1. Smith, Hiatt & Diaz Case v ABBY G. LOPEZ | Fraudclosure Involving LPS On Despite Glitch, Confusion
2. OUCH! Judge Dunnigan Just Fined Smith Hiatt & Diaz $49,000 to be paid in 4 days and if not then add $7,000 per day
3. Smith, Hiatt & Diaz Motion to Purge Lender Processing Services’ (LPS) Accidentally Leaked Internal Email

1. Foreclosure Fraud | Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen and Lynn Szymoniak to Hold Press Conference Wednesday at 10 AM
2. Lynn Szymoniak and Jeff Thigpen Video | Mortgage Fraud Investigation in Guilford Co.
3. REJECTED | Robo-signed documents rejected by John O’Brien following 60 Minutes show featuring Lynn Szymoniak

1. MONEY, POWER AND WALL STREET | PBS FRONTLINE FOUR-HOUR INVESTIGATION GOES INSIDE THE EPIC STORY OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
2. Loreley Financing v. Citigroup Global Markets | Citigroup Sued for Fraud Over $1 Billion of CDOs
3. DEBT LIMIT – A GUIDE TO AMERICAN FEDERAL DEBT MADE EASY (VIDEO)

1. Federal Reserve’s Independent Foreclosure Review and HAMP Escalations Review
2. Federal Reserve Board releases action plans for three supervised financial institutions to correct deficiencies in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing
3. Independent Foreclosure Review | OCC Says Independent Consultants Can’t Contact Borrowers

1. BRAVO! | Acceptance Speech of Charles Ferguson, Oscar Winner of Best Documentary Feature for Inside Job
2. Charles Ferguson Director of the Wall Street Documentary ‘Inside Job’ – Let Them Eat Task Forces
3. Lanny Breuer, Eliot Spitzer, Mary Jo White, & Neil Barofsky | Crooks on the Loose? Did Felons Get a Free Pass in the Financial Crisis? (VIDEO)

1. AFSCME | End Dimon Double Duty – “Jamie Dimon has gone from the ‘Last Man Standing’ to ‘the Most Dangerous Man in America
2. Jamie Dimon: To Fix Housing, Everyone Should Get in a Room and Decide to Do My Bidding
3. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon: Stop Bashing the Rich “Acting like everyone who’s been successful is bad and that everyone who is rich is bad – I just don’t get it”

1. BRYLLAW LITIGATION: First Quiet-Title Order in Virginia Voiding Deed of Trust (by default)
2. Ronald R. Wolfe and Associates (FKA Florida Default Law Group) Under Investigation Over Fake Foreclosure Money
3. Just In | FDIC Sues JPMorgan, Citigroup, BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank

I am officially proclaiming the Homeowner’s Bill of Rights in California to be DOA – Dead on Arrival.  And… good.  I’m glad it didn’t take until June.

In fact, if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, banking lobby… just hang out in Sacramento another week or so and dispatch whatever other bills remain in the California legislature as early as possible… start the recess early this year!

The Big Banks and the FHFA’s Ed DeMarco brought their considerable political muscle to the job of killing the Homeowner Bill of Rights in California, and although technically there’s still some voting to do… trust me… that’s all she wrote.

This makes the third year in a row that the banking lobby has said a resounding no to any sort of change that’s supposed to protect homeowners from abusive foreclosure practices.  Why do we keep doing this?  Haven’t we learned anything by now?

So, I’m glad it’s over… early.  I’ve had a tough year, and I didn’t need to spend any more time on this pipe dream of a proposal.

Okay, sure… our politicians running for office and elected officials did essentially nothing… BUT NEITHER DID WE… so I’m not blaming them.  The simple fact is that we don’t deserve to have such laws on the books.

The Homeowner Bill of Rights is the name that’s been given to a collection of six legislative proposals.  I’ll give you an overview of each and you decide for yourself how important it would have been to get the bill passed.

1.     SB 1470 – The Anti-Dual Tracking Bill

Dual tracking is when the servicer invites a borrower to apply for a loan modification, but proceeds with foreclosure proceedings anyway.

Now, I realize that some people are going to see nothing wrong with that practice, saying that a loan modification is an accommodation granted at the discretion of the bank, and therefore the denial of a modification should not delay a foreclosure.  The problem is that as a practical matter, dual tracking violates California’s foreclosure statutes because it deprives the homeowner of the intended time to reinstate the loan.

In California, the law says a homeowner is to receive a Notice of Default, which gives the homeowner 90 days, and then after that they are to get a Notice of Sale, which provides an additional 20 days… and then up until five days before the sale, the borrower has the right to reinstate the loan.

But, if you’re told that you are under consideration for a loan modification, and then you’re told that you’ve been denied… let’s say 10 days before the scheduled sale date… then you can find yourself with a handful of days to reinstate your loan… and that, at the very least, violates the intent of the law.

That’s what happened to Norman Rousseau, who took his own life last week, and that I wrote about HERE.  By the time Wells Fargo Bank told Norm that he was being denied for a loan modification, he only had six days to reinstate the loan, and Wells refused to delay the sale.  He had the money in his IRA, but by the time it arrived, his home was sold.

SB 1470 would prevent banks from starting the foreclosure process while homeowners are still being considered for a loan modification. The bill would also require servicers to render decisions on loan-modification applications in a more timely manner.

Assembly companion bill is AB 1602.

2.     SB 1471 – Single Point of Contact & Fines for Document Fraud

This requires servicers to streamline the foreclosure process by assigning a single point of contact for each borrower. It also imposes a $10,000 fine for any incidence of document fraud.

Assigning a single point of contact shouldn’t be much of an issue, after all the banks have already agreed to do that as part of the OCC’s consent orders, which were issued last April.

And as far as fines for committing fraud or forgery… well, there’s an easy strategy to get out of paying those, right.  Just don’t commit fraud or forgery.  And I happen to know the strategy works because I’ve been employing it for years and I have yet to pay a single fraud or forgery related fine.

Assembly companion bill is AB 2425.

3.     SB 1472 - Fight Neighborhood Blight

Neighborhood blight happens when foreclosed properties are not properly maintained.  Among other things, this bill would allow cities to fine purchasers of foreclosed properties that fail to remedy code violations within 60 days. (I believe the Senate committee unanimously approved this bill last Thursday.)

The companion bill is AB 2314.

4.     SB 1473 – Renter Protection

This bill simply ensures that renters of foreclosed properties are given at least 90 days before an eviction process is started. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

The companion bill is AB 2610.

5.     AB 1950 – File an NOD, Pay $25

This bill would requires servicers to pay a $25 fee for each Notice of Default recorded, which kicks off the formal foreclosure process. The money collected would pay for state-run fraud investigations into the fraudulent practices of servicers.

6.     SB 1464 – Special Financial Crimes

This bill would allow the state Attorney General to create a special grand jury to look into special financial crimes that involve multiple victims and I simply cannot believe that this bill isn’t already a law.

The companion bill is AB 1763.

HERE COME THE BANKS… ALL RISE…

In a letter to California legislators, written by the FHFA’s General Counsel, Alfred Pollard, the FHFA said that these laws could “restrict mortgage credit and hamper necessary home seizures.”

The letter also said that the proposed legislation would loosely define robo-signing so that it may include any incomplete mortgage document.

“Such a strict liability approach is punitive, will have a chilling effect on the processing of lawful foreclosures and may lead to reduced credit availability or higher interest rates,” Pollard said.

Pollard didn’t even like the idea that renters should get 90 days before being evicted, saying that the legislation “did not include a ‘bona fide’ lease requirement and could result in property owners gaming the system.”

The FHFA also claimed the new laws could possibly pose “significant risks for the housing markets.”

Good Lord… those would be terrible things to have happen.  I’m sure glad he pointed it out before it was too late.  Doesn’t anyone check these things out with the bankers before they become legislative proposals?  Why do we go to all the trouble to write them and get them into legislative committee, just to have a few bankers show up and make us look like fools for having done so.

I think we should ask the bankers if they wouldn’t mind reviewing all draft pieces of legislation before write and and propose it… I’d bet collectively we’d save a lot of time.  I know I would.

Next up were the banking representatives, and I hear they were beautifully dressed by the way.

One of the bankers testifying was Ms. Stephanie Mudick, Executive Vice President, Head of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Mortgage Banking, J.P. Morgan Chase.  For the most part, she lied her ass off about how wonderful Chase has been when handling loan modifications.

But the one thing that she said I think I’ll remember above all…

“We’re also concerned that the private right of action included in draft legislation will likely impair the housing recovery of California.”

You can read her testimony here:
Mudick, Stephanie VP Chase Testimony 15may2012 PDF FILE

1. U.S. SECURITIES COMMISSION v CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INC | $285 Million Citi Settlement With SEC Rejected by Judge Jed Rakoff
2. Loreley Financing v. Citigroup Global Markets | Citigroup Sued for Fraud Over $1 Billion of CDOs
3. Morgan Keegan to Pay $200 Million to Settle Fraud Charges Related to Subprime Mortgage-Backed Securities

1. Pimco | $25 Billion Foreclosure Deal to Hit Pensions Harder Than Banks
2. $80.35 Million in Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Funds Now Getting Redirected to State Budgets
3. California | Brown Proposes Clever Raid of Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Funds

1. Elijah Cummings | Oversight Committee Democrats Urge FHFA Director to Produce Documents on Principal Reduction
2. Dexia v. Bear Stearns | “Egregious Fraud” Dexia Sues JPMorgan Over $1.7 Billion in Mortgage Securities
3. Foreclosure Fraud Panel One Hearing Testimony – Robo-Signing, Chain of Title, Loss Mitigation and Other Issues in Mortgage Servicing

I’m not exaggerating one bit when I say this… nary a month goes by that I don’t feel compelled to debunk the happy housing prices statistics that seem to get released immediately following the release of any bad news for the housing market.  As a matter of fact, I just did so a few days ago, HERE.

Each time I go through the pointless exercise I tell myself that it will be the last time, that from here on out if someone wants the housing market to have bottomed or being on its way up… or whatever, I’ll just respond b y saying, “Sounds great!,” and leave it at that.

The last time was entirely transparent … while absolutely nothing had changed all of a sudden everything was better… in the mainstream media, anyway.  So, once again I found myself sitting down at my keyboard to strip away the fabrication, manipulation and obfuscation so as to leave only the naked truth of the matter.

Basically, if you’ve been a Realtor out to have a parade over the last few years, then you’ve come to know me as the rain.

Well, today LPS (“Lender Processing Services”) published a report, based on analysis of 40 million loans, and to begin with, the foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate came out at 4.14 percent, which is UNCHANGED whether we’re comparing last month… or last year.  Pre-sale inventory exceeded two million properties.

Not only that, but the mortgage delinquency rate went UP in April by 0.4 percent to 7.12 percent, and the number of properties that are now 30 or more days late, but NOT in foreclosure, passed the three and a half million mark in April.

Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada and Illinois were the states with the highest percentage of delinquent loans, which I found quite an interesting list because of the lack of “sand states” listed, Nevada notwithstanding.

Montana, Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming and North Dakota made the list of states with the fewest delinquent loans, but since no one lives in those states anyway, who really cares?

Bang the Drum Slowly…

Starting last month, I heard from Realtors primarily in Phoenix, but also in Northern California, as they excitedly rambled on about the throngs of investors who had come from Canada and points unknown to bid up distressed property sales, which make up just under 50 percent of all sales for the last three months running.

However, a new study by Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance shows that even with “all that action,” home prices are not moving higher.  In fact, most homes sold in April, although two or three offers were received, ended up selling below list price.

According to IMF’s HousingPulse, as reported by CNBC’s Diana Olick:

“The average price for non-distressed properties declined 1.5 percent from March to April, while the average price for short sales dipped 1.7 percent. For damaged REO [bank-owned] the average price fell 1.4 percent and for move-in ready REO the average price slipped 0.3 percent.”

So, demand is rising while prices are falling… fascinating.  Perhaps it’s because of a combination of factors, such as incredibly tight credit markets, an ongoing avalanche of foreclosures coming onto the market, a worsening jobs market, higher unemployment, and a market made up of greedy bottom-fishers not out to buy, but rather to steal.

Think I might be onto something there, or no?

Other reports are saying that investors in and around Phoenix are bidding up home prices to such levels that after necessary repairs are completed, the new owner will be underwater once again.

Olick and her crowd on CNBC, who only a week or two ago seemed all but ready to declare a bottom and begin the march back to prosperity, but thid week her tone is decidedly different.  In fact, she’s sounding a bit more like me… you know, were I a ditzy blond who’s chief skill is reading from a teleprompter…

“… depending on monthly financing costs, and the upfront investment, (investors) may not see the kind of returns they originally expected, and they may not be able to sell in the time frame they originally planned.”

Wait a minute, there’s a word for that… darn it, what do they call someone who ends up in that situation in the midst of this larger picture… Oh, yeah… I’ve got it…

SUCKER!

Mandelman out.

CLICK BELOW FOR:

State of South Carolina Foreclosure Laws

The link above will take you to the page dedicated to South Carolina’s foreclosure laws.  But, always remember… often people have a hard time understanding exactly what our laws mean just by reading them, so we always recommend that you contact an attorney and ask any questions you may have.

In South Caroline, the Mandelman Matters “trusted attorney,” is Russell A. DeMott.  You can reach him by clicking below, and he’s happy to answer your questions about South Carolina foreclosure or anything related, so don’t worry about calling or sending him an email.

DeMott Law Firm, P.A.

This Page Sponsored By…

Russell A. DeMott, Attorney

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNMENT RESOURCES:

Office of the South Carolina State Auditor

Richard H. Gilbert, Jr., CPA
Interim State Auditor

South Carolina Attorney General

Alan Wilson

South Carolina Budget & Control Board

South Carolina Department of Commerce

South Carolina Department of Insurance

Consumer Complaint Form

South Carolina Department of Revenue

South Carolina Division of Consumer Affairs

South Carolina Legislative Council

Stephen T. Draffin
Code Commissioner and Director
South Carolina Legislative Council

Senate Calendar

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA FORECLOSURE RESOURCES:

Avoid Foreclosure: South Carolina

Columbia Field Office Email: SC_Webmanager@hud.gov

Contact HUD – South Carolina

eHOW money – How to Prevent Foreclosure in South Carolina

Family Services, Inc.

Foreclosure Prevention

RentLaw.com - South Carolina Eviction Law

South Carolina Appleseed – Legal Justice Center

Mortgage Foreclosure in South Carolina Brochure

South Carolina Foreclosure Laws

South Carolina Human Affairs Commission

South Carolina Legal Services

South Carolina Pro Bono Legal Services

SOUTH CAROLINA SHORT SALE RESOURCES:

ShortSaleLaws.net

The Homeownership Resource Center

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

South Carolina Demographics

South Carolina State Election Commission

Find Your Polling Place – Vote!

Register to Vote

State of South Carolina Website

REPORT FRAUD OR SCAMS IN SOUTH CAROLINA:

Prevent Loan Scams - South Carolina

South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation

How to File A Complaint

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COURTS:

Charleston School of Law Sol Blatt Jr. Law Library

South Carolina Circuit Court

South Carolina Court of Appeals

South Carolina Supreme Court

Supreme Court Law Library

University of South Carolina Coleman Karesh Law Library

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESOURCES:

Fannie Mae Loan Look-Up Tool – Find out if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae here.

Freddie Mac Loan Look-Up Tool – Find out if Freddie Mac owns your loan here.

Homeowner Crisis Resource Center – Includes tips on avoiding foreclosure.

Homeownership Preservation Foundation – Find Credit Counseling here and HERE.

Information on the OCC’s Independent Foreclosure Review

MyMoney.gov - This site organizes financial education help from over 20 different Federal web sites in one place, including dealing with mortgages.

OCC’s Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – For Complaints Against National Banks

Service Members Civil Relief Act – The Act that postpones or suspends certain civil obligations to enable service members to devote their full attention to duty and to relieve stress on their families. The act covers:

•       Outstanding credit card debt

•       Mortgage payments

•       Pending trials

•       Taxes

•       Termination of lease

•       Eviction from housing

•       Life insurance protection

Get more information at Military.com or at HUD’s National Servicing Center, and here is Information for Veterans from HUD.

U.S. Congressional Representative Look-up Tool

1. Lee Camp | Occupy Congress – Live Performance In The Belly Of The Beast
2. #AGOs TWEET | AG Coakley to hold press conference at 1pm regarding a major lawsuit against 5 national banks
3. CNBC Tweet | New York AG Schneiderman Expected To Join Multi-State Mortgage Settlement-New York AG Schneiderman To Hold Media Call At 6pm ET

You have found the Mandelman Matters state specific series of pages dedicated to homeowners at risk of foreclosure in South Carolina.

On the pages in this section you’ll find accurate, straightforward information and guidance specific to the State of South Carolina related to such topics as loan modifications, short sales, foreclosure defense litigation, bankruptcy… and other topics related to getting through the foreclosure crisis.

We’ve created these South Carolina specific pages in response to the proliferation of scammers polluting the Internet with misinformation and outright lies intended to sell something to homeowners at risk of foreclosure that they don’t need.  These sites are literally everywhere, and some are very good at appearing credible, when in fact they are nothing more than elaborate cons.

Well, we’ve taken great care to make sure that the information you’ll find here is always correct… always impartial… always based on real facts… and always easy to understand.

In case you’re not already familiar with me, my name is Martin Andelman and for going on four years, I’ve been writing the widely read blog Mandelman Matters.  Over the last three and a half years, I’ve written more than 650 in-depth articles covering the political, economic, social and legal aspects of the financial and foreclosure crises.

I decided that I had to do more to help stop homeowners from getting ripped off, by providing the state specific information homeowners need to make the right decisions for their individual goals and circumstances.  Moving forward on the best possible path… that’s what my state specific pages are all about.

And just so you know, I’ve never been in the mortgage business or the real estate business, but for more than twenty years I’ve been a writer that specializes in making complex subjects easy for people to understand… oh yeah, and people say I’m funny.  I have in-depth experience writing about subjects that fall under the broad headings of accounting, insurance, financial services and law.

You can read a lot more about me HERE, HERE, and HERE.

You may want to start by getting to know my trusted attorney for the State of South Carolina, Russell A. DeMott.

No one pays to be listed as a trusted attorney on Mandelman Matters… that’s just not how it works.  The lawyers I list as trusted… are simply those I trust.  And when I say that, I mean that I would trust these people to represent me, or to watch my house while I went away on vacation for the summer.

In order to write close to 700 articles on the economic situation we’re facing today, I had to learn everything possible about the mortgage and foreclosure crises.  Not only did I read dozens of books, research reports, court decisions, and more… I also had to interview a lot of people and many were attorneys from all over the country.  Over time, some became good friends.  So, when homeowners would call me to ask if I could recommend a lawyer, I would refer them to one that I had gotten to know well, and trusted.

As a Mandelman Matters trusted attorney, Russell DeMott has agreed to take calls from South Carolina homeowners who have questions about foreclosures, and help them by providing answers regardless of whether the caller decides to hire his firm or not.  So, if you want to talk with someone who knows foreclosure in South Carolina, please don’t hesitate to call him.

For DeMott Law Firm’s contact information CLICK HERE.

And, if you’re looking for State Resources, CLICK HERE.

Need to know more about South Carolina Foreclosure Laws, CLICK HERE.

Want to read my latest post about South Carolina on Mandelman Matters?  CLICK HERE.

1. BofA’s Moynihan said of his $5 debit card fee that, “banks have a right to make a profit” NOW I SEE WHERE HE GOT HIS ADVICE!
2. In re: ANTHONY TARANTOLA – Given the Deficient and Misleading Nature of Deutsche’s Filings, the Court Seriously Considered Issuing an Order to Show Cause as to Why Sanctions Should Not be Imposed
3. Prostitution Ring for Wall Street Clients Busted

1. COMPLAINT | PLYMOUTH COUNTY, IOWA v MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS – Plymouth County Sues MERS Over Mortgage Recording Practices
2. LPS AMENDED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT | CITY OF ST. CLAIR SHORES GENERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM v. LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES, INC.
3. MERS | All in One Basket – The Bankruptcy Risk of a National Agent-Based Mortgage Recording System

1. Bank of America Moves to Evict 90-Year-Old Woman by Breaking a Federal Law – The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act
2. Woman Who Called Ex 65,000 Times in One Year Is Less Annoying Than Bank of America
3. Family with Newborn Illegally Evicted Despite Law Protecting Tenants From Landlord’s Foreclosure

A few weeks ago, Fannie Mae issued an outright threat to homeowners in this country, creating a new rule that would punish anyone who stops paying their mortgage and walks away from their home, referred to as a “strategic default,” by not allowing those who choose that path to get a Fannie Mae loan for seven years.

They call it their “Seven-Year Lockout Policy for Strategic Defaulters,” and if you haven’t realized it already… look what’s been accomplished here: Homeowners have scared the heck out of industry giant, Fannie Mae.  I mean… these guys are shaking like leaves, absolutely running scared.  I know homeowners have been feeling like they have no power against the bankers, but this should prove otherwise.  It’s like we pushed the bully, and the bully ran home and got his Mom to come lay down a new rule in response.

On Fannie’s Website, Terence Edwards, Executive Vice President for Credit Portfolio Management has the following to say about the new rule:

“Walking away from a mortgage is bad for borrowers and bad for communities and our approach is meant to deter the disturbing trend toward strategic defaulting.”

Bad for borrowers, Terrence?  Really, how so?  Are you trying to say that people who walk away from their underwater mortgages are doing it because it’s bad for them?  Because I don’t think they think that, Terence.  I’m pretty sure that those that choose to walk away from their mortgages do so because they’ve figured out that it’s better for them… in their own best interests, as they say.

Hey Terrence, you disingenuous prick, I understand that my walking away from my mortgage is bad for you, but that’s only because my house is now worth half of what I owe.  You wouldn’t mind if I walked away from my mortgage if I had equity, right?  So, in other words, you want me to lose the couple hundred grand instead of you, does that about sum up your position here?  Yeah, well… I’m sure you do.  But I, on the other hand, would prefer that you lose the money instead of me.  Sorry about that.

Terrence, last I checked you’re just a giant failed mortgage lender who is as much a part of why we’re in this mess as any, and you’re going to need $1.5 trillion in taxpayer dollars to bail you out.

I’m a taxpayer, Terrence… isn’t that enough of a loss for me to take on your behalf?  You want me to contribute my tax dollars and probably my child’s future tax dollars to your $1.5 trillion bailout.  And on top of that, you also want me to eat the loss of a couple hundred grand on my house?

Geeze… when are you guys planning to kick in on this?  Your CEO gets a $6 million a year salary, I looked it up, and best I can tell he gets paid to say “yes” to just about everything.  I don’t know, Terrence, but I’m pretty sure that I could have bankrupted Fannie Mae for a lot less than $1.5 trillion.

Walking away from a $500,000 mortgage on a house that’s now worth $250,000 isn’t bad for the borrower, it’s good for the borrower… it makes all the financial sense in the world, for the borrower.  I mean, would you recommend that someone hold onto a stock that’s lost half its value.

Then you say it’s bad for communities, Terrence, why do you think that’s the case?  I mean… bad is a relative term, wouldn’t you agree.  And, in terms of doing bad things to communities, aren’t you guys at Fannie Mae pretty much the poster children?  Like if the Olympic Games had a “Damaging Communities” event, wouldn’t you guys at Fannie be like the Michael Phelps of gold medalists, at the very least?

Yes, I’m afraid you would at that, Terry my boy.  You guys are responsible for wiping out more communities than say… I don’t know… Joseph Stalin comes to mind.  So does the bubonic plague.  So, now you’re all of a sudden so concerned about my community, are you?

Terry, my home appraised at the peak of the insanity at $925,000.  Last week, we heard there was a short sale about eight homes down from us.  Any guesses, Terry?  Well, I doubt you’d come close to $360,000 Mr. Fannie Mae spokesperson and executive VP.  I bought this house in 1990 for $340,000 you insensitive jackass.  Your incompetence has cost me a fortune.

You and your peers owe me money… or at the very least an apology… or something else, but how dare you attempt to “punish me” should I decide to become a productive member of society sooner by choosing not to take $300,000 and set it on fire.  And what would you like me to do, Terrance, if I spend the next twenty or thirty years paying for this house only to find out that I’m still under water by some amount at that time?  Any thoughts on that, you housing genius?  Maybe, try to do better in my next lifetime, Terrence?

How exactly will my strategic default harm my community?  How exactly, Mr. Edwards?  Because I’m thinking two things here:

One… If I let the home go into foreclosure, it’ll be an REO and the bank will resell it at the market price, or maybe a little below.  But, no one is going to give it away for free, right Terry?  The market price is the market price, right you mumbling mathlete?

If I’m allowed to short sale it, maybe it will sell for a little bit more, but then again, it might not sell at all, in which case I’ll still end up in foreclosure, but I won’t be able to stay in the house, saving money as a result of not making payments, while I pay a lawyer to prolong my free stay for as long as possible.  By the time I walk away, I’ll have maybe $100,000 saved up, which will make moving and renting an absolute breeze… to say nothing of my mental state, much improved as a result of controlling my destiny and screwing you.

Two… a strategic default only creates a foreclosure, and if you were so concerned about the impact of foreclosures on communities, we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in today.  I hope you’ll forgive me if I laugh at you feigning concern about how foreclosures affect our communities.  I’ve been watching quite a few loan modifications up close and personal, and I haven’t seen Fannie Mae lift a finger to help a single homeowner.  Banks are abusing homeowners left and right, every single day of the year, with the exception of a few who take Christmas off, and where has Fannie Mae been?

Now that I finally decide to take matters into my own hands, in the best interests of me and my family, now you’re going to try to punish me, you worthless piece of trash, how dare you?  Go to hell, Terrence Edwards.  You’re an insolent punk for saying what you said, for trying to scare homeowners who are trying to survive this inconceivable catastrophe that you and yours created.  You’re an empty suit hiding behind some overpaid government job, nothing more.

You, of all people, claiming that strategic defaults are harming communities is absolutely hysterical.  Like cautioning people to take an umbrella when going for a walk into the eye of Hurricane Katrina.  Don’t forget your umbrella… you wouldn’t want to get wet.  Yeah, thanks for that advice.

Your approach is to “deter the disturbing trend” towards strategic defaulting?  Is that what you said?  Well, that’s the best damn news I’ve had in at least three years.  You and the rest of the self-important louts at Fannie Mae are actually disturbed by something.  Well, thank the good Lord, I am glad to know that.  Because you certainly haven’t seemed very disturbed at the carnage that’s been destroying the housing markets to-date, Mr. Terrence Edwards.

If strategic defaulting is disturbing you and Fannie Mae in general, well then that’s just about the best reason I could possibly think of for doing it.  You talked me into it, Terrence, and God willing quite a few others in this country whose lives have been ruined because of Fannie’s ruinous policies and incompetent management.

And then, as if Mr. Terrence Edwards hadn’t said more than enough, he went on to say:

“On the flip side, borrowers facing hardship who make a good faith effort to resolve their situation with their servicer will preserve the option to be considered for a future Fannie Mae loan in a shorter period of time.”

On the flip side?  The flip side?  I swear, someone needs to give you such a slap.  On the flip side, you actually have no idea what you’re talking about, do you?  You think people are walking away because they didn’t talk to their servicers?  You think, in that distorted little brain of yours, that it’s homeowners who need to act in “good faith” more often?

Well, that’s it for me.  I don’t know what to say in response to that, except to say that I can’t believe Terrence Edwards has a management job anywhere, let alone at the world’s largest source of lending.  After a statement like that, this guy should be asking women if they’d like to see something in a pump or a loafer.

Homeowners aren’t the ones failing to act in good faith, Mr. Ed.  Homeowners would all try to work with their servicers to resolve something in good faith.  Homeowners, and I’ve personally talked at length with thousands of them, have “good faith” written all over them.  They exude it from their pores.  That’s why they didn’t storm the castle when you and the other banksters needed to be bailed out after you guys decimated the global financial system.  But… on the flip side… their servicers consistently, and by that I do mean all the damn time and every damn day… continually lie, intimidate, bully, flagrantly break promises, and exhibit a lack of caring that would make Mary Poppins look like Dr. Mengele.

Are you unaware of this, Mr. Ed, you horse’s ass?  Has this somehow escaped your attention?  Missed it?  Busy watching the World Cup or something?  Come on, no way… you know exactly what’s going on between servicers and homeowners out there, and if you really don’t, well then you most certainly should.

In the spirit of leaving nothing to chance, allow me to explain how this whole mess happened.  We, the taxpayers, sat by and watched our elected representatives bail out Fannie Mae, and every other bankster in the country, we sucked it up and then watched Goldman et al, pay out $120 billion in bonuses last December.

Our President said he had a plan, and that banks would modify loans… there was hope.  But there wasn’t, was there, because the banks and servicers proceeded to treat homeowners like something stuck to the bottom of their custom made shoes.  They lied all the time, like constantly.  They bullied and made people feel badly, and in general they proved beyond any doubt that they could not be trusted.

No one is walking away from their home because they weren’t willing to make a good faith effort to find an alternative resolution by working with their servicer.  Never happens, or happened.  And if it has started to happen, which I still don’t believe, it’s only in response to the treatment of homeowners by their servicers. And true to form, the Wall Street Journal writes a story about homeowners happy about their decision to strategically default, some other news program interviews someone going to Hawaii as a result of not having to pay a mortgage payment, and you… you don’t bother to find out what’s really going on… you start with the threats.

Here’s what you said on Fannie’s Website:

Fannie Mae will also take legal action to recoup the outstanding mortgage debt from borrowers who strategically default on their loans in jurisdictions that allow for deficiency judgments. In an announcement next month, the company will be instructing its servicers to monitor delinquent loans facing foreclosure and put forth recommendations for cases that warrant the pursuit of deficiency judgments.

Troubled borrowers who work with their servicers, and provide information to help the servicer assess their situation, can be considered for foreclosure alternatives, such as a loan modification, a short sale, or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. A borrower with extenuating circumstances who works out one of these options with their servicer could be eligible for a new mortgage loan in three years and in as little as two years depending on the circumstances.

Oh, so let me get this straight… a Deed in Lieu, a short sale… those are just fine in your mind, but a strategic default is bad for borrowers and bad for communities.  Do you hear yourself?  How would a Deed in Lieu be better for the community, Mr. Edwards?  Never mind… you don’t know.

However, in your top paragraph above, you are saying that you’re going to go after deficiency judgments in states that allow deficiency judgments?  Well, goodie for you.  But, does that mean that you won’t go after deficiency judgments in states that allow them if the borrower simply attempts, in good faith, to work it out with his or her servicer, but fails?  I doubt it, don’t you Terrence?

And you’re going to ask the servicers to “put forth recommendations” as to who should be pursued for a deficiency judgment?  The servicers?  The group of companies and individuals that have, perhaps more than any group in history, proven that they cannot be trusted to follow rules, keep promises, or tell the truth.  I suppose they will also be the final arbiters of whether the homeowners attempted to work it out in “good faith,” as well.  Yeah, that’s about right actually.  Par for the friggin’ course.

Well, I’ll tell you what, Mr. Terrence Edwards.  You think you can threaten millions of American homeowners?  Why you would presume to have such authority is beyond me, but I’ll promise you this… you’ve certainly motivated me in a big way.  How many homeowners do you suppose I can reach through my 300,000 readers if I try really hard?  Because that’s precisely what I now am more committed than ever to doing.  Just because of you and your threats.

What was the threat anyway?  Oh yeah, those that you or the servicers deem strategic defaulters won’t be allowed to get a Fannie loan for 7 years, but the “good faith” people… which I would guess are those who agree to whatever their servicer demands, might get one in two or three years.

First of all, who cares about getting another loan in 2-3 years?  No one I know.  But even more to the point, what in the world makes you guys at Fannie Mae think you’ll be around in seven?

Mandelman out.

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