Despite the new housing construction boom, there are still lots of empty foreclosures out there, which banks have been trying to rent. But now, Wall Street wants to bundle those rental properties into securities and sell them to investors. Does this sound disturbingly familiar?
A recent ruling by an Alabama judge, in the case of a beleaguered family facing foreclosure, is a test case for the banks: Now that judges are paying attention, will they be able to foreclose on many securitized mortgages?
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?
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."
As multiple lawsuits and SEC actions progress in relation to the nation's mortgage mess, it's becoming clear that the misbehaviors of the lawyers involved at all stages were not isolated incidents: The misconduct was systemic, and it's time to start holding those lawyers accountable.
JPMorgan Chase may come to regret buying Bear Stearns. Suits by Wells Fargo and bond insurer Ambac claim that Bear entirely disregarded loan quality to appease its trading desk's ever-growing demand for mortgages to securitize. Now, those parties are suing to get their money back, and they might get it.
On Monday, a group of institutional investors sued Countrywide and Bank of America over Countrywide's mortgages practices. The bank is accused of issuing vast numbers of loans using methods that went beyond lax standards and into fraud, with the sole goal of repackaging them into securities to resell with inflated ratings.
A U.S. bankruptcy court judge in New York wants officials from HSBC and Litton Loan Servicing to appear in her courtroom next month -- to explain their failure to provide adequate documentation concerning how HSBC wound up claiming to hold a mortgage that's involved in a bankruptcy case.
After an exhaustive examination, DailyFinance's legal reporter comes to a clear verdict. Banks have done three things to create the massive glut of foreclosures choking America's legal systems and laying waste to its real estate markets.
A top Massachusetts court has criticized banks for their "carelessness" during the securitization of mortgages in the state. But interests supporting the banks have issued their own messages -- trying to minimize the court's decision.
On Oct. 20, New York courts ordered attorneys for foreclosing banks to swear they'd personally confirmed that their documents are true and accurate. But a Brooklyn judge has taken things a step further. Since the banks aren't complying, he has started throwing out foreclosure cases.
Bank of America challenges testimony by one of its operational leaders -- that Countrywide may have held on to homeowners' notes that it should have put into a trust. But the testimony is reinforcing fears that BofA is in big trouble.
Sworn testimony in a recently concluded mortgage case may spell big trouble for Bank of America. If what one bank employee said proves to be accurate, paperwork problems at mortgage provider Countrywide could leave Bank of America on the hook for billions.
Two crashes in recent years are bad enough, but investors are also facing high-frequency traders, bearish insiders, less-than-honest corporate self-portrayals and a moribund mortgage market. It's no wonder they've lost confidence in the nation's equity markets.