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. 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

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

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

1. Strategic Default – The Banksters Keep Stealing – Why Keep Paying?
2. Devil’s Bargain: Wall St. & the Martin Act | Wherein BANKSTERS cry their rights to “due process” are being violated
3. Die Banker Die by J Glenn Lowe – A Tribute to Wall Street Banksters and Fraudgate

1. Deutsche Bank to Pay $32.5 Million to Settle Mortgage Suit – Massachusetts Bricklayers and Masons Trust Funds v. Deutsche Alt-A Securities
2. Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco v Deutsche Bank Securities Inc Et Al
3. KABOOM – JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse, Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Countrywide, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS et al Sued For FRAUD

1. Screw You Chase! JPMorgan Chase Takes $50,000 from Homeowner to Stop Foreclosure Two Days Before Denying Permanant Loan Mod
2. Homeowner Suffers Horrific Injustice at the Hands of JPMorgan Chase
3. FLORIDA (UN)FAIR FORECLOSURE ACT HR 213 LIVE IN COMMITTEE THIS MORNING VIDEO HERE

1. Ally (GMAC) Puts Mortgage Unit Into Bankruptcy
2. And Then There Was Five – Connecticut Attorney General Investigating Defective GMAC/Ally Foreclosure Docs, Demands Halt To Its CT Foreclosures
3. Mortgage Unit Troubles Ally (GMAC) Financial

1. Chris Whalen on Radio Free Dylan | A 30 minute podcast of Chris Whalen and Dylan Ratigan on Bank of America
2. Foreclosuregate Video – Bloomberg Interview of Chris Whalen “Foreclosure Issue is a Cancer”
3. Chris Hayes | Lobbying Firm’s Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO)

1. Pics and Video | Robin Hoods Storm Mortgage Banksters Conference in Chicago
2. The Moat Crossing Robin Hoods Return in Chicago to Invade the Mortgage Bankers Association Conference
3. I Can’t Wait to See More! | Robin Hoods Storm Mortgage Bankster’s Association Conference – This Time by Kayaking Down the Chicago River

1. The American Dream Film – Do Not Watch, Unless You Want to Know How You’ve Been Scammed by the Most Basic Elements of Our Government
2. Short Film | Danny Schechter – INSIDE OCCUPY WALL ST: HOW Occupy Wall Street Operates
3. Making Margin Call: An Interview with Writer/Director J.C. Chandor

1. BofA Lawsuit to Stay in State Court | State of Arizona vs. Countrywide, Bank of America, et al
2. Dutcher, Ferguson, Ahlers v. Recontrust, BAC, Bank of America | New Lawsuit Alledges Thousands of ILLEGAL Utah Foreclosures
3. Pot, Meet Kettle | Bank of America Sues HOA’s, Trustees and Collection Agencies Over Foreclosure Fees

1. Mitt Romney Talks With Florida Foreclosure Victims, Encourages Strategic Defaults and Principle Reductions
2. NY Times Editorial | Mitt Romney on Fraudclosures
3. Mitt Romney on Fraudclosures | Do Like Bondi Does and “Prosecute the institutions where there has been fraud”

1. Thank Attorney General Schneiderman for Standing Up for the Victims of Wall St. Crooks
2. What Does Wall Street Do for You? (Harm IMHO) Perhaps the best way to really appreciate what Wall Street does is to imagine life without it.
3. “Stunned” | AG Eric Schneiderman Opposes Fraudclosure Deal

1. Obama Prepares for War? | Executive Order – National Defense Resources Preparedness
2. Foreclosure Fraud Defense Connecticut – U.S. Bank National Association as Trustee v. Toni Ascenzia et al
3. 1st Annual Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Symposium at the PGA National Resort & Spa

1. Abigail Field | No, the Latest Bailed-Out Bank Giveaway Won’t Help Housing
2. Abigail Field | Moral Bankruptcy, the Bankers Edition
3. Abigail Field | Seeing Through Team Obama’s False Talking Points On the Latest Bank Giveaway

1. Three Ranking Members and Others Introduce Legislation to Protect Servicemembers and Their Families from Foreclosure
2. MILITARY FORECLOSURE RATE UP 32% OVER 2008 | 20,000 Servicemembers, Veterans Lost their Homes in 2010
3. GAO Report | HOMELESS WOMEN VETERANS Doubles from 2006 – Actions Needed to Ensure Safe and Appropriate Housing