Foreclosure Reform Deal With Banks Still Far Off: State Attorneys General

New York Times:

Changing the face of foreclosure in America will take some time, several state attorneys general said Wednesday, cautioning that an agreement with major lenders over revamped foreclosure practices was not imminent.

"We want to move as quickly as possibly but it has to be done right," said Roy Cooper, the attorney general of North Carolina. "We have plowed this ground before."

Ever since the law enforcement officials from all 50 states signed on last month to a highly publicized investigation of big mortgage lenders, there has been a public tug of war.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[maxwelllaw]

09:35 PM on 12/06/2010

Best thing for a debtor to do right now is to seek the advise of an attorney in times like this.

http://concordnclawyer.com

[RightToCancel]

04:11 PM on 11/18/2010

1 The most rewarding things about this epic battle that is the foreclosure fight is meeting homeowners and other advocates who are standing up and fighting for themselves and fighting for the heart and soul of our courthouses. Our courts, our judges, our way of life is being transformed right before our eyes as real people are going into our courthouses and fighting for their homes and their own families. http://righttocancel.com/
In some ways I'll bet many of the judges appreciate seeing real people in their courtrooms. For decades judges have slaved away, largely in obscurity with only other lawyers to interact with. Now, they see some real people and hear their stories first hand, not filtered through their lawyers.
We have only seen the tip of the mortgage crisis. The scariest part currently of this crisis is that people are losing hope.The common consensus is "why bother...the bank doesn't care...why should I? I will just go rent." The American dream has gone from aspiring to own your own home to just hoping to keep your home. http://righttocancel.com/
If you feel that you have been a victim of predatory lending practices or are currently facing a foreclosure, contact us today and learn how you can take action against your lender using our proven administrative procedure that has already help so many people fight back against the banks and get resolution! [e-mail] Office: 813-321-5114

[wtf-please]

02:14 PM on 11/18/2010

Class action lawsuits are being readied for the fraud loans and market manipulation that shattered our economy and your homes value.. buckle up

This one is for all the non foreclosure people losing money and value on the inventory dump... 'member supply and demand.. :) sweet

[lawgrace]

01:17 PM on 11/18/2010

The current Congressional hearings on Hearing on Mortgage Services and Foreclosure Practices are exercises in futility until such hearings include a THOROUGH probe of the LETHAL role of lawyers regarding mortgage and real estate repossessions!

It alarms me that the 'Elephant in the Room' (hiding in plain sight) continues to not undergo investigation! Foreclosure fraud is IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT an Officer-of-the-Court (a lawyer) filing civil, as well as bankruptcy judicial pleadings!

Investigations exclusive of the very lawyers who file court pleadings seems like a dog and pony show. Lawyers are required to prosecute legal claims by means of law, rather than predilections! Even if / when mortgage lenders instruct lawyers to file inappropriate or unlawful documents, a LAWYER is obligated to advise what can and cannot be lawfully done!

Our nation’s mortgage crisis has finally caused serious pondering of factors that indicate a mammoth creature (I am certain it is the judicial elephant!) might be the driving force for this incredible Banking debacle!

For myself, and people who ask me to help, I HOPE a graphic TRUE STORY, spelling out methods that judicial systems are utilized to accomplish fraudulent real estate conveyances, and unlawful collections, is a catalyst for needed CHANGE. The epitomizing foreclosure story is found here:

Foreclosure Fraud Assault - A Cry For Help
http://newsblaze.com/story/20101116120222nnnn.nb/topstory.html

[msjimmied]

12:42 PM on 11/18/2010

Want to listen to non stop bank BS...listen to them testify as to how they're "helping" homeowners, live and on now.

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2010/11/18/HP/R/40908/Lawmakers+Question+mortgage+servicers+on+Robosigning.aspx

[grasyknol]

11:07 AM on 11/18/2010

We had a very good AG in Ohio going after the banks. Unfortunately, the voters elected a pro-bank AG in his place a few weeks ago.

Elderly people show up to vote. And the President's supporters from 08 didn't show up. Bill Maher is right. Instead of crying about the state of the economy, we all better do some reading and figure out who the culprits are who hijacked our economy.

But I'm not holding my breath.

[whitemale08]

10:33 AM on 11/18/2010

The deal is the banksters wants to create an ESCROW FUND, financed by more bail outs, to punish victims of mortgage fraud even more with endless red tapes and impossible hoops to jump through.

Imagine that,
NO JUSTICE OR PRISON FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD, the criminals can circumvent law by creating a phony ESCROW ACCOUNT that you have to prove you were a victim.

Imagine that,
Bernie Madoff should NOT have went to jail because, according to BoA and JP Morgan, he could've just created an ESCROW FUND so that the victims of his PONZI scheme could be tied up in endless applications for 'victim status'.

The American SUCKER, you gotta love 'em.

[Snarkyone]

08:55 AM on 11/18/2010

Enough is enough, matches are cheap....

[breakingpoint]

08:44 AM on 11/18/2010

killose a bank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN0rcNJXFfI

[Paul Sta]

08:31 AM on 11/18/2010

Because banks know we are only bluffing, I heard the hearings, the banks, had no excuses for their actions, and continually claimed, that the borrower was their priority, and they prioritize a loan modification, basically an incrediBle pack of lies. The opposition Attn Levin, did an outstanding job, counter-point for counter-point, basically completely unraveling the banks pack of lies.

[realitytrumpsbull]

08:27 AM on 11/18/2010

If you're not in the real estate market, there is no crisis.

[USNDC]

08:27 AM on 11/18/2010

They will hammer out a tough agreement on the day of the last foreclosure.

[BlairCase]

08:41 AM on 11/18/2010

The state attorney generals might encourage their legislatures to pass laws temporarily suspending foreclosures. The Supreme Court upheld a Minnesota law that temporarily restricted the ability of mortgage holders to foreclose during the Great Depression. However, it would have to be only temporary. The Contract Clause of the Constitution prohibits states from enacting any law that retroactively impairs contract rights. Such a law probably wouldn't pass in most states. It might have a chance in states hardest hit by the collapse of the housing bubble.

[USNDC]

08:50 AM on 11/18/2010

I personally hope they negotiate principal reductions and keep as many people in their homes as possible ... and begin to put the breaks on this runaway national crisis.

I'm not sure that the people who are "not" involved in foreclosure understand just how serious this issue is for our nation ?

I always thought the Bankruptcy Cramdown Bill was the cleanest, cheapest way to tackle this issue ... by letting the judges do what the politicians are afraid to do ... modify principal loan balances.

[TWOMANY]

08:07 AM on 11/18/2010

So, the AG’s are working a deal while these homeowners were supposed to figure their loans which are as follows: (taken directly from BofA internal docs explaining an ARM loans)

"•The starting point of determining a borrower’s ARM rate is an index. The index is a financial market rate that reflects the prevailing cost of borrowing money. Changes in this cost will lead to movements in the index which will in turn lead to adjustments in the borrower’s note rate. The most common indices in use are 1-year LIBOR and the 1-year Constant Maturity Treasury (CMT) index. The 1-year CMT is the average yield of Treasury securities with 1-year remaining to maturity and is published each Monday in Federal Reserve Release H.15. Other popular indices include the COFI Index (Cost of Funds Index)3 and the MTA Index."

"•borrowers face the largest payment shock at reset (not shown in the figure)"

I especially like that last comment… “payment SHOCK at reset - not SHOWN in the figure” Gee, I wonder where that fits on the DISCLOSURE forms?

So over 10-thousand families per DAY are tossed to the street because they didn't get the internal MEMO that they'd be subject to PAYMENT SHOCK by "design"... What's the definition of loan-shark..?

Oh but the AG's are working a deal..that's still a long way off... so 300-thousand November another 300-thousand families for Christmas oh well at least they're working on it.

[Sundialsvc4]

08:00 AM on 11/18/2010

We don't want "reform deals," because that simply means: "payola, not law enforcement."

[BlairCase]

07:09 AM on 11/18/2010

The processing of foreclosure documents is only a problem in the 23 "judicial" states that require a court hearing even in uncontested foreclosure cases. Since less then two percent of foreclosure cases are contested, 98 percent of hearings last only a few seconds. However, the system wastes the court's time and forces lenders to process needless paperwork and pay attorneys to appear in court. Since most people abandoned foreclosed homes prior to the foreclosure hearings, the houses stand vacant while the cases are awaiting their turn on the docket. Judges in the 27 "non-judicial" states hear only contested foreclosure cases. This reduces the court's case load, reduces errors in documentation, and gives judges more time to spend on contested cases. It saves everyone involved time and money, including taxpayers.

[Sundialsvc4]

08:02 AM on 11/18/2010

I do not consider it "inconvenient" for there to be Due Process of Law, especially when you are taking someone's house away and turning them out into the street. Even though it might mean that judges grind through a lot of repetitive paperwork, they are still Judges, and it is for reasons such as this that we have Judges in the first place.

[BlairCase]

08:30 AM on 11/18/2010

Homeowners are not denied due process in non-judicial states. They receive foreclosure notices and can ask for a court hearing if they wish to challenge the foreclosure. Virtually all homeowners who receive foreclosure notices agree with the bank that they are in default, so they don't ask for a court hearing. Why would they want to got to court simply to acknowledge they are in default? In non-judicial states, when homeowners fail to appear at foreclosure hearings, the court automatically rules in favor of the plaintiff. More than 98 percent fail to appear. Because courts are faced with a tremendous backlog of uncontested cases, they have less time to hear contested cases. The error rate in foreclosure documents is high because banks spend 98 percent of their time preparing needless paperwork for uncontested cases. Non-judicial states like California get foreclosed homes back on the markets much quicker than judicial states.

[TWOMANY]

08:23 AM on 11/18/2010

The so-called "deal" being made with these lenders is NOT so much for the borrowers. It's to help them cover-up the FRAUDS these lenders committed without giving legal recourse to the borrowers. That's what they are doing. The defaults are not the issue. The defaults merely EXPOSED the illegal acts of the lenders.

Let’s see -
• They filed 100s of thousands PERJURED documents
• They deliberately sold illegal mortgages to borrowers they knew could not repay.
• They deliberately sold those illegal mortgages to Sponsors without complying with state laws to evade fees & taxes
• They deliberately misrepresented the quality of these illegal mortgages to investors - REMIC violation - SEC violations - Fraud, etc
• They INSURED those loans to later cash-in the mortgage Insurance - insurance FRAUD
• They deliberately submitted fraudulent assignments to cover-up the FRAUDULENT investment and tax evasion.
• They deliberately submitted false affidavits to illegally foreclose to cover their illegal mortgage scam.

How does one "un-perjure" themselves. Filing Fraudulent Assignments - filing False Affidavits - Forgery - Breach of Contract, Fraud, Conspiracy to Defraud, Tax Evasion - Acts of Bad Faith, Mortgage Fraud, Fair Dept Collection violations, failure of Fiduciary Duty - Wrongful Foreclosure - Deceit and willful Misrepresentation, etc…

[USNDC]

08:26 AM on 11/18/2010

Obama doesn't see a problem here.