Posts Tagged ‘Gretchen Morgenson’

JP Morgan Chase CEO Is A Chameleon And A Snake

Monday, May 14th, 2012
Spiderman

Jamie Dimon may present himself as a apologetic CEO, but that is not his true face.

The Jamie Dimon Apology Tour is in full swing.

Perhaps you caught the first stop on this weekend’s Meet the Press. The chairman of JP Morgan Chase is trying to play us for suckers, publicly apologizing for his bank’s $2 billion loss.

He called it an “egregious mistake”. He claims he want to get rid of “Too Big To Fail”, and that he supported “portions” of the Dodd-Frank rule.

It might be one of the best acting performances I’ve seen all year. I think his chances of taking home an Oscar are all but guaranteed.

Maybe he had David Gregory fooled, (The NBC host’s lack of tough follow-up questions would seem to indicate it) but I am not buying it.

The reality is had JP Morgan not lobbied so hard against Dodd-Frank, and paid the lobbyists as much as they did, Dodd-Frank would have been much, much tougher, and Dimon would have $2 billion more in his coiffures.

It’s irony in its purest form.

This loss, which came on some very risky trades, is a perfect symbol of Wall Street’s hubris and greed. And it just goes to show you that the big banks have learned nothing from the crisis of years past.

And neither has Dimon. His apology on Meet The Press was the vocal equivalent of crocodile tears. He is another Chameleon, another Two-Face, putting on a public show for the masses, while privately lambasting anyone who is really looking to end “Too Big To Fail” when he thinks we are not paying attention.
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Oppenheim Law Round up: Debtors’ Prisons, Bank Settlements and Florida’s Nuclear Plants

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

Could you end up in jail for not paying your bills? Is our country’s need for speed going to derail efforts to end improper loan-servicing and foreclosure practices? How do Florida’s nuclear power plants compare to those in Japan?

Those are just some of the questions being asked this week from top tier business and real estate reporters around the country. Most importantly, the answers could have profound effects on Florida’s housing market and our country’s economy.

Welcome to Debtors’ Prison, 2011 Edition

More than a third of all U.S. states allow borrowers who are behind on credit-card payments, auto loans and other bills to be jailed, according to The Wall Street Journal Business Writer Jessica Silver-Greenberg.

However lawmakers, judges and regulators are beginning to crack down on this practice analogous to the Shay’s Rebellion 2.0 Oppenheim Law described almost a year ago.

In Florida, training this week for dozens of new judges moving to courts with the power to lock up borrowers includes a session about potential abuses of debt-related warrants. “Before we take away a person’s freedom, we want to ensure that there are procedural safeguards,” said Peter Evans, a Palm Beach County, Fla., state-court judge who proposed the session.

A Swift Deal May Not Be a Sound One

This country’s need for speed derailed the mortgage industry, and that same breakneck pace is threatening to ruin a bank settlement being devised by state attorneys general relating to improper loan-servicing and foreclosure practices.

Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times comments in her column, “While some might argue that a rapid approach will help borrowers, it is apt to benefit the banks far more.”
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Foreclosures Defense Close-Up: Ponzi Nation or Musical Chairs?

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Sharing my thoughts on Florida foreclosures yesterday with the NBC Nightly News team really brought back some past real estate scenarios.

Long before the Florida foreclosure meltdown and “double sold mortgage” became a widely used term, I represented a commercial pilot for a major airline who owned real estate in the Florida Keys. This client had a great house but wanted to live closer to mainland Florida so that he could be closer to work.

His decision? To sell his house. Nothing unusual… right?
Back then it took a few months to find a buyer, for the buyer to find a mortgage and then a few more weeks to close.

As the closing agent at Weston Title, my staff requested a pay-off letter from the lender and – to our utter surprise and the first time in my career – two banks lay claim to the loan. In other words the originating bank had sold the loan at least once, or twice, or maybe even more. Who really knows?

But as this client’s real estate defense counsel we could not figure out who owned the loan. Well… the real estate client lost the sale. We advised for him to rent out the property and place the monthly mortgage payments in escrow. He basically followed our advice, save the escrow.

Soon after, the banks started foreclosure. It became ugly and quite a mess. We counter-claimed and got real nasty. Even the judge and mediator could not believe the story. How could a well respected national bank have lost control of their real estate collateral and literally throw their good customer, a well respected professional, under the bus without any concern?
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