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Checkmate | BofA, GMAC, Chase, Wells, Citi, Onewest Face N.J. Foreclosure Freeze
KABOOM! BofA, GMAC, Chase, Wells, Citi, Onewest Face N.J. Foreclosure Freeze
This is coming in from multiple fronts...
The State Supreme Court of NJ has ordered a halt to all foreclosure in the state of NJ.
This is most excellent news for the reason you may not realize:
NJ is owned by the Wall St. Bankers. Remember the movie Copland about a town in NJ owned and run by a bunch of NYC cops?
Guess
who used to be Governor of NJ? Corzine. Guess what his job was before
he became Governor? Head of Goldman Sachs. If you are a banker of
certain levels, you live in one of three places, Manhattan, Long
Island, or NJ (what exit?). NJ is owned and operated by the large NY
banking firms so for the Supreme Court to turn on them is stupendous
news.
Apparently
the practices in foreclosure courts in New Jersey have gotten so out
of hand that the court has initiated an inquiry into the questionable
nature and inaccuracies of documents submitted in courts across the
entire state.
The
attached Order is filled with all sorts of crazy language like,
“Protecting the integrity of the judicial foreclosure process” and the
“need to restore integrity to the foreclosure process” and “due
process”.
Apparently
there were six “foreclosure Plaintiffs with a public record of
questionable practices” which the court felt compelled to address in
its supervisory capacity.
What in God’s name is going on up there in New Jersey?
Things
are just fine down here in Florida…..no problems with integrity or due
process or robo signing…no sir-ee, things are just fine thank y’all
very kindly.
Them banks ain’t run us over down here….no sir-ee, things are just fine thank y’all very kindly.
The integrity of our real property system is not in run…..no sir-ee, things are just fine thank y’all very kindly.
Us dumb
yokels down here in Florida cain’t hardly read all them fancy
newspapers and we ain’t heard ‘nuthin ’bout ‘nuthin going on in
Congress.
So you go on with yer investergatin…we’s jus fine down here in Sunnie Floreeduh!
BofA, Lenders Face Possible N.J. Foreclosure Freeze
Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co.
and four other mortgage lenders and loan servicers face a possible
suspension of home foreclosures in New Jersey by Jan. 19 under a judge’s
order.
The action, announced today by New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, also covers Citigroup Inc.’s mortgage unit, Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC mortgage unit, OneWest Bank and Wells Fargo & Co.
The lenders were implicated in “robo-signing,” the submission of
hundreds or thousands of foreclosure claims that falsely swore to
personal knowledge of their contents, Rabner said.
The six
companies must “show cause why the processing of uncontested residential
foreclosure matters they have filed should not be suspended,” under an
order by Judge Mary C. Jacobson in state court in Trenton.
“It’s
important that the judiciary ensures that judges are not rubber-stamping
documents of questionable reliability,” Rabner said today in a
conference call with reporters.
Another
24 lenders and loan servicers with more than 200 residential foreclosure
actions each in 2010 must “demonstrate affirmatively that there are no
irregularities in their handling of foreclosure proceedings,” according
to an order by Judge Glenn A. Grant, administrative director of the
courts.
First U.S. State
Rabner
said New Jersey is the first U.S. state to take such an action. The
state’s courts received 21,752 new foreclosures in 2006 and have gotten
65,222 this year, according to Grant’s order. Only 6 percent of cases
were contested this year, meaning 94 percent lacked “any meaningful
adversarial proceeding,” according to the order.
Lawyers
in foreclosure cases must also certify that they have communicated to
employees at the mortgage companies that they have personally reviewed
all documents and that they are accurate, Rabner said.
Bank of
America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan are the three biggest U.S. home-loan
servicers, handling payment collections, debt modifications and
foreclosures on almost 50 percent of the $10.7 trillion of outstanding
mortgages, according to newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance.
Attorneys
general from all 50 states in October started probing mortgage
servicers after revelations that they may have acted illegally in having
employees sign affidavits that they didn’t review. GMAC Mortgage,
JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America were among companies that temporarily
halted foreclosures amid claims that the legal documents were
mishandled.
Suspended Forclosures
Thomas Kelly,
a JPMorgan spokesman, declined to comment on the New Jersey order.
Since September, the New York-based bank has suspended foreclosures in
40 states, including New Jersey, he said. It resumed foreclosures in
some of those states, he said.
Jumana Bauwens,
a spokeswoman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, said
the bank is reviewing the judge’s order and can’t comment at this time.
Gina Proia, a spokeswoman for Detroit-based Ally Financial, declined to comment.
New York-based Citigroup “will review the Justice’s order and will ensure that we meet the new requirements,” spokesman Mark Rodgers said in an e-mail.
Foreclosure Review
“Citi
has been continuously reviewing its foreclosure processes with respect
to its U.S. mortgage portfolios,” Rodgers said. “Last year, we took a
series of steps to strengthen our processes and added additional
resources to ensure foreclosures were being processed correctly.”
Diane Henry,
a spokeswoman for Pasadena, California-based OneWest, declined to
comment. OneWest was formed in the aftermath of IndyMac Bancorp’s
failure.
Jason Menke,
a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, said in an e-mail:
“We recognize and respect the need to ensure we always comply with
respective state laws. With our outside counsel, we intend to comply
with the New Jersey court’s order and demonstrate why the foreclosures
scheduled in New Jersey should move forward.”
U.S. bank regulators investigating foreclosure problems could impose fines or seek criminal penalties as soon as January, said Julie L. Williams, chief counsel of the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, said at a congressional hearing Dec. 2.
The
order is In the Matter of Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Pleading and
Document Irregularities, Administrative Order 01-2010.
To contact the reporters on this story: David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey, at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net; Jody Shenn in New York at jshenn@bloomberg.net.
Order with supporting docs below...
4closureFraud.org
Order to Show Cause Issued by Judge Mary Jacobson - Residential Mortgage Foreclosures - Robosigning
Order to Show Cause Issued by Judge Mary Jacobson - Residential Mortgage Foreclosures - Robosigning
Administrative Order Directing Submission of Information From Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Plaintiffs C...
Notice and Order - Emergent Amendments to Rules 1:5-6, 4:64-1, and 4:64-2 - Residential Mortgage Foreclosures
»
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How about peeps who should have been given mortgage loans? I bought my house in 2004 with toxic waste; a 5yr IO arm, and a neg-am 2nd. I did this because I had 5 years @ 4.375%. I got the mortgage from E-Loan who, within 90 days, had sold it to Lehman's Aurora. There is little doubt that the docs were not transfered properly. I knew I had to refinance within the 5 year window. In October 2008 (while the fucktards were screaming that no one could get a loan) I refinanced into a 30yr fixed. Question is, what are the odds of success when I sue my present title company for the cloud on my title from the previous fraud (assuming I can prove in court that the note was not transfered properly)? There has never been a late payment and similar houses in the neighborhood are still selling for around 17% more than I paid for mine.
yeah yeah short the banks. i've been hearing that for months and i'm really sick of losing money on SKF everyday!
Whether or not some people never should have been given mortgage loans; and whether or not homeowners oppose foreclosures, it is urgently important to look white collar foreclosure activities! Also, illegal, fraudulent foreclosure causes useless deeds for property sales; title insurance denials, blight –and more. http://chn.ge/eU2zAm
Furthermore, some PREDATORY mortgage loans are issued for the very purpose of borrower default so that properties can become flipped, repeatedly (hence blight); and lenders gain tax credits, mortgage-default insurance, and more! Additionally, too often, not only has the lender NOT filed foreclosure, certain homes wound up being flipped by self-dealing foreclosure mill lawyers who execute simulated auctions whereby “straw buyers” fraudulently “credit bid”!
White collar foreclosure fraud entails intentionally fraudulent foreclosures naming defunct mortgage companies, or having no ownership of notes; unfair fees beyond “Acceleration Clauses" that impairs borrowers’ ability to repay arrears; falsified Bankruptcy Court motions to “Lift Stay" for accomplishing"simulated" foreclosure auctions via “straw buyers." And lawsuits against foreclosure lawyers for fraud and “Unfair Debt Collection Practices," generates more lawyer fees.
Scores of homeowners do not contest foreclosures because of: not having knowledge of the law in order to recognize legally challengeable foreclosures or fraud; lack funds to pay for attorneys to represent them; homeowners are told to come to foreclosure auctions with money that they do not have, so they stay away from foreclosure auctions. It is extremely troubling that there are families living outdoors, and people strapped with illegal “deficiency judgments” whose homes have been confiscated via real estate racketeering!
Foreclosure lawyers are officers of the court knowledge of applicable laws and civil procedure is not required from mortgage lenders, nor loan servicers. In states that require judicial foreclosures, FORECLOSURE LAWYERS are the ones who file lawsuits to seize and sell property; and lawyers are responsible for filing and recording foreclosure property deeds. *Request for Congressional Foreclosure Panel to Examine Foreclosure Lawyers @ http://chn.ge/eU2zAm
How about all deeds found to be victim of fraud, separated from attendant notes and / or found to have broken chain of custody revert back to the local tax collecting entity that issued the original title? The state owned it all to begin with anyway, didn't it?
With the thought being to get the property back to tax generation status as quick as possible, the last sovereign citizen related to the note in question be given the right of first refusal to redeem it.
If that individual requires financial assistance, (borrow the funds), then this time around, no MERS or mbs allowed. The redemption price / value would be established locally, individually, openly and fairly deducting all past monies paid vs. current open market values.
If upside down, then the difference is made up by the financial institution last related to the servicing of the previous note as recompense for their criminal activity.
And while we're at it, maybe limiting the size of the institution allowed to loan to prevent these TBTF banks from destroying local economies again.
Example:
Purchased 400K home
Paid 36 months X 3K = 108K
(400K - 108K = 292K)
Current value = 180K
180K - 108K = 72K purchase price.
Previous criminal financial institution takes the 292-72 = 220K haircut.
No regard for interest made in this settlement as this is an extraordinary event, kinda like OK Sooners.
Just a few thoughts, and no, I've never been accused of as intelligent.
It seems to me that Judges that are lower on the chain (Supreme, Appeals, State, Municipal) tend to take the law more seriously while those at the top tend to be politicized - thus we tend to get 'justice' at the lower levels (small claims, municipal) but politicized crap at the top. So I wonder, as these cases move up the chain, will the banks be bailed out by the 'higher' judges? I'm not a lawyer, just an observer, and hope to read any lawyer comments on this as it will affect the final outcome and then investment strategies in real estate. I'm not optimistic about the replies.
Jay and Silent Bob strike back!
NJ FTW!
When BAC is merged with WFC and JPM (for national security) and the new entity is declared chattel of the federal government, won't all these claims be moot? The states can levy their fines, and Uncle Sugar will "pay" them. Private attorneys will be well advised to piss off.
It will be ugly when the hammer comes down.
How many crimes does it take to close a bank?
Depends on number of branches: 5 or less, only 1 crime - 10,000 branches, infinite crimes won't close it - TBTF - Laws and Taxes are for Peons and Peasants.
There is only one way that this affair will not be swept under the rug, and that is if it delays long enough for the new Governors to take office and realize some enormous fines could solve the various state budget problems.
THAT could make the case actually get past the TBTF defense. Fine them billions and close budget gaps with the money.
i keep going back to april 2009 when obama went on TV and told America homeowners who were looking at foreclosure and just needed a bridge of help , that HAMP would help 4 million homeowners save their homes from foreclosure.....if the banks JUST modified the mortgages just a little (save the peons $200 a month) , they would have been able to avoid the backlash and probably the exposure of their fraud that has come to light in 2010......why they pushed the homeowners into a corner is something i will NEVER UNDERSTAND......are they that stupid, or just plain sick in the heads?
Seasmoke,
I understand your argument to a point, but remember back what the price of gas was doing. A HAMP haircut of even $200 per month would likely not have saved many homes...and after the job losses that followed, certainly not.
Going forward we are about to revisit those large increases in POG.
Two weeks ago I had coffee with an energy trader who warned me that what was going to happen in the energy sector would just be stunning.
I told him they could run the price up again, but it would kill whatever little economic recovery was taking place and unlike 2008, the unemployment rate would assure the price wouldn't stay there for long. His tankers could continue to do doughnuts in the Gulf of Aden. People would just stop driving anywhere that's unnecessary.
He couldn't concieve of that kind of situation where the price of going (as in price of gas) out to eat, buying a pair of jeans at the mall or a quick trip to the grocery store now gets "added" to the cost rather than ignored as merely incidental.
I have no doubt the banks wanted to be land barrons.
They thought they could handle it, the price of egotism.
They got paid back by the tax payers, they "had" the paperwork for claims of ownership, and all they had to do was forclose. Easy, it is always easy when it is poorly thought out and you have cheap labor doing the work.
We keep forgetting...they have NOTHING to loose. The bank heads will not suffer one dime or day in jail.
MY only question is who the hell is buying their stock and why does anyone still have them as a banker. Is there NO shame..not with them , but US?
Hard to modify mortgage note(s) when ya can't find 'em!
Hard to justify the fees you receive from your processing a Hamp recipient as eligible for relief, when you ain't got the papers, either.
Hard to justify the fees you receive from your processing a Hamp recipient as eligible for relief, when you ain't got the papers, either.
True. Also, principal reductions affect not only the loan being modified but the value of the chain of securities derived from them (MBS, CDOs, CDO^#). More importantly, the effects on the securities tends to be non-linear because of the way they were structured/sliced and diced.
What a mess. Welcome to the first day of winter.
A whole bunch of both, plus heavy doses of greed, avarice and pride.
Please let me just toss one more log on the fire,
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued additional subpoenas for documents from the big banks in a growing probe over servicer behavior and foreclosure fraud. They seem particularly interested in securitization, and whether the assets, i.e. the mortgage and the note, were ever properly conveyed to the trusts.
This is a very important development. The failure of the trustees to convey the loans to the trusts would mean that the mortgage-backed securities are backed by nothing. It would mean that the banks committed outright fraud on the investors. And it would make the trustees liable for taking back all the MBS from investors at par.
As Yves Smith says, more needs to be done here. The SEC should look at the automatic servicer software that generates additional late fees, and basically look at all the servicer practices known to be fraudulent. They need to understand how random Wall Street Journal reporters could get letters about loan modifications on properties where they have no mortgage. They need to examine the rot in the system. But this is a big and perhaps more costly step for the banks, because the investors are a worthy adversary for them, from a financial standpoint.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the overseer of the GSEs is resisting principal reductions for underwater borrowers, despite an Administration program designed to allow for that. Since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own so many loans – they own or guarantee about half of all mortgages – it’s crucial to get sign-off from the FHFA in order for the principal reduction program to succeed (the Administration has a few of them up and running). But this is where the FHFA’s Ed DeMarco’s insistence on reducing taxpayer losses has its negative side. It’s good that, as an investor in mortgages, he’s trying to put back illegal loans on the banks; it’s bad that he’s not allowing the write-downs needed for housing costs to come down, which would actually stabilize and save the GSEs money in the long term.
The SEC investigation and Fannie and Freddie’s reluctance to reduce principal connect, in a way, because the banks will be rushing for a principal work-out when faced with the need to take back hundreds of billions in mortgages due to faulty processes. Fannie and Freddie will be on both sides of that equation; with the government basically owning them right now, they ought to make the choice.
i keep telling everyone in my circle that its the broken chain of title that will be the banks downfall with this foreclosure fraud and yet they have no idea what im talking about.....hopefully this will
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/arizona_adp.jpg
thank you for reporting this ,4closurefraud; i needed some good news.....
i pray to god that these bankster terrorists are thrown in jail for life...
Here's more firewood..
Another chapter in the ongoing foreclosure mess started last Friday when the states of Arizona and Nevada sued Bank of America for alleged foreclosure fraud. The lawsuits are very similar in scope, and basically allege that Bank of America engaged in deceptive practices specifically with regard to mortgage servicing, loan modification, and foreclosure.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said in a press release:
The Arizona complaint alleges that Bank of America committed fraud in Arizona, and mislead borrowers about foreclosure and loan modification programs in the following ways (quoted from the press release):
• Whether homeowners must be delinquent on their mortgage payments to be considered for a loan modification. • How much time it would take to receive a decision from Bank of America on a modification request or a short sale request. • Whether foreclosure would proceed while a modification or short sale request was pending, or while a homeowner was making trial payments. • Whether the homeowner had been approved for a loan modification. • Failure to provide valid reasons why the homeowner was declined for a modification. • Whether the homeowner would be approved for a permanent modification if the consumer successfully made all trial modification payments.The Nevada lawsuit has essentially similar allegations. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Masto said in a press release:
It appears that both states are seeking monetary penalties and fines for the lenders. It will be interesting to see if these suits go anywhere, and what else may be turned up in the course of the investigation. As the suit develops I will do my best to keep you up to date here.
Wonder what, or how much, it wil take to make all this just disappear.........
PoG = $54,000
1.5 quadrillion and change.
How about if the Banksters play catch with 1Toz Maple leafs, sharpened into Ninja throwing stars?!
Dee Leet
$4T+ 20% unemployment and the death of small business and still counting...
But, if we make banks responsible for their crimes and fraud, and dont bail them out, wont it be bad for the economy?
haha - sarcasm at its best. well done
Presidential Executive Order #1000upyours2011, dated January l, 2011:
Insofar as my master has informed me that it is a matter of national security to obscure and defend the actions of my bankster buddies regarding any and all actions they may have taken to properly secure their interests in all fraudulently conveyed mortgages and/or property titles, I as President, Commander-in-Chief of the biggest fucking nuclear stockpile existing, and the annointed Messiah of Chris Matthews and that Lesbian twat and her fat dork friend at my chief campaign contributor's network, do hereby absolve, under both Christian and Sharia Law, any and all defendents that can prove they have Ben and Timmie's TOP SECRET COSMIC e-mail addresses.
Barrack Hussein Obama
"Presidential Executive Order #1000upyours2011, dated January l, 2011:"
you have the date wrong by one year, it's 2012.
I still can't tell if he is an uncle tom for the republicans or isn't as smart as I thought he was two years ago. Look at the seemingly double cross on the tax extension , neuclear treaty, and DADT vote deal stuff. Did he get taken or was it a show?
He has the presidential power to be "Master of Equity" and declare all this gone with whoever being the one with clear and marketable title to property. Think of it like eminent domain where land is condemned and handed over to another free, clear, and clean as a new shirt.
He did and is still doing all this bailout stuff for wall street and the banks, yet they turned against him. Is that for real, or is there something so obvious we are all missing, or at least, I am?
Can the new congress compose a law to let all these crooks off the hook at the expense of tax payers and home'owners'...you bet they can. Will Mr. President go along with it? Who knows?
I just can't get that episode of the Sopranos out of my mind where Tony meets the preacher later that night and hands him a wad of cash and a pat on the back for busting the union.
I junked you because you are such an obvious douche-bag.
well, actually, only if the whores in cngress fail to act and retroactively making legal what used to not be.....double-hail Amerika!
You guys are missing the big picture. Obama and congress, thanks to the states' suing, judges shutting down the foreclosure process and the 50 state AGs still investigating have been handed a huge GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD that gives them the perfect out.
They can tell Vickram and Jamie and Brian, "it's out of our hands! We'd love to help you guys out, you know we would, but we have the wild AGs and judges and, well, we can't control them."
Game over, fuckwads. Banking system goes tits up in 2011.
"AG's Gone Wild!" See them in their shortest briefs! LOL as Plaintiff Banksters throw on kneepads and beg for "forgiveness!" Available in DVD AND Blu-Ray! Get your 50-disk set today!
and ya know what? the prick probly will, too. hail Amerika!
I am not a lawyer, but I do play one in my mind, and I expect many foreclosure cases to be reopened and discovery process will reveal many, many fraudulent proceedings by banks and their lawyers throughout the mortgage servicing and foreclosure processes.
We are very, very close to a tipping point at which the banks can no longer contain the lies and fraud they have perpetrated on the American public for so very long and many politicians - mostly at the state and local levels - are not about to risk their careers defending them.
Make note of two things at this point. First, judges have been and continue to stand up for the rule of law. Thank God we still have a few honest jurists in our midst.
The second point is quite possibly the proverbial straw that will break the banks. A few weeks ago, there were a number of articles suggesting that the 50 state AGs who were investigating the banks on foreclosure practices were in settlement talks. Since then, crickets. I will venture a guess that the banks are in such a poor bargaining position that the AGs a wielding some very severe penalties and conditions to which the banks cannot comply. My guess is the banks, as usual, thought they could buy off some of these AGs or otherwise intimidate them and it's not going well for them. There's probably no workable solution for all 50 states, putting the AGs in the unenviable position of having to either implode the banking system or fail as representatives of the people, the law and justice.
This is the end of the banks. Their fraud has been uncovered, Wikileaks or not, and they will not all survive. BofA, Wells and JPM are the most likely to be taken out behind the building and executed.
Once that happens, we can actually start the process of rebuilding America, without any banks sticking their noses in and taking all the profits.
Screw a banker today! Your neighbors will appreciate it.
Just the banks being slapped down by the real bosses, big oil.
Nice dream. I share your sentiments completely, but wish I had your optimism.
No action has been taken in SC ... yet. However, foreclosure actions are handled in larger counties by Equity Judges called, "Masters in Equity" and by Special Referees in smaller counties. Special Referees are local attorneys appointed by the Presiding Judge and are usually paid by the attorneys for the parties. That adds to the expense of foreclosure.
I have been told that in some counties the Clerks are telling attorneys that, due to the backlog of cases, hearings have to be scheduled out more than a year from filing - even in uncontested or default cases.
That is almost as good as a freeze.
Hot sh!t jumpin' off on Exit, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13...
I am not in real estate, nor a lawyer, but a resident of New Jersey who has searched for very many mortgage documents - or should I say I have searched for many mortgage documents and did not find them.
I don't believe any major mortgage lender properly registered or transferred most of its mortages and related documents at the court house. Which means - yes, the companies are lying when they certify all the proper paperwork has been filed before foreclosure.
Again I am not a legal expert, but at this point the game is over, and we just have to see how they are going to try to put the pieces back together - if that's even possible.
Been saying it for months..." squatter's buffet"... Perfect Storm Is Brewing and NJ could be a real game changer. Other states like AZ,NV,FL and CA it's like STFU, NJ is in a whole different category.
What are you talking about? AZ and NV just sued the crap out of Bank of America and Cali has so many cases being reopened they'll need new judges for years.
Florida is a mess, but the other states you mention are pushing back pretty damn hard.
And, don't expect anything from Florida, corruption has made a nice comfortable home in Florida since the 1920's. You can bet the new legislature will have it's hand out to the highest bidder.
New Jersey, bitches!
sorry...first time doing that,,,,will never do it again.
LMAO!
...You LIE!