just a pretty good size pile of money.  It’s true… Nathan had gone in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals… his first time, by the way… and beaten US Bank, hands down… in Causey v. US Bank.

It seemed to me to be an impressive win, because he was appealing after losing in the lower court.  He’s smart, patient and methodical… three things that tend to pay off eventually, but he wasn’t just going up against US Bank… no, he was going up against the dreaded “free house,” meaning that if the court ruled in his favor, his client would no longer have a mortgage secured by real property.  At best, the amount owed would be unsecured debt, like credit card debt, and that would mean it could potentially be discharged in bankruptcy.

But, don’t jump to conclusions because it’s not what you’re thinking.

He showed me how I could actually listen to him argue the case in court, the 9th Circuit has audio files of the courtroom proceedings online, and listening to it was fascinating.  So I figured out how to download it and then convert it to a file format that I could put inside a podcast.  Then I asked him to comment before and after the case so listeners would really get valuable information and be able to learn from his experience.

I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say anything more… well, okay I’ll say one more thing.  As I listened to him argue his case in court, one thing came through loud and clear: Judges hate the dreaded “free house.”

This is one Mandelman Matters Podcast that you definitely don’t want to miss.  Nathan sets it up in the beginning, then you hear the audio of the actual courtroom arguments, both his and the lawyer for US Bank… and then he and I argue various topics such as whether robo-signing should be prosecuted and by whom, along with several other things that I know are frustrating homeowners today.

This is the real deal… you could call it “reality podcasting.”  Turn up your speakers, sit back, relax, and listen as three justices from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struggle to balance the rule of law against the dreaded “free house.”  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did… 

CLICK BELOW:

Mandelman Out.

3 pm ET, 90 minutes!

Today, on the Ed Morrissey Show (3 pm ET), we’ll take a look at the past week with Duane “Generalissimo” Patterson of the Hugh Hewitt Show. Duane and I will talk about the week’s news from the Republican primary, the controversy involving the Susan G Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood, and the latest on the [...]

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Plus, "wherever you're from"?

To call Eric Holder’s performance yesterday at the House Oversight Committee hearing unimpressive is to turn understatement into a kind of art form.  The Washington Examiner called it “petulant, angry, and defiant,” and Holder more concerned about how Congress treats him than the hundreds of dead bodies strewn about Mexico and the US from weapons [...]

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1. KABOOM | ILLINOIS AG MADIGAN FILES SUIT AGAINST NATIONWIDE TITLE CLEARING OVER FAULTY MORTGAGE ASSIGNMENTS FILED WITH COUNTY RECORDERS
2. KABOOM | Illinois Attorney General MADIGAN ISSUES SUBPOENAS Against Lender Processing Services (LPS) & Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC)
3. ‘Illicit Practice’ | Allonge by Crystal Moore of Nationwide Title Clearing

1. KABOOM | Illinois Attorney General MADIGAN ISSUES SUBPOENAS Against Lender Processing Services (LPS) & Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC)
2. STATE OF ILLINOIS v STANDARD & POOR’S | MADIGAN SUES STANDARD & POOR’S FOR ENABLING FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
3. ‘Illicit Practice’ | Allonge by Crystal Moore of Nationwide Title Clearing

Hey DOERS… Good News Once Again, this time for

Tom Stover & Jeneane Traynor-Stover

(And that would be 8 out of 8 for the DOERS… but who’s counting?) 

Ooops, you did it again!  Yes, it’s true… Wells Fargo contacted Tom and Jeneane up in Granite Bay, California mid-day today to let them know that their SALE DATE of February 3, 2012 HAS BEEN POSTPONED.  This was the DOER ALERT posted late in the day last Friday, and today is Tuesday, so even though it wasn’t handled within 24 hours as we’ve gotten used to… I can live with 48 hours too.  (I don’t like it, but I can live with it… LOL.)

The truth is that although I did see that some DOERS sent emails in response to the ALERT on Friday, there weren’t nearly enough.  And then when we didn’t hear anything from Wells yesterday, Jeneane called me and mentioned that she thought that maybe the DOER ALERT got lost in people’s inboxes as a result of being posted late on Friday.

So, I reposted it yesterday and last night I sent out about 100 emails to DOERS, and sure enough… a lot more emails started flying towards Wells… and by today at 11:00 AM… it was a brand new day for Jeneane and Tom.  See how that works?  DOERS have got to stay up on this… you promised to for 120 days, right?  And I’ll try not to post late on Fridays… deal?  Cool.

Here’s the email I received from Jeneane at 11:00 AM today.

Dear Mandelman and the DOERS…

I wanted to let you know asap that I received a call from Michael Berg from the executive office of complaints at Wells Fargo.  He was very nice, the first thing he said was the sale was postponed and he is my single point of contact and he is getting a package out to me today and when I receive it tomorrow he wants me to call him back to go over it.    

WOW, that was great, you really are doing an amazing job at getting results, I will keep you posted!

You are a lifesaver, or shall I say a family saver, I do realized that there is not guarantee of a loan modification, but just being given the consideration of being informed is all I asked for!

Thanks again,  

Jeneane

Okay, well now that Wells has stopped the clock on the sale date… I for one have all the confidence in the world that Wells Fargo will find a way to modify this loan so Tom, Jeneane and their beautiful daughter will be able to stay in their home with payments they can afford.  And I’m sure all of our prayers are with Tom that he fully recover so he can get back to work on a full-time basis soon.

Thank you to all the DOERS who helped DO this! But there still aren’t enough of you DOING what you promised you would DO.  If we want to be able to affect bigger issues… national issues… then everyone’s going to have to turn up their game… get with the program… start taking this more seriously and continue spreading the word.

Sorry… it’s work I know.  But it’s not that much work.  You should all be very proud of what we’ve accomplished together and over a very short period of time… so you should be talking about it everyone you know… bragging even.

Stay tuned… unfortunately there are more DOER AlERTS to come!

Mandelman & Field OUT!

~~~

OFFICIAL DOER STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

BY MARTIN ANDELMAN & ABIGAIL FIELD

We, Mandelman & Field, are joining forces to end the foreclosure crisis. We’ve been writing about the crisis—Mandelman for more than three years and 600+ articles, Field for about half that—but frankly, writing’s not enough.

We need to DO more to solve the massive crisis our country is enduring. We must act now, because the crisis we’re in will get much, much worse.  This year is an election year… the time for decisive action is now.

But by ourselves we can’t do enough. We need YOU to DO too.

Mandelman has already inspired a core group of DOERS, people who have already solved the mortgage modification nightmares of six people. But to solve the problems faster than one mortgage at a time and to attack bigger problems, we need more DOERS… a lot more.

Here’s what we DOERS DO:

1. We take action.

We are knowledgeable, active and involved. We know that our actions make a difference because we’re all working together, multiplying our impact. That’s why we continue to take action, each and every day.

2. We know there’s no “try” in DO.

Either you DO, or you don’t.

3. We build big victories out of little victories.

We’re singles hitters with a really high on base percentage.   We scratch out the runs it takes to win every way we can. Our actions are simple, discrete, and quick to do, like sending an email, making a call, mailing a letter.

We work this way because swinging for the fences wastes lots of effort and results in more strikeouts than our country has time for. Besides, it took years to make the mess we’re in, and there’s no silver bullet that fixes everything all at once. We have to do many things, and collectively they will make the big changes we need.

4. We focus on our similarities, not our differences.  

We’re not about right and left… we’re about right and wrong. Frankly, our nation’s policies on housing and banks are so bad, we have plenty of solid common ground for everyone. Since we’re focused on fixing those two interrelated issues—housing and bank policy—our divisions on other issues are irrelevant.

5. We believe in “We, the People.”  

We join forces to make change because we are Americans. It’s our Constitutional birthright to be in charge, to make change together. And we know if we act together to make good policy, we all benefit.

6. We recruit more DOERS, because size matters.

To solve the big problems we need to be correspondingly big. We’re not playing games. We are DOING to win.

7. And we are in it to win it.

We are relentless.  We take our tasks seriously.  We do our best. We  never let down our fellow DOERS by not DOING our individual parts.

1. Guess the Money is too Good to Pass Up – Introducing the Cullaros New Replacement – Expert Witness for Reasonable Attorneys Fees for FDLG Florida Default Law Group
2. Foreclosure Fraud Video Tutorial 5 Part Series – HOW THEY STEAL YOUR PROPERTY
3. Helping Big Banks Help Themselves…To Your Money! (VIDEO)

1. You’re FIRED AGAIN | Foreclosure Mill Lawyer Extraordinaire Steven J. Baum Dropped by Fannie Mae
2. Daily Finance | Foreclosure Fraud in Maryland: Banks’ Lawyers (Shapiro & Burson) Accused of Forging 1,000+ Deeds
3. You’re FIRED | Foreclosure Mill Lawyer Extraordinaire Steven J. Baum Dropped by Freddie Mac

1. KABOOM | Illinois Attorney General MADIGAN ISSUES SUBPOENAS Against Lender Processing Services (LPS) & Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC)
2. Illinois Attorney General Madigan Demands Meeting with Ally’s GMAC Unit at Center of Foreclosure Fraud Controversy
3. Standard & Poor’s | In a First, SEC Warns Rating Agency It May Bring Financial Crisis Lawsuit

1. Bar Complaint | David E. Fennell of NTS & FEI Accused of Engaging in the Dishonest and Deceitful Practice of Falsely Charging Clients Inflated Non-Judicial Foreclosure Publication Costs
2. JP Morgan Chase v US Dept of Treasury COMPLAINT FOR STRICT FORECLOSURE
3. Florida Bar v. David J. Stern – Complaint, Consent Judgement, Report of Referee, and Judgment

UNC's Center for Community Capital has posted a new analysis of 19.5 million mortgage loans originated between 2000 and 2008 finding that mandatory down payments of 10% would lock out nearly 40% of all creditworthy borrowers while a 20% down payment would exclude 60%. The study finds a significantly higher exclusion rate for African American and Latino borrowers. The authors (Roberto Quercia of UNC, Lei Ding of Wayne State University, & Carolina Reid from the Center for Responsible Lending) do find valuable default-reduction benefits of other forms of strong underwriting as the Dodd-Frank Act already requires (through the "QM" and "QRM" classifications), but signal caution about the significant access costs of government-mandated down payment levels that government regulators may be currently considering.

1. A Must See – Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) Hearing on Foreclosure Fraud and Robo-Signers
2. Warren Out, Cordray In | Cordray is Obama’s choice to lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
3. Obama Defies Republicans, Plans to Bypass Congress and Install Richard Cordray as Head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Did federal officials break state laws?

Congress already has two probes of the ATF and Department of Justice over Operation Fast and Furious, looking into whether federal officials broke federal laws and lied to Congress about the loss of almost 2,000 weapons in Mexico. Some of those weapons got used in violent crimes in Arizona, including the murder of a Border [...]

View the video »

3 pm ET, 90 minutes! Update: Tina Korbe checks in, too!

Today, on the Ed Morrissey Show (3 pm ET), we’ll take a look at the past week with Duane “Generalissimo” Patterson of the Hugh Hewitt Show. Duane and I will talk about the roller-coaster ride in South Carolina, the latest in Operation Fast & Furious, and the curious connection between the highest-ranking DoJ officials and [...]

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Uh oh.

It’s every citizen’s right to take the Fifth Amendment in court and Congressional hearings when testifying.  When the sitting chief of a criminal investigation division for a US Attorney’s office does it, though, it certainly calls into question what in blazes the Department of Justice has been doing, especially with Operation Fast and Furious: The [...]

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One of my crack research assistants, Scott Cromar, put together electronic versions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (FRBP) that can be read using Amazon Kindle or an ePub reader. Because these books were assembled using public-domain materials from the U.S. government, we are making them available free of charge. Keep reading after the page break for links and more information.

• Kindle version, Bankruptcy Code & FRBP with historical and revision notes
• ePub version, Bankruptcy Code & FRBP with historical and revision notes
• Kindle version, Bankruptcy Code & FRBP text only
• ePub version, Bankruptcy Code & FRBP text only

There are a few caveats for use of these files. First, we have produced these files from the U.S. government versions and believe them to be accurate, but we have not proofread the files or compared them to the originals. Use them at your own risk.

Second, these files are provided without technical assistance. You can find lots of web pages explaining how to use individual Kindle or ePub files. For example, here is an example about the Amazon Kindle and here is an example for an ePub file. If you find the files useful and want to show your appreciation, the best thing you can do is thank the dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, Bruce Smith, for making available the resources for these sorts of projects that help support the profession.

UPDATE (1/19/2012): I've bumped this post temporarily back to the top of the blog to note that new files have been uploaded to reflect the amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that took effect on December 11, 2011. The links now take you to the new files.

UPDATE (12/09/11): New files have been uploaded to reflect a Creative Commons license.

1. Press Release | MA Register of Deeds John O’Brien “MERS & Banks may have added fraud to the repertoire of services they offer”
2. Open Letter to Jeff Thigpen, Guilford County, NC Register of Deeds and John O’Brien, Southern Essex County, Massachusetts Register of Deeds
3. John O’Brien, Southern Essex District Register of Deeds in Salem, Massachusetts extends an invitation to banks and all attorney generals to visit his registry

1. Kim v. JP Morgan Chase Bank | Court Sets Aside Foreclosure Sale Where Assignee Of Mortgage Failed To Record Its Interest Prior To Sale
2. Complaint | RICO Case Against JP Morgan/Chase – LINDA ZIMMERMAN V JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NA
3. Case Unsealed | IRVING H. PICARD, Trustee for the Liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Plaintiff, v. JPMORGAN CHASE & CO., JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC, and J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LTD

1. Another Insider Comes Forward – Other Monsters in the Sea – Sewer Service
2. Foreclosuregate Sewer Service – No Service No Problem? – Forgeries Fabrications and LIES
3. More Sewer Service? Florida Attorney General Opens Investigation into Gissen & Zawyer Process Service, Inc.

1. Fannie Freddie FHA REO Inventory Q1 2010
2. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Again Halt Evictions During Holidays
3. Fannie, Freddie, FHA combined REO Inventory at Record Level

1. Florida 4th DCA Reverses Final Judgement Ruling – Elliott v. Aurora Loan Services
2. Wells Fargo Home Occupancy Inspector Beats Homeowner With Sledge Hammer – Inspector Tells Beaten Man He Was His “Judge, Jury and Executioner” Claims Homeowner
3. Despite Arizona Military Vet’s Proof of Loan Pay-Off, Bank of America Forecloses Anyway and Schedules Auction of His Home of 26 Years

1. Court of Appeals of Ohio – HSBC BANK USA v. THOMPSON AFFIRMED – HSBC Failed to Establish that it was the Holder of a Promissory Note Secured by a Mortgage
2. Promissory Note Fraud | Bondi Capitulates, Admits Promissory Note Transfers Invalidated by Fraud
3. Action Alert | The Case of The Disappearing Docket Entry re: Alleged Original Note & Mortgage

Poor disillusioned supporters.

In a recent appearance on the “Smiley & West” radio program hosted by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, Harry Belafonte lamented the president’s lack of a moral compass — and cautioned other discontents to be wary of the proposition that the president just needs a second term to prove himself. Said Belafonte: My question is, [...]

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