May
21

Foreclosure Diaries | A Foreclosure Film in the Making Awaits Final Scene

Trailer for upcoming documentary feature, FORECLOSURE DIARIES, detailing the collateral damage that swept, tsunami-like, across the nation, leaving millions vulnerable to the shenanigans of the Wall Street, the big banks, so-called “securitized trusts” and their front line shock troops: so-called “Foreclosure Mills” (ie: Steven J Baum in New York and Daniel J Stern in Florida; … Read more Related posts:
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  2. Short Film | Danny Schechter – INSIDE OCCUPY WALL ST: HOW Occupy Wall Street Operates
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May
20

Say it isn’t so! | Lawsuit: Bank of America Pocketed Court Fees in Foreclosures

“The refund goes to the bank and the bank doesn’t fork it over,” Newman said. “There is a substantial amount of money owing to the class.” ~ Lawsuit: Bank pocketed court fees in foreclosures A Madisonville woman sued Bank of America on Thursday for pocketing court fees from foreclosure cases that she says belong to … Read more Related posts:
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May
20

Romney Says Banking Reform Hurting Housing Market in Florida

Romney says banking reform hurting housing market in Florida More than four in 10 Florida homeowners are underwater on their mortgages. President Barack Obama has not done much to help them, and it doesn’t sound like Mitt Romney has any serious plan in store either. His main idea? Repeal Wall Street reform. “Bankers have been … Read more Related posts:
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May
19

“Very Pro-Wall Street” | So Much for Schneiderman Being Tough on the Street

So Much for Schneiderman Being Tough on Wall Street As regular readers no doubt recall, Eric Schneiderman abandoned the dissident state attorney general effort to get a better mortgage settlement, assuring the Administration a win on this sellout to the banks. The bright shiny prize Schneiderman got in return for his betrayal was serving as … Read more Related posts:
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May
19

HEDGES v OBAMA | Judge Blocks Obama’s Controversial National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

Judge Blocks Controversial NDAA MANHATTAN (CN) – A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction late Wednesday to block provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the military to indefinitely detain anyone it accuses of knowingly or unknowingly supporting terrorism. Signed by President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve, the 565-page NDAA … Read more Related posts:
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May
19

Abigail Field | Spotting the Bankers’ Latest Propaganda Campaign

Spotting the Bankers’ Latest Propaganda Campaign Perhaps you’ve heard the line about not wasting a crisis. It means seize the opportunity to make big changes. Well, the banks are doing just that: they are using their self-created foreclosure crisis to build pressure to dismantle judicial foreclosures. The bankers want it to be much cheaper and … Read more Related posts:
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May
19

House Overwhelmingly Passes Cummings Amendment to Extend Foreclosure Protections to Servicemembers and Veterans

House Overwhelmingly Passes Cummings Amendment to Extend Foreclosure Protections to Servicemembers and Veterans Cummings also Succeeds on Amendment to Increase Diversity, Curb Hazing Washington, DC (May 18, 2012)—Today, the House passed by a vote of 394 to 27 an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) introduced by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member … Read more Related posts:
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May
19

Spears et al v. Washington Mutual | Federal District Court Judge Grants Class Certification in Mortgage Appraisal Suit

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted class certification in a mortgage loan appraisal suit alleging defendants conspired to inflate appraisals to increase the sale of loans in the secondary market. The Court found that plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence to establish common questions of fact and law, holding that common … Read more Related posts:
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May
19

Lee Camp | Is The U.S. Being Sold For Parts?

Who owns your city? Who will own it tomorrow? This question might be harder to answer than you think. ~ 4closureFraud.org TweetRelated posts: Mississippi Woman Was Sold Wrong Foreclosed House (VIDEO) Lee Camp on the Settlement | Oh My Gawd! Fun With Big Bank Fraud! FREDDIE and FANNIE Loans are Clearly COMPROMISED, Many Likely Sold … Read more Related posts:
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May
19

Lee Camp | Is The U.S. Being Sold For Parts?

Who owns your city? Who will own it tomorrow? This question might be harder to answer than you think. ~ 4closureFraud.org TweetRelated posts: Mississippi Woman Was Sold Wrong Foreclosed House (VIDEO) Lee Camp on the Settlement | Oh My Gawd! Fun With Big Bank Fraud! FREDDIE and FANNIE Loans are Clearly COMPROMISED, Many Likely Sold … Read more Related posts:
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May
18

Attention! Attention! | Fannie Mae Now Requires Servicers to Protect the Priority of Mortgage Liens by Clearing ALL Liens for Delinquent Homeowners’ Association Dues

Servicing Guide Announcement SVC-2012-05 Payment of Homeowners’ Association Dues and Condo Assessments Fannie Mae requires servicers to protect the priority of the mortgage lien and to clear all liens for delinquent homeowners’ association (HOA) dues and condo assessments on properties acquired through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. Servicers must follow the policies outlined herein for … Read more Related posts:
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May
18

Connecticut Mother-Daughter Die in Murder-Suicide Inside their Foreclosed Home

“It’s certainly a tremendous tragedy, especially right before Mother’s Day” ~ Connecticut mother-daughter die in murder-suicide STAMFORD — A middle-aged woman killed her elderly mother with a double-barreled shotgun and then killed herself inside their foreclosed Long Ridge Road home, Stamford police said. Officers found their bodies just after 1 p.m. Friday while checking on … Read more No related posts.
May
18

The Great Foreclosure Deception; Big Banks Renege on Obama Deal

The Great Foreclosure Deception; Big Banks Renege on Obama Deal Like the Allies before D-Day, who quite literally used smoke and mirrors and stage magicians to deceive the Germans as to the true site of the landings, America’s five biggest banks are engaged in a very serious game of deception. They are pulling every trick … Read more Related posts:
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May
18

Lee Camp | 15 Crucial Facts NEVER Heard On The Mainstream Media

The mainstream corporate-owned media is now essentially a rotting corpse. Welcome to the funeral. ~ 4closureFraud.org TweetRelated posts: Operation #InvadeWallStreet | A Message To The Media – On October 10th, NYSE Shall be Erased from the Internet Report | Publicly Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness Initiative Lee Camp | Is The Path To … Read more Related posts:
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May
18

We’re Back! Trip to NYC to Meet Former Head of SIGTARP Neil Barosky and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz was Awesome

Hey All, Sorry for the light posts this week but Lisa and I were in NYC to meet with Former Head of SIGTARP Neil Barosky and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz to get endorsements for her campaign and to attend a private book party (which we are in the book) at Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz’s private … Read more Related posts:
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May
18

Foreclosure crisis now includes “Irresponsible Churches”

According real estate information company CoStar Group, as of March of this year, 270 churches have been sold after defaulting on their loans. In 2011 alone, banks sold off 138 churches, and that compared with just 24 such sales in 2008, and only a handful in the prior decade.

 

So, when did our nation’s churches become so incredibly irresponsible?

 

According to Reuters, analysts are now saying that this surge in church foreclosures represents “a new wave of distressed property seizures,” and that “many banks are no longer willing to grant struggling religious organizations forbearance.”

 

Well, thank God for that, right? (Pun intended.)  Praise the Lord, and please pass the foreclosures, right?  We need to get through the foreclosures… clear the market… let it hit bottom… isn’t that what Mitt Romney, Rick Santelli, House Republicans, quite a few Democrats too… and a slew of supposed economists have all been saying?

 

And for the Rick Santelli fans, please let Rick know that the reason that many of these churches are going into foreclosure is that they took out loans to remodel or refurbish, and since we know all too well that Rick’s Tea Partiers don’t want to pay for anyone’s kitchen remodel, I’m sure they’ll be in favor of throwing these churches out into the street as quickly as possible, right?

 

Are you listening Rick Santelli?

 

We can’t do anything about these irresponsible churches being lost to foreclosure because to help them in any way would clearly involve far too much “moral hazard,” isn’t that right?

 

Apparently, the church foreclosures are occurring regardless of denomination all across the country, although California, Georgia, Florida and Michigan are the hardest hit states.  Reuters’ story also pointed out that, as one might expect, small and mid-size churches are falling into foreclosure more than the larger ones.  And presumably the larger ones are also the richer ones.

 

Interestingly, that’s also true when looking at residential foreclosures.  I’m pretty sure that studies show that richer people get foreclosed on less frequently than poorer ones.

 

I know what we need… a new program from the Obama administration.  We can call it:

 

“Making Church Affordable”

 

Scott Rolfs, who is the managing director of Religious and Education Finance at investment bank Ziegler, told Reuters that, “… banks have not wanted to look like they are being heavy handed with the churches.”

 

Really, Scott, mister managing director?  Is that what it is?  Banks are concerned about looking too “heavy handed with churches?”  Is that your story?  Banks could give a rat’s petute how they look with fathers, mothers and children… you know, we call them “families,” Scott… or “voters.”  Why should they care how they look with churches?

 

In fact, that’s what is so weird about this story.  That banks are supposedly concerned about being “heavy handed” with churches.  I don’t believe that, do you believe that?   I mean… European banks didn’t seem to be too terribly concerned about being heavy handed with Greece… and Greece is an entire country full of churches.

 

Unless we’re talking about a bank (or American Express Travel Related Services of course), in which case they’re too big to fail and we should do whatever is necessary to bail them out, irresponsible is irresponsible, isn’t that right?

 

According to Reuters: “The factors leading to the boom in church foreclosures will sound familiar to many private homeowners evicted from their properties in recent years.”

 

Really?  Do tell… (Shhhh… I want to hear this…)

 

Well, it seems that following the financial crash of 2008, quite a few churchgoers lost their jobs and next thing you know, “donations plunged.”  And wouldn’t you know it, “at the same time, so did the value of the church building,” Reuters reported.

 

So, let’s just see here… financial crash… check.  Lost jobs… check.  Less money to spend… check.  Appraised value of property plunges… and check.  Yep, I’d have to say that Reuters was right.  Those things do sound at least somewhat familiar to homeowners who were evicted in recent years.  And probably to other homeowners as well.

 

Now, Scott Rolfs also says that church defaults are different from residential foreclosures, because “church loans typically mature after just five years when the full balance becomes due immediately.” 

 

Scott says that in past years banks would simply refinance their balloon payment loans when they came due, but recently, come to find out… banks are “increasingly reluctant to do that.”

 

According to Scott…

 

“A lot of these loans were given when the properties were evaluated at a certain level in 2005 or 2006.  Banks have had to reappraise the value of these properties, whether it’s a church or a commercial office building.  Values have gone down, so the loans cannot continue in the same form.”

 

Hmmm… correct me if I’m wrong here, Scotty my boy, but that sounds suspiciously similar to a concept with which homeowners have become increasingly familiar of late.  It sounds like what you’re trying to say is that the churches can’t refinance because they’re “underwater,” meaning that they owe more than their properties are worth, isn’t that about right?

 

And not only that, but it also sounds like your saying that the churches took out loans that had enormous balloon payments due in five years.  Didn’t these churches know what they were signing, Scotty?  That sounds pretty darn irresponsible to me.  Reckless gamblers, I’d have to say.

 

You know what else it sounds like, Scott?  Predatory lending.  I wonder what would be happening to these churches if they had been offered low interest 30-year fixed rate loans.  Do you ever wonder that same thing, Scott?

 

Well, I’ll answer that question for you, Scott: It sounds to me like they wouldn’t be in foreclosure today, Mr. Scott Rolfs at investment bank Zeigler.  What would be your best guess?

 

Also, if banks were so concerned about churches being foreclosed on, why would they offer them loans with five-year balloon payments in the first place?  What would be wrong with a 30-year fixed on a church, for heaven’s sake.  (LOL… sorry.)

 

(By the way, in case you weren’t aware… five-year balloon loans are what fueled the foreclosure crisis that began in 1926, that along with the stock market crash of 1929, led to the Great Depression of the 1930s.  So, you’d think that bankers would already know how well they work as far as keeping a lid on foreclosures, right?  Or do we have some sort of educational deficiency or learning disability in play here?)

 

If banks cared about churches, they wouldn’t be putting them into loans that have enormous balloon payments due in five years, right?  That’s not the kind of loan you’d put your mother into… is it, banker-people?  Oh… or maybe it is.  Okay, point taken… bad example.

 

Well, regardless… it’s not the kind of loan that I’d put my mother into, let’s just say that.

 

Flat Rock Church in Lithonia, Georgia, was founded back in 1860. 

In 2005, the church wanted to build a new 300-seat church so it took out an $850,000 loan from Sun Trust Bank.

The loan came due in May of 2010, but wouldn’t you know it, Flat Rock Church didn’t have $850,000 laying around, and Sun Trust Bank wouldn’t refinance the loan because the church was now underwater. 

So, Sun Trust Bank foreclosed.  The church’s sale date has already passed.

 

Pastor Binita Miles said: “The bank has refused to negotiate and to this day I just don’t know why.”

 

The spokesliar for Sun Trust Bank was quoted as saying:

 

“We view foreclosure as an action of last resort. We have been working for several years to address the issue with the client in hopes of avoiding foreclosure.”

 

Is that right, Sun Trust Bank?  You guys have been “working for several years to address this issue in the hopes of avoiding foreclosure?”

 

Several years?  And you still couldn’t do it?

 

After several years working and you failed completely?  Several years trying everything that you bankers could think of and still… not a thing could possibly be done?  Even after several years working and hoping?

 

Why that must have been crushing for the bankers who spent several years working on this… HOPING… you did say they were hoping too, right?  They were hoping to avoid foreclosure… for several years… as they were working, right?

 

My Lord… to think of all that working and hoping going on for several years… and then after all that to just fail completely?  Wow… what a disappointment that must have been. You guys at Sun Trust must have been crushed.  How do you even go on after something like that?

 

Now, I don’t know who to feel worse for… the church folk, or the bankers at Sun Trust Bank?

 

Oh, wait a minute… hang on… maybe I do.  Here’s what Forbes Magazine had to say about Sun Trust Bank on April 18, 2012:

 

Leading up to SunTrust Banks‘ (STI) announcement of its first quarter earnings on Monday, April 23, 2012, analysts have become more bullish as expectations have improved over the past month from 29 cents per share to the current projection of earnings of 32 cents per share.

 

The current estimate reflects a 45.5% increase from a year ago, when the company reported earnings of 22 cents per share.  For the year, revenue is projected to roll in at $8.57 billion.

 

Yeah, that did it for me… I feel worse for Pastor Binita Miles and the church folk that since 1860 have worshipped at Flat Rock Church in Lithonia, Georgia.

 

Even if they are an irresponsible bunch.

 

As far as I’m concerned, the Sun Trust bankers can go… forgive me Pastor… straight to hell.

 

Mandelman out.

May
15

George Mantor | What “Banks” Really Do

What “Banks” Really Do Jamie Dimon, pompous ass of JP Morgan Chase, has gotten himself into an awkward situation. Losing $2 billion dollars, or was it three, or four or more, maybe much, much more. Somewhere in that massive financial fog known as derivatives, $865 trillion has gone missing so what is a couple of … Read more Related posts:
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May
15

Alabama Lawsuits Challenge Mortgage Electronic Registration Sys­tems

Alabama lawsuits challenge electronic mortgage system A national company’s mortgage registration sys­tem makes it difficult to track property title owner­ship and allows it to avoid paying county record fees, according to lawsuits filed by two Alabama counties in recent months. The cases filed by the Walker County Commis­sion and Barbour County’s probate judge are among … Read more Related posts:
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May
15

Husband’s Suicide Over Foreclosure, Wells Fargo to Evict Wife Anyway

Husband’s Suicide Yesterday, Wells Fargo to Evict Wife Tomorrow Anyway So, it was Sunday… yesterday… around 10:00 AM… and Norm couldn’t get the motorhome running. He must have realized that he couldn’t handle the shame of seeing his wife and stepson evicted with nowhere to go… living on the street. I don’t know how anyone … Read more Related posts:
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May
15

BIG BANK TAKEOVER | How Too-Big-To-Fail’s Army of Lobbyists Has Captured Washington

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May
15

Will America Ever Recover From The Housing Crisis (INFOGRAPHIC)

~ 4closureFraud.org TweetRelated posts: Infographic | The Higher Education Bubble In America House Oversight Committee | Failure to Recover: The State of Housing Markets, Mortgage Servicing Practices, and Foreclosures #OccupyWallStreet Ten Top 10′s (INFOGRAPHIC) Related posts:
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May
15

California | Brown Proposes Clever Raid of Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Funds

Brown Proposes Clever Raid of Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Funds This was inevitable. California is $7 billion more in the budget hole than they expected at the end of last year, and they need money from any source. The federal government delivered $410 million to California in the foreclosure fraud settlement. That money is supposed to … Read more Related posts:
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May
15

California | Brown Proposes Clever Raid of Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Funds

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May
15

Three Ranking Members and Others Introduce Legislation to Protect Servicemembers and Their Families from Foreclosure

Three Ranking Members and Others Introduce Legislation to Protect Servicemembers and Their Families from Foreclosure Plan to Offer Bill as Amendment to National Defense Authorization Act Washington, DC (May 15, 2012)—Today, the Ranking Members of three House Committees—Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Bob Filner of the Committee on … Read more Related posts:
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May
15

Trashed Out | Cash Buyer Sues Bank Over Foreclosure Error Claim – JPMorgan Chase Changed Locks, Seized Property

KC Man Sues Bank Over Foreclosure Error Claim KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City man is taking on banking giant JPMorgan Chase, accusing the company of something that he said would have landed anyone else in handcuffs. Allan Danforth bought a house in a short sale in fall 2010. JPMorgan Chase held the previous … Read more Related posts:
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May
15

A Letter to Brian Stevens at TBWS: We Need More Houses?

 

BRIAN!  Dude… My good friend… Mi amigo de la Hipoteca clase… My favorite lender defender from whom laughs do engender… please don’t take me an offender… but as the message’s sender… a response to you I’ll tender… and my views I’ll therefore render…

 

Okay, I give in… that TBWS Daily was hysterical.  I mean, people say I’m funny, but I can’t hold a candle.

 

Overall, I loved the show, but, if I may… there were just a couple things…  

 

Just to make sure I understand what you said there… the problem is that there aren’t enough homes for people to buy?  We’re having a shortage of houses for sale, are we?  Wow… you know, I was sleeping and woke up to today’s video and for a minute there, I thought I must have dozed off for a decade or more.

 

But seriously… I had no idea that was the problem.  Well, alrighty then… I guess I’m going back to work… Mandelman doesn’t matter anymore… our economic problems have been solved.  And, thank heavens for that, because I was getting darn tired of writing about… um… well… I guess you could refer to it as… oh, I don’t know… how about… “the truth?”

 

Get more houses on the market?  Seriously?  More houses is what we need?  Am I on Candid Camera, or is there a rabbit hole around here somewhere that I can’t see?

 

So, I guess what you’re telling me is that at this point, the banks are actually hoarding them… holding them back for their own heads?  Foreclosing on more and more of them every day because they have a plan to corner the deteriorating home market?  Or are they just trying to pay us back for bailing them out by offering to pay most of the property taxes in this country going forward?  Or, maybe they just have a handyman fetish, so the more vacant homes the better?  Nothing turns them on like monitoring property preservation companies?

 

Why would they be hoarding empty houses?  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was always under the impression that empty homes COST money as a result of their tendency to… what do they call it?  Oh yeah… decompose.

Aren’t banks the ones that are always trying to MAKE money?  Or have that backwards and banks are the ones that want to have the highest possible costs?  I can never keep that one straight… like eating eggs for breakfast… are they good for me or bad for me?  I can never remember… so I eat granola.

 

But, I digress…

 

Why do you suppose it might be that banks aren’t putting more homes on the market… or in the parlance of the economist… why are they limiting supply… making sure that it remains lower than demand?

 

Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?

 

 

Well, it can’t be because they don’t like money, right?  Right.  Okay, good.  I was pretty sure we’d have no argument there.

 

Could it be that they’re just so busy foreclosing and proprietarily trading credit derivatives for fun and losses, that they just haven’t realized that there are throngs of Californians and Arizonans clamoring to buy the homes they’re holding onto?  Again, I’d have to guess that… no, that can’t be it either.

 

Okay, let’s try this… What happens when the demand for a good exceeds its supply?  Oh, now lets not always see the same hands…

 

Brian?  Is that you I see in the back of the room doodling?  What’s that a picture of?  That’s you sitting at a table refinancing a four-plex for a dentist?  Yes, that’s very nice, but we’re trying to hold a class here, so if you wouldn’t mind…

 

So, what happens when the demand for a good exceeds its supply? Right, Brian!  Prices go up… or actually, in this particular case, they don’t go down as quickly.

 

And just what do you suppose would happen if the banks decided to make a bunch of homes available for sale, as you suggested is the thing to do in today’s TBWS Daily?  Do you think prices would tend to go up or down?  I’ll give you a hint… the answer is the opposite of “up.”

 

 

And, if home prices were to go down even faster than they are as a result of all of the other factors that haven’t changed a lick, except to worsen… you know… like, unemployment, long-term unemployment, foreclosures, average incomes… GDP… the state’s $16 billion budget deficit that’s about to constrict the state’s economy even further as we cut services and raise taxes on the wealthy… those kind of things?

 

Well, if home prices fell further and faster I’d have to venture a guess that more people would find themselves underwater and/or further underwater… and that would mean what do you suppose?  If you guessed further reductions in consumer spending, higher unemployment and more foreclosures… well, you’d be right once again!

 

And then what about all the people who, having been duped into believing that housing had bottomed, bought homes recently?  Would they be gaining equity or losing it?  Losing it, right!  And assuming an FHA/new-sub-prime loan was involved many would be underwater by Christmas… and you know what that would mean, right?

 

Even more foreclosures!  Maybe that’s why FHA is reporting almost 20 percent defaults on loans made SINCE 2009.  It’s kind of funny if you think about it… we’re actually creating foreclosures over at FHA even faster than we can foreclose down the street at Fannie and Freddie.  It’s very “Dr. Strangelove – Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb,” don’t you think?

 

 

And I did hear you say that the shortage was “at the low end of the market,” right?  I’m sure that’s correct, because that’s the end of the market that’s not only less expensive, but also less experienced.  Those are the folks easiest to convince to buy a home because it’s never going to be this cheap or the rates this low again… so, better hurry and get your offer in today… isn’t that about right, Brian?

 

Of course, I wouldn’t want to leave out my favorite flavor of scumbag, the vulture investors who envision this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to become full fledged slum lords, gouging the unfortunate and credit impaired with top tier rents for at least a decade while they put the absolute minimums into maintenance and scheme to hold onto security deposits in all cases.

 

No, I wouldn’t want to forget them.

 

See, it’s not that there aren’t enough homes on the market really, right Brian?  It’s that there aren’t enough homes that can be purchased below market value that’s the problem.  Realtors don’t really want more inventory… they want more inventory that can be purchased at distressed prices.  I’ll be happy to put my home on the market tomorrow, just not at a price at which it would sell any time soon.

 

Don’t get me wrong… I do understand that the banks dumping homes on the market at distressed prices would make summer fun for Realtors and mortgage brokers… and Lord knows I do like seeing you guys having a good time… after all, you’re always a fun lot to have at a party.

 

But, since the banks doing what you suggest under today’s circumstances would only push us further into a recession, with housing prices falling even faster than they will otherwise, thus creating even more foreclosures… thus further destroying the housing and credit markets once the fun ends… well, I’d like to humbly suggest that IT’S A TERRIBLE IDEA.

 

 

So, if you put it all together… the worsening employment and overall economic conditions (except in the media where it’s an election year), combined with the tightening of the already tight credit markets… and with the unabated flood of foreclosures on the horizon (forecasted to exceed the number of homes lost to-date, by the way)… and the permanently broken private securitization market… CA’s $16 billion and growing state budget deficit… and the need for Washington D.C. to reduce spending going forward…

 

… to say nothing of the EU’s high wire act, sans net, that’s destined to see one or two countries fall to their deaths sooner than we think, thus causing us to nationalize or bailout several or more of our TBTF banks once again… and then factor in the possibility of Mitt Romney and the GOP actually winning in November… OMG, OMG, OMG… consider all that…

 

… And you’ll want to eat a gun.

 

But… STOP!  Don’t do that.  That is NOT the answer, Brian.

Just like it’s NOT the answer to… “put more homes on the market.”

 

From your good friend who loves you… and as always I remain…

 

Most sincerely yours…

 

Martin

xoxoxoxoxo…

 

Martin Andelman

Mandelman Matters

 

P.S. If I’m in town, I think I’m going to come to Anaheim to see you guys… I figure you’re just dying to buy me a beer.  And tell Frank to be careful on that bike.

 

Mandelman out.

 

Hey, to subscribe to TBWS… CLICK HERE!

May
14

Husband’s Suicide Yesterday, Wells Fargo to Evict Wife Tomorrow Anyway

 

 

Just like the last VICTIM OF WELLS FARGO I wrote about, Wells Fargo claimed that Norman and Oriane Rousseau had missed a mortgage payment.  But the payment HAD been made in person at a Wells Fargo branch by Cashier’s Check, and Mrs. Rousseau has the receipt for the transaction.

 

The Rousseaus file a dispute with Wells Fargo over the supposed missing payment.  Wells Fargo “investigates” and comes back saying that the Rousseaus had stopped payment on the check.  They stopped payment on a Cashier’s Check?  Seriously?

 

I don’t want to spend too much time on this ridiculous point, so here’s how Rousseau’s lawyer explains this technical yet wholly insipid issue, and then we’ll move on…

 

The teller’s receipt establishes that the cashier’s check was in the custody and control of Wachovia on April 1, 2009, and the research by the Cashiering Department should have concluded that Wachovia screwed up by not applying the cash-equivalent funds to the Rousseau’s account. After delivery and acceptance to the branch office, it was Wachovia’s responsibility to safeguard the instrument; Wachovia itself effectively stopped payment on the cashier’s check.

 

Okay, so let’s get back to the meat of the story…

 

Concerned that they could not resolve the payment dispute but told they should apply for a loan modification, the Rousseaus hired a law firm and submitted a loan modification application.  After that it was standard operating procedure at Wells Fargo… we lost this, and we lost that, resend this, and resend that… for almost a year.

 

Good Lord, Wells Fargo, could you please do something differently just once?  This article is almost becoming a form letter.

 

Wells Fargo then of course told the Rousseau family not to make their payments, that they were being considered for a loan modification and that making their payments would immediately disqualify them.

 

So, they saved their payments just in case Wells decided to deny them a modification.  Saved every single one just in case the bank decided to act like… well, Wells Fargo Bank.

 

Then Wells sent them a Notice of Default, but when they called to say they wanted to reinstate their loan, Wells said what they always say… IGNORE IT… don’t worry about it, everything’s fine, it’s just an automated sort of thing… why, you’re being considered for a loan modification.

 

Then Wells filed a Notice of Sale on October 28, 2010.  Their home would be sold on November 22, 2010.  And still Wells said… IGNORE IT… it’s just another automated sort of thing… your loan modification is still pending… and please re-submit some documents.

 

It was November 10, 2010… just 12 days before their home was to be sold… when the Wells Fargo representative told the Rousseau’s that their loan modification had been denied.  The reason: Insufficient income.

 

Yeah, but you know the funny thing about that is that their income hadn’t changed a nickel since they applied for the loan modification.  So, what’s the deal?  Did it take Wells Fargo a year to figure out the Rousseau’s income was insufficient?  Is that the story I’m supposed to be buying into?

 

You’re a liar, Wells Fargo.  Either you knew you weren’t going to approve their loan modification, or you’re the most incompetent financial institution in the history of the world.  And you don’t just do this sometimes, you do this all the time… and especially to people in their 60s or older.  Why is that do you suppose? 

 

In case you’re wondering what I’ve been up to, I’m actually collecting Wells Fargo stories at this point.  I figure it’ll be a hoot to put them all together into a book.  What do you think?  Should I autograph a copy for you when it’s done?

 

That same day the Rousseaus found a lawyer and discovered they had a RIGHT TO REINSTATE their loan.  (Nice of Wells not to tell them that, by the way.)  They contacted Wells and requested a reinstatement quote… TWO DAYS LATER Wells finally gave them the phone number for RCS, the trustee.

 

 

But, RSC said that reinstatement would take two weeks and trustee sale was going off as planned in 8 days.  Wells got them their reinstatement quote too… it was dated November 15, but received via email on November 17, 2010.

 

And it expired in two days and had to be received in Texas by November 19, 2010.

 

The Rousseaus had more than enough in savings to reinstate their loan, they told Wells Fargo that… but now they couldn’t get the money from their IRA in time for the 2-day deadline and Wells refused to postpone the sale.

 

So, the Rousseau’s home sold at the trustee sale on November 22, 2010.

 

Next the Rousseaus go through a series of lawyers.  Finally, they get a good one and in July of 2011, the court grants an injunction contingent on them making a monthly payment of $1800.

 

But, by December of 2011, Wells finally wore the Rousseaus down and they just couldn’t make December’s payment.  They used up all their money fighting Wells Fargo, and Norm had been unemployed since the foreclosure.  He was taking odd jobs as a handy man to make ends meet.

 

Wells Fargo immediately goes to court… gets the injunction dissolved… then proceeds with the Unlawful Detainer… the lockout is set for May 15th, 2012… at 6:00 AM.

 

THAT’S TOMORROW MORNING… AT 6:00 AM.

 

Over this past weekend, Norm Rousseau talked with their attorney who is working pro bono by the way.  Basically, his lawyer tells him…

 

“Look… let’s face the facts here.  We’ll proceed with the lawsuit.  We’ll fight like hell to get you back in the home, but you have to be ready with some sort of plan so you’re not left homeless and on the streets.”

 

Norm found someone who has a 27-foot motorhome he can use, but after he gets it home on Saturday… it stops running… it won’t start.  But, Norm Rousseau is a man in his 50s with mad skills.  He goes to work around the clock taking apart the engine, doing everything he can to get it running so that on Tuesday morning he will have somewhere to house his family.  He’s up all night Saturday night, but still can’t get it running.  It’s too big to tow with a car.

 

His mind must have been wandering late on Saturday night.  What must a man, a father, a provider be thinking when he knows that everything in life has somehow gone terribly wrong and there’s nothing left to do?  He must have been imagining the sheriff pulling up to evict his family on Tuesday morning… just two days away, as the motorhome’s engine lay in pieces in his driveway.

 

I can only imagine what must have been going through his mind as he worked tirelessly, without sleep, on that engine and electrical system… as the clock ticked away the hours, I’m sure going faster and faster as time was running out.  Damn, it’s already 11:00 PM… then it’s 3:00 AM… and then 5:00 AM… and then before he knew it… a most unwelcome sun was shining… 9:00 AM…

 

I can almost hear him thinking: “Damn it, what am I going to do?  How could this have happened?”  I can hear him swearing under his breath as he fights with the old parts trying to get them to work together again… I can see him staring at the engine as the will to go on was leaving his soul…

 

Norman and Oriane Rousseau had bought their home in Ventura, California in 2000, putting nearly 30 percent down, which was their life savings.  In 2006, every time they went into the World Savings branch they’d get pitched on refinancing into one of World’s infamous Option ARM loans… that are now illegal, I believe.  After a couple of years of being pitched, they finally bought into World Saving’s lies.

 

They had told World Saving’s loan officer, ERIC COOPER, that they were only interested in obtaining a conventional 30-year, fixed-rate loan.  They wanted consistent payments over the life of the loan.

 

But COOPER assured them that they could significantly reduce their monthly payments… by more than $600 per month, with a lower interest refinanced loan. COOPER said that the new Pick-A-Payment loan product was better suited to their situation.

 

He described the Payment Option ARM as the new industry standard.  He pointed out that the lower interest rate and payment flexibility were valuable advantages that were not available with other loan products.  And he said that even more importantly, unlike the previous WORLD loans, the interest rate was tied to an index with historically low rates that were continuing to decrease.

 

According to COOPER, industry experts projected the interest rates to continue to fall, and so their monthly payments would be EVEN LOWER than their initial payments.

 

 

Even under the worst case scenario, COOPER assured them, the historical data for the index indicated that changes in the interest rate would only be slight, and if an increase should occur it would have a negligible effect on their monthly payments… no more than a few dollars.

 

And besides, COOPER explained, the loan would only be around for a couple years, as they should expect to refinance within the next two years to take advantage of even more favorable interest rates and as the steadily rising housing values would surely increase the amount of their equity in the property.

 

Then COOPER went for the close…

 

On the condition that the Rousseaus apply for the new loan that very day, he would agree to waive their pre-payment penalty, stating that there would be virtually no costs to refinance beyond a $35.00 application fee.

 

Yeah, COOPER, you’re a real peach.

 

COOPER also convinced the Rousseaus that it was in their best financial interests to consolidate approximately $25,000 in unsecured debt in the refinance transaction, citing the benefits of the lower interest rate and the convenience of having only one payment.

 

The Rousseaus provided COOPER with accurate and truthful information regarding their income and assets, and COOPER was such a nice guy that he offered to complete the Quick Qualifying Loan Application on their behalf.

 

Gee, thanks COOPER.

 

It was right around November 1, 2007, that WACHOVIA arranged for a notary to complete the closing at the Rousseau’s home.  The notary discouraged their review of the documents and directed them straight to the signature lines, but the Rousseaus noticed that a pre-payment penalty in excess of $4000.00 was included in the closing costs… the fee that COOPER had promised to waive if they applied that same day.  They called COOPER and he apologized for the oversight, but tried to get them to sign anyway, because it would only add a couple of bucks to their payment.

 

They said… no… they’d reschedule the appointment and wait for the four grand to be taken off their bill, thank you very much.

 

Two weeks later, the notary returned and they signed the paperwork for their new $368,000 state of the art loan.

 

Now, the Rousseaus didn’t know it at the time, but COOPER was a lying sack of garbage that had misrepresented just about everything having to do with their new loan.

 

The 7.2% interest rate of the new loan was actually higher than their old loan and higher than the 6.8% quoted by COOPER.  The “significant reduction in monthly payments” was an illusion accomplished by comparing the fully amortized payment of the 2006 loan with the negative amortizing minimum payment due under the new loan.

 

The new loan, at annual change dates, added deferred interest to principal and the loan amortized, with payment increases capped at 7.5% for ten years.  Then, the new loan recast when negative amortization reached 125%.

 

The Rousseaus were never told about the new loan’s fully amortizing payment of $2,497.94 per month, in fact their payment amount was intentionally misrepresented by COOPER.  And the new monthly payment could never decrease because it represented the minimum payment possible… the negatively amortizing option that meant payments would increase at each change date.

 

But that wasn’t enough for our boy COOPER.  The Rousseaus were charged $2,640.00 in origination fees for the “low cost” refinance, which made a tidy profit for World/Wachovia/Wells/Whatever bank.

 

And best of all, an undisclosed Yield Spread Premium (“YSP”) of $4,195 was charged for placing them in a loan with an interest rate .50% higher than they qualified for, and that YSP increased their monthly payments by $123.32, or $44,395.20 over the life of the loan.

 

The truth is that the Rousseaus were a heck of a long way from being considered well qualified for their new loan. Their fully amortized payment represented a total debt-to-income ratio of 27.91%, but that percentage was based on income figures that were grossly overstated by guess who? That’s right… COOPER.

 

The Rousseaus told COOPER their total gross annual income was, $76,000, but somehow it got listed as $136,800 on the application.  You know… the application that good old COOPER was nice enough to fill out for the Rousseaus.

 

 

So, it was Sunday… yesterday… around 10:00 AM… and Norm couldn’t get the motorhome running.  He must have realized that he couldn’t handle the shame of seeing his wife and stepson evicted with nowhere to go… living on the street.  I don’t know how anyone could face that reality.  I don’t think I could. 

 

How could it be that just 12 years before they had put their life savings down on their first and likely last home?  They had done everything right, but nothing was right anymore, and I’m sure to Norm Rousseau, nothing would ever be right again. 

 

Their church had offered to help them, maybe find them somewhere to stay temporarily, and that would be fine for his wife and her son… but not for him.  I’m sure he wept as he looked at the engine parts laying there, realizing that it was over.

 

Norm Rousseau called me a couple of months ago.  He wasn’t asking me to help him, in fact, he never even told me about what he was going through with Wells Fargo.  No, Norm was concerned about someone else who was losing a home.  A really good person who’s done so much for so many others, was how he described her.  It wasn’t right what the banks were doing he said.  He was hoping that I could do something to help someone he knew, because she was someone who had helped others… but he didn’t say a word about himself.

 

Norman Rousseau gave up over that engine that sits in pieces in his driveway today, the sun shining down making the metal parts hot to the touch.  Maybe it was the frustration of having nowhere to turn for justice, maybe it was the shame he felt that somehow he had let his family down… even though that was not the case at all.

 

Sometime mid-morning on Sunday Norm Rousseau ended his own life.  He went into his garage and shot himself.  At one point he could have reinstated his loan, that’s what he had planned to do, but Wells Fargo had made that impossible… they stripped him of everything he had.

 

And now, his wife and stepson are to be evicted at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning.  They have nowhere to go, they have no money, they are still in shock over the loss of Norm.

 

And I don’t know what to do really.  I’m going to call the sheriff’s office in Ventura… see if I can persuade them to drag their feet for a week before locking them out.  Their lawyer is trying to file something with the courts, but maybe you can think of something too.

 

Maybe you can forward this article to people in the media.  Tell them what’s going on… maybe someone will care enough to do something.  It’s 11:21 AM and I’ve been up all night again, I can’t really keep this up much longer… but somehow I felt like telling Norm’s story was the very least I could do.

 

Since Wells Fargo had already done the very least they could do.

 

Rest in peace, Norm Rousseau.

 

Mandelman out.

 

John Stumpf, CEO

john.g.stumpf@wellsfargo.com

Or, by phone: (415) 396-7018 or (866) 878-5865

Or, if you want to have some fun, since I know this physical address is correct, why not grab an envelope, buy a stamp and reach out to him via regular mail.  For extra smiles, consider throwing old keys in with your letter, or I’ve always enjoyed tossing a small handful of sunflower seeds in before sealing…

John G. Stumpf

Chief Executive Officer

Wells Fargo Bank

420 Montgomery St.

San Francisco, CA 94163

 ###

For a copy of the complaint in the Rousseau’s

lawsuit against Wells Fargo…

CLICK HERE.

May
14

Abigail Field | The Real Volcker Rule: No Gambling with the Public’s Money

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May
14

Ally (GMAC) Puts Mortgage Unit Into Bankruptcy

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