Posts Tagged ‘foreclosure settlement’

Friday Round-Up; Foreclosure Settlement Signed; Oversight Begins; Palm Beach Foreclosures Jump; Feds Offer REO Rental Rules

Friday, April 6th, 2012

cowboy lassoJudge Signs $25 Billion Foreclosure Settlement

It’s finally official. The so-called $25 billion foreclosure settlement has been signed off by a federal judge.

This comes after the settlement was filed in court last month. DC District Judge Rosemary Collyer did the honors Wednesday.

I won’t rehash my thoughts about what’s good and what’s bad about this settlement. Everything that needs to be said about it has been said.

You and I know that the banks will get more of a pass than they are entitled to for all of their robosigning shenanigans. In reality they are really only paying out about $5 billion in actual money, and I’ve still haven’t seen a single banking officer jailed.

Just remember this fight ain’t over yet!. This settlement was a necessary step, in order for the feds to move on to their investigation into securitized trusts.

THAT is where the banks will hopefully get what’s really coming to them.

Mortgage settlement oversight begins in North Carolina

Now that the settlement is official, the new government agency that will be watching the banks is now open for business.

North Carolina Banking Commissioner Joseph Smith is going to oversee the office and how the banks will receive “credits” towards the settlement for providing homeowners mortgage relief.

Relief, unfortunately, will often come in the form of transactions, such as short sales, that the banks were already doing before the settlement was announced.

“By itself, this settlement will not remedy every problem that system faces. But trust in our mortgage system can move forward if we use this opportunity to show fairness, transparency and accountability,” Smith said. “
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Foreclosure Settlement Filed; But Banks’ Crimes Go Largely Ignored

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

In the weeks after the mortgage settlement was announced by the Federal Government, I waited under baited breath to the see it in its entirety.

Almost every week I read a different report stating the documents to finalize the settlement were about to be filed in court.

And as each reported deadline came and went, I grew more and more skeptical.

Would the banks manage to sneak some last minute releases in? Would the lofty figures promised to beleaguered borrowers be diminished?

The good news, now that documents have been completed and released to the public, is that the answer to both questions is a sound no.

The banks are not getting any get-out-of-jail-free cards, claims against MERS and the securitization process are still very much on the table.

On the other hand, did I learn anything new about the massive frauds perpetrated by the banks? Not really.

There are pages listing what the government has now labeled as “Unfair, Deceptive, and Unlawful Loan Practices”.

The settlement does say that the banks violated federal laws, that they wrongfully denied modification applications, and overcharged for ‘forced place insurance, among other misdeeds.

It even finally acknowledges that the banks engaged in robosigning.

But these are things that my clients and I have long known.

If you’ve read the Wall Street Journal, or the New York Times, or any thorough news story on the housing crisis, there’s little in the mortgage settlement’s pages that will surprise you.

And that’s thoroughly disappointing. What the government has presented to the public is a complete white-washing of the robosigining and “fraudclosure” scandal. It acknowledges that the banks committed certain indiscretions yes, but I couldn’t find one concrete example, not one thorough examination of how it occurred.
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