To put a human dimension on the issue, Sen. Brickwood Galuteria asked Gilbreath, who represents the mortgage counseling organization Hawaiian Community Assets, about the counseling process: “Can you give a sense of what it’s like for the families, the diminished quality of life that happens when you might be losing your home?” asked Galuteria, D-Downtown-Waikiki.

AP-

Foreclosures in Hawaii have plummeted 53 percent since the Legislature passed sweeping mortgage legislation last year, officials said Thursday.

Hawaii had the nation’s 11th highest foreclosure rate in 2010, prompting lawmakers to establish a Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force to look into all aspects of judicial and nonjudicial foreclosures in the state.

The task force’s 2011 findings helped shape legislation that provides extensive protections to residents in danger of losing their homes due to unfair or deceptive practices.

[ABC]

I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it seem that every player who sold subprime loans knew exactly what they were selling? Fraud?

Like everything else this will NOT lead to any criminal charges. Same old dance.

iWATCH News-

Federal authorities are investigating possible fraud at General Electric Co.’s former subprime mortgage arm amid increased public pressure to hold Wall Street accountable for its role in the financial crisis.

The FBI and the U.S. Justice Department are looking into potentially criminal business practices at Burbank, Calif.-based WMC Mortgage Corp. during the home-loan boom, according to four people with knowledge of the investigation. They declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

[iWATCH NEWS]

FDL-

By: David Dayen

When I started digging into whether this Monday meeting with HUD and DoJ officials to go over a proposal for a foreclosure fraud settlement was legitimate, I couldn’t find one state Attorney General who mattered actually committed to showing up. When I say AGs who “matter,” I mean the ones who have been critical of a settlement in the past. I mean the Justice Democrats. I mean Eric Schneiderman in New York, Beau Biden in Delaware, Martha Coakley in Massachusetts, Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, Kamala Harris in California, not to mention the AGs from Hawaii, New Hampshire, Missouri, Mississippi, Maryland, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oregon and Montana who showed up (either themselves or representatives) at the meeting in DC last week to discuss alternatives to a settlement. I mean them. They aren’t going to Chicago, by all accounts.

That doesn’t mean the negotiators aren’t trying to push a deal, of course. And Shahien Nasiripour reports that the terms of the deal have been set and will get circulated to the AGs for approval.

The proposed pact would potentially reduce mortgage balances and monthly payments by more than $25bn for distressed US homeowners, these five people said.

The tentative agreement still must be approved by all 50 state attorneys-general, and negotiators have previously missed proposed deadlines. Participants described the proposal terms as set, meaning the states will be asked either to agree to them or decline to participate.

The amount of potential aid is contingent on state participation and would decrease significantly if big states do not sign the agreement. New York and California are among several states that have voiced concerns about the terms of the proposed deal with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial. New York and California are particularly concerned with the part of the deal that would absolve the banks of civil liability for allegedly illegal mortgage-related conduct.

California borrowers would be eligible to receive more than $10bn in aid if the state were to agree to the terms, according to several people involved in the talks.

But while Shahien, who has been pretty good on the reporting of this …

[FIRE DOG LAKE]

Dear Californians (and everyone else too):

Shortly after the State of the Union speech next week, Team Obama wants to announce a deal with the big banks, and he wants you to think it’s a good deal. The banks will deign to give homeowners in the settling states credits and a little cash, together totaling $20 to $25 billion. Precisely who gets how much would remain entirely in the banks’ discretion. In exchange, Team Obama is asking the Attorneys General from all 50 states to give the banks cradle-to-grave loan immunity, swearing off claims relating to how the banks made loans, serviced loans, and foreclosed loans.

Californians, Team Obama particularly wants your Attorney General, Kamala Harris, to sign the agreement because California is ground zero for a massive amount of lender and foreclosure fraud. AG Harris’s sign off would gives the banks a lot of peace. If there’s one place in the country filled with fraudulently made loans, it’s California, since Countrywide, WaMu, IndyMac and similarly shady companies did big business there.

California is Key

[...]

[REALITY CHECK]

The phone number on the press release announcing her commitment to enforcing the law is: 415-703-5837. Or call 916-445-9555, which is the number listed for her with the National Association of Attorneys General. Make sure she knows you’re a constituent, and paying attention.

EXCERPT:

A. Deception of courts, mediators and homeowners as to identity of owners of loans being foreclosed.

1. Deception of homeowners, courts and mediators by the GSEs and their servicers, as to the true identity of the parties owning mortgage loans being foreclosed upon, has resulted in:

a. Inability of mediators to know what loan modification standards apply to any given loan coming before a mediator.

b. Inability of homeowners and their lawyers to know the identity of the party owning the loans and having the ultimate authority to modify the loans;

c. Wasted time for lawyers for homeowners and courts in pre-­trial discovery disputes relating to determination of the identity of the true owners of mortgage loans being foreclosed upon.

2. The MERS System has been and continues to be a source of problems for courts, mediators and homeowners in determining the identity of the parties who own loans in foreclosure. 5It was only under public pressure that MERS began to identify the owners of the mortgage loans registered on its system. 6Even now, disclosure of “investor identity” information on the MERS system is voluntary with those investors and thus is often unavailable, even to homeowners trying to determine the identities of the owners of their loans. Further, when a mortgage is registered on the MERS System, that system never identifies the actual trust that owns the loan. Contrary to the MERS claims that it accurately tracks the ownership of mortgage loans registered on its system, MERS does not obtain, record or track the identity of the trusts that own the loans registered on its system, The lack of this information makes it impossible to locate the pertinent pooling and servicing agreement which is needed to determine, among other things, whether there are investor restrictions which limit the ability of a servicer to modify loans in that trust.

[...]

Scribd

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK

DEXIA SA/NV; DEXIA HOLDINGS, INC.;
FSA ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC; DEXIA
CRÉDIT LOCAL SA,
Plaintiffs,

v.

BEAR STEARNS & CO. INC., THE BEAR
STEARNS COMPANIES, INC., BEAR
STEARNS ASSET BACKED SECURITIES I
LLC, EMC MORTGAGE LLC (f/k/a EMC
MORTGAGE CORPORATION),
STRUCTURED ASSET MORTGAGE
INVESTMENTS II INC., J.P. MORGAN
ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION I, J.P.
MORGAN MORTGAGE ACQUISITION
CORPORATION., J.P. MORGAN
SECURITIES LLC (f/k/a J.P. MORGAN
SECURITIES INC.), WAMU ASSET
ACCEPTANCE CORP., WAMU CAPITAL
CORP., WASHINGTON MUTUAL
MORTGAGE SECURITIES CORP., LONG
BEACH SECURITIES CORP., JPMORGAN
CHASE & CO., and JPMORGAN CHASE
BANK, N.A.,
Defendants.

Scribd