Bloomberg-

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) was accused by a top official at the Iowa attorney general’s office of engaging in a divide-and-conquer strategy by undermining support for the settlement of a nationwide probe into foreclosure practices, a person familiar with the matter said.

The bank tried to get attorneys general to break away from those supporting the proposed accord, Iowa Assistant Attorney General Patrick Madigan said during a recent conference call, according to the person. A second person familiar with the settlement talks said the bank sought to sow dissent among the states, eight of which have publicly criticized the proposal’s terms. Both people asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Madigan declined to comment.

“We have held face to face negotiating sessions and our negotiations continue,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat who leads the 50-state effort, said in a statement. “We believe all the banks are negotiating in good faith.”

Recovery? What recovery.

Imagine all the shadow foreclosures, inventory…

Wall Street Journal-

The housing market’s woes continue forcing people into rentals, further depressing the home ownership rate in a nation that now has fewer homeowners than were created during the housing boom.

In the first quarter, 66.5% of Americans owned homes, down from 67.2% a year earlier, the Census Bureau reported. The rate last hit this level in 1998.

During the boom, when easy credit made mortgages available with less regard for income or ability to pay, the ownership rate surged to a record 69.2% in 2004?s second and fourth quarters and stayed near that level until the recession deepened.

© 2010-12 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.
www.StopForeclosureFraud.com

We saw this coming for a bit now…

(Reuters) – The Internal Revenue Service has launched a review of the tax-exempt status of a widely-held form of mortgage-backed securities called REMICs.

The IRS confirmed to Reuters that the review comes in response to mounting evidence that banks violated tax requirements by mishandling the transfer of mortgages to REMICs, short for Real Estate Mortgage Conduits.

HuffPO-

Regulatory agencies exist to protect the public, not the corporations they regulate. The head of the Office of Comptroller of the Currency doesn’t seem to understand that. But that’s not why John Walsh needs to resign.

The OCC was created to stabilize the economy, make it easier to conduct trade, and protect people’s savings. It didn’t do that. In fact, it ignored the warnings raised by others. But that’s not why John Walsh needs to resign.

© 2010-12 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.
www.StopForeclosureFraud.com

This part shall apply to  nonjudicial foreclosures conducted under part II by power of sale, of residential real property that is occupied by one or more mortgagors as a primary residence; provided that this part shall not apply to actions by an association to foreclose on a lien for amounts owed to the association that arise under a declaration filed pursuant to chapter 514A or 514B, or to a mortgagor who has previously participated in dispute resolution under this part for the same property on the same mortgage loan.

Scribd

Honolulu Weekly-

A recent 60 Minutes segment investigated Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), a private company that acts as an agent for institutions seeking to speed up the processing of their loan modifications. MERS, which claims to handle about 60 million loans (nearly half of all home loan modifications in the country) with fewer than 50 staff. In an April 2010 lawsuit, the founder of MERS admitted that the untrained and non-certified “notaries” were allowed to illegally notarize hundreds of documents daily, as well as “robo-sign” up to 4,000 foreclosure documents daily.

<SNIP>

“There are increasing reports around the country of wrongful foreclosures,” said Recktenwald. “It is especially important to protect our citizens from fraudulent practices.” Recktenwald referred to states that have passed comprehensive legislation and seen dramatic reductions in foreclosures. “I want to express that this is personal for me. Our home is a sacred meeting place for friends, family and community–not a game piece on a Monopoly board. Why I’ve chosen to make Hawaii my home is that I am joined with fellow stewards of the land. Our love of this land is greater than the greed of Wall Street.”

.
.
.

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FOURTH DISTRICT
January Term 2011
STATE OF FLORIDA,
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Appellant,
v.
SHAPIRO & FISHMAN, LLP,
Appellee.
No. 4D10-4526
[April 27, 2011]

Excerpt:

At oral argument, the Attorney General conceded it had decided to proceed exclusively under this one particular statutory provision. It could have proceeded under another statutory provision, such as a criminal investigative subpoena if other relevant criteria were satisfied, which would not require the subpoena to qualify as connected to “trade or commerce” under FDUTPA. This was exclusively the choice of the state.

Scribd

MFI-MIAMI-

Several months ago, the major banks sounded the all clear signal regarding robo-signing in non-judicial foreclosure states, namely Michigan and Massachusetts.  It appears those claims of non-exist robo-signing were either greatly exaggerated or were overly optimistic.

MFI-Miami has uncovered evidence of forged documents drafted and signed by attorneys and employees at Orlans Associates at their corporate offices in Troy, Michigan.   These  fraudulent documents will impact tens of thousands of foreclosures done by Ally Financial, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan-Chase, Fannie Mae and others in Michigan and Massachusetts over the past five years and makes the investigation being done by Ingham County Register of Deeds, Curtis Hertel, Jr. and Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard into the robo-signing of Linda Green at the now defunct DocX look like a kindergarten production of the movie, The Firm.