Foreclosure Fraud in the Wake of the Great Recession
What happened and can it happen again?
When
June 7, 2016
12:15 pm – 1:30 pm
Where
New America
740 15th St NW #900
Washington, D.C. 20005
Among the painful legacies of The Great Recession is the extent to which it wreaked havoc on the family balance sheet. As the housing bubble burst and prices declined, home equity disappeared and millions of American families experienced a precipitous decline in their assets and net worth. But those that were able to stay in their homes were able to weather the storm. Others couldn’t. Tragically, something more nefarious and preventable was also in play—foreclosure fraud. Scores of families were evicted from their homes based on false evidence by mortgage companies that had no legal right to foreclose.
In his new book, Chain of Title, David Dayen chronicles how a small group of people uncovered large-scale corporate malfeasance that undermined that financial security of families across the country when they were most economically vulnerable. It is a cautionary tale of how firms operating in the financial services marketplace can behave badly and an inspiring story of citizens fighting back.
Join us for a discussion of foreclosure fraud in the wake of the Great Recession and how it led to new policy tools through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Join the conversation online by using #ChainofTitle and by following @AssetsNA.
Participants:
David Dayen
Author, Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud
Julia Gordon
Executive Vice President, National Community Stabilization Trust
Brad Miller
Former Member of the House of Representative (D-NC) and Member of the House Financial Services Committee
Reid Cramer
Director, Asset Building Program, New America
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I lost my home due to massive foreclosure fraud in 2012 and there was nothing to stop it.
It was a total scam working with the loan modification program, which was just delay tactics until the lawyers and courts could fit you into their schedule to force the foreclosure.
I had some financial difficulties, but those were resolved. I was working with Chase Bank and they were supposedly working with me to bring my account current. That was blocked in court by the lawyers. I even offered to pay the loan off, which was also blocked.
I found out later that with FHA and the PMI, the banks made more money forcing the foreclosures where the government guaranteed the banks 80% of the loan amount through the PMI and auctioned the house off later for more profit.
I was even offered from Chase Bank to do a cash for keys, but the lawyers blocked that too!
Apparently they got worried that I was figuring out their scam so they did an “IN REM” foreclosure, which is against the property only and not me personally.
Actually the foreclosure doesn’t even show as ever happening against me.
During my moving before the foreclosure was finalized, they went in and changed the locks, (WITHOUT A COURT ORDER), and stole over $25,000 of personal property.
That was reported to the police, but they did nothing!
Basically, if anyone gets targeted by the corruption, you’ll lose.
They are above all laws and they make new laws when necessary to cover their scams of theft!
You can’t win in the corrupt courts!!!
WE also were victims of unlawful foreclosure. We went to court with enough evidence of the wrong procedures of the bank, the judges and the whole corrupt court system. Until we band together to fight for our rights the banks the judges and the court system will keep breaking the laws that were put in place to protect the homeowner.
I worked with several other people back then that went through the foreclosure fraud and we couldn’t receive any justice for the crimes committed by the banksters, lawyers, and judges.
Hiring your own lawyers to work for you turned out to be a waste of money too!
I was even told by one lawyer that the judge that helped push through the fraudulent foreclosures in his courtroom retired a couple of years later with millions in kickbacks.
It’s all abuse of power! They might as well have taken everyone out to the alley behind the court, put a gun to their heads and say sign over your home because you lose. That’s how bad it was! We even had the Court Recorder supplying us with documents that showed the fraud committed by the court and he wanted it stopped too! He was tired of seeing his neighbors thrown out to the street by the legalized thieves, but that didn’t help either. This all started with the bankster bailouts! The too big to fail, and the too big to jail! The taxpayers were forced to bail them out so they could turn around and throw the taxpayers out of their homes. Who are the real bank robbers? The people that walk into a bank with a gun demanding money or the people working in the bank in high positions pushing their pens robbing their customers blind with their scams and fraud?
I even heard that they had new laws put in place now to streamline the time it takes to complete the fraudulent foreclosures. The new round of homeowners that will be experiencing this now will have absolutely no chance to have anything investigated. I read reports that stated that there were about 7.6 million foreclosures the first time around when all of this fraud started, and in 2016 they estimate that there will be another 7.4 million more new foreclosures. It worked out great for the banksters, lawyers, and judges the first time, with no one going to jail, so why not do it again? They just pay a fine and do no time! Now they just budget the fines into what they are stealing and still earn big profits. And who collects those fines? Someone that also benefits from the scams and fraud, that only allows the scams and fraud to continue so they can also line their pockets? I really don’t see where people banding together is stopping anything. Even if you have the money to pay off your loan, they will decline accepting your payment and force the foreclosure if they see that they’ll earn more money by forcing the fraudulent foreclosure. The PMI is a huge scam! The homeowner pays the premium for the mortgage insurance and then the bank collects on the insurance after the bank forces the homeowners out of their homes with their foreclosure fraud. Now they have a new insurance scam! If you have an FHA loan and even if you put down over 20% as a down payment on a property, you will have to pay MIP. They just shifted the letters around! Apparently that is the new insurance scam for people putting down a 20% or higher down payment with FHA. Some people say to avoid FHA, but when you are disabled, that is about the only choice you have in receiving financing for a home. I’ll watch to see how long this Comments section lasts before it gets taken down. There were other Comment sections at other websites out there before where people were sharing their experiences about the foreclosure fraud and those were eventually forced to be taken down. The judges, lawyers, and banksters evidently have the power to silence their victims of their scams too! Like I said before, once you are targeted for foreclosure, you can’t win!