Homeowner Relief? The Recent Countrywide Settlement in Context

A recent settlement between the California Attorney Generals office, joined by 10 additional states, resulted in one of the widest reaching predatory lending settlements in US history.

Under the landmark agreement, Countrywide Financial’s new owner, Bank of America, agreed to proceed with loan modifications on nearly $8 billion in home mortgages, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

“With this settlement, homeowners will receive direct relief from the catastrophic damage caused by Countrywide,” said Attorney General Brown. “Countrywide’s lending practices turned the American dream Read the rest of this entry »

One of my long standing points of view on the mortgage and housing crisis is that, these creative loans that were invented, sold and sliced and diced over the last 3-5 years were incredibly unfair and deceptive. Defective credit instruments that were made to fail and are essentially “lemon loans.”

It looks like the Illinois Attorney General seems to agree with my point of view.

NY Times:

The Illinois attorney general is suing Countrywide Financial, the troubled mortgage lender, and Angelo R. Mozilo, its chief executive, contending that the company and its executives defrauded borrowers in the state by selling them costly and defective loans that quickly went into foreclosure.

The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed on Wednesday in Illinois state court, accused Countrywide and Mr. Mozilo of relaxing underwriting standards, structuring loans with risky features, and misleading consumers with hidden fees and fake marketing claims, like its heavily advertised “no closing costs loan.” Countrywide also created incentives for its employees and brokers to sell questionable loans by paying them more on such sales, the complaint said.

In reviewing one Illinois mortgage broker’s sales of Countrywide loans, the complaint said the “vast majority of the loans had inflated income, almost all without the borrower’s knowledge.”

My company, Loan Safe Solutions, performs mortgage audits for attorneys and consumers across the country and in doing so, we have noticed a pattern of abuse from loan officers, brokers and lenders. The #1 abuser that seems to cross our desks every day is Countrywide Home Loans.

The country’s biggest fish holds the largest stock pile of toxic and fraudulent loans than any other lender in the foreclosure sea. It looks like our country’s law makers are starting to understand the fact that there is something every fishy in these loans, and the stench is starting to fill our court rooms across the nation.

NY Times:

“People were put into loans they did not understand, could not afford and could not get out of,” Ms. Madigan said. “This mounting disaster has had an impact on individual homeowners statewide and is having an impact on the global economy. It is all from the greed of people like Angelo Mozilo.”

Read the rest of the story from the NY Times

It is about time that these lawsuits start to hit our court system. I am not a big fan of court and everyone suing each other. But what needs to be done, needs to be done and it’s all for the better. Especially against these mortgage servicing companies that are abusing homeowners and charging bogus fees.

Attention servicing companies: Stop kicking homeowners/people when they are down, because you are being watched and you will pay for the predatory absuses that you are engaged in. Sooner, rather than later.

The Sydney Herald:

The US Trustee, a unit of the Justice Department that oversees the bankruptcy courts, filed suit against Countrywide over a 2005 bankruptcy filing involving John Wayne Atchley and Robin April Atchley, home Read the rest of this entry »

Two Countrywide trips go around the outside, around the outside, around the outside. Two Countrywide trips go around the outside, around the outside. Now, dosie doe Mozilo.

Jane Wells CNBC - Countrywide Cancels Second Florida Event

Friday night Countrywide informed me that an employee sales event planned in April at an expensive Florida resort has been cancelled.

I’ve been blogging about two Florida junkets the company had been planning at a Westin Resort in Hollywood, Florida. The first one was scheduled to start March 9th, but Thursday the company told me that event had been cancelled, though a second event in April was “under review”.

I’m told the second event was even supposed to be larger. Now it, too, is officially cancelled.

Looks like Countrywide is starting to realize that we are watching what the hell they are doing and not to make idiotic moves like these “fun trips” during a crisis Maybe the BofA CEO got Mozilo on his cell and ripped him a new a$$.

Like I said before, whoever is in charge of PR and marketing for Countrywide should be fired. Actually, scratch that. Keep up the crappy work because you are showing Countrwyide’s true colors and giving me plenty of material to blog about.