What's wrong with this mortgage assignment? HINT: MERS assigns to Wells Fargo.
Same day (July 1, 2011), same person, same notary assigns from Wells Fargo to Fannie Mae! So Jasmine works for Franklin American Mort Corp. in Flint, MI and assigns the mortgage as an Asst. Sec'y for MERS to Wells Fargo in Des Moines, IA and she had the assignment notarized in Dakota County, Minnesota...Then, on the same day, she also works for Wells Fargo in Des Moines, IA and assigns the mortgage to Fannie Mae in Philadelphia, PA and has it notarized again in Dakota County, Minnesota?
Wells Fargo Fraudulent Assignment of Mortgage
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Who owns the Federal Reserve?
Who is the Federal Reserve? Well, the Federal Reserve is NOT a bank. The Federal Reserve is owned by privately owned corporation. The stockholders in the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks are the privately owned banks that fall under the Federal Reserve System. Some of the privately owned banks are the same banks that cause the financial crisis in this country. Here is a partial list:
Rothschild Bank of London
Warburg Bank of Hamburg
Rothschild Bank of Berlin
Lehman Brothers of New York
Lazard Brothers of Paris
Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York
Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy .
Goldman, Sachs of New York
Warburg Bank of Amsterdam
Chase Manhattan Bank of New York
Citi foreclosed and sold California couple's home that was nearly paid off
You don’t have to be upside down on your mortgage to lose your house.
The Bernstein family is packing up and preparing to move out of their Sylmar house Friday after 25 years. The mortgage was practically paid off.
“What I owed on the loan was $37,000," said Raymond Bernstein, who bought the house with his wife Diane. "I have so much equity I would be an idiot to lose the house.“
Bernstein insists a series of accidental missed payments led to foreclosure.
“My bank got bought out and my automatic payments got shut off without my knowing, then the mortgage owner then sends a notice I am behind. “
Bernstein says he worked out a repayment plan with Citibank. The bank confirms Bernstein made the first payment of $4,000 in January.
But what happened to the second payment is in dispute and the subject of a lawsuit.
Citibank says the Bernsteins missed the second payment.
Bernstein says he mailed it, “they then claimed not to get a payment and they foreclosed and sold it at auction.”
City Council Votes to Support Schneiderman’s Investigation of Mortgaging Practices
The City Council today passed a resolution in support of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s investigation into the mortgage packaging practices of several banks and it calls upon a taskforce of 50 state attorneys general to preserve his investigatory and prosecutorial powers, according to New York’s Martin Act, in any settlement with major financial institutions.
At the end of last month, Schneiderman was removed by Iowa State Attorney General Tom Miller as a leader of a panel negotiating a settlement with U.S. mortgage servicers after he was accused of trying to undermine the work of the group.
The City Council resolution, sponsored by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and Council members Robert Jackson and James Gennaro, notes that Schneiderman is concerned that settlement by the 50 State Attorneys General Taskforce would give the major banks too much protection from all future mortgage collapse-related litigation. That could restrict his office from proceeding with its current investigation and impede future investigations or legal action taken in the area of mortgage security fraud, the resolution states.
Check out the rest here…
At the end of last month, Schneiderman was removed by Iowa State Attorney General Tom Miller as a leader of a panel negotiating a settlement with U.S. mortgage servicers after he was accused of trying to undermine the work of the group.
The City Council resolution, sponsored by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and Council members Robert Jackson and James Gennaro, notes that Schneiderman is concerned that settlement by the 50 State Attorneys General Taskforce would give the major banks too much protection from all future mortgage collapse-related litigation. That could restrict his office from proceeding with its current investigation and impede future investigations or legal action taken in the area of mortgage security fraud, the resolution states.
Check out the rest here…
Friday, September 09, 2011
Banks may fight banks as mortgage securities investors try for class suits
Source: Bloomberg
Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America may pay more to resolve claims over their alleged roles in the collapse of a $2.3 trillion mortgage- backed securities market if sophisticated investors are allowed to sue as a group along with less savvy ones.
Class-action status allows investors to pool financial and legal resources, giving them greater leverage to win larger settlements or verdicts. The banks, however, have a court ruling on their side that may help fend off such blockbuster cases. It says class status is barred because some investors are too sophisticated — in fact, because some of them are other banks, including JPMorgan.
Banks Have Hissy Fit, Cancel Meeting With State AGs Due to FHFA Mortgage Suit
The five biggest mortgage servicers have cancelled a planned negotiating session with representatives of the 50 State Attorneys General in apparent protest over a federal regulator filing suit against them, a source familiar with the matter tells TIME.
The banks canceled the meeting on Tuesday afternoon in protest over the announcement last Friday that the Federal Housing Finance Agency would bring a broad case against 17 firms, including those in talks with the State AGs. The FHFA, which oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, alleges the firms violated securities law by misrepresenting the value of bundles of high-risk mortgages they sold. FHFA did not say how much the case might be worth, but outside analysts have said it could potentially produce billions of dollars in compensatory damages from the firms.
The big mortgage servicers, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan and others, were scheduled to meet late this week with the State AG negotiators as part of a separate investigation. Those talks are aimed at a settlement that will address standards for handling past and future mortgages, massive penalties (reportedly as high as $20 billion), and a release from legal liability for the servicers in other mortgage matters.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/08/vexed-by-securitization-suit-banks-pull-out-of-mortgage-fraud-settlement-meeting/#ixzz1XQ7Tb9nr
The banks canceled the meeting on Tuesday afternoon in protest over the announcement last Friday that the Federal Housing Finance Agency would bring a broad case against 17 firms, including those in talks with the State AGs. The FHFA, which oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, alleges the firms violated securities law by misrepresenting the value of bundles of high-risk mortgages they sold. FHFA did not say how much the case might be worth, but outside analysts have said it could potentially produce billions of dollars in compensatory damages from the firms.
The big mortgage servicers, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan and others, were scheduled to meet late this week with the State AG negotiators as part of a separate investigation. Those talks are aimed at a settlement that will address standards for handling past and future mortgages, massive penalties (reportedly as high as $20 billion), and a release from legal liability for the servicers in other mortgage matters.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/08/vexed-by-securitization-suit-banks-pull-out-of-mortgage-fraud-settlement-meeting/#ixzz1XQ7Tb9nr
BofA Cutbacks May Hit 40,000
Bank of America Corp. officials have discussed eliminating roughly 40,000 positions during the first wave of a restructuring that Chief Executive Brian Moynihan is expected to discuss Monday, said people familiar with the plans.
The numbers aren't final and could change. The restructuring would reduce the bank's work force over a period of years. In fact, Mr. Moynihan may not discuss a job-cut number during next week's presentation at the Barclays Capital 2011 Global Financial Services Conference in New York.
He could choose instead to outline the bank's expected savings, after telling investors last month that he aims to reduce quarterly expenses by as much as $1.5 billion.
23 ex-WaMu employees named in FHFA lawsuit
Twenty-three former Washington Mutual employees and several of the defunct thrift's subsidiaries have been sued by the federal government as part of its mortgage-securities lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase.
The suit, filed last week by the agency that now controls Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, accuses those individuals of signing off on documents containing false or misleading information that were used to sell billions of dollars' worth of mortgage-backed securities.
The suit, filed last week by the agency that now controls Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, accuses those individuals of signing off on documents containing false or misleading information that were used to sell billions of dollars' worth of mortgage-backed securities.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Florida couple sue Wells Fargo, bank sold them home it didn't own
Brian and Holly Barnhart of Cape Coral - who were sold a house by Wells Fargo Bank even though the bank didn't own the property - have filed a lawsuit alleging fraud and negligence.
The Barnharts, who emptied their life savings to buy the house for $153,000 cash and renovate it for another $80,000, bought the house in November.
But it turned out Wells Fargo had given the house back to its original owner, Richard Riccobono, for a mortgage he had on the house. The bank won a foreclosure suit and took back possession of the house, but moved July 30, 2009, to set aside its ownership.
As a result, Wells Fargo sold the house to Barnhart even though by then it belonged to Riccobono.
A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo said the company has not yet been notified of the Barnhart lawsuit.
The Barnharts are suing Wells Fargo along with American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., Powerlink Settlement Services and Option One Mortgage Loan Trust 2007-CPI Asset Backed Certificates Series 2007-CP-1.
High court in Massachusetts upholds law aimed at blocking certain evictions from foreclosed homes
BOSTON – The state’s highest court, ruling in a Springfield housing dispute, said Tuesday that a 13-month-old state law prohibits mortgage companies from evicting tenants from foreclosed residential homes without just cause.
In a decision written by Judge Ralph D. Gants, the state Supreme Judicial Court said the 13-month-old state law prevents such no-cause evictions even if the foreclosing owner purchased the property and started the eviction process before the state law was passed. The high court upheld an earlier decision by a judge for the western division of the state Housing Court in Springfield that halted the previously-common practice of “no-fault” evictions from foreclosed homes.
The state law protects all residential tenants in foreclosed properties who, on or after August 7 of last year — the date the law was signed by Gov. Deval Patrick – had yet to vacate or be removed from the premises by an eviction, the court said. The law was passed by legislators and the governor on an emergency basis during a foreclosure crisis and intended to protect people and neighborhoods, the court said.
The law bans institutional lenders who own foreclosed properties from evicting residential tenants without cause, the court said.
Check out the rest here…
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Banks Took $6B in Reinsurance Kickbacks, HUD IG Say
Many of the country's largest banks received $6 billion in kickbacks from mortgage insurers over the course of a decade, according to a previously undisclosed investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The allegations, since referred to the Department of Justice, stem from lenders' demand that insurers cut them in on the lucrative business of insuring the mortgages they produced during the housing boom.
In exchange for the their business, companies such as Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co, SunTrust Banks Inc. and Countrywide allegedly required reinsurance partnerships on generous terms that violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, a 1974 law prohibiting abusive home sales practices.
During a two-day presentation in the summer of 2009, HUD's team presented DOJ attorneys with a thick binder of evidence that major banks had engineered a decade-long kickback scheme, people familiar with the investigation say.
Documents from the investigation show that the inspector general's staff concluded that banks and insurance companies had created elaborate financial structures that had the appearance of reinsurance but failed to transfer significant amounts of risk to their bank underwriters.
Some of the deals were designed to return a 400% profit on a bank's investment during good years and remain profitable even in the event of a real estate collapse.
Making matters worse, banks allegedly forced unknowing consumers to buy more insurance than they needed and failed to properly disclose the reinsurance agreements, another RESPA violation.
HUD's acting inspector general, Michael Stephens, worked on the case before being appointed to head the inspector general's office last year. He acknowledged the investigation's existence and expressed frustration that the case had not yet produced a settlement or prosecution.
While Stephens said he was still "hopeful" that prosecutors would bring a case, "this thing has been going on for too damn long."
Owner occupancy, LTV (Loan To Value) discrepancies at heart of FHFA lawsuits
Major banks and others acquired during the financial crisis allegedly misrepresented the owner occupancy and loan-to-value ratios by sometimes as many as 50 percentage points or more on securities sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to the lawsuits the Federal Housing Finance Agency filed last week.
The FHFA, overseer of the government sponsored enterprises, filed suits against 17 major banks and scores of individual executives, alleging they knowingly falsified the quality of mortgage-backed securities sold to the government-sponsored enterprises. The lawsuit spans nearly $190 billion in MBS.
The FHFA checked the presale prospectus for the securities and conducted an analysis of 1,000 loans per bond. In securitizations of less than 1,000 mortgages the FHFA analyzed them all.
The agency first targeted the owner-occupancy rate reported to the GSEs. Borrowers who actually live in the home underlying the mortgage are more likely to remain current on the loan compared to investors who buy to rent.
It looked at whether or not the borrower's tax bill was sent to the property's address or a different one, whether the borrower claimed a tax exemption or whether the mailing address of the property was reflected in credit reports, tax or lien records.
Single director for CFPB key issue during Cordray's Senate confirmation hearing
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau nominee Richard Cordray stepped in front of the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday for a CFPB confirmation hearing that continued to highlight partisan differences over the CFPB and its single-director structure.
Whether a single director should lead the consumer agency remained a point of contention among committee members, who previously vowed to block any nominee if structural changes aren't made. Republicans seek a five-member bipartisan commission to carry out the duties of a director — a change that the Obama administration has said would weaken the CFPB's powers.
Cordray assured Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) he would actively heed the concerns of community banks who fear cumbersome consumer protection rules will chase them out of the marketplace, and also said he didn't seek to inject himself into the legislative process concerning the single director vs. committee structure of oversight.
Republicans were sympathetic to Cordray's position, with Corker adding, "I am sorry that you are caught up in all of this. All of this would go away if the administration would just sit down and put appropriate checks and balances in place."
Lawmaker wants oversight of any FHFA, bank deal
Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) is working to form some sort of public oversight for any deal the Federal Housing Finance Agency strikes with banks over recently alleged securities violations.
"I think there should be someone looking over their shoulder," Miller said in an interview with HousingWire Tuesday. "We could enlist the help of someone in the Senate, maybe ask the Government Accountability Office to examine potential claims. It's not out of distrust for FHFA but to reassure the public that any deal would benefit taxpayers first."
The FHFA filed lawsuits against 17 major banks last week, alleging they misrepresented loan-level data on nearly $190 billion in mortgage-backed securities sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Miller said the future of housing finance, whatever that will look like, hinges on whether or not investors believe in the enforceability of their claims should securities go bad.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
WikiLeaks – US, France Knew In 2007 Financial Collapse Was Imminent Due To Wall Street Fraud
In 2007 top US and France officials knew rampant fraud being committed by regulators, rating agencies and Wall Street Banks would soon cause a global financial collapse.
While investors and nations around the world were happily giving trillions of dollars away to crooked Wall Street bankers top officials in the United States and France knew the market would soon collapse and people would be robbed of millions.
While raising the issue that the role of government regulators and rating agencies needed to be reviewed in the wake of the upcoming crisis, US officials ignored calls from the French government to enact necessary regulation to stop the rampant fraud that would soon result in investors losing tens of trillions of dollars they had invested into the markets.
The cable reveals that while discussing the ability of the French banks to survive the crisis, French President Sarkozy was pushing the US to enact regulations to forestall the crisis. Instead, Henry Paulson responded by telling Sarkozy not to overreacted because the” it would take months, not weeks, for credit to be re-priced” telling France this is “not a major crisis.”
Paulson went on to warn that the major problem was with the German banks and which would require a bailout from the taxpayer while warning that the assets held by banks but covered up from investors by being held off-balance sheet presented systematic risk to banks and to sovereign wealth.
The cable clearly reveals that taxpayer bailouts would be needed. Paulson further up sticks up for the Wall Street hedge fund saying they were not to blame for the crisis while acknowledging there were major Wall Street transparency issues.
To summarize, the cable reveals that top government officials in France and the US knew Wall street banks were committing fraud in the origination and packaging of sub-prime mortgage and lying to investors about the resulting securities they were creating and selling. Officials knew banks were also lying about their own liabilities and hiding them from investors by keeping the assets off their balance sheets. The government also knew that both regulators and ratings agencies were participating in the scheme.
| Subject | PAULSON DISCUSSES FINANCIAL MARKETS, IRAN WITH SARKOZY, LAGARDE |
| Origin | Embassy Paris (France) |
| Cable time | 2007-10-01 10:46 UTC |
| Classification | CONFIDENTIAL |
| Source | |
| History | First published on WES, 30 Sep 2011 01:44 UTC |
Viewing cable 07PARIS4109, PAULSON DISCUSSES FINANCIAL MARKETS, IRAN WITH SARKOZY, LAGARDE
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
| Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
VZCZCXRO3134
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHFR #4109/01 2741046
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 011046Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0558
RUEATRS/DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004109
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL:09/18/17
SUBJECT: PAULSON DISCUSSES FINANCIAL MARKETS, IRAN WITH SARKOZY,
LAGARDE
Classified by EMIN Seth Winnick for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
¶1. (C) Summary: In successive meetings Treasury Secretary Hank
Paulson told Minister of Finance Christine Lagarde and President
Nicolas Sarkozy that it was important not to overreact to
financial market turbulence. Sarkozy asked for U.S. support for
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's candidacy for IMF Managing Director.
Discussions also touched on continued cooperation on Iran,
Sarkozy's reform agenda and China. End summary.
¶2. (C) During a September 17 visit to France, Treasury Secretary
Paulson and accompanying delegation met with Sarkozy and
Lagarde, and lunched with leading representatives of France's
business community. Sarkozy made a strong push for public U.S.
support for Dominique Strauss-Kahn's candidacy for Managing
Director of the IMF. Calling Strauss-Kahn the "smartest
socialist," Sarkozy said it was important not to encourage
President Putin by entertaining the candidacy Czech Josef
Tosovksy, who has KGB ties.
¶3. (C) In response to Secretary Paulson's urging that France's
business and financial sectors reduce exposure to Iran, Sarkozy
said the United States could count on French cooperation in
toughening sanctions. "There will be no double talk from
France. Stopping the bomb is more important than business
contracts." But Sarkozy said unilateral legislation under
consideration in the U.S. Congress would be a "disaster" and
make the Iranians "very happy." Sarkozy's diplomatic advisor
Jean-David Levitte noted that France would look to work, if
necessary, outside the Security Council, notably with EU
partners, on further measures against Iran.
¶4. (C) On sub-prime-related market turbulence, Sarkozy said regulation was needed to forestall such events and minimize impact on global economic growth. Paulson underscored the importance of not over-reacting. It would take months, not weeks, for credit to be re-priced, but this was "not a major crisis." Several issues were coming into focus: conduits and other off-balance sheet funding vehicles had been a surprise; in the U.S. there was a need to look at mortgage origination, as well as the role of regulatory supervision and rating agencies. Asked for his views on French banks, Paulson said they had strong balance sheets and were profitable, though they, too, might have challenging off-balance sheet obligations. Paulson said the German Landesbanken were "the biggest problem," though they presented little systemic risk and would be bailed out by the German taxpayer.
¶5. (C) Sarkozy asked for views on U.S. exchange rate policy.
Paulson said the United States supported a strong dollar.
Exchange rates ultimately were market-driven and the U.S. would
pursue policies that increased confidence in the U.S. economy.
In an exchange on China, Paulson said the U.S. message to China
was that if it wanted to be a "member of the club," it needed to
adhere to global norms on issues such as Sudan, Iran as well as
market-determined exchange rates. The real concern was not that
China's economy would pass that of the United States, but that
China would reform too slowly and ultimately run into problems.
Paulson asked Sarkozy to "make a big impact" in China by
carrying a similar message.
¶6. (C) In a brief exchange on trade issues, Sarkozy said France
was not afraid of globalization, but would insist on reciprocity
in its foreign relations. Sarkozy was not shocked that the
United States defended its farmers: "we're doing the same."
Paulson pushed Sarkozy to help "drive Doha to a conclusion."
Sarkozy would "do (his) best," butQould not support a deal that
was not fair to France.
Lagarde on Economic Reform, China and Financial Markets
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
¶7. (C) Finance Minister Lagarde sketched out GOF reform
priorities, saying the real focus would be on France's social
programs and associated costs. Reform of the so-called "special
pension regimes" for certain categories of public workers
(including rail workers) was high on the agenda. The GOF wanted
to bring such pensions in line with those of other public sector
employees. Lagarde acknowledged that the issue had brought down
the Juppe government in the mid 1990s, but said the GOF would be
tough on pension reform. Product market reform - including
changes to distribution and retail sectors - was also in the
offing.
¶8. (C) Touching on issues subsequently raised by Sarkozy,
Lagarde said the GOF wanted strong cooperation on Iran. She
suggested an informal U.S. Treasury - Ministry of Finance "task
force" be created to look at Iran-related banking issues.
Paulson noted that BNP-Paribas had suspended work in Iran, but
that Natixis had become more active. Beyond the financial
PARIS 00004109 002 OF 002
sector, it would be important to look at the role of industrial
companies in Iran, Paulson said. Although France's exports to
Iran were a small percentage of its overall exports, they
represented 8% of Iran's imports. French Treasury director
Xavier Musca underscored the importance of the U.S. consulting
with the GOF before engaging directly with French banks on Iran.
¶9. (C) Lagarde and Musca worried about China's (as well as the
UAE's) role as financier for Iran, as well as its undermining of
good governance efforts in Africa with easy money. More
generally, Lagarde said the weakness of the yuan was "hurting
our economies." The 9/14 informal Ecofin meeting in Porto saw
agreement to add exchange rate issues to the EU - China summit
agenda in November. Lagarde suggested that Brazil and South
Africa be brought in on the issue. Paulson said the U.S. was
pushing for reform and financial market opening in China, and
"this would help all investors." He agreed to raise yuan
exchange rate issue with RSA Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in
the context of the November G-20 finance ministers meeting.
¶10. (C) On financial market issues, Lagarde said the large French banks were strong, with minimal exposure to asset-backed securities. She was "fairly confident" that the smaller banks were also well-positioned. Market transparency and related issues had been discussed in Porto, and would be the subject of ongoing consultations within the EU. Paulson said the President's Working Group on Financial Markets was looking at similar issues, including conduits and off-balance-sheet items of regulated institutions. But it was important to guard against overreaction. In particular Paulson said he sensed that Europe was "obsessed" with hedge funds. Though the link to regulated institutions (via bank lending) was an important issue, it was hard to blame hedge funds for current market turbulence. Asked about sovereign wealth funds, Lagarde saidQ the issue was not as big a deal in France as it was in Germany.
¶11. (U) The Paulson delegation has cleared this cable.
STAPLETON
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