Remember that Fannie Mae is “Always The Owner, Holder of The Note“, since it now “holds” the mortgage thanks to MERS’ assignments that can pop up in any moments notice.

KTVZ-

BEND, Ore. — A Bend man whose home was foreclosed upon the very day his son came home on leave from the Iraq war zone remains in the home. But after two months of legal limbo, he filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, seeking at least $250,000 in damages, enough to recover his home, and an injunction against any eviction notice.

The 26-page complaint seeks “equitable redemption due to wrongful foreclosure” and also accuses the bank of breach of contract and unlawful debt collection.

Collette bought the Bend home in 2006 with a $127,000 down payment. When his small flooring and countertop business was hurt by the economic downturn, he contacted Chase for help.

[KTVZ]

[ipaper docId=67834510 access_key=key-22oi3ky750li5dvqfsei height=600 width=600 /]

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Southern District of New York

U.S. ATTORNEY PREET BHARARA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 6, 2011
http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys

CONTACT: Ellen Davis, Carly Sullivan, Jerika Richardson
(212) 637-2600

.

MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT
WITH MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW FIRM TO OVERHAUL
ITS PRACTICES AND PAY $2 MILLION FINE

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that the United States has entered into an agreement with the law firm of STEVEN J. BAUM, P.C. (“BAUM”), one of the largest volume mortgage foreclosure firms in New York State, that requires the firm to pay $2 million to the United States and to extensively change its practices with respect to mortgage foreclosure actions (the “Agreement”). The Agreement resolves an investigation into BAUM’s mortgage foreclosure-related practices, specifically whether the firm, on behalf of its lender clients, filed misleading pleadings, affidavits, and mortgage assignments in state and federal courts in New York.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “In mortgage foreclosure proceedings, there are no excuses for sloppy practices that could lead to someone mistakenly losing their home. Homeowners facing foreclosure cannot afford to have faulty paperwork or inadequate evidence submitted, and today’s agreement will help minimize that risk.”

The Agreement specifically prohibits BAUM from engaging in certain practices related to the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), a subscription-based electronic registry system for lenders and other entities that tracks ownership interests in mortgages. MERS members contractually agree to appoint MERS as their agent on all mortgages they register. Until recently, employees of BAUM, with the consent of MERS, had been assigning mortgages on behalf of MERS, even though they had no connection to MERS whatsoever, which resulted in errors in its legal filings in state and federal court. Pursuant to the Agreement, BAUM is prohibited from executing any assignment of a mortgage as an “officer” or “director” of MERS.

The Agreement also requires a general overhaul of BAUM’s practice with respect to its filings in mortgage foreclosure actions. Under the terms of the Agreement, BAUM has agreed to:

• Take steps to inform courts of the nature of the assignments in pending foreclosure proceedings it is handling;

• Obtain appropriate affidavits from its clients attesting to the fact that they possess original notes or have conducted a diligent search and the original note could not be found;

• Have experienced attorneys supervise the preparation of pleadings, and review and approve pleadings before they can be filed;

• Implement a 12-24 month training program for its attorneys that includes an overview of the foreclosure process in New York State and a review of the litigation procedures expected at BAUM;

• Provide immediate notice to the Government when objections are raised regarding the accuracy of certain court filings related to mortgage foreclosure proceedings; and

• Maintain documentation of its compliance with the settlement.

In addition, the Agreement requires BAUM to pay the United States $2 million in exchange for a release from any potential claims pursuant to the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”). FIRREA authorizes the United States to seek civil penalties for violations of, and conspiracies to violate, certain predicate criminal statutes involving financial fraud, including mail and wire fraud. The release from liability does not preclude any other parties, including individual homeowners, from pursuing any rights they may have.

The Agreement does not constitute a finding by any court or agency that Baum has engaged in any unlawful practice or wrongdoing. In the Agreement, Baum acknowledges, however, that it occasionally made inadvertent errors in its legal filings in state and federal court, which it attributes to human error in light of the high volume of mortgage defaults and foreclosures throughout the State of New York in the wake of the national subprime mortgage crisis.

Mr. BHARARA thanked the U.S. Trustee’s Office for their invaluable assistance in this case. The case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys PIERRE ARMAND and LARA ESHKENAZI are in charge of the case.

The Civil Frauds Unit works in coordination with President BARACK OBAMA’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. BHARARA serves as a Co-Chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. President OBAMA established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

11-302 ###

[Read the agreement below]

[ipaper docId=67831624 access_key=key-sjeggego2opcclgi8ik height=600 width=600 /]

Now C’mon don’t act too surprised.

We know what’s going to be the end result and it’s not going to benefit the 99%.

American Banker-

Can you count on the emperor’s handpicked ministers to tell him when he’s naked? Banking regulators seem to think so.

The April consent orders against mortgage servicers let the companies pick one or more professional-services firms to review their foreclosure actions for abuses and report the findings to the agencies.

Allowing the banks to choose their own judge, jury, and jailer presents almost untenable conflicts of interest. A …

[AMERICAN BANKER]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
AUSTIN DIVISION

DAVID A. HAWKINS, and TRACY J.
HAWKINS, on behalf of themselves
and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs

v.

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.,
Defendant

Excerpt:

Defendant made Texas home equity loan modifications that did one or
more of the following in violation of the Texas Constitution’s homestead protection
provisions: (1) turned past-due interest into new principal; (2) featured a loan-to-value
ratio to a figure above 80%; and (3) failed to include mandatory disclosures concerning
the protections afforded by the Texas Constitution concerning home equity loans. These
problems are unique to home equity loans, as opposed to original purchase-money
mortgage loans, which are not at issue in this case.

[ipaper docId=67791304 access_key=key-qngqi8undph35k0whfc height=600 width=600 /]

It’s become a new world in America. No matter how hard one tries, all those families who were thrown out of their homes…how many individuals can settle and get away with this?

Money is the root of all evil.

Bloomberg-

Steven J. Baum’s foreclosure law firm, one of the largest in New York state, will pay the U.S. $2 million and change its practices to resolve a probe into its mortgage-related legal filings.

The agreement resolves an investigation into whether the Baum firm filed misleading pleadings, affidavits and mortgage assignments in courts, according to a statement today by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan.

[BLOOMBERG]

[ipaper docId=67831624 access_key=key-sjeggego2opcclgi8ik height=600 width=600 /]

H/T Andrew E.

A motion to reconsider asking the Court to reconsider its dismissal of Duvall as moot has been filed.

[ipaper docId=67744586 access_key=key-1zjijm1192wxxwfx47k5 height=600 width=600 /]

Glad to see some coming out to defend the 99%.

Bloomberg-

BlackRock Inc. (BLK) Chief Executive Officer Laurence D. Fink, head of the world’s largest asset manager, said he understands the concerns of protesters speaking out against financial firms in New York and other cities.

“The protesting is a statement the future is very clouded for a lot of people,” Fink, 58, said yesterday during an event in Toronto. “These are not lazy people sitting around looking for something to do. We have people losing hope and they’re going into the street, whether it’s justified or not.”

[BLOOMBERG]

image: DailyNews

Since the media ignores coverage from these peaceful protestors and hardly any birds eye view from up above, let this serve as an example to you all that it’s taken hold. Please watch as the angle zooms out to witness just how far it goes…