"We take this very seriously, and we are working with EMC [a mortgage company JPMorgan Chase owns] and the family's attorney to make this right," said Tom Kelly, a JPMorgan spokesman.

After the Dickson's bought the house back in May, the foreclosure proceedings were supposed to have been stopped. They weren't. That's when the former owner's mortgage company (owned by JPMorgan Chase) hired "Field Asset Services Inc." to drill the locks and "empty the house," according to the Austin American-Statesmen. Field Asset Services claims that the Dickson's possessions were given to area thrift stores, but they have been unable to locate them.

Ordinarily, when personal possessions are left in a foreclosed home a court order is needed to remove the items and the owners are given the opportunity to reclaim them within 24 hours. JPMorgan Chase says its not sure if there was a court order in this case.

Elizabeth Bradburn, the Dicksons' real estate agent, is organizing an effort to collect donations for the family. She said gift cards to furniture and household goods stores are preferred and may be sent to the Dicksons' business address: 9800 N. Lamar Blvd.,

No. 315, Austin TX 78753.

"It's been awesome to see people mobilize and want to help out," Hance [Dicksons' attorney] said. "The Dicksons are, of course, very grateful and touched by the outpouring of support from the community."

Cedar Park couple sues Austin company in foreclosure mix-up [American-Statesmen](Thanks, Ron!)

Inflating Home Appraisals: Buyers could borrow enough to cover closing costs, but ended up owing more than the house is worth.

Flipping Loans: Moving unqualified buyers to loans that don't require documentation, knowing they couldn't afford it

Coaching: Brokers told buyers to overstate or even double their stated income in order to qualify for loans.

Watch the clip, inside...

[via Today Show]

Here's what a few of you had to say about these two companies:

Bank of America:

"Bank of America tellers gave away $12,000 of my money to a woman with missing teeth and a fake driver's license in my name. On SEVEN occasions. In places I never go."

"My girlfriend had a credit card with a bank that was bought out by BOA. Her monthly payments went from $20 a month to $170 despite the fact that she never missed a payment and always paid more then the minimum."

"BoA is not just "a" bank, they're a bank with some of the least customer-friendly policies in America. Re-opening closed accounts then charging $35 for it? That's not a courtesy, that's fraud."

"Can u say overdraft? Lets take billions from the poor every year and feel good about it!"

Countrywide:

"Countrywide, because before the subprime crisis I could finance my education, and now I'm posting as a dropout."

"Countrywide is ultimately what caused the dollar to be worthless. So them, and people like them, wrecked our economy."

"Countrywide is the subprime mortgage business. Sure, blame is spread widely, but no one company/person/sector so aggressively made it part of their business plan."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

The Illinois lawsuit alleges Countrywide "caused significant harm to the public, the market, and scores of Illinois borrowers and homeowners," and seeks damages for residents affected by foreclosure. Attorney General Jerry Brown of California accuses Countrywide of deceptively marketing risky mortgages to consumers and plotting to "mass produce loans for sale on the secondary market." The California lawsuit also seeks restitution for affected borrowers. Both lawsuits also named Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo as a defendant.
Illinois to Sue Countrywide Over Lending Practices [CNN]
Calif AG Sues Countrywide Over Alleged Loan Scheme [NYT]

One in every 483 U.S. households either lost the home to foreclosure, received a default notice or was warned of a pending auction, RealtyTrac said. That was the highest rate since the Irvine, California-based company began reporting in January 2005 and the 29th consecutive month of year-over-year increases. Nevada, California and Arizona posted the highest rates in the U.S. and New Jersey entered the top 10.

``It's definitely a different kind of market than what we got used to a couple years ago,'' said Devin Reiss, owner of Realty 500 Reiss Corp. in Las Vegas. ``We used to sell homes in a day. Now 50 percent of our sales are foreclosures.''

The vicious cycle of foreclosures depressing home prices and falling home prices leading to more foreclosures continues...

Right now, lenders are afraid to lend and buyers are afraid they'll be under water in a year, so unless something dramatic happens we're going to continue to see the trend go in the wrong direction,'' said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing.

Foreclosures Rise 48% in May as Repossessions Double (Update2) [Bloomberg]
(Photo: amyadoyzie )

From ABC:

Friends of Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo and other high-profile individuals had their home loans handled by the company's VIP desk, where a team of loan officers would work out favorable terms in conjunction with Mozilo, according to two former Countrywide executives.

Celebrities get their loans from somewhere," said one former executive who likened the favorable loans to employee discounts. "That desk handled loans for people who were referred by executives. The way that it would customarily work is he [Angelo] might call in, 'What can we do? What are we charging on this or that?' and then tell [his friend] 'I'll get you that at X. Don't worry. I'll get you the loan."

Some of the beneficiaries didn't even know that they were receiving special benefits; others may have been aware that they were receiving some kind of discount, according to the former executives. Internally, those whom Mozilo favored for special treatment were referred to as "Friends of Angelo." The executives say that he was in frequent contact with the company's VIP desk.

Alleged "Friends of Angelo" include Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad, and James Johnson (formerly the head of Fannie Mae and who has just resigned from Senator Barack Obama's vice presidential search committee). As usual, everyone denies everything.

The VIP Treatment: Countrywide CEO Offers Better Rates for Prominent Few [ABC]

Dear Mr. Popken,

I recently read with great interest your article entitled Satisfaction Guaranteed in the recent May edition of the reader’s Digest.

Since November I have been living a nightmare in trying to contact someone in a position of authority at the Washington Mutual Bank in regard to my mortgage, to no avail. Apparently you can go into any of their branches and fill out paperwork to get a mortgage but if you run into a problem you are just out of luck.

Over the past six months I have been disconnected more times than I can count while navigating their 866 “customer service” number. No one in their company has the presence of character to sign a name to any form letter correspondence never mind give a direct phone number to personally speak to. I have written letters to the members of their Board of Directors without any response. I have contacted officials, Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen whose attempt to contact the bank on my behalf have also gone ignored. Correspondence I have received from Washington Mutual is sporadic and schizophrenic at best.

I received a request to inform them of any hardship I may be experiencing and promptly replied with an explanation and a proposal that would benefit us both only to receive a denial of my request (in a timeframe too short for them to have properly reviewed it) one day and literally another letter the next day asking for additional information because they want to work with me.

After six months, I recently received a phone message with a first name and extension to call. Upon calling the number (you STILL have to navigate the 866 “customer service” AND the probability of being disconnected is high) I reached an answering machine with a message that says you can ONLY leave one message and you will receive a call back within 24 hours...not so. I have found myself going back and forth waiting for a reply call to actually talk to a human only to receive another denial of the proposal I resent. This latest letter (received today, Friday) was dated BEFORE the recent phone call.

After finally getting through the "customer service" for Wa PU I spoke to a loan person who basically told me my file was closed in Feb. and everything I had sent after that was for nothing and oh by the way they are selling my house in June....... I guess that was supposed to be a surprise.....

I understand that Washington Mutual is on very shaky financial ground (AND SO IT SHOULD BE!) and it is my hope they receive NO outside financial support because their business practices are DEPLORABLE.

...I truly appreciate your help. I am at my wits end, it has been a VERY stressful six months...If it was just me to worry about it would be one thing but I do have three children who will also be affected.

If bombarding their board members has no results, I may type up my complaint and stand outside one of their busiest branch offices and bring my plight to their entering customers. How can they not want to work with people to find a solution?

Thank you for your article and some direction.

Here's the contact info we gave her:

Executive Response Team
Customer Relations Manager
Washington Mutual Bank
(800) 225-5497 Opt. 1 Ext. 467
Fax (206) 965-3082

There's also (206) 377-8196, (206) 461-2000, (206) 461-6414, or (206) 461-8779. Try asking for Ms Cindy Modica, VP of Quality Service Management.
Also check out this post for additional tips for dealing with executive customer service: http://consumerist.com/consumer/howto/be-a-customer-service-ninja-177811.php

(Photo: Getty)

BOA Receives OK To Purchase Countrywide [NBC5]
(Photo: meghannmarco )

The association says it expects foreclosures and late payments "are going to continue to go up" in the coming months as housing prices continue to fall.

"The number one problem is the drop in home prices," Brinkmann said. Declining prices, especially in newer built areas, "are hurting people's ability to recover when they run into trouble — a divorce or loss of job," he said. "In other days, you could sell the home. But because home prices have fallen so much, in many of those cases, the homes are going into foreclosure."

Home foreclosures set record in first quarter [AP]
(Photo: respres )

"When we were trying to sell the house one time, there were about 100 paparazzi there," Davis, the real estate agent who holds the listing, told the AP.

McMahon's spokesperson says that Ed's been unable to work since breaking his neck 18 months ago.

"There are plenty of people affected by the weak economy, bad housing market or bad health," Bragman told the AP.

He also said that McMahon and his wife are negotiating with Countrywide, but it's unclear whether or not they will be able to stay in the home.

Countrywide declined to comment. Um, does anyone want to show up at Ed McMahon's door with a giant check? Save Ed!

Ed McMahon fighting foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home [AP]
(AP Photo/Matt Sayles, FILE)

"The Board believes new leadership will help to revitalize and reenergize Wachovia and enable it to realize its potential," said the excellently-named interim CEO Lanty Smith.

Ken will now join Citibank's Charles Prince, and Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neal at the failed CEO pool party.

From CNNMoney:

Wachovia's woes, however, have only surfaced recently. In mid-April, the nation's fourth-largest bank reported a surprising first-quarter loss of $350 million - hurt, in part, by its ill-timed 2006 acquisition of California mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp.

Shortly thereafter, the company drew the ire of its shareholders by announcing plans to raise $7 billion in capital through a stock offering and to slash its quarterly dividend by 41%.

Thompson defended the actions at the time, saying the capital raising was done to gird the company's balance sheet against a protracted downturn in the housing market.

The news only got worse last month when Wachovia restated its losses. The company said its losses were, in fact, closer to $708 million following a review of its life insurance portfolio.

Meanwhile, it looks like Kerry Killinger, WaMu's CEO, is gonna need a bigger boat. The company said it would split the role of chairman and chief executive...which is exactly what Wachovia did to Thompson before dropping him.

Wachovia CEO out at board's request [CNNMoney](Thanks, Evan!)

The fuel and engine for the sub-prime mortgage meltdown and the credit crunch was Allen Greenspan and the doubling of the global monetary supply, according to the This American Life episode "The Giant Pool of Money" I just got around to listening to. Basically, a bunch of poor countries got rich all of a sudden selling TVs and the like, and in 6 years, doubled the worldwide supply of money. The giant pool of money was hungry for places to invest itself.

At the same point, Greenspan told them that the interest rate on Treasury bonds was going to stay low for a long-ass time. The giant pool of money went to Wall Street to buy mortgages and there just weren't enough mortgages to go around, unless, somehow, more mortgages could be created... Plug this nugget into everything you learned from the Stickfigure Powerpoint Explanation Of The Subprime Mortgage Meltdown, and now you nearly know it all. The This American Life also does a good job of filling in the rest of the blanks of the bad decisions made by each person in the toxic money chain.

The Giant Pool of Money [This American Life]

(Photo: Getty)

Maybe there are no more debtors' prisons, but that doesn't mean your life can't be screwed up by unscrupulous collection agencies.

Sonya Capri Ramos says her Salt Lake City home was sold out from under her in 1996 to pay a collections agency seeking payment for dental work performed on one of Ramos's daughters. And despite the fact that she had made three years of payments on a $51,000 mortgage, the title changed hands for just $1,550 at a sheriff's auction.

The bill blew up to $950 from legal and collection fees, and in 1996 she was sued by a collection agency named North American Recovery. She didn't contest the lawsuit—she claims she was never notified—and the judge ordered that some of her non-exempt real property should be sold to pay off the debt. "But because the real estate at stake was Ramos's home, which by law is considered 'indivisible,' the title to the entire property was sold at auction," to a company called Jarmaccc Properties—which has refused to give her back the title, even after she paid them the $1,550 through a bankruptcy restructuring in 1998.

"Woman Loses Home Over $68 Dental Bill" [ABC News]
(Photo: Getty Images)

Mozilo, whose inbox has been flooded with EECBs (executive email carpet bombs) from borrowers, apparently meant to hit forward, but instead replied to Daniel Bailey, a homeowner who is trying to stay in his home of 16 years. Bailey signed an adjustable rate mortgage and was told at the time that he could refinance after one year, before the payments became unaffordable.

From the LA Times:

Much of the language in Bailey's message to Countrywide was borrowed from a form letter available at the website LoanSafe.org, a coaching service for troubled borrowers. Bailey, who says he operates a photo studio, posted his e-mailed exchange with the lender on a LoanSafe forum.

His original e-mail was sent to 20 Countrywide addresses, including Mozilo's. Such mass e-mails have overwhelmed e-mail boxes at Countrywide, disrupting its operations and prompting Mozilo's heated response, the company said.

"This is unbelievable," Mozilo said in his e-mail. "Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the Internet. Disgusting."

Countrywide has issued a statement about the email:

"Countrywide and Mr. Mozilo regret any misunderstanding caused by his inadvertent response to an e-mail by Mr. Bailey. Countrywide is actively working to help borrowers, like Mr. Bailey, keep their homes."

Countrywide Financial Chairman Angelo Mozilo's e-mail sets off a furor [LA Times] (Thanks, Kevin!)
(AP Photos/Susan Walsh)

"It was really every sleazy move in the book," says NPR's tipster, an economic analyst turned stay-at-home Mom who has owned several homes in the past and who is married to a mathematician.

NPR's tipster says that when she told the Countrywide loan officer that her income was low because she was a stay at home mom, he told her that she could lie about husband's income because he had "manager" in his job title.

"He said he could change it and if it was a manager then the underwriters wouldn't be as questioning. And I said but our taxes don't reflect it and his boss will not verify that that is indeed his income, and basically he said: 'Don't worry about it. I'll deal with it.'" She also says that the loan officer asked her to create an entirely fraudulent document claiming that she made $60,000 a year when in fact she was not working.

"I told him that I was extremely uncomfortable doing it, and I didn't want to," she said.

Countrywide says it is looking into the incident.

Woman: Countrywide Proposed Fibbing to Get Loan [NPR] (Thanks, Tmoney02!)

The numbers are still nowhere near where they were before 2006 (PDF), when the new bankruptcy laws caused a massive drop in filings. If the trend continues, however, we can expect the number of bankruptcies this year to bring us back up to pre-2006 numbers, says the American Bankruptcy Institute:

"The sharp spike in consumer bankruptcies reflects the growing financial stress faced by American families, saddled with household debt and mortgage woes," said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. "We expect consumer bankruptcies to top 1 million new cases this year".

This is not doing the banks any good, either. Banks lose a ton of money every time they have to foreclose a mortgage. If borrowers could stay in the home, but for a lower payment that will still pay off the house eventually, everybody wins.

So why aren't lenders doing it?

There are a couple of reasons.

One, loan servicers are the ones who consumers generally communicate with, since they are the ones sending the bills. But loan servicers don't have any real incentive to refinance, since, like a lot of companies, their income is based on generating fees. They get a portion of the receivables, but every late fee is like a bonus. They love homeowners who are behind, because those homeowners pay those fees for as long as they can. And servicers are also the ones who handle the foreclosures, where they get paid again.

Two, securitization. Loans are not held by one lender. Not for long, anyway. Most mortgage loans are bundled up into a big security. In other words, investors basically buy shares of the bundle of mortgage loans, betting that the value of their share(s) will rise (or fall, if you can short sell securities).

What that means is that there may be hundreds of "owners" of any given mortgage. There is no decision-maker for the borrower to negotiate with, just the legal foreclosure process. So when we blame the "lender," who are we really blaming? There are potentially thousands of lenders for every loan.

So in the end, the loans just keep going into foreclosure, and it is a rare borrower who gets to rework their mortgage.

The study, compiled by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, made up of banking regulators and attorneys general in 11 states, found that seven out of 10 borrowers who are seriously delinquent on their mortgages aren't on track to receive any kind of help with their payment problems.

The number of delinquent borrowers working with their lenders has increased, the report found, but overall increases in the number of delinquent loans have outstripped those gains. The proportion of borrowers who weren't engaged in any sort of loan workout was unchanged from the group's previous report in February.

"While there's been a lot of effort put in by mortgage servicers and government officials, there has been little change in outcomes for homeowners," said Mark Pearce, deputy banking commissioner for North Carolina. "We're still treading water."

"If loan mitigation and modification don't produce fruitful results for homeowners, I, for one, would be inclined to look at litigation possibilities to secure help for homeowners," he said.

States Fault Effort to Stanch Foreclosures [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo:gruntzooki)

The Charlotte Observer says that the lender has increased its security and filed a civil lawsuit in Orange County, CA. The lawsuit names "three California-based mortgage lenders, eight individuals and two other businesses as co-defendants."

LendingTree did not say how many customers' accounts were exposed, but the article did say that the company was notifying consumers who they believe were affected.

LendingTree tells clients of breach [Charlotte Observer] (Thanks, Sarah!)

UPDATE: Reader Chris forwarded the letter that LendingTree is sending out:

April 21, 2008

Dear LendingTree Customer:

We want you to know that some loan request forms our customers sent to LendingTree may have been seen by lenders without our consent. These lenders then used the forms to market their own mortgage loans to our customers. While we don't believe that the forms were used for any other purpose, we want you to know what happened and what we did to correct this situation, as well as what you can do to monitor your credit records.

What Happened and What We Did

Recently, LendingTree learned that several former employees may have helped a handful of mortgage lenders gain access to LendingTree's customer information by sharing confidential passwords with the lenders. When we learned of this situation, we quickly contacted the authorities, and LendingTree is helping with their investigation. We promptly made several system security changes. We also brought lawsuits against those involved.

Based on our investigation, we understand that these mortgage lenders used the passwords to access LendingTree's customer loan request forms, normally available only to LendingTree-approved lenders, to market loans to those customers. The loan request forms contained data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, Social Security number, income and employment information. We believe these lenders accessed LendingTree's loan request forms between October 2006 and early 2008.

What You Can Do

Again, we don't believe any identity theft or fraudulent financial activity resulted from this situation. However, we suggest you get a free credit report. Look for any accounts you didn't open and/or inquiries from creditors that you didn't initiate. If you see anything you don't understand, contact the credit bureau. If you see anything suspicious, you may want to file a fraud alert with the bureaus. For more information on how to do this, please refer to LendingTree's Guide to Protecting Your Credit and Identity.

Where to Get More Information

We regret any inconvenience and apologize for any unwanted mortgage calls you may have received. For more information about this situation, and for more information on what you can do, please refer to the attached Questions & Answers .

Sincerely,

R.L. Harris

"When a HELOC freezes over" [Money]
(Photo: Getty)

Glass-Steagall was passed under the Roosevelt administration in 1933 in direct response to the Wall Street shenanigans that ushered in the Great Depression where banks shoved their own depositors into buying the stocks the banks were dealing. The basic idea was to keep banks from speculating with the savings that American citizens were entrusting within their vaults.

Its repeal, under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, drafted and passed by a Republican congress, and signed by Billiam Jefferson Clinton, allowed commercial banks to merge with investment banks. For instance, Citigroup merged with Traveler's Insurance (although this merger was announced in 1998, before the act was passed, at the time Citigroup CEO Sanford I. Weill said that he spoke with the Feds and, "that over that time the legislation will change...we have had enough discussions to believe this will not be a problem.").

Now, on the one side they could sell mortgages to homeowners, and then invent fancy investment structures which they sold on Wall Street. Because they were "covered" on both ends, banks felt free to sell increasingly dicey mortgages, just so long as another sucker was picking up the garbage. This sucker was picking it up because he had a plan to repackage it and sell it to another sucker, and so on. Eventually we end up with no-doc stated income interest-only option-ARM no money down mortgages being repackaged as "sound investments" being sold as "stable assets" for city pension plans to park their money in. (See "Subprime Meltdown As Told By Stick Figures").

We can only imagine the level of machination exerted over those 30 years, but we do know this. Robert Rubin was Secretary of Treasury, which had oversight over Glass-Steagall regulation. Days before he resigned, Glass-Steagall was repealed. Just over a year later, he became chairman of the Citi executive committee, with an annual compensation of $40 million, a position he still holds, despite Citigroup's $24 billion in subprime-related losses.

(Photo: Joy Of The Mundane)

Tess Vigeland from Marketplace Money found one of these mythical towns and interviewed some of the residents. With so many houses standing empty, one of the few remaining families has decided to stop paying their mortgage. You might expect tears, but the Sinclairs say it feels "great" to be living rent free with a "bank full of money":

Sinclair: If they reduced our interest rate back to 4.25, we might be able to make the payments, but I don't think we're going to.

Vigeland: Now, why not?

Sinclair: We would do it if the equity was there, but in a case where we're already so behind... Imagine that for five years, say, we're gonna pay four grand a month and then we're just gonna be back up at what we bought the house for. We feel like we're throwing away money.

The Sinclairs say they want to take responsibility for their debts, but right now it makes more financial sense not to.

Sinclair: I mean, you ask a good question. Is it really the right thing to do to let the mortgage companies take up the difference? That's a really tough ethical question.

Dan says he experienced the various stages of grief, including denial and anger. Now he's just relieved.

Sinclair: We went through months of being skinflints, because we knew that we were going into the red, so we didn't buy anything. All the sudden, we had a bank full of money and we're living rent-free, but we know that's not really our money.

Vigeland: How does that feel?

Esmeralda Sinclair: Great! Like he said, we were so tight with money...

Dan: It does feel great, because all the sudden, we feel like we have a little margin now where we can go out to dinner, get a babysitter...

Vigeland: But you're not paying your mortgage. You're not paying the biggest obligation you have. How does that feel good?

Esmeralda: We already went through the guilt. This is really what we need to do, not what we wanted to do, but what we need to do.

Ghost Town USA [Marketplace Money]
(Photo:Tess Vigeland)

The service is similar to other offered by outfits like Lending Tree, but the quotes are written without having to disclose your contact information to a bunch of lenders. Zillow explains:

"Your name, address, phone number or Social Security number is not required. However, you need to be accurate in providing other background information — such as the type of mortgage loan you want, your income level and an assessment of your credit rating — through Zillow's secure system"

Zillow says the quotes you'll get aren't computer generated, and you can choose to contact only the lenders who appeal to you.

You will not receive "insta-quotes" done by a computer; these are hand-written mortgage quotes personalized to fit your loan request by confirmed mortgage lenders. Each lender that participates in the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is required to divulge all quotes, rates, and fees in the mortgage quote that is returned to you. You compare the information provided — including rates, and lender ratings — and then you choose the mortgage lenders to contact.

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace

Judge Thomas P. Agresti of the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh on Tuesday approved an inquiry into "the impact of Countrywide's bankruptcy procedures on the integrity of the bankruptcy process" by the Office of the United States Trustee, a Justice Department arm that polices bankruptcy filings.

Judge Agresti dismissed Countrywide's protests that authorizing an investigation by the trustee's office could have "staggering implications" for other big mortgage lenders by starting an investigatory "free for all."

He said an investigation was warranted because the trustee's office had demonstrated "a common thread of potential wrongdoing" in several bankruptcy filings involving Countrywide.

The trustee's office has asserted that it needed to look into accusations that Countrywide had chronically mishandled mortgage payments, pumped up bills with improper fees and charges and ignored court orders while pursuing troubled consumers.

Court Approves Review of Countrywide Practices [NYT]
(Photo:meghannmarco)

1. Bundle all compensation as base income, don't break it down to commissions, bonuses and tips
2. Add gift funds to the base income
3. And if that still doesn't work, just top off the income with an extra $500!

Full document as leaked to The Oregonian (turns out journalists are good for something other than reprinting our press releases, at least now the rest of us can learn from these advanced tips), inside...

Chase mortgage memo pushes 'Cheats & Tricks' [Oregonian via BoingBoing]

* If you receive a payment book or information from a mortgage company that's not yours, whether your name is on the envelope or not, don't just throw it away. Open it, figure out what it says, and follow up with the company that sent it.
* From time to time, it's also a good idea to check all information pertaining to your house through your county's deeds office. If you see any paperwork you don't recognize or any signature that is not yours, look into it.

HOUSE STEALING: The Latest Scam on the Block [FBI] (Thanks to Sean!)
(Photo: Getty)

But it turned out that many banks had also sold complex insurance policies on the mortgage debt. That left them on the hook when homeowners who had taken out a wishful-thinking mortgage could no longer get out of it by flipping their house for a profit. Many of these bets were not huge, but were so highly leveraged that any losses became magnified. If that $100 million investment I described above were to lose just $1 million of its value, the investor who put up only $1 million would lose everything.

Q: My question is where are you currently employed.
A: I' m not. I just told [you] I work for free.
Q: OK. You're not employed by the HTFC Corporation?
A: Hit That Fuckin' Clown. That's what it means.

Q: This is your loan file. What do Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald do for a living?
A: I don't know. Open it up and find it.
Q: Look at your loan file and tell me.
A: Open it up and find it. I'm not your fucking bitch.
Q: Take a look at your loan application.
A: Do it yourself. Do it yourself. You want to do this in front of a judge. Would you prefer to [do] this in front of a judge? Then, shut the fuck up.
Q: Sir, take a look—
A: I'm taking a break. Fuck him. You open up the document. You want me to look at something, you get the document out. Earn your fucking money, asshole. Better get used to it. You'll retire when I'm done.

(Thanks to James!)

[via Boing Boing]