About a month ago we brought you the story of a man who was willing to risk his house going into foreclosure unless the bank refunded a $25 fee it had wrongfully charged. He crossed his arms and stopped paying his mortgage. Fees mounted. The bank ignored his letters. His house was scheduled for foreclosure. It was the ultimate in real estate brinkmanship. Now, four days before the auction, the bank has blinked. [More]
BofA Tortures My Sister With Mortgage Hoops
By December 14, 2010
Hilary shares the struggles her sister is undergoing to close on a house with a mortgage through Bank of America. The closing date has been delayed and the loan officials keep demanding more paperwork and explanations of bank transactions. [More]
CitiMortgage Launches "Call-A-Thon" To Answer Distressed Homeowner Questions
By December 14, 2010
Tomorrow CitiMortgage is kicking off a special 1-day “call-a-thon” where people in trouble with or confused about their mortgages with Citi can call in and talk to foreclosure prevention staff. In addition, “senior managers and increased numbers of supervisors will be on hand to provide additional support,” says Citi. [More]
Next Big Thing In Mortgage Fraud: Fake Attorney Signatures
By December 14, 2010
The next big wave in disgusting mortgage fraud revelations could be faked signatures from foreclosure attorneys. And homeowners fighting foreclosure are using it to hold onto their house. [More]
Scammed In A Refi, Woman Loses Home
By November 23, 2010
A woman who thought she was doing a simple refi for $50,000 and became the victim of an elaborate swindle was just dealt her final savage blow: her house is getting foreclosed on. [More]
Foreclosures Are Hurting The Children
By November 22, 2010
Children are an overlooked victim in the mortgage meltdown. Experts are growing concerned about the negative social, emotional and academic impact foreclosure turmoil is having on kids. Everything from forced relocation, moving to a new school, seeing your parents at each other’s throats over money, to coming home and finding all your belongs in the trash takes its toll, and there isn’t currently a public policy response to address the issues. [More]
Strapped To A "Rocket Docket" Built For Max Foreclosure Speed
By November 19, 2010
Florida has special high-velocity courts presided over by retired judges that process foreclosures at the rate of 25 per hour. That’s potentially one evicted family every 2.4 minutes. Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi sat in on one of these “rocket dockets” to show what goes on, marveling at the shoddy and fraudulent paperwork the banks are cramming through the courts. [More]
Super Complex Chart Of How A Mortgage Gets Securitized
By November 18, 2010
Gee, how could people who haven’t graduated high school mess this up? This is a chart showing how a mortgage gets securitized made by a guy whose job is to audit securitizations by reverse-engineering them. This is one he did for the mortgage on his own house. My favorite part of the diagram is where the documents go into a black hole. Literally, that’s an actual part of this flowchart. [More]
Man Lets House Go Into Foreclosure Over $25 Fee
By November 16, 2010
I think this qualifies as cutting off your face to spite your nose.
UPDATE: It seems our reader may have the last laugh, letting the house go into foreclosure, then buying it back at a discount.
Is It Time To Recast Your Mortgage?
By November 16, 2010
If you have already refied your mortgage, or are unable to because of new tighter loan restrictions, there’s an additional and little-known step you can take to lower your monthly payments. It’s called “recasting” or “re-amortizing.” [More]
Convicted Fraudsters Still Have Real Estate Licenses
By November 12, 2010
So, whaddya gotta do to lose a real estate license? A Sacramento Bee investigation uncovered licensed real estate brokers who were suspected or even convicted of fraud, some of them even convicted for committing mortgage fraud. [More]
Foreclosures Drop 9% Over Fudged Paperwork Fallout
By November 11, 2010
For the first time in a long while, foreclosures actually dropped in October, falling 9%. The big drop came about as several big banks halted foreclosures across the board after news about the robo signers began to emerge. Foreclosures are expected to pick back up again November, albeit at a softened pace. It may be 3-4 months before the rate fully resumes. So take a gasp, homeowners behind on your mortgage, you just caught a temporary break. [More]
Mortgage Scandal Of The Day: Forced-Placed Insurance
By November 11, 2010
In a dark cranny of the mortgage-servicing world a “force-placed insurance” scandal is brewing. When a homeowner’s insurance lapses, the servicer steps in and buys them a new one, at a price several factors higher than their original. And the company they buy it from is essentially themselves with a different name. Now investors are finding out about the incestuous self-dealing and kickbacks and they’re pissed. [More]
Paying The Foreclosure Lawyer With A Second Mortgage
By November 10, 2010
Ever the hotbed of innovation, a new innovation in foreclosure defense is emerging in Florida. Until now, the big question for foreclosure lawyers is “how do we get paid?” If their client can’t afford to pay the bank, how are they going to pay for legal services? One firm has figured out a way. After the original mortgage is nullified or reduced, the client takes out a new mortgage for 40% of the savings, and pays it to the lawyer. [More]
"Adversely Possessing" Empty Houses: Robin Hood Or Fraudster?
By November 9, 2010
Citing a law from the 1850′s, Mark is going around Florida looking for foreclosed and abandoned houses and filing paperwork to try to claim their deeds. It’s called “adverse possession.” [More]
Squatters Spoil Dream Home With Fake Deed Claims
By November 3, 2010
A Seattle couple were 10 days from closing on their new house when they discovered squatters had moved in who claimed they had seized “free land.” [More]
Banks Paper Over Robo-Signer Errors, Structural Problems Remain
By November 1, 2010
After the foreclosure fraud scandal broke, banks scrambled to fix what they described as “procedural” errors and “technicalities.” But the lawyer whose deposition of a former robo-signer sparked the uproar says all the banks have done is put bandaids over bandaids. [More]
Walk With A Family Walking Away From Their House
By October 28, 2010
What’s it like to walk away from your house? No, not to go down the street to get some ice cream. Walk away like mailing the keys to your mortgage lender and saying, “Take it. It cost me more than it’s worth.” Immoral? Perilous to future job prospects? Is it “just business?” NPR follows along with one couple grappling with these very questions. [More]
