Repurchasing bond packages
Hat tip Atrios for the link to Bloomberg for another link to add to this chain of title in the
Bloomberg news
Pacific Investment Management Co., BlackRock Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York are seeking to force Bank of America Corp. to repurchase soured mortgages packaged into $47 billion of bonds by its Countrywide Financial Corp. unit, people familiar with the matter said.
and Cedric Regula for this news.
Update: Of course, go out to do family things and news pops up…New fronts in foreclosure crisis at Naked Capitalism.
Fifty state attorneys general.
Federal government.
Investors.
ACLU.
Inevitably, Congressional investigation (which inevitably will involve more heat than light).
Private home owners (sic).
Is this a long enough list, do you think, to provide a real reckoning for mortgage lenders? The cynical take, that the Fed, the administration, Congress and courts will all go to bat for banks, is already in wide circulation. Is the political environment still docile enough to allow more bowing to banks?
Kh–I am becoming pessimistic about the future of private property in the US, Here’s what Maxine Udall has to say about it.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/10/fairly-populist-notions-of-land-ownership.html
She is saying that our system of private land ownership is being dismantled as we speak, along the lines you are following. Seems like we should take this seriously. NancyO
Most societies have simply let powerful interests run things, sometimes to the detriment of those interests in the long run. Debt has often been the instrument used by powerful interests, and when those interests hae been opposed, it was often debt forgiveness, or regulation, which was the tool used to fight them. Jubilee. Solon’s reforms. Usury laws. They were all aimed at preventing the short term needs of the unfortunate from being turned to their enslavement.
Yves seems to be making the point that PIMCO, et all, face a tough slog on “putbacks” and even if they do get anywhere it will cost them more to litigate than they can recover.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/10/more-on-why-the-pimco-blackrock-freddie-ny-fed-letter-to-countrywide-on-putbacks-is-way-overhyped.html
Things are also progressing in other rings in the circus. Fidelity National is going to make banks sign things before FN writes anymore title insurance. I imagine First American will follow. So those are the big two title insurers. Funny thing is FN gets regulated as an insurer, and has regulatory capital requirements to insure it’s policies. Now the banks are essentially picking up the coverage for systematic risk on title. We now have an inside out, or maybe upside down AIG? Will we need Basel IIII?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/largest-us-title-insurer-demand-indemnity-and-foreclosure-warranty-banks
This one is too funny. The paperwork is all fine, but BofA sues the FDIC?! because the FDIC refused to refund a BAC sub, because, well, a closed down bank had triple pledged mortgage notes.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bofas-tarp-2-overture-bank-accuses-taylor-bean-triple-pledging-mortgage-assets-sues-fdic-175