Click Through to View
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray talks about the probe by attorneys general in all 50 states into mortgage foreclosure practices and the disclosure by Wells Fargo & Co. that it found flaws in court documents. Wells Fargo, the biggest U.S. home lender, said it will file supplemental foreclosure affidavits to courts in about 55,000 proceedings after finding some statements “did not strictly adhere to the required procedures.” Cordray speaks with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness.”
(Source: Bloomberg)
~
Wells Fargo bought our home equity loan about 8 months ago. Our home is worth about $80,000, the home equity loan (which is all we owe on it) has a $8,000 balance on it. We, like many people now, live paycheck to paycheck. We have been late on our $176.87 payment to Wells Fargo several times over the last 8 months. Each and every time we have been late (NO MORE THAN 6 DAYS PAST DUE! WELL WITHIN THE 15 DAY “GRACE PERIOD”) Wells Fargo reps have called THE DAY AFTER THE DUE DATE! and harrassed us several times per day even after speaking personally with us. We have demanded that they call only once per day yet they call over and over and over again! They claim that their records show that there was no answer to the previous calls made that day, so, I recorded the calls (YES!!! it IS legal in the State of Texas) and demanded to speak to a supervisor of the abusive tactics. I was THREATENED by the supervisor! She told me I had “broken the law” by recording Wells Fargo’s calls to ME! She offered no appology for the number of calls we were getting per day, claiming they are done by computer so they are not responsible.
I belive that Wells Fargo is trying to force us out of our home for simply being a few days late!
It’s important not to let the focus of all the bank fraud be narrowed to robo-signers, and improperly transferred documents. Based on all their actions and comments to date. the Wall Streets players in the White House (Bernanke, Geithner,Bair, Donovan, etc) don’t intend to let the law stop the foreclosures for long, nor do they intend to resolve this by saving those struggling homeowners who can afford their homes with moderate loan modifications.
There is a real risk that Americans who ARE keeping current on their mortgages, hearing mostly of robo-signers, think that those in foreclosure are just deadbeats looking to skip on their obligations over a small technicality.
EVERY story on this topic needs to emphasize the following:
1. The banks KNOWINGLY created the financial crisis by selling mortgages that made no sense.
2. The banks influenced Washington to deregulate to the point that they could defraud America.
3. The banks KNOWINGLY packaged and sold these mortgages with false triple-A ratings, defrauding their investors.
4. The banks actions drove housing prices to unsustainable levels.
5. As the banks saw that the bubble they created was going to burst soon, they placed bets on mortgage failures, while creating and selling even riskier mortgages, helping to insure that they could make a killing when the bubble they created finally burst. (all the while selling these mortgage packages with triple-A ratings!)
6. Washington knew about this and did nothing. The FBI identified rampant mortgage fraud but Washington, controlled by Wall Street, did nothing.
7. In the late 1990’s then HUD secretary Cuomo identified rampant mortgage fraud, made some headway in exposing it, and then, did nothing!
8. No one has been locked up for this fraud.
9. The banks received government bailouts to save them from their mistakes.
10. The banks paid out record salaries and bonuses while evicting records numbers of homeowners whose misfortune was largely caused by the banks.
11. The Federal Government and the banks advertised Loan Modifications for struggling homeowners, who had suffered legitimate hardships like loss of a job.
12. Struggling homeowners, went to the governments makinghomeaffordable.gov website, entered all the numbers and were told that they were good candidates for a modification. (or they got similar info from their banks directly)
13. Thinking that the loan modification was the “silver lining” to their economic plight… a plight due to HARDSHIP that they didn’t cause (unemployment, etc), struggling homeowners applied for loan modifications
14. THE BANKS ACTED IN A CONSISTENTLY, AND DELIBERATELY DISHONEST FASHION IN HANDLING LOAN MIDIFICATIONS. This is a key point. If the banks and the government were honest about modifications, homeowners cold make proper financial choices, rather rthan being “kicked while they were down and out.”
15. The banks didn’t meet the guideline to process modification requests within 30 days, offering a 3 month trial modification or a legitimate rejection within 30 days, Instead they opted to initiate foreclosures first, then trial modifications.
16. The banks failed to meet the 3-trial payment guideline, instead keeping people on trial for 5,7 10, 12 months, only to reject them.. even though every payment was made on time, and every document provided.
17. The FDIC Loan Modification Guidelines. which were, for some time, hidden, state on page 3 that the program “mandates that the cost of a modification must be less than the estimated cost of foreclosure.” In other words the banks should only provide a modification if it was in their best interest. the program was designed to help the BANKS. Any homeowners who were helped were just a coincidental benefit. For example, if a struggling homeowner has substantial equity in their home, the FDIC guidelines indicate that a modification should NOT be granted! Fair or unfair guidelines isn’t the issue. False advertising and dishonest “pre-qualification” by our own government and the banks, lured people into bigger problems than they already had, and steered them away from other options to keep current on their mortgages… such as tapping retirement accounts, taking on tenants etc.
18. This isn’t just a matter of helping homeowners who stopped paying their mortgage payments. There are also millions of Americans who are managing to keep current but whose homes have lost value. These losses, also created by the banks actions, will never be fully recovered.
All those who perpetrated this great fraud, must GO TO JAIL. People like Jamie Dimon, head of CHASE, must be held accountable, at least for his banks despicable behavior dealing with millions of struggling homeowners.
We MUST institute a separation of WALL Street and Washington. This is absolutely ESSENTIAL. Or we will only face another, likely bigger, crisis down the road. The regulators in Washington CANNOT have ties to Wall Street. If Washington had been regulating, rather than turning a blind eye to the rampant fraud that they were well aware of, we would not be suffering through his horrible mess!
Lastly it should be noted that not every struggling homeowner could or should be saved. Certainly some are dishonest and wittingly gamed the system. For some others there is just no financially sound way to save their homes. But there are millions who can and should be saved. And the vast majority of those, don’t want their homes free and clear due to paperwork error. They just want fair mortgages, perhaps at current rates, and a chance to survive….. or alternately an honest and humane path to a soft landing and exit from their homes. Is that really so unreasonable?
I don’t know if you wrote this off the top of your head, or found it elsewhere and c/p’ed it, but wow, is that spot on. I’ve copied it and forwarded it to all my family and acquaintances – especially those that only find fault with the ‘dead-beat’ homeowners. Touche…
erkme73: Thanks! It was written right from the top of my balding head. It’s not difficult, since I’ve been living and breathing a CHASE Loan Modification nightmare for months. I’ve never believed in conspiracy theories, but having personally experienced the consistent and deliberate deceit by Jamie Dimon’s CHASE bank, and after seeing the amazing documentary “Inside Job” I realize that the entire financial meltdown was orchestrated from start to finish by greedy financial institutions , and done so with the full knowledge of Washington.
Can you believe that Timothy Geithner stated on the Charlie Rose show that “You’re seeing some banks suspend temporarily, the foreclosure process, so they can just make sure they aren’t causing any injustice to the borrowers” ? Geithner doesn’t believe for a second that the banks suspended foreclosures to protect homeowners. His characterization of the foreclosure suspensions as an act of conscience, tips his hand. He is just another agent of the banks, with little interest in the homeowners. I respected him until he uttered those words. Now I just look at Mr. Geithner with great disappointment and distrust.
I think anybody with any shred of a chance to keep their home, should be offered a new mortgage at current rates. At worst they’d foreclose later…. spreading out the pain and the negative effect on housing prices. At best, a bunch of hardworking Americans would be able to keep their homes. During the great depression the government bought over 1 million mortgages.
BTW, CHASE even sent a written request for my DEATH CERTIFICATE!! Really. You just have to laugh! It’s better than crying! I actually went to the doctor and confirmed that I was, in fact, still alive, not dead, in a new American hell!
I also thought that your post was very well written. It is amazing how much knowledge and insight some of the posters have. You definitely have the knowledge. Great Post. Keep them coming.
Is this the quite before the storm? or are the back room deals going on? these banksters have stoloen our homes ,our credit ,making sure we dont get jobs and what next ? debtor jails? have we reverted back to the middleages? It appears that way with the raping and pilliaging happeing all over the country from these banksters
And not a peep on the evening news… The silence is deafening.
The Big Bankers and Lenders will be given a slap on the hand, minor fines and let go to do it all over again. After the Financial Stimulus was given to bankers, Insurance Companies, and Auto manufacturers the politicians on the right were screaming their heads off about it. Now, look at them. They are silent. they blame we the people (The Borrowers) for this mess. Watch for another bailout for Banksters and a swift kick in the rear for all of us. Greed of the Rich just makes them want more power, control and begets more greed. Even the State Governments will bend over backwards for these criminals. We will get the shaft again, and again, and again. This Election cycle is just another sham. Watch, when the Republicans take control of Congress, and/or senate, they will throw us under the bus, in favor, of you know who. The Corporate Banksters and Defrauder’s.
I wrote a song that I think captures the greed and consumer naivete that helped lead to this mess. Check it out at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnYZJB-8tf8
It’s called the Foreclosure Blues.
It’s fantastic !!!
If Wells is acknowledging that they found 55,000 filings with “flaws” in them, then you can just about bet that there 55,000 X 10 already forclosed homes that had “flaws” in them. Why the does the court system allow them do-overs. This is not a game of Checkers or any other child’s game. The question should be asked is why couldn’t they have done this right in the first place. They defrauded the court and they should not be allowed to fix the fraud. They should be jailed and case dismissed with prejudice for the “flawed” filings. Fraud is fraud no matter who is doing it. The courts have to start to make these guys accountable–don’t really believe that will happen.
THE COURTS WERE MAKING MONEY WITH FORECLOSURES AND NOW THAT ITS SLOWING DOWN THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT GETTING PAID. JESUS, WHAT NEXT.THAT WAS IN THE PAPER IN FL.
End The Fed!
, who is checking on Deutsche Bank National Trust Company and Wilshire Servicing. They have forclosed on my home in 2009 with false doc.s and frauded the court in Florida, Hawaii and Texas as well as other states. Where is the investagation on the mega company, or are they paying off more people to keep the mouths shut
i hope we wont be waiting long for those arrests!
i hope we wont wait long for a nationwide moratorium on all foreclosure proceedings, either.
sounds like the administration is really helping a lot.
Good. Now, how about making some arrests for fraud and for obstruction of justice for lying to you?
sure hope they get them , I have prayed about it. My family three grandkids and my mother who is 89 and myself all live in tents since we lost our home in florida due to fraud on the court by Deutsche Bank and the forclouser warehouse lawyers the have hired to falsif;y the paper work.
Sheila- there is not statute of limitation on Fraud. search the internet- there may be help out there-free help. stop the fraud 2010!