Will homeowners see a penny of the reimbursements that the government has ordered 16 mortgage lenders to pay? Not likely, foreclosure victims and housing activists say, because the independent review ordered by regulators is too weak.
State attorneys general and federal regulators are rushing to settle the robo-signing foreclosure mess created by the banks and get the real estate market back on its feet. But their proposals don't fully address the one of the fundamental problems of the crisis: Who really owns all those homes?
As if we needed more proof of the outlaw actions of banks and their agents, The Baltimore Sun reports that 1,000 or more Maryland deeds are likely forgeries created by a foreclosure mill. If the accusation is true, the false deeds will create a nightmare for the innocent people who bought the homes.
A partial settlement plan has been constructed by a group of state attorneys general and federal regulators. In theory, it addresses banks' flawed mortgage servicing, modification and foreclosure practices. In reality, it just lets the banks off the hook.
HSBC announced late last month that it had put all of its U.S. foreclosures on hold to review their documents -- back in December. So why are its lawyers still pushing cases ahead? HSBC also says it doesn't robo-sign. So why does its annual report mention foreclosure document problems that sound so much like those caused by robo-signing?
Nope, Angelo Mozilo won't be serving time, no matter what the evidence shows. In fact, he won't even face a trial. Wondering how the most convictable CEO among the titans who brought down the financial system is getting off so easy? The answer lies in the revolving door between Wall Street and its "regulators."
Banks created the Mortgage Electronic Registration System to save themselves a boatload in fees by keeping mortgage transfers off the books of local governments. Now, a New York judge says the whole system violates state law, and banks holding MERS mortgages there can't foreclose. Where will this disaster go from here?
When the state tightened its foreclosure rules in response to the document crisis, it ordered the six largest servicers to explain why they should be allowed to continue foreclosing on homes. In effect, their response went something like this: "Trust us, everything's fine now."
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Martin Glenn denied Wells Fargo's request for permission to foreclose on Tandala Mims's house in the Bronx for a second time on Thursday because he still wasn't satisfied that Wells -- as opposed to some other bank -- had the right to do so.
Most people raising the issue of false mortgage documents are homeowners facing foreclosure. And banks often respond that botched paperwork is a mere technicality -- nothing to worry about. Then you find a case like Wells Fargo's attempt to foreclose on Tandala Mims of New York.
The mortgage industry has created a system meant to simplify the handling of loan documents. Instead, it's legally shaky, makes tracking mortgage-note ownership extremely hard and may wind up throwing into doubt who actually controls the title of properties throughout the country.
This week, the Congressional Oversight Panel recommended that the nation's big banks be stress tested again, because if problems with mortgage-backed securities are widespread, the consequences could be dire. Now, the Fed has agreed to run those tests, which it wouldn't do if it wasn't worried.
Depositions by three employees of Nationwide Title Clearing describe a factory-like process that's awful to look at. Nationwide defends the system as a standard industry practice, but much of it defies common sense.
Even as the impact of the ongoing debacle slowly unfolds, it's not too early to tote up a list of 10 far-reaching developments that have already happened. None bodes well for the U.S. housing market, banks or economy.
The "robo-signers" at banks who signed thousands of foreclosure-related documents were essentially lying under oath. But perhaps even worse were the lawyers involved: They're the ones who should have known better and put an end to the practice -- but didn't.