Banks are your friends…smiled the crocodile
by Dan Crawford
Key players in the development of this story are judges in each state as they interpret state law defining proper ownership. Inquiry to two people who know courts predicted most judges would probably simply ignore technical discrepancies, but as the story develops these issues are gaining traction. Bypassing property laws is a big no-no perhaps.
Foreclosure mess ups in Florida as Yves Smith continues to follow the trail of difficulties with titles in 45 states.
GMACS letter to agents concerning foreclosures.
Fitch considering downgrading servicers as difficulties develop and homeowners contest foreclosures based on title problems.
JPMorgan Suspending Foreclosures as one of the big guys says oops.
By DAVID STREITFELD
In a sign that the entire foreclosure process is coming under pressure, a second major mortgage lender said that it was suspending court cases against defaulting homeowners so it could review its legal procedures
Update:
Seven banks asked to review procedures and docs by OCC under the heading Crocodile Grows
Best to keep in mind this image!!
rdan,
If some populist judge rules against banks right to foreclose based on some technicality re. securitization and it sticks, which I guess is what you are hoping for, it will be a disaster of epic proportions
Well, it appears to me that bypassing titles to property is a problem, as 45 states have property rights laid out specifically. Does this mean you are against private property rights? And for defacto changes in law by private corporations?
If you think it is some populist judges you are simply uninformed sammy.
Please read the links before commenting. BTW, the alligator is a symbol of wrestling with this problem. But the sloppiness and disregard for private property is astounding.
And mind you, it is state law, so I imagine there will be many responses. Are you proposing the fdederal government step in and usurp more power?
Sammy,
Read the links. Some of what is at issue is out and out fraud on behalf of teh lawyers and banks involved. Fraudulant documents, FC on the wrong person/house, counterfiet summons and eviction notices. All becuase their is such a huge backlog they can’t process them fast enough. These links cry out for a 90-day moratorium on evictions and FCs while the courts get their act together. Then they can start up the FC process in a straight-forward legal manner and start reclaiming the asset to be resold at market prices. This is cookie-cutter law and they can’t even get it right.
And if the bank can’t produce the documents needed to prove they actually have a lean on the house. Well they should eat it. Sorry, if you can’t do the basics (boil water) stay out of the kitchen. A lot of these banks are insolvant anyway and need to go the way of the dodo.
Sorry, I have no simpathey for either side in this fight. They deserve each other.
Islam will change
You bet buff. I thought it was covered, and the crocodile sort of humor. Populist judges got to me, and the fact that it is a state issue and not a monolithic populist issue. So a bit grouchy.
Except that the only ones lending right now are F&F&FHA, so any new sales transactions that proceed to closure with unclear transfer of title chains means the new owner bought a house from someone (mostly a bank) that legally didn’t own it with F&F&FHA money (that would be taxpayer money). So at that point the new buyer has no house and a non-recourse loan from the taxpayer. Not sure what the “work-out” is on that, but if you are a new buyer, be sure to get one of those 3% down loans.
I was tip-toeing back into the housing market for a look-see, but between this and chinese drywall, I have decided to retreat back into my gopher hole for at least another spring season.
technicality sammy? all their affidavits of ownership when foreclosures were filed with the courts were signed by low level grunt workers with no knowledge as to their validity…the reason this action was initially limited to 23 states was the other states didnt require the affidavit to filed in court, but other foreclosures elsewhere could have been equally fraudulent…
to see how this might have happened, one needs to look no further back to what we already know about the bundling of mortgages into CDOs of multiple level tranches, to be packaged and repackaged for resale in the wide variety of financial instruments at the wall street casinos…there was supposed to be an electronic tracking system, MERS, but that had largely broken down…so for a large number of mortgages, current ownership of the original notes is in doubt…
Even title insurance companies are getting waivers at closing from the buyer to assume the risks.
And wells fargo is sending the buyer to it’s own title insurance company, whom writes out the risk in the fine print that title companies would normally assume. That’s per Ives first blog on the subject, which came out before the big news just broke in the last day or two. Except they still haven’t explained these little details that well in the news reports. 10 points for Ives.
I believe I read about this practice first at NC… how are these deals supposed to be enforceable? More to the point how are people supposed to have any confidence of a “normal” closing, ie. where all the legal requirements are met, documents handled and transferred properly, risks assumed by historically relevant parties (if I’m still paying for title insurance that leaves me exposed without a clear title, how can that policy be worth anything?)
Let’s slow down an already depressed housing market by requiring every buyer and seller to bring aggressive (as opposed to routine) counsel to closing to hash out every wrinkle in the transaction. Nice.
I don’t think that will even help. You can’t straighten out title chain personally while you are sitting in escrow. Your only option is back out of escrow and hope they don’t charge the full escrow fee and then try and get your “earnest check” back that you wrote when you made your offer on the property.
Then a lot the sales the past year or two have been “investor” transactions where they pay cash. Bet their lawyers are busy now. But at least there was that tax credit for everyone else.
First, you should never go to closing unless you’ve had a real estate lawyer go through all the documents BEFORE hand. Otherwise you crawling into the Aligators mouth. this is called bringing your aligator to the table.
Then checking to make sure, line by line, that every letter is exactly the same on teh docs as the ones you recieved before hand. A normal closing should take 2-3 hours. Make them sweat. (if you’re out in 30 minutes you’re just raw chicken hanging over the pond…)
And if the title isn’t free and clear you walk away and get you’re escrow back. Any problems and you sue for non-performance and fraud.
Buying a home is the single largest financial transaction in most people’s lives. Why on earth would you rely on a HS grad REALTOR (TM) to hold your hand? Get your own aligator – it’s worth it.
Islam will change
Rdan,
I like the Aligator image. Sharks would work also…
You should go to an aligator farm during feeding time. Very iluminating and the kids will love it! Also, a very good lesson about nature.
Islam will change