WEEKEND EDITION, JANUARY 14 – JANUARY 18, 2013

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

ACADEMIA ADVERSARIES ADVOCATES BLOGOSPHERE LEGAL LEGISLATE OP-ED HOMEOWNERS NEWS
ForeclosureGate.org Is A Public Service Homeowner Coalition and Cooperative, Created To
Exchange News And Information And To Advance Justice For American Homeowners

ATTENTION CONSUMER ADVOCATES: PLEASE TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE THAT FILES FOR
THE ALREADY COMPLETED INDEPENDENT FORECLOSURE REVIEWS ARE NOT
SUBJECT TO LOSS, DESTRUCTION OR FOUL PLAY BY THE BANKS.
Matt Taibbi & William Black on How New Foreclosure Deal Spares Banks from Justice

Four years after the massive bailout that rescued Wall Street, we look at the state of the financial sector with Rolling
Stone’s Matt Taibbi and former financial regulator William Black. In a new article for Rolling Stone, Taibbi argues
the government did not just bail out Wall Street, but also lied on the financial sector’s behalf, calling unhealthy
banks healthy and helping banks cover up how much aid they were getting. The government’s approach to the
banks came under new scrutiny this week after it reached an $8.5 billion settlement for improprieties in the wrongful
foreclosures on millions of American homeowners, including flawed paperwork, robo-signing and wrongly….

Foreclosure drop has more to do with Foreclosure Predators Prey Upon Vietnam Vet
financial firms changing their tactics Who Owed $11,000 in Taxes, Lawsuit Claims

The number of distressed residential and
commercial properties falling into foreclosure has
fallen significantly since 2009 but the reason is
not necessarily a rosy real estate market. That’s
the take of Rich Kruse of Gryphon Asset
Management LLC on the falling number of
foreclosure cases filed in Franklin Common
Pleas Court. Let’s take a look at the numbers….
With this week's $3.3 billion settlement by banks
who engaged in faulty foreclosures, you might
think that the worst tales of the housing bust are
behind us. But the predators of the foreclosure era
are still out there, still making money on other
people's misery. According to a complaint filed
last month in King County Superior Court, just
such a scenario happened to Ames Larson….

Audit Regulator Criticizes Big Accounting Salinas woman sentenced to prison for
Firms foreclosure scam

Audit regulators said they have been seeing
more problems in big accounting firms' audits of
companies' "internal controls"—something they
fear increases the risk that the auditors won't
catch any financial error or fraud occurring at
their clients. Internal controls are a company's
policies and procedures meant to insure that its
financial statements are accurate….
A Salinas woman convicted of preying on
struggling homeowners in a "foreclosure rescue"
scam will spend more than three years in prison.
Blanca Sanchez, also known as Blanca Maciel,
received a 40-month sentence from Superior
Court Judge Mark Hood, the District Attorney's
Office said Thursday. Sanchez was convicted of
13 felonies by a jury in September after….

Study Shows a Pattern of Risky Loans by A gripping history of the 40 years since wealth
F.H.A. started falling up

A new and extensive analysis of 2.4 million loans
insured by the Federal Housing Administration in
recent years shows a pattern of risky lending that
could generate $20 billion in losses and harm
thousands of the nation’s most vulnerable
borrowers. By ignoring risks in loans it insured in
2009 and 2010, the study concludes, the F.H.A.
is imperiling both borrowers and taxpayers who
stand behind the agency….
Who stole the American Dream? The short
answer to the question in the title of Hedrick
Smith's new book is: The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce and Wal-Mart. But the longer answer
is one heck of a story, told by one of the great
journalists of our time. In his sweeping,
authoritative examination of the last four decades
of the American economic experience, Smith
describes the long, relentless decline of the….

Mortgage Overhaul Begins With Borrower Scrutiny Measure

The publication of a rule requiring mortgage lenders to confirm a borrower’s ability to repay is the start of an effort by
U.S. regulators to reshape the market blamed for sparking the 2008 financial crisis. The Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau is set to follow yesterday’s rule on mortgage underwriting with a second mortgage-related rule,
this one on servicing, at a hearing in Atlanta on Jan. 17. The rule is “a key first step of housing finance reform” by….

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 WEEKEND EDITION, JANUARY 14 – JANUARY 18, 2013

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2013

ACADEMIA ADVERSARIES ADVOCATES BLOGOSPHERE LEGAL LEGISLATE OP-ED HOMEOWNERS NEWS
ForeclosureGate.org Is A Public Service Homeowner Coalition and Cooperative, Created To
Exchange News And Information And To Advance Justice For American Homeowners

Foreclosure Review Insiders Portray Massive Failure, Doomed From The Start

Last January, dozens of independent contractors showed up for their first day of work at a large, single-story Bank
of America building in Tampa to right the wrongs of a foreclosure crisis that many had witnessed firsthand. Or so
they thought. They were lawyers, paralegals and other mortgage industry veterans. Along with thousands of other
contractors working at banks and auditing firms like Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the Tampa crew was
to comb through the mortgages of people whose homes were in foreclosure at the height of that….

Woman battles bank giants over faulty Moynihan: $8.5B foreclosure settlement adds
foreclosure up to 'a bad hour’ for BofA

Caylin Crawford found herself out of work after a
snowboarding accident and went to U.S. Bank
for some help with her mortgage. The 24-year-
old homeowner said she was up-to-date on her
monthly payments in January 2011 when she
called to ask about loan-modification options.
“They said, ‘We can’t do anything to help you
unless you are behind on your mortgage,’” she
recalled. “’So stop paying, and then we can
modify your loan.’” Crawford said she took the
bank’s advice. But the bank didn’t modify her….
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) CEO Brian
Moynihan reportedly called the $8.5 billion
settlement agreement with several large mortgage
servicers the equivalent of a “bad hour” for the
bank, which has over $400 billion in assets.
According to The Street, Moynihan made the
comment in testimony given as part of the
Charlotte-based bank’s ongoing legal battle with
insurer MBIA over liability for bad loans
underwritten by Countrywide. MBIA insured bonds
backed by Countrywide mortgages….

Cruel Joke: Feds oversee review of State Attorney General files suit against two
foreclosures foreclosure scammers

Federal banking officials are overseeing the free
reviews on primary residences that were in the
foreclosure process from 2009 through 2010. So
far, 474,000 cases nationwide are pending
review. The deadline for filing a request is Dec.
31. Last year, the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency and other agencies ordered 14
mortgage servicers to address problems with
their foreclosure practices….
“What we are really talking about is two
homeowners who lost the opportunity to get
legitimate help,” Zoeller said. “Both of these
people were robbed of the opportunity to get
legitimate help with their mortgage. Zoeller said
Blue Chip Group Inc. of Nevada and Certified
Legal Processing and Legal Preparation Services
of California violated the state’s Consumer
Protection Act by taking money up front from….

Foreclosure Defense in Miami-Dade Senators Introduce Legislation to Prevent FHA

I had a trial scheduled in Miami, and when I
arrived in court, it was apparent that dozens of
other trials had all been set for the same time,
before the same judge. While it’s never ideal to
have to sit around and wait for your case to be
called, it gave me the chance to watch other
cases. Wow, what a nightmare. As each trial
started, the judge made an unsolicited “offer” to
defense counsel of a 120-day sale date….
Bailout
In response, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania)
has introduced an amendment to reduce the risk
of what would be FHA’s first-ever taxpayer bailout.
The amendment—S. 3678, A bill to help ensure
the fiscal solvency of the FHA mortgage insurance
programs of the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, and for other purposes —is
identical to the….

Volunteer To Help Chicago Familes Stay In Their Homes

An opportunity to Reach Out to people on the South, West and North Sides about the Anti-Eviction and Anti-
Foreclosures campaigns in action to stop banks from turning homes/property into assets and reverse the cycle by
transforming them into community resources and family homes!

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 WEEKEND EDITION, JANUARY 14 – JANUARY 18, 2013

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

ACADEMIA ADVERSARIES ADVOCATES BLOGOSPHERE LEGAL LEGISLATE OP-ED HOMEOWNERS NEWS
ForeclosureGate.org Is A Public Service Homeowner Coalition and Cooperative, Created To
Exchange News And Information And To Advance Justice For American Homeowners

Investigation: 5 Banks Accused of Fraudulent Foreclosures in MA

Five of the nation’s largest banks are now violating an agreement with the federal government in Massachusetts,
according to an investigation of local foreclosure affidavits conducted by GoLocalWorcester. The investigation
involved nearly 200 affidavits from Ally, Bank of America, Citi, Chase, and Wells Fargo filed with the Registry of
Deeds in Worcester and Essex Counties and found that these documents had been expedited and signed without
required knowledge of the signer, which is in violation of federal standards banks agreed to uphold with the
federal government….

Borrower Has Standing To Challenge Madigan: Deadline For Foreclosure Settlement

Foreclosure Pooling And Servicing
Agreement
A Michigan state court found that a debtor may
oppose foreclosure on the basis that the
assignment of the mortgage to the foreclosing
party was in violation of the Pooling and Service
Agreement and, therefore, ineffective. HSBC
Bank, USA v. Young, No. 11-693 (Cir. Ct. Mich.
Oct. 16, 2012). HSBC conducted a foreclosure
by advertisement and bought the property at….
Claims Jan. 18
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today reminded
eligible Illinois borrowers that the deadline to file a
claim form to receive a payment under the
National Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement is
Friday, January 18. Approximately 64,000 Illinois
borrowers who lost their home to foreclosure
between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011
may be eligible to receive a payment under the
national settlement but only if they file a claim….

Wells Fargo Releases Commentary on State Man admits scheme to abduct Granite City
of Housing lawyer

The housing market has managed to be one of
the few areas in the economy that is “essentially
unshaken” by fiscal cliff uncertainties, according
to a commentary from the Wells Fargo Securities
Economics Group. Based on recent moves from
the Federal Reserve, the commentary further
noted the Fed “appears to be banking on a
housing recovery.”…
A man trying to avoid foreclosure on his home
acknowledged in federal court Tuesday in East St.
Louis that he hatched a plan to abduct and hold a
lawyer, living in Granite City, for ransom. But the
defendant, Brett L. Nash, 46, refused to admit
what prosecutors claimed earlier this year — that
he had considered various murder plots, including
a hot-tub electrocution that he would blame on….

Foreclosure attorney violated rules by having U.S. Must Rethink Housing Ambitions, BofA’s
others sign his name, court finds Moynihan Says

A Hunt Valley attorney who admitted to having
his employees sign his name to foreclosure
documents was found by a Baltimore
County judge to have violated three of
Maryland's rules of professional conduct for
lawyers, according to court records. Thomas P.
Dore engaged in behavior that was "prejudicial to
the administration of justice" by "routinely and
repeatedly" filing "with the courts affidavits…."
Brian T. Moynihan, Bank of AmericaCorp.’s chief
executive officer, said the U.S. government,
lenders and borrowers need to reset their
expectation that everyone can own a home. “We
need to look hard at some of the old assumptions
and ask the question is homeownership the right
solution for everyone?” Moynihan said today
during a speech at the Brookings Institution in
Washington….

Brockton, Massachusetts, Considers Eminent Domain To Address Foreclosures

In a move that’s pitting grassroots housing activists against Wall Street interests, the City Council of Brockton,
Mass., decided this week to commission a study into the feasibility of using eminent domain powers to seize the
mortgages of local residents struggling to pay off their loans. The plan being studied would essentially use
municipal government’s prerogative of eminent domain to take possession of foreclosed residential mortgage
notes, selling them back to residents, as the City Council resolution put it, “for the purpose of removing….”

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 WEEKEND EDITION, JANUARY 14 – JANUARY 18, 2013

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

ACADEMIA ADVERSARIES ADVOCATES BLOGOSPHERE LEGAL LEGISLATE OP-ED HOMEOWNERS NEWS
ForeclosureGate.org Is A Public Service Homeowner Coalition and Cooperative, Created To
Exchange News And Information And To Advance Justice For American Homeowners

More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross
Incompetence

No wonder the Fed and the OCC snubbed a request by Darryl Issa and Elijah Cummings to review the foreclosure
fraud settlement before it was finalized early last week. What had leaked out while the Potemkin borrower reviews
were underway showed them to be a sham, as we detailed at length in an earlier post. But even so, what actually
took place was even worse than hardened cynics had imagined. We are going to be reporting on this story in detail,
since we are conducting an in-depth investigation. But this initial report by Huffington Post gives a window on a good
deal of the dubious practices that took place during the foreclosure reviews….

Massachusetts SJC ruling could further Keep Your Home California adds mortgage
complicate foreclosure disputes servicers

The state’s top court on Monday ruled in favor of
a Canton woman fighting her foreclosure in a
decision that puts more pressure on lenders to
clean up seizure procedures, but also
complicates efforts for borrowers to seek court
relief from property take-backs. The decision
adds to several rulings made by the Supreme
Judicial Court over the last several years that
require foreclosing lenders to have proper….
Mortgage assistance program Keep Your Home
California now has more than 100 mortgage
servicers participating in the program, offering
ways for distressed homeowners to stay in their
homes. By adding more servicers, the federally
funded program can help more homeowners in
the state struggling to pay their mortgages
because of financial hardships, according to a
news release from Keep Your Home California….

Foreclosure funds slow to get to Report Looks at Impact of Foreclosure Crisis,

homeowners Recommends Future Policies

A $7.6 billion federal program to help prevent
foreclosures is still struggling to get money out to
homeowners more than two years after the
money went to states. Through November, $900
million had gone to homeowners, and another
$620 million had been committed to them in the
18 states and Washington, D.C., involved in the
Hardest Hit program, the Treasury Department
says….
This is the second part of an article summarizing
the chapter on Mortgages from a Center for
Responsible Lending (CRL) research paper
titled The State of Lending in America and its
Impact on U.S. Households. Part one reviewed
the role of the government in housing finance and
looked at major players in that market. The
authors estimate that 12 million homes went into
foreclosure between January 2007 and June….

Realtors working to develop foot traffic index
In an effort to get the earliest reading possible on
the housing market, economists at the National
Assn. of Realtors are developing a national index
that measures foot traffic, or visits to houses for
sale. NAR already has an index for pending
home sales, which measures signed contracts. It
is a forward-looking indicator that is roughly 30 to
60 days ahead of another key market….
Occupy Fights Foreclosure Moves Family
Back Into Home for the Holidays
On December 14, 2012 Bank of America
breached their promise to our country that there
would be no evictions during the holidays and
evicted Soledad Corona, a single mother with a
teenager, at gun point. In response, Occupy
activists will help the mother to take back her
house because Bank of America has failed to….

Glazer Vs. Chase Home Finance

Page 8: Next, Glazer challenges the dismissal of his FDCPA claims against RACJ arising out of its conduct in
relation to the attempted foreclosure on the Klie property. The district court ruled that these claims failed because
RACJ’s activities in bringing a mortgage foreclosure action were not debt collection. The question is whether
mortgage foreclosure is debt collection under the Act. We hold that it is and therefore reverse….

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 WEEKEND EDITION, JANUARY 14 – JANUARY 18, 2013

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2013

ACADEMIA ADVERSARIES ADVOCATES BLOGOSPHERE LEGAL LEGISLATE OP-ED HOMEOWNERS NEWS
ForeclosureGate.org Is A Public Service Homeowner Coalition and Cooperative, Created To
Exchange News And Information And To Advance Justice For American Homeowners

The Foreclosure Fiasco

It’s been five days since Jessica Silver-Greenberg’s article on the latest bank settlement was posted on The New
York Times’s Web site. I’m still shaking my head. Her “story behind the story” of the $8.5 billion settlement between
federal bank regulators and 10 banks over their foreclosure misdeeds illustrates just about everything that is wrong
with the way the government has handled the Great Foreclosure Crisis….

$8.5B settlement with loan servicers opens a Small Bank Exemptions

big can of worms
"The Independent Foreclosure Review," says the
FAQ, "provided homeowners the opportunity to
request an independent review of their
foreclosure process between November 2011
and December 2012." Actually, the program
provided no such thing. To have an
"independent" intermediary both parties must
have an opportunity to pick a neutral third party.
There was none. The reviewers were selected by
the servicers….
Community banks and credit unions are the
darlings of Congress in the financial services
industry. This is quite understandable--they play
an important economic role in their communities
and have a much greater civic presence than the
big banks. The president of the local community
bank is much more likely to be involved in major
civic organizations than the Bank of America
branch manager….

Maine's General Fund benefits most from
mortgage settlement
Six months ago, the state of Maine received $6.9
million, its share of a landmark national
settlement between states and the nation's five
largest banks that engaged in foreclosure abuse.
The money was supposed to be used for
consumer-related efforts to assist affected
homeowners and to help prevent future
foreclosures. But only a small amount of that
total -- $1.5 million -- went to fund direct
assistance. About $1 million went to the….
Soledad Corona Gets Help From Occupy L.A.
To Return To Her Foreclosed Home For The
Holidays
Soledad Corona claims the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s department forcibly removed her from her
home on Dec. 14 even after her loan provider,
Bank of America, said it wouldn’t kick her out
during the holidays, CBS LA reports. After
breaking the lock Sunday night, Corona and about
20 members of Occupy L.A. are hunkering down
inside the home with food, anti-bank signs and
Christmas lights.

Early Buyers of Single-Family Homes Score
Big by Selling Properties in Bulk
The business of investing in portfolios of
distressed single-family homes has come to the
point in its current cycle that investors who got
into the game early are beginning to cash out.
Consider MACK Cos., a Chicago rental and
property-management firm that has been buying,
upgrading and renting single-family homes since
1997. Now MACK has sold a portfolio of 196
homes in the suburbs south of Chicago to
American Residential Properties, a….
U.S. Eyeing Mortgage Refinancing Program
Move That Could Put Taxpayers At Risk:
Report
The U.S. government is considering expanding its
mortgage refinancing program to include
borrowers whose mortgages are not backed by
Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac, the Wall Street
Journal reported, citing people familiar with the
discussions. The refinancing program now being
considered also seeks to include "underwater"
borrowers who owe more than their homes are
worth, the Journal said….

Bank Deal Ends Flawed Reviews of Foreclosures

Federal banking regulators are trumpeting an $8.5 billion settlement this week with 10 banks as quick justice for
aggrieved homeowners, but the deal is actually a way to quietly paper over a deeply flawed review of foreclosed
loans across America, according to current and former regulators and consultants. To avoid criticism as the
review stalled and consultants collected more than $1 billion in fees, the regulators, led by the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency, abandoned the effort after examining a sliver of nearly four million loans
in foreclosure, the regulators and consultants said….

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