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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWells Fargo caught with "how to defraud homeowners" manual.
Last edited Fri Mar 14, 2014, 02:19 PM - Edit history (1)
UPDATED....link to pdf of the Manual!!!!!Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Foreclosure Attorney Procedure Manual, Version 1
http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/foreclosure_attorney_procedure_manual-1.pdf
In a filing in New Yorks Southern District in White Plains for a local homeowner in bankruptcy, attorney Linda Tirelli described a 150-page Wells Fargo Foreclosure Attorney Procedures Manual created November 9, 2011 and updated February 24, 2012. According to court papers, the Manual details a procedure for processing [mortgage] notes without endorsements and obtaining endorsements and allonges.
Attorneys, forensic accountants and consumer advocates have long suspected that banks were systematically creating improper documents to prove ownership of loans. Foreclosure defense lawyers use the term ta-da endorsement to describe situations in which they say a document appears, as if by magic, in the banks possession as needed in a foreclosure caseeven though the proper endorsement was not included in the original foreclosure filing. It might sound like a technicality, but correct proof of ownership lies at the heart of the foreclosure crisis for securitized loans, which were sold by the lender that originally issued the mortgage. To legally transfer a securitized loan, the endorsements and allonges have to be created in a very specific way and within a specific time frame, usually 90 days after a residential mortgage trust closes. For many loans in foreclosure now, which were originated years ago and then sold, its way too late to correct incomplete documents, experts said.
If you have a mortgage, it is important that you read the whole article to get an idea of how mortgage fraud works.
All the TBTF banks did this, and many of the mortgages and foreclosures over the last 10 years had forged documents.
I would love to see that manual.
Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)If no one is prosecuted for this, then all pretense that we are a country of laws is null and void.
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)That MIGHT slow them down.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)taking of profits and making all of the wrongfully foreclosured on, whole; but in order to jail the executives one has to PROVE that they were involved in, knew of, or willfully ignored the wrong-doing. That's a tough case to make on the executives ... that's why corporations have so many management layers, to shield the higher ups (read: place blame on the underlings).
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,272 posts)truedelphi
(32,324 posts)The wrong doing is supported by multiple levels of documentation complete with signatures of the offending CEOs, and yet the Justice Department looked the other way. In two of those cases, "Sixty Minutes" made almost their entire hour show about the situation.
Why you may ask me? Why did DOJ look the other way?
Well, for starters, Eric Holder, who heads Justice is one of the more corrupt people on the palnet5. If you understand who Marc Rich was, and how it was Holder who had Clinton use his Executive pardon on Rich's account, and this became the foundation of Holder's ability to go on to secure the top spot at Justice, then you see how corrupted an Administration we have right now, and how controlled it is by banking. (And banking is only two degrees separated from cartels and drug monies.)
Scuba
(53,475 posts)truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Zero degrees.
But then it makes it sound like I am really really really cynical, as opposed to being really really cynical.
Anyway, a Saturday at noon to you.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)do you have a link to the Eric Holder=>Bill Clinton =>Marc Rich thing?
So it's the drug cartels that have Holder not prosecuting mortgage fraud, huh?
Link please. Sounds kind of conspiracy theoryish to me.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)But Big Banks and Big Cartels are almost one and the same.
Look at who puts money into the banks for purposes of laundering. You can google "Citi" + laundering drug monies. Or any big bank you want, and you will get lots of references to check out.
Until the demise of Western Civ's economy, circa 2008, one third of the Mexican economy was drug money. But guess what? The heads of the cartels preferred to use American banks to launder their blood money.
Anyway I should be back with the RS source soon.
(And BTW, many "Conspiracy theories" are true. Although specifics, for instance, of who really pulled the trigger and killed JFK may never be known.)
So on the one hand, you have whole segments of Congress and the WH owned by Big Finance.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)I realize it takes more time to actually be informed (Such as Octoafish and others here try to stress) so try and put aside the time to read the damn article. Conspiracy theories shout outs are often just "Shut up so I don't have to think." Luckily for those of us who value real information, Taibbi is still taking the time to do real journalism.
Holder and Marc Rich and who they are (And who Bill Clinton and Obama are, by extension) is detailed to a fine degree in this article. I am sure it took Taibbi some two dozen hours or more to put together, and RS is rapidly moving away from politically informative articles, so pls read while it is still there:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-vampire-squid-strikes-again-the-mega-banks-most-devious-scam-yet-20140212?page=2
(If you flip through RS pages of the real magazine, you see that there are never any ads for credit cards. This truth telling by Taibbi is costing RS big time. For people here who like Taibbi, pls subscribe. RS can't afford to tell the truth without money moving into them, and believe you me, the Big Credit Cards companies (That is, the banks) are not willing to put ads in any publication that takes them down, in the manner Mr Taibbi does.)
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)As of this week, Im leaving to work for First Look Media, the new organization thats already home to reporters like Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/thank-you-rolling-stone-20140220
He is now working for .....https://firstlook.org/theintercept/about/
Their new news blog page is:
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/
Which is now my 2nd home page.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Each issue of RS has been thinner than the one before it.
If you look at Time Mag or Newsweek,a preponderance of their advertising revenue comes from the credit card ads.
And without that kind of revenue, an independent type of magazine cannot survive. (Of course, both Time and Newsweek probably get assistance from black op programs, so they have that hidden revenue to rely on.)
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)time, serious jail time, is what is needed. Financial penalties don't count squat for these guys. And IMO many are sociopaths, they don't feel guilt. Crooks make out great in finance/banking today. ... but, nothing will probably happen, just a slap on the hand and some old boys' club giggles.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)financial penalties would be far more effective than any amount of jail time.
I recommend seizing the current and future personal assets (and those of their close family) for those convicted until every victim is made whole.
In the words of Eddie Murphy's character is the classic film, Trading Places ... "The best way to hurt a rich man is to make him a poor man."
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)I can tell you that those engaged in financial/economic crimes couldn't care less about serving forever in jail ... the more time; the less they care. But the idea of being "free" and without the possibility of amassing wealth (the motivation for their crime in the first place) is far more daunting.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)and housees and cars, that would be far greater punishment than jail?
Sounds good to me. Sounds more than fair.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)I hope the government and the Attorneys General have the same belief.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Barack Obama been who he said he was going to be (Refer to Youtube Vids of who he said he was, Oct 2008, grand sweep through Wisconsin, where he ran as every bit as progressive as Kucinich,) then the story of the middle class and the Big Financially-Controlled push for demise of that class would perhaps be very different right now.
But there lies the rub. For RICO to have been effective, Obama would have had to do this immediately after his election, like on January 21st 2009.
But he apparently had promised the PTB that he would deliver what they wanted.
And so the main person, the lynch pin person whose stratagems out RICO-ed RICO, that is one Tim Geithner could have, and should have been indicted for all his massive amounts of fraudulent manipulation while he headed the New York Fed during summer and early fall of 2008.
Instead, by the time that the first National Press Club comes about in Spring 2009, Obama is mentioning Tim Geithner as being "My good buddy."
And then those of us who try and make sense of things find out that Obama's mom, far from being the granola eating, Food Stamp using, peacenik, (as she was portrayed during the election cycle), was involved with the Ford Foundation, and that for a while, while Obama was still a young kid, she worked for Geithner's dad over in Asia.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Jail time would amount to the cruelest sort of culture shock, exactly what these arrogant assholes deserve.
Besides, there should be both jail time and financial penalties.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)It is illegal to make a profit off of crime, it costs you your assets (at least in drug cases). Apply it here; seize the complete assets of Wells Fargo. Render their stock worthless. Encourage stock holders to sue the officers of Wells Fargo (or ex-officers, actually) and the banking industry in general. Do not sell, but use the seized assets to start up the banking system for the United States Post Office.
Sentence crimes according to a 1 year for every $100,000.00 in value sentencing guideline. In addition to the sentence for the crime itself. As in Bank Robbery of $57,000.00 = sentenced for bank robbery: Bank Robbery of $400,001.00 = sentenced for Bank Robbery and 4 extra years for value involved.
mindwalker_i
(4,407 posts)"Get the fuck under that rug!"
LibertyLover
(4,788 posts)Nothing is going to happen to the banksters - nothing.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)dotymed
(5,610 posts)I think they still are, unfortunately "our" leaders are a part of the scam.
The analogy of a game of monopoly has been used frequently in posts, we all know how the game ends.
IMO. WE should be able to elect important positions like "our" head of the "justice dept."
Unfortunately America has been hijacked (a coup) by the wealthy and powerful.
Help, Senator Sanders. He is the person for this time in our history unless we are happy becoming a third world country with the largest "defense" expenditures (more than all countries combined).
The American, capitalist experiment has failed.
We must progress like so many 1st world countries and ensure that all citizens are guaranteed a living wage, the elite are progressively taxed, universal health care, corporations are not people, Union representation available for all employees, etc.
It is such a no-brainer, yet few politicians would attempt this.
America is a failed surveillance state much like East Germany was.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)In the final days of the STASI secret police experiment, one fourth the population was spying on the other 3/4's.
Here it will be done by computer programs, so there won't even be that much employment.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)I know some of these guys, "and they are just savvy businessmen!"
"I mean, look at all the Baseball Players."
"Its the FREE MARKET!"
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)The Obama Justice Department has flunked badly.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Found another story which puts it in more succinct terms:
Throughout the years-long foreclosure crisis that followed the housing market collapse, homeowner advocates and bank watchdogs have warned that banks were taking families homes using flawed, incomplete, and nonexistent documents. Falsified documents were at the core of the so-called robosigning scandal that lead to an ineffective and often exaggerated settlement with five large mortgage servicers, including Wells Fargo. More than $1.4 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities are based on forged and otherwise invalid documents, leaving the associated home loans in a legal grey area.
Millions of other foreclosures are believed to have been based on incomplete documentation, thanks in large part to the craze for packaging loans up and selling them off to other firms during the pre-crisis housing finance bubble. Those rapid sales and re-sales of mortgages from one company to another to a third lead to millions of mortgage transfers that lack the proper paperwork and are therefore legally unenforceable. Brokers and traders made money based on the volume of transactions they completed rather than on the quality of their work, and as a result millions of foreclosures have been conducted illegally.
Considering the vast evidence that mortgage servicers routinely break the rules and lie to homeowners, its not hard to imagine that Wells Fargo could have actually written down a guide to foreclosing unlawfully.
What is startling is that the banks are finding new ways to profit even further from the foreclosure crisis. Wall Street is buying up the houses theyve kicked people out of and turning them into rental properties and plans to apply the same sorts of wheeler-dealer money-making strategies to their new rental housing empire that they used with home loans prior to the financial crisis.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/03/13/3399511/wells-fargo-foreclosure-manual/
KoKo
(84,711 posts)and then using them as rentals. Reports are that they are not maintaining the houses and there are complaints in various states about it. But, they get away with it. They are speculating that the houses will sell for more in a few years when they kick the renters out.
In the meantime they can influence the the communities they own the companies with regulations and such. (at least that's what I've read on business sites is their ultimate interest)
And billionaire investor Warren Buffett has bought up Prime Real Estate Agencies in many states that were formerly private. Why would he want to be going into the Real Estate Business? Not his usual line of investing to want to be a Real Estate Broker...but there it is. He bought out a long time family owned agency in my city. They only dealt in high end listings. That seems to be his interest.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I found the manual!!!!
aggiesal
(8,864 posts)2+2 is starting to equal 5!
daleanime
(17,796 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)Barry Ritholtz
One of the great mysteries of the post financial crisis era is why obvious criminality has not been prosecuted. We have been told it is more complex than it appears; that the securitization process has made determining exactly who was harmed complicated; that this complexity makes convincing a jury a crapshoot.
All of these arguments fail to withstand even cursory scrutiny when it comes to foreclosure fraud. The Robo-signing, document fabrication and mass perjury were fish in a barrel for even a newbie prosecutor. Why did the government fail to go after the perpetrators of mass fraud?
An Inspector Generals report released this week by the Justice Department raises that exact question.
A quick reminder: The high speed assembly line production of subprime mortgages led to a series of errors in the securitization of these mortgages. This was facilitated by an extra-legal entity names MERS (they facilitated the securitization process with very sketchy behavior worthy of a column itself). The pressure to push these mortgages rapidly along led to lots of avoidable errors: Missing mortgage notes, bad or outdated information, error-riddled underwriting. Who actually owned the underlying note often was unknown.
As these poorly assembled sub-prime mortgage began to collapse, banks were faced with an expensive legal issue: How to process a massive number of foreclosures. Rather than perform this in a prudent and legal manner, some banks made the decision to take inexpensive and illegal shortcuts. They hired firms like the now defunct DOX to fabricate documents for court. DOX even published a list of docs they were for willing to artificially manufacture for trial. This DOX perjury price list was one of many factors that eventually led to its demise. continues here
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2014/03/cowardly-failure-to-prosecute/
.........AND THIS...with the Attached DOCUMENTS that DOJ MISLED (lied?) with Reported Figures.............
Audit of the Department of Justices Efforts to Address Mortgage Fraud
by Barry Ritholtz - March 14th, 2014, 7:00am
Unconscionable:
DOCUMENT at SITE...
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I had glanced at, then misplaced that story, so glad you found it.
which leads into another aspect of the whole mess:
Everybody is suing everybody for loan issues...
homeowners, shareholders and class action lawsuits are popping up all over, banks, mortgage servicers,
Fannie and Freddit are being sued, all because of the bad mortgages.
In some cases, mortgage servicers like mine ( Green Tree) have closed down,while others are not doing any more broker mortgages.
god, I do hope this is the tide turning.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Lawsuits. They close them down and then no money goes to refund people defrauded? The Repugs are always yelling "FANNIE & FREDDIE" because it takes the heat off the fraud they didn't fix or re-regulate after the 07/08 housing meltdown.
Although I've read it wasn't F&F's lending practices at the beginning that caused it but them having to compete with the Big Banks who were loosening regulations on who could qualify. IOWD's they got caught in the tail end as "Everyone is Doing it and You Need to do it TOO" when it was the GOVT. REGULATORS who are at fault for all of this and the Investment Banks that were slicing and dicing and selling off the pieces to investors all over the world.
The whole thing is so disgusting and I was into reading about it all the time for years ...and finally I figured out nothing was going to be done about all the people who got stung in this. And..that the programs Obama put in really weren't enough to help many people because of the difficulty in people even trying to get ahold of the documents for their ownership of their homes because the banks sold them to other banks and then investment banks bought them out. So one couldn't even prove they owned the house. All those horror stories of rip offs while so little was done.
Good luck if this info helps you out ...I think you had worked to save your house and really had to get into all this researching documents and going back and forth with your bank for years. Was that you?
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I have not yet had to do it. But if the time comes, she has all the info I need, bless her.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)And thanks for keep on top of this. This thread shows people are still having all kinds of problems from this while Wall St. says "its all over and housing is recovering." Helping people out for all those who STILL might be going through this
Moosepoop
(1,917 posts)Green Tree is my mortgage servicer -- my loan went to them last year after a decade with Flagstar. Could you elaborate on Green Tree closing down?? It sounds like there's something I might need to know! Thanks!!
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)About halfway down the page.
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/03072014-irish-jokes-french-maids.aspx
I am anxiously waiting for this month's mortgage bill to see what it says.
when mortgage servicers change, by law you and I cannot be dinged for any payment mishaps.
In fact, by law, Green Tree is supposed to give us 60 or 90 days heads up of the change.
We shall see.
Pls. PM me if you hear anything?
Background:
Ditech and green Tree are both owned by Walter Investments.
Green Tree AND Walter Investments are being investigated by the Feds.
and a lot of Green Tree employees are already being hired by other mortgage companies.
ditech is apparently not...yet.
but Ditech has a slimy background.
back when General Motors Acceptance corp ( General Motors arm of car loans) got into trouble in 2008 in the tanking economy, the Treasury gave GM about 25 billion of the 700 billion TARP.
In turn, GM agreed to divest itself of GMAC.
GMAC was re-named Ally Financial and allowed to become a bank!!
so it could qualify for TARP money.
Well, Ditech was Ally's dept. with mortgages.
Later Ally sold Ditech to Walter Investments.
So seems funny that Green Tree would be investigated by not Ditech.
Moosepoop
(1,917 posts)I had no idea... and yes, I'll certainly PM you with anything I find out!! Thanks again!
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I use gmail for non-important stuff, because....they let you set up "alerts" so that any news on any topic will be delivered to your mailbox.
So, I have alerts for Green tree, for Wells Fargo, and all the other banks, and for any other topic I want to track.
Save a lot of time, I can jsut skim each alert for anything important
and that is how I found the link I told you about.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Bastards.
jsr
(7,712 posts)malaise
(267,823 posts)It gets worse by the day - the plutocrats have stolen America.
deafskeptic
(463 posts)I had problems with Wells Fargo though I do not own a mortgage. I'm glad I have an account with a local credit union.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)My original mortgage was through Wachovia, and they were always a pleasure to deal with. Then Wells Fargo took them over, and the nightmare started 5 years ago.
Every year, they want verification of my homeowners and flood insurance. I fax them all the documents and they keep bugging me for the documents. Every year, I've sent them the documents at least 3 times, and have a fax receipt record time and date stamp. This year I've sent them the required documentation 3 times, and yesterday I got another letter saying that they don't have proof. I already have 2 prior letters acknowledging receipt of the proof.
Next, they'll go out and buy me exorbitant insurance (through their subsidiary) and try to add it to my mortgage. Then as always, a month later, they'll say "Ooops, we made a mistake, and correct the account".
Did I mention how much I hate these motherfuckers?
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)there are class action lawsuits right now about it. Google "class action forced place lawsuit"
and keep the info for future reference.If they owe you any money for past insurance, even better, you qualify for the suit.
Green Tree was picked by BOA as my new servicer. Both BOA and Green Tree have claimed to not received the insurance info, every year. I was actually hoping they would force place, as I could then sue them.
Luckily, I avoided the most common headache, which is to have an escrow account and let them pay the insurance.
they rip those accounts off easily and often.
Was delighted to read this week that Green Tree is being investigaged by the Feds.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)After I faxed the attorney about 100 pages of loan documents.
I'm half tempted to tell them to stick this underwater mortgage up their ass. Unfortunately, I've already paid about $5k for my Homeowners Extortion, er, Insurance and Flood for the next year. Florida insurance rates are insane.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)cui bono
(19,926 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)We need to elect people who WANT to.
We need to vote out ANYONE who sides with corporations over people.
Unfortunately, it can be awfully hard to tell what a candidate will want to do -- or be allowed to do -- once in office.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)I would love to figure out if forged documents were used in the proceedings.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)If you took out an original loan before 2008, the chances are excellent they forged the papers.
Who was the original lender? If Country wide, it is certain the papers were forged, cause Countrywide admitted to destorying the original papers.
Law suits have been won on the ground the original lender was the only one who could foreclose, not any assignees.
If you go to your county records, you might find that that your orginal loan was passed on other banks, and for sure Fannie Mae, but there legally there was no assignment and no fees paid for each transfer.
And you can compare your original loan documents to your foreclosure documents.
Everyone should always keep ALL original docs about a house, cause you never know when they can prove something.
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)I'm going to have to do some digging around to see what I can come up with...
I bought my house and had the original mortgage through sun trust or in Feb 2008 then refinanced it about a year later when mortgage rates dropped. I don't remember the name of the company, but I know that the mortgage was sold/transferred to wells fargo by this company.
I thought I was all done with the foreclosure about 18 months ago. I sure hope I still have the paperwork somewhere...
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)that is, you could not make payments?
if so, even tho the paperwork might be dodgy, the courts are not likely to hear the case.
Some courts have listened to homeowners during foreclsoure, there are several arguments that have worked in various courts.
ms.smiler
(551 posts)Ive lost count of how many times Ive nodded in agreement with your posts.
I wont be rude or argumentative with you or any fellow DU member but I will point to what I view as something not well phrased.
You wrote: Did they foreclose for a valid reason? that is, you could not make payments?
As a homeowner, Defendant & Plaintiff, and member of two nationwide private networks of homeowners and attorneys fighting the banksters, Ive had my hand in the legal end of this since 2009. Whether a homeowner has made payments or not, does not determine if a foreclosure was lawful or for a valid reason.
If a mortgage loan is truly in default, that does not allow any old party to waltz into court with dodgy documents pretending they own the loan and that they have the right to foreclose. They must have standing and capacity to foreclose on the property. They also must not commit fraud upon the court. There is no statute of limitations on fraud upon the court and a judgment can be challenged at any time because of such fraud.
Suppose you owed me money, say $100. I certainly have the right to ring you up or knock on your door and ask that you pay me the $100. I certainly dont have the right though to wait until you go on vacation, break down your front door and ransack your house until I locate $100 in cash or property. And I certainly dont have the right to send my brother to do the same. You understand securitized mortgages so you understand how a wrongful foreclosure fits my simple example.
Even if the valid true owner and holder in due course with a valid lien upon property forecloses upon a homeowner, they must do so legally.
Remember, with a traditional mortgage the homeowner is the only party obligated by contract to pay against the loan which isnt true of securitized mortgages where numerous parties are so obligated. So if the homeowner ceased making payments, you need to identify the other obligated parties and determine if they are making the payments or not before you can conclude that the loan is in default. Of course you also have to examine conveyances and other factors to determine the proper party, if any, that has the legal right to foreclose.
So lets imagine a homeowner who ceased making payments and their home was foreclosed. An equitable action took place.
Now lets imagine a homeowner who ceased making payments and their home was wrongfully foreclosed. An inequitable action took place. I dont care what amount of money the homeowner supposedly owed because the wrongdoing translates into multiples of the value of the property. Wrongful foreclosure does more harm and creates more in legal damages than whatever was owed on the mortgage.
Remember that front door I broke down and the damage from the ransacking? I would owe you multiples of $100, wouldnt I?
I may have misunderstood your comment but I wouldnt want homeowners, even homeowners who ceased making mortgage payments, to think they had no recourse. While the lower courts sometimes rubber stamp foreclosure actions, the higher courts are sharp and homeowners are able to hold the banksters accountable. Believe me, homeowners beat the banksters on a daily basis but the settlement agreements usually include non-disclosure clauses so we dont often hear about the wins for homeowners. I dont think the banksters want ordinary homeowners to know they can make successful use of our courts.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Thanki you so very much for such a thoughtful and detailed comment...
ms.smiler
(551 posts)It was you and others who helped enlighten me about 6 years ago; again, thank you.
I spend hours each day reviewing court filings and rulings, reading White Papers, interacting with other homeowners, attorneys and paralegals, all steeped in these technical legal issues. And so it only took a few words for me to worry over possible misinterpretation.
dixiegrrrrl, have you seen this darling example of propaganda? For some reason Fannie neglects to mention that MERS as mortgagee acts as a placeholder in our land records while the mortgage is split from the Note which goes off on this mystical and unrecorded securitization journey. Gee they also neglected to mention the toxic assets (failed MBS) that the banksters dumped off on U.S. taxpayers, (Fannie.) I suppose though that information wouldnt fit well with the delicate fun and comforting music in the video.
So after considering all those possible unrecorded conveyances of your loan between lenders, Fannie
Mae, various portfolios, Trusts and investors, can you the homeowner possibly identify the party with the beneficial interest in your loan?
With a securitized mortgage you can have one party who owns the Note while another party owns the beneficial interest from the Note and yet another party who is holding Title. NONE of this securitization scheme comports with real estate law. It effectively does two things though; it clouds the property Title and succeeds in converting secured debt into legally unsecured debt.
Invalid forged documents actually filed in our land records are designed to paper over the gaps and breaks in the chain of Title created by MERS and securitization and to create the illusion that debt remains secured by property.
And that is why Nationstar, Citimortgage, Inc., Ocwen, Bank of America, EverBank PHH Mortgage Corporation, Seterus, Inc., HSBC Bank, and the balance of the long list of Fannie Mae servicers in addition to Wells Fargo, all most likely have a How to Defraud Homeowners and the Courts Manual. Id like to compare their manuals with Wells Fargos.
I defy any homeowner to show me where in their mortgage contract or Promissory Note they consented to the securitization of their loan. That is something that transpired beyond the four corners of the agreement.
And after 5 years of research, I am still seeking the person who can direct me to the legal process by which a security can be converted back into a Promissory Note.
dixiegrrrrl, Im sure you can remember a time when some people argued in support of mortgage securitization and MERS. Heck, I remember people who couldnt understand that robo-signing was forgery. Have you noticed that sort of thing doesnt happen anymore? You not only helped enlighten me, you helped enlighten this community, thank you.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I have 3 major boundaries in life:
don't mess with my kids
don't mess with my car
and don't mess with my $$$$$
when I figured out they were messing with the security of my house, I went a digging.
and YOU have been stellar in sharing your resources and experience.
all I have done is bring info back to DU and shared it best I can.
ms.smiler
(551 posts)http://www.salon.com/2013/08/12/your_mortgage_documents_are_fake/
From the article:
A newly unsealed lawsuit, which banks settled in 2012 for $95 million, actually offers a different reason, providing a key answer to one of the persistent riddles of the financial crisis and its aftermath. The lawsuit states that banks resorted to fake documents because they could not legally establish true ownership of the loans when trying to foreclose.
This reality, which banks did not contest but instead settled out of court, means that tens of millions of mortgages in America still lack a legitimate chain of ownership, with implications far into the future. And if Congress, supported by the Obama administration, goes back to the same housing finance system, with the same corrupt private entities who broke the nations private property system back in business packaging mortgages, then shame on all of us.
Mr. Papantonio interviewed David Dayen on his article. There's quite a contrast between the reality of securitized mortgages and Fannie's fanciful explanation contained in my previous post.
And this is why Ive asked homeowners who are dutifully making mortgage payments to pause and consider that if it takes that level of fraud addressed above to simulate ownership of a loan in order to foreclose, what level of fraud is necessary at this moment to simulate ownership of their mortgage loans?
ms.smiler
(551 posts)If you have the settlement sheet from that mortgage, did you pay any Yield Spread Premium?
Was the mortgage you signed under seal?
Who was the loan originator? What Assignments were filed in your land records? Who signed those Assignments? Wells Fargo was the foreclosing party but did they Title the property over to Fannie after the foreclosure?
Did you know that wrongful foreclosure has damages of 3 times the value of the property as does Slander of Title? Did you know that Punitive damages are 9 times actual damages?
In New York state there are numerous foreclosure mills who handle the foreclosure cases that involve securitized mortgages but only 1 attorney who handles legitimate foreclosure cases. That might give you an idea of how likely it is that you were wrongfully foreclosed.
If you can provide some information, Id be delighted to comment on any indications that you should seek counsel.
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)-- and I'm not even sure I have the paperwork anymore
But wow! DU never fails to amaze me with the help and information I can receive from anonymous people.
ms.smiler
(551 posts)Fannie Mae lookup tool: https://knowyouroptions.com/loanlookup
If Fannie owns your loan, please understand the following:
Fannie Mae Servicing Guide
https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/svc031412.pdf
If the link doesnt appear to work for you, try a copy and paste into a new browser window.
From Fannies Guide:
Section 202.07.01
Fannie Mae is at all times the owner of the mortgage note, whether the mortgage loan is in Fannie Maes portfolio or part of the MBS pool. In addition, Fannie Mae at all times has possession of and is the holder of the mortgage note, except in the limited circumstances expressly described below. Fannie Mae may have direct possession of the note or a custodian may have custody of the note. If Fannie Mae possesses the note through a document custodian, the document custodian has custody of the note for Fannie Maes exclusive use and benefit.
Section 103.02
If Fannie Mae is not the mortgagee of record for a mortgage loan, it does not need to execute any release or satisfaction documents. The servicer should execute any required satisfaction documents in its own name (or in MERS® name, if applicable for a MERS-registered mortgage loan).
Section 202.06
The servicer may execute legal documents related to payoffs, foreclosures, releases of liability, releases of security, mortgage loan modifications, subordinations, assignments, and conveyances (or reconveyances) for any mortgage loan for which it (or the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS®) is the owner of record. When an instrument of record relating to a single-family property requires the use of an address for Fannie Mae, including assignments of mortgage loans, foreclosure deeds, REO deeds, and lien releases, the following address must be used:
Fannie Mae
P.O. Box 650043
Dallas, TX 75265-0043
Pre Foreclosure
Section 107
MERS must not be named as a plaintiff or foreclosing party in any foreclosure action, whether judicial or non-judicial, on a mortgage loan owned or securitized by Fannie Mae. When MERS is the mortgagee of record, the servicer must prepare an assignment from MERS to the servicer and bring the foreclosure in its own name unless Fannie Mae specifically allows the foreclosure to be brought in the name of Fannie Mae. In that event, the assignment must be from MERS to Fannie Mae, in care of the servicer at the servicers address for receipt of notices. The assignment must be prepared and executed before the foreclosure begins.
Post Foreclosure
Section 107
In most states, the foreclosure attorney (or trustee) must initiate the proceedings in the servicers name (or in the participating lenders name, if the servicer is not the mortgagee of record for a participation pool mortgage loan). The attorney (or trustee) must subsequently have title vested in Fannie Maes name in a manner that will not result in the imposition of a transfer tax. Examples of ways to accomplish this include the assignment of the foreclosure bid or judgment to Fannie Mae, inclusion of appropriate language in the judgment that directs the sheriff or clerk to issue a deed in Fannie Maes name, recordation of an assignment of the mortgage or deed of trust to Fannie Mae immediately before the foreclosure sale, recordation of a grant deed to Fannie Mae immediately following the foreclosure sale, etc. The servicer and the foreclosure attorney (or trustee) must determine the most appropriate method to use in each jurisdiction. If recordation of the assignment of the mortgage or deed of trust to Fannie Mae is the selected option, the assignment should not be recorded any earlier than is required by the states foreclosure procedures because of the possibility that the mortgage loan may be reinstated before the foreclosure sale.
In my case, Fannie has owned my loan since 11/01/2006 yet they dont appear in my land records because MERS doesnt file most conveyances that are required by law. PA State statutes require that all conveyances be filed in the county land records within 6 months otherwise the mortgage is fraudulent and void. Oops.
Servicers for Fannie such as Wells Fargo and in my case, Nationstar follow the Fannie Servicing Guide and file bogus Assignments in the land records designed to paper over the gaps and breaks in the chain of Title created by MERS and to create the illusion that the servicer owns the loan. These bogus Assignments are often used in fraudulent foreclosure actions filed by mortgage servicers.
If a mortgage loan doesnt progress to a foreclosure but is instead refinanced or paid off, the best a homeowner can expect is a bogus Satisfaction of Mortgage filed in the land records.
If homeowners understood the scope of the fraud that took place on the creditor side of their dutifully paid mortgages and the Title defects it created, like me, they would likely seek counsel and file a lawsuit to fix their property Titles and kick any void mortgages to the curb.
Securities fraud on Wall Street has created a mortgage/foreclosure/Title crisis here on Main Street.
http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/JP-Morgan-Chase-Bank-Natl.-Assn.-v-Butler.pdf
See page 9 Fannie Mae is at all times the owner of the mortgage note, whether the note is in our portfolio or whether we own it as trustee for an MBS trust.
From the NY ruling: Despite its December 2011 admission that FANNIE MAE owned the subject BUTLER mortgage and note, CHASE, prior to this, continuously presented its ownership subterfuge to Special Referee Goldstein and the Court. The Court cannot countenance the deceptive behavior of CHASE, the alleged owner of the subject BUTLER mortgage and note, its counsel, and FANNIE MAE, the real owner of the subject BUTLER mortgage and note. FANNIE MAEs Servicing Guide, with its deceptive practices to fool courts, does not supercede New York law.
I hope youre well dixiegrrrrl.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)even tho Fannie most certainly has the mortgage.
I am in a non-judial state, which means they can foreclose without any court action, by printing in newspaper the foerclosure is to happen.
However, even in a non-judicial state, the foreclosure can be fought, if one can find an attorney that will take the case.
with the Gov. so anxious to close down Fannie and Freddie, as KoKo pointed out above, I wonder if that will once agian allow MERS to file foreclosures?
even tho MERS is not the lender and has no interest in the property at all, it is no more that a register of the mortgage.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Looks like they moved it. or erased it,.
fortunately, I have a copy that was sent to me sometime ago.....
another reason to download important stuff off Gov't sites when one finds them.
bananas
(27,509 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I have too often forgotten to look there...thank you!
Javaman
(62,442 posts)nothing.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)whether that was in real money or just pixels, I do not know.
Javaman
(62,442 posts)it's made like nothing has happened and they continue on with business as usual.
Madmiddle
(459 posts)deal with these predatory banks have known this all along. They break the law every single month yet they get away with it because of the political corrupt.
bondwooley
(1,198 posts)Trying to help a friend who is being destroyed by them right now:
http://lesterandcharlie.com/2014/03/14/lets-show-some-twitter-power/
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)and perhaps even turn it into a class action suit.
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)And conning their customers.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I had thought, at one point, it had been disbanded as a corp.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)So far above the law, that they mock it with this manual on crime.
idendoit
(505 posts)A friend did due diligence on their foreclosure notice and when the 'holder' couldn't prove they actually owned the debt in court, wound up with owner ship of the property, with plenty of settlement to improve it.
AnalystInParadise
(1,832 posts)Thinking about a strategic default anyway......
ms.smiler
(551 posts)In a strategic default, the banksters eventually make off with a free house. You, the homeowner, have more invested in your property than the banksters. In a Quiet Title, which isnt expensive, you gather the fraudsters in court and force them to prove their fraudulent contracts and fraudulent liens are somehow valid which is unlikely.
If you move before they do, you can beat them to the courthouse, even before they have a chance to file a bogus Assignment on your property. Essentially, you can catch them with their pants around their ankles. Why shouldnt it be you that claims your property and Deed, free of any mortgage or lien?
DFW
(54,055 posts)This is "Section U" as described in "The Rainmaker."
Maybe some Wells Fargo guys read Grisham's book, got to the part about the bad guys' scam and said, hey, you know that wasn't such a bad idea......
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)nt.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)K&R
tavalon
(27,985 posts)I left Well's Fargo for BECU. I miss their superior web interface, but my CU is catching up fast and it was worth it. I never want those skeevy jerks to touch one more cent of my money.
Crash2Parties
(6,017 posts)correct proof of ownership lies at the heart of the foreclosure crisis for securitized loans, which were sold by the lender that originally issued the mortgage. To legally transfer a securitized loan, the endorsements and allonges have to be created in a very specific way and within a specific time frame, usually 90 days after a residential mortgage trust closes. For many loans in foreclosure now, which were originated years ago and then sold, its way too late to correct incomplete documents, experts said.
So, help me out here. In the case of MERS, there is no valid chain of ownership. It was created for exactly that purpose, to defraud the counties out of all those filing fees every time a mortgage was "sold" to the thousands of new owners when it was securitized & bundled up. There is no actual MERS database, no trail of ownership. When a MERS mortgage is foreclosed, the bank that is currently receiving the cash flow (ie the monthly payment) simply...makes up the documents needed. Exactly as mentioned here. And as court case after court case has shown (*when the homeowners can actually afford to fight it, which is rare since they are often in bankruptcy or near) that if the bank can't prove a trail of ownership, they can't foreclose.
Given that, how can they legally hand over the deed when someone makes that final payment? Why are any of us forced to pay them each month? There is a massive fraud going on that no one in the media, or local or federal governments will talk about.
The only solution I can see is for a national group to organize homeowners with a legal "run" on the banks, forcing them to provide proof of mortgage ownership if they wish to continue to receive payments. It's the only way to turn the tables.
ms.smiler
(551 posts)You wrote: Given that, how can they legally hand over the deed when someone makes that final payment?
Ill answer you by stating that after MERS broke the chain of Title and clouded the Title, and after secured debt was converted into legally unsecured debt, and securities, insurance and tax fraud transpired, there is no valid Deed and clear Title or valid Satisfaction of Mortgage for the homeowner to receive upon completion of their payments.
You wrote: Why are any of us forced to pay them each month?
Ill answer by stating that most homeowners dont even understand how a securitized mortgage differs from a traditional mortgage. They dont understand how securities fraud on Wall Street is directly connected to our mortgage loans and property Titles here on Main Street. They make their mortgage payments with no idea their Titles are clouded, with no idea their mortgage could be invalid, and with no idea that they could be foreclosed the same as someone who ceased making payments.
Some homeowners though are wise to the securitization scheme. They are researching and examining their options. They are biding their time until they decide on the appropriate time and type of action best suitable to their situation. dixiegrrrrl falls into that category.
And then there are the informed homeowners, actively fighting this massive fraud. There are the homeowners with and without counsel fighting their fraudulent foreclosures, or fighting to win their homes free of debt in bankruptcy, or fighting to clear their Titles with Quiet Title actions like myself.
I wrote in a post once that millions of documents filed in our land records is established evidence of the largest financial crime in history waiting to be used in court. Think of your Recorders office as a crime scene because it is. How nice and thoughtful it was of the banksters to not only supply the rope, but store it so close to our own homes.
Millions of such fraudulent documents are preserved in court records for those homeowners already wrongfully foreclosed. As I mentioned in another post, there is no statute of limitations on fraud upon the court.
As time progresses, more and more enlightened homeowners rise in opposition to the fraud. Increasing numbers of homeowners are fighting wrongful foreclosures and filing Quiet Title actions and securing their property rights in bankruptcy.
The solution that I see is a transformational court ruling arising out of some homeowner lawsuit somewhere. (Ill share my wildest dream with you.) I reside in PA and MERS is not a lawful mortgagee and my mortgage is therefore invalid. Now imagine the difficulty for MERS to come to court and prove they are a beneficiary. When, where and how was MERS ever a beneficiary of my loan? Now imagine MERS can prove no such thing and the court rules that my mortgage is invalid because it lacks a lawful mortgagee. Oh my fellow Pennsylvanians could line up at their court houses to cite ms.smiler v Advantage Financial, MERS and Nationstar and kick their invalid mortgages to the curb.
Isnt that a wild dream? Thats the sort of solution though I believe may happen at some point in time in this fight. So many people are coming at this fraud from such diverse angles that someone; somewhere will eventually strike upon something that dramatically alters the legal landscape for homeowners. Its just a matter of time.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)When you can't find the documents you need, just forge them! These people really do think they're above the law.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)I cannot express with words how very much I wish there really was a hell right now.
Julie
On edit: I was remiss in not commenting: Great OP, thanks for posting it!
pragmatic_dem
(410 posts)hand swooshing by, almost making contact with the back of Wells Fargo's wrist.
pragmatic_dem
(410 posts)you know, looking for meta-terrorists.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)reformist2
(9,841 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Money launderers, among a lot of other things.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/whats-wrong-wells-fargo
AllyCat
(16,036 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Such periods in history have happened before, and each time the population allowed themselves to reach a
tipping point of horrific suffering before they reacted.