From the monthly archives:

January 2008

You have to jail the source. Wall Street, then the Banks/Lenders, then the brokers and maybe some consumers

by Moe Bedard

Reader Contributed – Chris the Mortgage Broker - In response to this post
I’m a broker and let me lend a little light on who should go to jail first. And yes, JacMac is right; you will be attack for your comments before the day is over. Get ready
You have to jail the source. Wall [...]

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Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Preservation – Secretary for Domestic Finance Robert K. Steel Testimony

by Moe Bedard

January 31, 2008    US Treasury Press Room
HP-792Washington -Chairman Dodd, Ranking Member Shelby, Members of the Committee, good morning, I very much appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to present the Treasury Department’s perspective on “Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Preservation.” These are important and challenging issues; addressing them will require collaborative work on all [...]

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Stop Foreclosure and Learn to Fight Back Against Your Lender

by Moe Bedard

 Please join our one of a kind homeowner’s forum to help you stop foreclosure and where you can ask questions and get answers in this unique and interactive community. This forum was created to assist people in an anonymous, yet open question format. Meet other homeowners that are trying to get a loan modification and are going through [...]

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Should Grandma be able to keep that house she refinanced at 125% to pay for her cruises to Hawaii or her “pretty” things, and now can’t cover her payments with her monthly social security check?

by Moe Bedard

Reader Contributed – RC  (in response to this post on the MBA)
I don’t comment to these posts on all the forms I read (seemingly all day long lately), but I felt I needed to put in my brief 2 cents on this one. While I respect your view that the Mortgage Bankers Association is the Big [...]

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The SEC – Servicers allowed to modify mortgages where defaults are “reasonably foreseeable,” without jeopardizing the trusts’ off-balance-sheet treatment

by Moe Bedard

There has been a recent change in the air and it looks like the tides are starting to change for the better for those homeowners who are wishing and a hoping to modify their exploding, adjustable rate mortgage.
There has been strong resistance in the recent past with lenders and servicers willingness to work with borrowers in fixing their toxic [...]

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Growing Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis: Identifying Solutions and Dispelling Myths

by Moe Bedard

The the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law holds a hearing today. The subject of the hearing is the “Growing Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis: Identifying Solutions and Dispelling Myths” and the new bankruptcy bill is on the agenda.
The Mortgage Bankers Association  (MBA) has an agenda and their agenda [...]

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These Loans Were Destined to Fail

by Moe Bedard

By Poppy (36 year mortgage industry veteran & senior underwriter)
This is a challenging and open statement to those of you in the Servicing game, Modification, Short Sale, Deed in Lieu, Collections, better known as the Work Out phase of our industry. 
This is where I started in this industry in 1972, at a little tiny, itsy bitsy [...]

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Lenders sued for rushing through foreclosure process

by Moe Bedard

Minneapolis Legal Aid attorney Amber Hawkins said in nearly half the cases the entity identified as the agent in the foreclosure was a Virginia-based company called MERS, Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Incorporated.
MERS, Hawkins said, did not hold the mortgages on the foreclosed homes.
MERS was created by the country’s largest mortgage lenders including Chase, Citigroup, Countrywide, [...]

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The federal government will “step up the pressure” on the lending industry to work out America’s mortgage mess so fewer people lose their homes – FDIC’s Sheila Bair

by Moe Bedard

“This is deadly serious,” Sheila Bair said  in a speech Downtown. “Foreclosures are too high in Pittsburgh and around the country.”
The FDIC chairman seems to speaking out more and more in regards to the efforts of lenders and servicers to perform loan workouts and loan modifications. Bair spoke at a downtown Pittsburg, Pa. to more [...]

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Hillary Calls For Quick Action To Stop The Foreclosure Of The American Dream

by Moe Bedard

Outlines Visions For Tackling America’s Immediate And Long-Term Economic Challenges
Just days before the State of the Union Address, Hillary Clinton urged the current administration to take immediate action to jumpstart the ailing economy. She outlined the solutions that can be taken now to fix the mortgage crisis and get more money in the pockets of [...]

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Dodd Seeks U.S. Program to Buy `Distressed’ Mortgages

by Moe Bedard

By Alison Vekshin
Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd proposed creating a federal program to buy “very distressed” mortgages at steep discounts as part of economic stimulus legislation being developed in Congress.
The Federal Homeownership Preservation Corp. would buy loans and finance them as 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to help keep borrowers from losing [...]

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Borrowers who negotiate loan terms with a mortgage broker in Spanish, must receive their loan documents in Spanish

by Moe Bedard

Borrowers Who Negotiate Loan Terms with a Mortgage Broker in Spanish, Must Receive Their Loan Documents in Spanish
Hablas Espanol? Su casa es mi casa!
“Just sign right here on this mortgage and real estate contract. I know you cannot speak or read English, but that’s not a problem. Everything I [...]

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We were dealing money like drugs, the borrower has been “sold” the advertising model that their home is an ATM

by Moe Bedard

By Poppy ( 30 year mortgage industry veteran and senior underwriter)
What you have failed to glean from my editorial is that we are all in this boat together, we are our neighbor if this is allowed to free fall, you homeowner or renter are going to be in the proverbial toilet whether you believe it [...]

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Countrywide Home Retention Division Gives Single Mother a Great Loan Modification

by Moe Bedard

By JacMac – Homeowner & Single Mother from New York
See her actual Loan Modification Paperwork From Countrywide Here.  An incredible 5.25% 4o Year Fixed Mortgage! You don’t get to see an actual loan modifcation document often and I wanted homeowners to see for their own eyes.
JacMac – “I did not have the horrible experience that others unfortunately [...]

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Blame us, the lending industry and Wall Street, we DESERVE it, NOT the distressed homeowner.

by Moe Bedard

By Poppy (30 year mortgage industry veteran and senior underwriter) 
Well, my hat is off to you citizens of America, you have not disappointed me once again.  Just about everyone that responds to the articles in the Newspapers and Media that report on this now widening foreclosure debacle, has in their infinite wisdom, deemed that the distressed [...]

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Cramer Says the Banks are All Fiction – Lies

by Moe Bedard

It’s real. I’m real. Jim Cramer tells the truth. I tell the truth.  He says it’s all fiction. Just like I knew it was fiction.
I hope you watch this video if you want to see what our country’s economy is heading for. It’s not looking good.
Why isn’t the Securities and Exchange Commission getting more involved in [...]

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Countrywide is Fixing Loans and Saving Homes, Finally!

by Moe Bedard

Something strange has happened over in Countrywide land. A weird occurrence and pattern is emerging from the Mozilo camp and it has me a bit baffled. They are actually helping people fix their loans now. Yes, you heard it right. Countrywide has finally put their loan mods where their mouths are.
I would say that before [...]

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Moe is Looking for Experienced Underwriters to Assist in Mortgage Fraud and Predatory Lending Cases

by Moe Bedard

The Loan Safe Advocacy Group is looking for seasoned underwriters with a minimum of 5 years or more experience to assist as a mortgage fraud investigator and in predatory lending investigations.
This unit will be operated by Moe and Poppy will be the lead fraud investigator.  
You will assist in forensic loan document, mortgage broker disclosure, appraisal and [...]

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Chase underwriter says, “We are approving 98% of the loan modifications.”

by Moe Bedard

I received a call last night from a nice gentleman who works as an underwriter in Chase’s loss mitigation department in San Diego, California.This unit of Chase is also known as the “ARM Unit”. 
In the course of the conversation he told me that the main function of this department is to modify as many adjustable rate mortgages as [...]

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I work at a well known Bank that currently has a 38% fallout ratio on applicants who cannot pass a standard background check

by Moe Bedard

Submitted by Eddie V.
What did you expect from an industry practice DOES NOT require Background checks on it’s employees?
I know this because I work at a well known Bank that currently has a 38% fallout ratio on applicants who cannot pass a standard background check and all these applicants came from mid-size to small mortgage [...]

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Downey Savings Says They are Modifying Mortgages

by Moe Bedard

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Downey Financial Corp. announced today changes to previously reported levels of non-performing assets. These changes pertain to non-performing asset levels since June 30, 2007.
Rick McGill, President, commented, “As previously reported, we implemented at the beginning of the third quarter of 2007 a borrower retention program to provide qualified [...]

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Loan Modification Approved – Courtesy of Angelo Mozilo and Countrywide

by Moe Bedard

Countrywide loan modification.
People think that I enjoy reporting doom and gloom. Some people out there in the bogsphere think that I get my thrills by bashing Angelo Mozilo and Countrywide. One person has went so far to say this about my blog, “He also pointed to me to what may be the most anti-Countrywide blog out there.”  Thanks Jane [...]

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Mortgage brokers are still committing fraud & submitting bad loans = Business as usual

by Moe Bedard

By Poppy (30 year mortgage industry veteran/senior underwriter) 
It has been a long, difficult and contentious day….between the Brokers, AE’s and Processors, none of whom appear to know that there are two “g’s” let alone a “t” in mortgage.  It leaves one not sure whether to be so angry as to find them all and pound some [...]

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Bank of America Buys Countrywide for $4 Billion

by Moe Bedard

This is huge news and it looks like Countrywide borrowers will now be dealing with Bank of America. I will get all the details I can on how this will affect Countrywide borrowers that are in the loan workout and loan modification process.
You need to know ASAP how this will affect you and what B [...]

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I Guess Countrywide Can?

by Moe Bedard

This is going to be my first post where I mention Countrywide and I do not bash them. I have said many times that Countrywide Can’t. This week they showed me that Countrywide Can.
3 real people ontained a loan modification from Countrywide. Thanks Countrywide. Geez, I never thought those words would cross my lips.
Yes, real live loan modifications. [...]

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Emotionally foreclosure is a terrible experience for people

by Moe Bedard

By JacMac – Single Mother & Homeowner From New York
Emotionally foreclosure is a terrible experience for people. There will be divorces, people will lose jobs, et cetera purely because of the emotional stress they’ll be under. Depression is a serious possibility for most. Depression is a clinical disorder. People cannot function when they’re depressed. Loss [...]

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Is Countrywide defrauding the courts?

by Moe Bedard

The Countrywide Financial Corporation fabricated documents related to the bankruptcy case of a Pennsylvania homeowner, court records show, raising new questions about the business practices of the giant mortgage lender at the center of the subprime mess.
The documents — three letters from Countrywide addressed to the homeowner — claimed that the borrower owed the company [...]

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Lawyer Max Gardner Says Some Mortgage Servicers May Be Taking Homeowners for a Ride

by Moe Bedard

It’s been a six-year battle for Mike Dillon, who is trying to save his home from a foreclosure the courts say should never have happened.
It began in 2001, when the company servicing Dillon’s loan was sold. According to Dillon, he made a payment in 2001 to his servicer, but it had been sold to Fairbanks [...]

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Fannie Mae Will Reimburse Its Servicers for Referrals to HOPE Hotline

by Moe Bedard

As part of its ongoing commitment to support borrowers facing potential foreclosure, Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM: 34.23, +0.18, +0.52%) will reimburse its servicing partners when they refer homeowners who are behind in their mortgage payments to the HOPE Hotline for counseling.”We have to do everything we can, and early intervention and delinquency counseling are key [...]

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Baltimore Is Suing Bank Over Foreclosure Crisis

by Moe Bedard

Baltimore’s mayor and City Council are suing Wells Fargo Bank, contending that its lending practices discriminated against black borrowers and led to a wave of foreclosures that has reduced city tax revenues and increased its costs.
The recent surge in homeowner defaults nationwide, generated by lax lending practices during the real estate boom, has officials bracing [...]

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Paulson said the administration is fostering an effort to “prevent this market failure”

by Moe Bedard

I was reading this Smart Money article yesterday and I couldn’t help but notice a phrase that Paulson said a couple times.
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday the administration is working to ensure that the subprime mortgage crisis doesn’t lead to a “market failure,” while urging Congress to pass bills to [...]

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“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies” – Thomas Jefferson

by Moe Bedard

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their [...]

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In 99 percent of the residential foreclosure cases, plaintiffs are asking the court to accept a promissory note copy as the original because it is presumed lost

by Moe Bedard

 If car dealers can keep track of titles, banks can track promissory notes, Joseph Lents says.
Somebody has been trying to foreclose on Joseph Lents’ Boca Raton home for five years. So far, they have been unsuccessful because he has legally fought them every step of the way.
The original lender, or the assignee, seems unable to [...]

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Mortgage Broker Stabbed in Home Invasion by a Disgruntled Client

by Moe Bedard

And we thought the only thing “shady” loan officers and brokers needed to worry about were more regulations and finding a job. Now, it looks like some disgruntled clients may be looking for a pay back and it’s not just money they are looking for, it may mean murder.
Will your mentally unbalanced clients come after you [...]

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Richard Davet – Can someone please help me locate Mr. Davet in Ohio?

by Moe Bedard

I had wrote a story a few days back about a homeowner in Ohio that fought his foreclosure for 11 years. His name is Mr. Richard Davet.  The story was titled Ohio Homeowner Fights Foreclosure and Lives Payment Free for 11 Years.
Basic info on Mr. Davet;
 After spending much of the year living at the homes [...]

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Is your lender charging you for questionable fees? Fight back against predatory fees!

by Moe Bedard

By Moe Bedard
“Mr. Jones, you owe $12,327 to stop foreclosure on your home and bring your mortgage current.” The lender’s collections employee says to Mr. Homeowner Jones that is desperately trying to save his home of 27 years.
Mr. Jones does not question these fees. Hell, he’s the one that is late and in foreclosure. He’s the [...]

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We are looking for Countrywide borrowers that are in unaffordable and predatory loans

by Moe Bedard

We are looking for Coutrywide borrowers that are stuck in a mortgage that is unaffordable or predatory. We want to help you fight back against Countrwyide Home Retention Department and make them fix your mortgage with a loan modification.

If you are having no luck in obtaining help from Countrywide, the we want to hear from you. We want to [...]

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Homeowners Beware of Internet Foreclosure Scams

by Moe Bedard

One of the reasons I started this blog and my forum at www.LoanSafe.org, was to create safe and predator free websites where homeowners can visit and obtain timely and free information without being scammed.
I have been offered thousands of dollars by foreclosure consultants and loss mitigation companies to advertise on my high traffic websites and [...]

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Judge: Mediate foreclosures

by Moe Bedard

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported
BATAVIA – A judge plans to launch a mediation program to reduce the number of foreclosures on houses in Clermont County.
Even residents who own their homes outright or don’t have trouble making mortgage payments have a stake in resolving the escalating problem, said Judge Robert P. Ringland of Common Pleas Court.
Because of [...]

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They did not understand the product themselves so no way could they educate the borrower

by Moe Bedard

 By DJ
Having been in the wholesale end of the business with Option Arms as one of my products, 99% of the time the loan officer would ask for “max prepay, max rebate”. (mortgage lingo = I want to make the most money I can on this loan and how much can I screw the borrower [...]

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Prudent Man Lending = Fiduciary Responsibility

by Moe Bedard

By Poppy (30 year mortgage industry veteran) 
It is the 3 C’s – Credit, Capacity and Collateral, of course the idea that Credit = Willingness to Repay; Capacity = Ability to Repay/Assets to Afford the Ongoing & Initial Outlay, and Collateral = Value/Marketability of Property/Asset Supports the Request (simplistic at best and goes to the fact that [...]

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It’s Not All Subprime. Pay Option ARM’s – California’s Billion Pound Gorilla

by Moe Bedard

By Moe Bedard
Let’s get something straight. Subprime loans are not the only thing that we need to worry about in this housing and mortgage crisis. It’s the hidden mortgage creatures in the “adjustable rate forest of the unknown” that are watching and waiting as they mature into full grown animals that we need to [...]

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