From the monthly archives:

July 2008

Frank calls for restructuring of the mortgage servicing industry if servicers fail to cooperate

by Moe Bedard

Finally! It looks like one of the peoples representatives, Barney Frank, has got hip to the fact that servicers have been giving a lot of lip service lately to everyone. From the homeowners reaching for help and to our government who has been asking them nicely to cooperate.

Thus far, servicers have been playing by [...]

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Where Are Congress’ Ethics Hearings into Countrywide’s VIP Loans?

by Moe Bedard

Sweetheart mortgages given by Countrywide Financial, the nation’s biggest mortgage lender, to elected officials and government bureaucrats seem tailor-made for an ethics inquiry by Congress, especially as the country is seeing a rising tide of voter anger in this presidential election year due to the massive $300 bn bailout of the housing industry at taxpayers’ [...]

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Barney Frank Calls for Foreclosure Freeze

by Moe Bedard

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee called on lenders to stop filing foreclosures until a new foreclosure-prevention program takes effect.

On Wednesday, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) had called on lenders to make immediate use of the program, which is included in a massive housing package that passed the House this week and is [...]

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Bush Makes Fun of the Housing Crisis and it’s All Caught on Tape

by Moe Bedard

President Bush really pisses me off sometimes. This guy has done so little to help the American people suffering on main street during his tenure has president that it has become a bad joke that gets worse and worser by the day.
The sad fact that the great people of this country face is that we have to live with [...]

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San Diego City Attorney Sues Countrywide for a “Pattern of Unlawful, Fraudulent or Unfair Predatory Real Estate Lending Practices”

by Moe Bedard

SAN DIEGO — City Attorney Mike Aguirre filed a civil complaint Wednesday against Countrywide Financial Corp. in an attempt to stop foreclosures in San Diego.
Aguirre said the suit targets subprime loans where homeowners face balloon payments after two or three years of the loan. City officials say San Diego saw 22,000 notices of foreclosure last [...]

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Foreclosure Related Suicide and Murders on the Rise

by Moe Bedard

The Experts:
Stress is a huge factor in suicide, and looming very large is stress related to the economy,” said Dr. Charles Nemeroff, chairman of psychiatry at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., and president of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“Suicide is certainly a response to hard economic times,” noted Dr. Harold Koenig, professor of [...]

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Fannie, Freddie: Taxpayers on the hook

by Moe Bedard

A number of senators on the banking committee – from both parties – characterized Paulson’s request as asking lawmakers for a “a blank check,” and they were none too keen on the idea, knowing they have to answer to taxpayers.
How lawmakers might alter the Treasury’s proposals isn’t clear yet. But if the government uses federal [...]

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The House Approves Massive Housing Bill – But Will it Help You?

by Moe Bedard

The House approved a massive plan Wednesday to try and put the brakes on the foreclosure crisis that is sweeping the nation and causing the worst housing decline since the Great Depression. The goal of this new bill is to provide aid to homeowners facing foreclosure and also a “bail out” of government backed mammoths Fannie Mae and [...]

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Thousands of Homeowners Plan to Storm Capitol Hill to Save the American Dream

by Moe Bedard

The line of eager people was wrapped around the Capitol Hilton in downtown Washington D.C. as my crew and I unloaded our gear out of our taxi. The crowd was thick and deep as a sea of yellow shirts offered smiles and encouragement to the children as they waited patiently with their mothers and fathers. [...]

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Loan Safe Goes to Washington with NACA to Save the Dream of Homeownership

by Moe Bedard

I am proud to announce that the Loan Safe crew will be heading to Washington D.C. this evening to assist NACA and struggling homeowners in this historic 5-day event .
Yesterday evening I had the privilege to speak with Bruce Marks, Executive Director of Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), as he was unloading over 300 lap [...]

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House Republican Leader Confident in Rescue Plan

by Moe Bedard

WASHINGTON — After a tense and at times testy meeting on Wednesday between Congressional Republicans and the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., over his plan for a possible government rescue of the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, the House Republican leader said he expected the plan to be approved soon.

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The FBI Investigates Indymac for Mortgage Fraud – Next Please!

by Moe Bedard

When it rains it pours and when a bank fails, the FBI is going to find out why.
The facts are that the fraud and financial crimes ran rampant from all sides of the mortgage and real estate equation.
From the loan officers, appraisers, Realtors, notary publics, underwriters, account executives, managers, investors, brokerages, borrowers and the list can go [...]

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The SEC Finally Does Their Job and Puts a Stop to Naked Investing

by Moe Bedard

Wall Street is playing games with our economy and betting on the consumer and also the down fall of many financial institutions. Welcome to the wonderful and highly profitable world known as “shorting” or “hedging”.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally said enough is enough and issued a moratorium on what is known in [...]

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G.O.P. Resistance May Delay Housing Legislation

by Moe Bedard

WASHINGTON — Democratic Congressional leaders on Tuesday pushed back their timetable for approving emergency housing legislation after Republicans voiced growing skepticism and, in some cases, angry opposition to the Bush administration’s proposal to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered mortgage finance companies.

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FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair’s Statement on the Federal Reserve Board’s Final Rule for Home Mortgage Loans

by Moe Bedard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2008

Media Contact:
Andrew Gray (202) 898-7192
angray@fdic.gov

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila C. Bair today issued the following statement on the Federal Reserve Board’s approval of a final rule for home mortgage loans.
“I applaud the Federal Reserve Board’s decision today to issue final, strengthened rules under HOEPA that will correct many [...]

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FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair Issues Statement on IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB, Conservatorship

by Moe Bedard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2008

Media Contact:
In Washington: Andrew Gray (202) 898-7192,
Cell: 202-494-1049
angray@fdic.gov

 
FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair, today issued the following statement about IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB, the conservatorship created by the FDIC to continue to provide banking services in communities served by the former IndyMac Bank, F.S.B.

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Predatory Lending Begets Predatory Lending – Only in America

by Moe Bedard

Can’t afford your home or your loan? Heck, just put in on your charge card and forget about it.
Well, at least until your credit card bill comes due next month and now Guido wants his money. One more month with your head above the toxic water and a temporary plug in your foreclosure boat for a few more [...]

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IndyMac to reopen ’strong and safe,’ new boss says

by Moe Bedard

PASADENA, California (CNN) — California bank IndyMac will reopen as a “strong and safe institution” under federal management and a new name Monday, days after regulators closed it, the firm’s new CEO said Sunday.
“Come Monday morning, it will be business as usual for all insured customers,” said John Bovenzi, who was placed in charge of [...]

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Silence of the Lenders: Is Anyone Listening?

by Moe Bedard

Loan Safe & Moe Bedard in the New York Times By Gretchen Morgenson
DAN A. BAILEY JR. was desperate when he sat down on May 19 to send an e-mail message to his mortgage lender, the Countrywide Financial Corporation, pleading, yet again, for help.
Behind on his payments and fearful of losing his home of 16 years [...]

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BofA CEO Lewis On Mortgage Business And Countrywide

by Moe Bedard

He is speaking to a packed house at a Town Hall Los Angeles luncheon, and I will update later with video clips and Q&A. But here are highlights from an advanced copy of the speech.
Lewis says BofA wants to help struggling homeowners stay in there homes, but admits he can’t help everyone.
“The first step [...]

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IndyMac Begins Dismantling Business As It Struggles to Keep Investors’ Faith

by Moe Bedard

First, Countrywide Financial Corp. went down, as the nation’s biggest mortgage lender was acquired in a rescue operation July 1 by Bank of America Corp. Now Countrywide’s offspring, IndyMac Bancorp Inc., is on the ropes.

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5 Ways Wall Street & Washington Set Us Up for the Crash

by Moe Bedard

Nomi Prins, what are the five ways that Washington and Wall Street has brought us to this crisis?
NOMI PRINS: Well, it’s a historical matter, and basically there’s been a lot of legislation that has weakened the regulation of the housing industry and the lending industry and the trading that takes place with it that Wall [...]

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Loan Modification Myths and Facts

by Moe Bedard

There are a lot of myths surrounding lenders and servicers as to what they will and will not do during the loan modification process. 
The confusion and inaccurate data that is propagating the internet and the news is based on ill-informed bloggers or journalists who really have no idea what is going on in the loss mitigation arena. This [...]

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Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Help Protect Homeowners from Foreclosure

by Moe Bedard

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed SB 1137 by Senate President pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) which requires lenders to contact homeowners and explore restructuring options before initiating the foreclosure process. It will also provide tenants with double the amount of time now afforded to them to move from a foreclosed property and prevent California’s neighborhoods [...]

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How we got into this mortgage mess

by Moe Bedard

By Paul Kiesel
Over the last 15 years, there have been five “avoidable events” stemming from Wall Street’s or Congress’ actions (or inaction), that led directly to the mortgage crisis.

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Paulson on US Housing Market Before the FDIC on Mortgage Lending

by Moe Bedard

July 8, 2008
hp-1070
Remarks by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. on U.S. Housing Market before FDIC’s Forum on Mortgage Lending to Low and Moderate Income Households

Washington, DC–Good afternoon. Thank you Chairman Bair for convening this forum, and thanks to all of you for your interest in encouraging responsible lending to low and moderate income households.

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Bring Down the Banks with these Foreclosure Defense Tactics

by Moe Bedard

Get your gloves on and start training for the fight of your life because foreclosure defense is going to be no easy battle. Make no bones about it, you are definitely fighting against one of the toughest and most powerful opponents in the world. The banks
Let’s get one thing straight here ladies and gentleman. The [...]

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The Home-Equity Door Slams Shut

by Moe Bedard

Some 122,000 borrowers with Countrywide home-equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, received letters in January informing them that they could no longer withdraw funds from their lines. A few months later, thousands of customers of other major lenders — including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citibank, SunTrust, USAA, Wachovia, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo [...]

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Verifying legitimate bank websites

by Moe Bedard

This can be important because there are many ways to be tricked into thinking you are at, for example, a bank website, when you are really viewing a well-crafted, scam copy designed to steal personal information. Flagfox can go a long way toward verifying that you are really looking at the website you expect. Anyone [...]

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Will Foreclosures Affect Voting Rolls?

by Moe Bedard

Election officials worry that the state’s home foreclosure problem will pose a problem this November for voters still registered at their former address, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Voters in pivotal Ohio with outdated addresses face possible pre-election challenges and trips to multiple polling places. They also are more likely to cast provisional ballots that might not [...]

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The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants

by Moe Bedard

Thomas Jefferson made that quote over 200 years ago and it has never rang more true than today.
Never has there been a time in our history where our freedom has bee over shadowed by our burdens of debt and war, as it is now.  The time has come to unite in the streets of America [...]

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Illinois attorney general advises homeowners to review Countrywide loans

by Moe Bedard

I have been advising homeowners to do this for the past year online and I even started a company (Loan Safe Solutions) to assist attorneys and homeowners in reviewing their loan documents for legal violations.
Now, it appears that the Illinois attorney general feels that it is a great idea to have your current mortgage examined for federal, [...]

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Predatory Renting – New Yorker Renters May be the Next Victims of The Foreclosure Crisis

by Moe Bedard

Certain homeowners and investors seem to be collecting rent from unsuspecting renters and forgetting to send their mortgage payment to their lender. I like to call this new unfair and deceptive business practice perpetuated by American consumers, “predatory renting.”

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California Assembly Passes Foreclosure Reform Bill But More Needed to Protect Future Borrowers from Predatory Loan Practices

by Moe Bedard

By Frank D. Russo
Legislation that would reform the foreclosure process in California for the benefit of homeowners trying to hold on to their homes passed the Assembly today on a 55 to 18 vote, just one vote above the two-thirds majority it required. Ten Republican Assemblymembers joined 45 of the 48 Democrats in voting for [...]

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Judge Says Countrywide Officers Must Face Suit by Shareholders

by Moe Bedard

Directors and officers of Countrywide Financial, the beleaguered mortgage lender, must answer shareholder accusations of insider trading and an overall failure to monitor lending practices that led to the company’s collapse, a federal judge in California has ruled.

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Angry Consumers Flood Federal Reserve Board with Complaints

by Moe Bedard

The message is out to struggling consumers and the Federal Reserve may be sorry they offered a helping hand to the millions of consumers who are drowning in credit card debt and in their homes.
Apparently the Federal Reserve has been inundated with over 8,200 consumer complaints against various banking and lending institutions for credit card abuse and [...]

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Mortgage ruling could shock U.S. banking industry

by Moe Bedard

A lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin couple against their mortgage lender could have major implications for banks should a U.S. appeals court agree that borrowers can cancel their loans en masse when their lenders violate a federal lending disclosure law.
The case began like hundreds of others filed since the U.S. housing boom spawned a rise [...]

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“Subprime Slime” — Bikini-wearing actresses against foreclosure

by Moe Bedard

Foreclosure bus tours touring foreclosed homes and now bikini girls banding together to save foreclosure victims. What next?
I know sex sells, but does sex save homes? Only in America folks……..
From LA Land:

In general, the bar at L.A. Land In general, the bar at L.A. Land is set very high for news coverage. In this particular case, though, [...]

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Florida attorney general sues lender Countrywide

by Moe Bedard

Lawsuits”o” plenty are being fired at lending and servicing giant, Countrywide Financial and this is in the wake of the controversial Bank of America take over that is finally official today.
Just last week attorney generals in Illinois and California filed predatory lending lawsuits accusing Countrywide of unfair and deceptive business practices. Now, Florida has jumped on the predatory lending lawsuit [...]

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