A spin-off group from Occupy Wall Street, called Occupy Our Homes, has formed to reverse and stop foreclosures. Lately, the group has been using creative tactics to raise awareness about the banking practices that led to the housing bubble.
Janet's a lawyer who's losing her home, and she knows: When it comes to foreclosure, bureaucracy and paperwork can be your friends. Her foreclosure process has lasted for nearly 900 days, and counting. For homeowners in dire financial straits, her story is a lesson in how to keep a roof over your head as long as possible.
Regulators want the nation's big banks to reduce what borrowers owe on underwater mortgages, but they're still focused on solutions that rely on banks to voluntarily do the right thing. But we've already seen that won't work, and history shows what will -- giving bankruptcy judges back the right to cram down mortgages.
A California appeals court has ruled that U.S. Bank conned Claudia Aceves out of her home by tricking her into giving up her bankruptcy protections. Now she can sue the bank for damages and fraud, and conceivably, so could other homeowners in similar situations.
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."
Bank of America's persistent failure to modify home loans has resulted in the inevitable: a consumer class action lawsuit. Last week, Susan Fraser of Missouri filed suit on behalf of herself and other qualified homeowners whom the bank failed to give permanent loan modifications to.
Back in December 2008, John H. was small-business owner with perfect credit and a house he could afford. But when his business started suffering, he appealed to Citi Residential Mortgage for a modification. Now, he faces foreclosure -- for the fourth time -- the day before Thanksgiving.
In a Senate hearing Tuesday, Bank of America vowed to improve its foreclosure operations to avoid more "robo-signing" documentation problems. The bank halted foreclosures in October amid allegations of faulty paperwork and did find errors, although it claims no unwarranted foreclosures took place as a result.
Executives from the mortgage servicing industry testify before the Senate today, and they'll try to save face by apologizing for their industry's role in the foreclosure mess. But don't believe the hype.
Despite new federal laws designed to protect them, many tenants are caught up in foreclosure dramas as building owners struggle to keep their properties. If the real estate market doesn't improve soon, the problem could get even worse.
The U.S. government's bailout has been less than effective in helping U.S. homeowners avoid foreclosure and could end up costing more than expected, according to a report from the Troubled Asset Relief Program's special inspector general.
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.
