TGIF y’all! Today is going to be an interesting day.
MSNBC-
Moody’s Investors Service lowered the credit ratings of 15 of the world’s largest banks late Thursday, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.
The ratings agency said it was especially concerned about banks with significant financial markets businesses because those markets have become so volatile. Some of the largest European banks were also downgraded, including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and HSBC.
The downgrades mean Moody’s is more concerned about the ability of the banks to repay their debts. Moody’s had said in February that it was considering downgrading the credit ratings of major banks in the U.S. and in Europe.
A downgrade usually means that it becomes more costly for banks to raise money by selling debt.
Wells Fargo (WFC) is in a class by itself when it comes to treating the rule of law and human beings badly. Lying, cheating, paranoid and vicious are the first words that come to my mind in free association with Wells; read and see if you agree.
Transferring Property It Doesn’t Have
Wells’s latest violence against the rule of law was an amazing motion it filed in a consumer bankruptcy earlier this month, in which it says there’s nothing false in telling the Court it was assigned a mortgage that didn’t yet exist.
Imagine trying to spend a paycheck you hadn’t yet received, much less deposited in your Wells checking account. I bet Wells would recognize a problem with that.
See, on March 12, 2007, Anthony Patridge “Vp [sic] of loan documentation” for UBS Mortgage signed the assignment, and Patridge’s signature was notarized on March 12th too. But as Wells Fargo’s motion states, the loan itself, and the mortgage securing it, were created two days later.
Neat trick, isn’t that? Was Patridge psychic, and just knew that the loan was going to go through? After all, when he signed on the 12th, he claimed to be making the assignment on the 14th.
After Jones’s mortgage was sold a number of times, she wasn’t sure where she was supposed to send her payments and she fell behind on her bills. She then learned via a local paper that the deed for her house had been sold and she would need $72,000 to avoid eviction.
If his Challenger was a Hemi or even a 6-pack, it could easily bring in $45k+.
This is just wrong. THIS IS A CRIME SCENE!
My first car was a 1971 Charger B5 Blue 440 Magnum 🙁
Telegram-
As David vs. Goliath struggles go, they don’t get much more lopsided than a lone muscle-car enthusiast going up against a mega-bank with more than $2 trillion in assets.
But that’s exactly what Aaron Dahrooge of Worcester has been doing for three months now in an effort to get back his beloved 1973 Dodge Challenger.
The distinctive muscle car, which is painted “plum crazy” purple and has a burly V-8 engine with a chrome air scoop popping up through the hood, was taken from the garage of his deceased mother’s home in Burncoat in late March.
Bank of America has vital information, but won’t tell him, Mr. Dahrooge claims.
His mother, April Dahrooge, died last year. Her mortgage lender, Bank of America Corp., had an ongoing foreclosure proceeding against the house at the time of her death. The foreclosure proceeding has not been completed, according to city property tax and state land records.
Sorry. I’m still skeptical about anything involving foreclosures. Is this a way to make you sign up or make you feel as you shoud’ve?
Bloomberg-
U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) will pay as much as $125,000 plus equity to individual customers most harmed by mishandled foreclosures in 2009 and 2010, according to a remediation plan released by bank regulators.
“While we’ve made great strides since we took enforcement action against large mortgage servicers last year, much work is still ahead,” said Thomas Curry, U.S. comptroller of the currency, in a statement. This industry guidance “helps people who are considering requesting a free review to understand how they may be compensated for the financial injury they may have suffered,” he said.
A group of the largest mortgage servicers were ordered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and other banking regulators last year to clean up their foreclosure practices and hire independent consultants to see whether their foreclosure methods in 2009 and 2010 unfairly hurt specific customers. The 14 firms, also including Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), could be instructed to give lump-sum payments between $500 and $125,000 in each case involving improper practices, the regulators said.
Jun 18, 2012: ordered to third reading rules cal.340
Jun 18, 2012: rules report cal.340
Jun 18, 2012: reported
Jun 14, 2012: reported referred to rules
Jun 11, 2012: referred to codes
A10629A-2011 Text
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
10629–A R. R. 340 I N ASSEMBLY June 11, 2012
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES — (at request of M. of A. Weinstein, Lentol, V. Lopez, P. Rivera, Robinson, Colton, Hooper, Clark, Lavine, Weprin, Rosenthal, M. Miller, Abinanti, Weisenberg, Barrett, Brindisi, Bronson, Zebrowski, Roberts, Russell, Ramos, Gabryszak, Skartados, Cymbrowitz, Schimel) — (at request of the Department of Law) — read once and referred to the Committee on Codes — reported and referred to the Committee on Rules — amended on the special order of third reading, ordered reprinted as amended, retaining its place on the special order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to enacting the “foreclosure fraud prevention act of 2012″
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “foreclo sure fraud prevention act of 2012.”
S 2.
Section 187.00 of the penal law is amended by adding seven new subdivisions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 to read as follows: 5. “RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD” IS COMMITTED BY A PERSON WHO, BEING AN AGENT OF A RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE BUSINESS ACTING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF HIS OR HER EMPLOYMENT, INTENTIONALLY ENGAGES IN FRAUD OR DECEP TION BY AUTHORIZING, PREPARING, EXECUTING, OFFERING OR PRESENTING FOR FILING ANY WRITTEN INSTRUMENT WHICH SUCH PERSON: (A) KNOWS CONTAINS A MATERIAL FALSE STATEMENT, MATERIAL FALSE INFORMA TION OR A MATERIAL OMISSION; AND (B) KNOWS OR BELIEVES WILL BE FILED WITH A COURT OR OTHER PUBLIC OFFICE OR PUBLIC SERVANT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OR BUREAU, IN SUPPORT OF OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH A PENDING OR PROSPECTIVE RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE ACTION. 6. “AGENT” SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (A) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION 20.20 OF THIS CHAPTER. 7. “HIGH MANAGERIAL AGENT” SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (B) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION 20.20 OF THIS CHAPTER. 8. “WRITTEN INSTRUMENT” SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION THREE OF SECTION 175.00 OF THIS PART. EXPLANATION–Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD16190-03-2 A. 10629–A 2 9. “RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE BUSINESS” MEANS A LENDER OR ANY OTHER PART NERSHIP, CORPORATION, COMPANY, TRUST OR ASSOCIATION ENGAGED IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN THE BUSINESS OF ORIGINATING, GRANTING, SERVICING OR FORECLOS ING UPON RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOANS. 10. “LENDER” MEANS A MORTGAGE BANKER AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH (F) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED NINETY OF THE BANKING LAW OR AN EXEMPT ORGANIZATION AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH (E) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED NINETY OF THE BANKING LAW. 11. “RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE ACTION” MEANS AN ACTION BROUGHT PURSUANT TO THE REAL PROPERTY ACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS LAW TO FORECLOSE UPON A RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOAN.
S 3. The penal law is amended by adding two new sections 187.30 and 187.35 to read as follows:
S 187.30 RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD IN THE SECOND DEGREE. A PERSON IS GUILTY OF RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD IN THE SECOND DEGREE WHEN HE OR SHE COMMITS RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD. RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD IN THE SECOND DEGREE IS A CLASS A MISDEMEANOR.
S 187.35 RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD IN THE FIRST DEGREE. A PERSON IS GUILTY OF RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD IN THE FIRST DEGREE WHEN: 1. AS PART OF A SYSTEMATIC ONGOING COURSE OF CONDUCT, SUCH PERSON ENGAGES IN THE CONDUCT PROHIBITED BY SECTION 187.30 OF THIS ARTICLE WITH RESPECT TO FIVE OR MORE PENDING OR PROSPECTIVE RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE ACTIONS WITHIN A ONE-YEAR PERIOD; OR 2. BEING A HIGH MANAGERIAL AGENT OF A RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE BUSINESS, HE OR SHE: (A) KNOWS THAT ONE OR MORE AGENTS OF SUCH BUSINESS ARE ENGAGED IN THE CONDUCT PROHIBITED BY SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION; AND (B) FAILS TO TAKE REASONABLE MEASURES TO PREVENT SUCH CONDUCT FROM CONTINUING. RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FRAUD IN THE FIRST DEGREE IS A CLASS E FELONY.
S 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
How America’s biggest banks took part in a nationwide bid-rigging conspiracy – until they were caught on tape
Rollingstone-
Someday, it will go down in history as the first trial of the modern American mafia. Of course, you won’t hear the recent financial corruption case, United States of America v. Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm, called anything like that. If you heard about it at all, you’re probably either in the municipal bond business or married to an antitrust lawyer. Even then, all you probably heard was that a threesome of bit players on Wall Street got convicted of obscure antitrust violations in one of the most inscrutable, jargon-packed legal snoozefests since the government’s massive case against Microsoft in the Nineties – not exactly the thrilling courtroom drama offered by the famed trials of old-school mobsters like Al Capone or Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo.
But this just-completed trial in downtown New York against three faceless financial executives really was historic. Over 10 years in the making, the case allowed federal prosecutors to make public for the first time the astonishing inner workings of the reigning American crime syndicate, which now operates not out of Little Italy and Las Vegas, but out of Wall Street.
The defendants in the case – Dominick Carollo, Steven Goldberg and Peter Grimm – …
New Book On Point-highlights 16 young elected officials as they tell their stories
“In a time where slogans of a few words capture a position and controversy swirls with each news cycle, On Point offers refreshing and timely insights from a new generation of young elected officials in the eternal struggle to build a more perfect union,” wrote Senator George J. Mitchell in his introduction to On Point: Voices and Values of the Young Elected Officials, by Jeff L. Thigpen.
The author had that point in mind when he decided to write the book focusing on the these young electeds and on a national organization called the Young Elected Officials (YEO) Network with over 600 elected leaders 35 and under.
“I wrote On Point because there’s an emerging group of principled leaders shaping a new era in American politics. It’s time we know them and why they were inspired to run for elected office, and how they are meeting the challenges of this time in history. Most importantly, it is time we hear their stories,” said Thigpen.
The book was published by Polar Bear & Co., PO Box 311, Solon, Maine, 04979 (207) 643-2795
Alejandra and David Cruz, two Minneapolis college students and Dream Act activists, along with their Mexican immigrant parents, stopped Wednesday in Chicago to visit the regional headquarters of secondary market lender Freddie Mac, which currently holds the title to their home.
“My parents had to work so hard for this house,” Alejandra Cruz told an Occupy Homes rally in May, according to the Uptake. “It’s unjust for the banks to take away our dream. My parents brought us here really young, and we’ve learned how to fight against injustice ever since we came to this country. It’s been a struggle for us every single day since we got here.”
Executive Privilege Only Applies If the President Was Personally Involved.
CNN-
An extraordinary House committee hearing debated a contempt measure against Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday even though President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege over some documents sought by the panel investigating the botched Fast and Furious gun-running sting.
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the White House assertion of executive privilege “falls short” of any reason to delay the hearing.
Hernando County Circuit Court Clerk Karen Nicolai has filed suit in U.S. District Court against the nation’s two largest federally backed mortgage companies.
The suit is against the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly called Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
The class action suit, filed on behalf of Hernando and the other 66 Florida counties, is over the mortgage company giants’ claims they are exempt from paying the state real estate transfer tax.
In Hernando County, that amounts to at least $75,000, although depending on the judge’s final outcome the damages could be significantly higher.
“It’s not a big money thing for us,” said incoming Circuit Court Clerk Don Barbee. “It’s more the principle of the thing.”
BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP F/K/A COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS SERVICING LP, Plaintiff,
against
Beatrice M. Musa, ISRAEL I. MUSA, ERIC GOLDFINE SERPT, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. As Nominee for MCS MORTGAGE BANKERS INC. and JOHN DOE, Defendants.
7476/09
ROBERT D. ARONIN, ESQ.
BERKMAN, HENOCH, PETERSON, PEDDY
& FENCHEL, P.C.
Attorneys for Plaintiff
100 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, New York 11530
BRUCE RICHARDSON, ESQ.
Attorney for Defendant
14 Wall Street, 20th Floor
New York, New York 10005
BRADFORD KENDALL
COUNTY CLERK OF DUTCHESS COUNTY
22 Market Street
Poughkeepsie, New York 12601
James D. Pagones, J.
The following papers were read and considered on the motion of defendant Israel I. Musa, brought by order to show cause, for, inter alia, leave to file and serve a late answer:
Order to Show Cause
Richardson Affirmation
Musa Affidavit
Exhibits A – F [*2]
Opposition
Aronin Affirmation in Opposition
Exhibits A – E
Plaintiff commenced this action for foreclosure on September 17, 2009, and the defendant Israel I. Musa was served by personal delivery on October 5, 2009 at the property address sought to be foreclosed.[FN1] Musa (hereinafter the homeowner) did not answer the complaint, and, by letter dated November 16, 2009, the court advised the homeowner of the availability of a foreclosure settlement conference. The homeowner did not request a conference, and, by letter dated December 17, 2009, the court advised plaintiff’s counsel to submit whatever motion it deemed appropriate since the action would not be referred to the foreclosure settlement part.
For the next twenty-two (22) months, plaintiff failed to take any action to move the case toward judgment. Then, in September 2011, the homeowner moved for, inter alia, leave to serve and file a late answer. Plaintiff opposed the motion on procedural grounds and did not cross move for an order of reference. By order dated November 7, 2011, the court dismissed the homeowner’s motion on procedural grounds.
Because plaintiff still had failed to take any proceedings to move the case toward judgment, by letter dated January 27, 2012, the court scheduled a status conference for March 5, 2012. Before the conference date, the homeowner again moved, by order to show cause signed on March 2, 2012, for leave to, inter alia, file and serve a late answer. Consequently, the status conference was canceled. However, the homeowner withdrew the application but, within days, submitted the instant application seeking the same relief.
Specifically, the homeowner moves: 1) for a stay of all proceedings; 2) to vacate the judgment of foreclosure; 3) to dismiss the complaint; and, 4) for leave to file and serve a late answer.[FN2] The homeowner claims, as defenses to the action, that plaintiff lacks standing and, without offering any details, that plaintiff’s prior counsel engaged in misconduct. Plaintiff opposes the motion on the grounds that the homeowner does not assert a reasonable excuse for the delay in seeking leave to serve and file a late answer and that the claimed defenses lack merit.
Initially, the court notes that plaintiff never obtained a judgment of foreclosure and, therefore, the court cannot grant the homeowner’s request to vacate the judgment. Further, the homeowner’s request to dismiss the complaint is time-barred (see CPLR 3211[e]). The homeowner’s alternate request for leave to serve and file a late answer is denied. It is axiomatic that in order to vacate a default in answering, a defendant must demonstrate a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense (see Dev. Strategies Co., LLC, Profit Sharing Plan v [*3]Astoria Equities, Inc., 71 AD3d 628 [2d Dep’t], lv dismissed in part and granted in part 15 NY3d 888 [2010]; Hellman v City of New York, 52 AD3d 568 [2d Dep’t 2008]; Elite Limousine Plus, Inc. v Allcity Ins. Co., __ AD2d __ [2d Dep’t 1999]; Ortiz v Delman Recycling Corp., 244 AD2d 392 [2d Dep t 1997]). Here, the homeowner offers no excuse for the delay in seeking leave to excuse his default in pleading. Therefore, the court need not address whether the homeowner has asserted any colorable defenses. Accordingly, the homeowner’s motion for leave to serve and file a late answer is denied.
The homeowner has been in default of pleading for over two and a half years. During this time, the case was never in the foreclosure settlement part. Thus, plaintiff was never precluded from moving the case forward after the homeowner’s time to answer the complaint had expired (cf. 22 NYCRR 202.12-a[7] [motions shall be held in abeyance while settlement conferences are being held]). Consequently, given the homeowner’s default in pleading and plaintiff’s failure to take proceedings for the entry of judgment within one year after the default, the court, sua sponte, dismisses the complaint, as abandoned, without costs, pursuant to CPLR 3215(c).
Based on the foregoing it is hereby
ORDERED that the motion of defendant Israel Musa is denied; and it is further
ORDERED that the complaint is dismissed as abandoned, sua sponte, pursuant to CPLR 3215(c), without costs; and it is further
ORDERED that the County Clerk of the County of Dutchess be and is hereby directed, upon payment of the proper fees, if any, to cancel and discharge of record, all Notices of Pendency filed in this action on September 17, 2009, against the premises commonly known as 152 Schlueter Drive in the Town of East Fishkill, County of Dutchess, State of New York and more specifically known as Section 6456, Block 03, Lot 297419, and said Clerk is hereby directed to enter upon the margin of the record of the same, a notice of cancellation referring to this Order.
The foregoing constitutes the decision and order of the court.
Plaintiff is advised that any attempt to re-commence this action must be in compliance with Administrative Order 431/11 of the Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts.
Dated:Poughkeepsie, New York
June 18, 2012
ENTER
HON. JAMES D. PAGONES, A.J.S.C.
Footnotes
Footnote 1:Although the note and mortgage were both signed by Beatrice Musa and Israel Musa, only Israel Musa has moved to be relieved of the default in pleading.
Footnote 2:The homeowner does not submit a copy of the proposed pleading as an exhibit to his motion papers (see Heller v Ward, 10 AD2d 633 [2d Dep’t 1960]; cf. Branch v Abraham and Strauss Dept Store, 220 AD2d 474 [2d Dep’t 1995]).
You do know that one of these law suits IS going to eventually stick. It’s only a matter of time and MERSCORP, Bankers know this.
My San Antonio-
Bexar County has accused Merscorp Inc., Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. and Bank of America of shortchanging the county by tens of millions of dollars with their mortgage-tracking system.
The county filed suit in federal court last Thursday, accusing the companies of violating state law by failing to properly record transactions and to pay county filing fees as mortgage loans were packaged and resold to investors through the secondary market.
The suit seeks unspecified damages and asks for class action status on behalf of the other 253 Texas counties.
Officials estimate that the county has missed out on as much as $30 million in filing fees on hundreds of thousands of property transactions since the 1990s, when the mortgage industry created MERS as a way to track mortgage loan ownership and servicing.
The Enterprises have been dealing with surging foreclosure rates,rising REO inventories, and associated costs since the onset of theU.S. housing and financial crises in 2007 and 2008. By the end of 2011, their REO inventories had more than tripled to nearly180,000 units and their related expenses totaled $8.5 billion.
Further, given the financial distress in which many Americanhomeowners continue to find themselves, the Enterprises are likelyto face elevated REO inventories and costs for years to come.
As the Enterprises’ conservator and regulator, FHFA has a critical responsibility to oversee their REO management efforts. A failure in Enterprise efforts to secure and maintain foreclosed properties could drive up Enterprise losses and cause damage in affected communities, e.g., foreclosed properties can lower the value of surrounding properties and increase blight and crime. In recent examinations, FHFA concluded that the Enterprises should significantly improve their REO management efforts. The Agency identified deficiencies in the Enterprises’ management of the large contractor networks they employ for many REO tasks, including inadequate property inspections and insufficient controls to detect fraudulent reimbursements. FHFA plans to follow up on these findings in 2012.
Additionally, FHFA is working with Fannie Mae to implement a pilot program under which investors may buy foreclosed properties in bulk if they agree to offer them for rent for specified periods.
The intent of the program is to determine whether such an arrangement is a viable means to reduce REO inventories and meet rental demands.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed to keep tabs on thousands of contractors hired to manage more than 1 million foreclosed homes, possibly exposing the mortgage giants to double billing or charging for work that was never done, according to an alarming Federal Housing Finance Agency report.
Problems identified in the report, issued by the FHFA’s inspector general’s office, include “inadequate property inspections” by contractors hired to manage the day-to-day maintenance on foreclosed properties, as well as “insufficient controls to detect fraudulent reimbursement” by Fannie and Freddie.
“It is a huge failing on behalf of the mortgage giants,” said Anthony Sanders, a real estate finance professor at George Mason University. But typical behavior, he said, “of a monopolist or someone with too much market share or too much power.” (Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee about 60 percent of all mortgages in the United States, and have an even greater share of most new home loans).
Some of you might also recall but once upon a time say about 2010, Mr. Rubio just like you, was sitting right where many Floridians find themselves in foreclosureand like most, there was a gap in the chain but lucky for him, he managed to have DEUTSCHE BANK drop his case. I still can’t find out exactly how DB came to have standing to foreclose since there was no connection?
What are the chances Romney could have made a buck off Mr. Rubio had his foreclosure been completed? Seeing no one really knows what they own there is a very good possibility. Right?
This is getting interesting. You can also read more on this here and here.
REUTERS-
A Manhattan federal judge has decided against JPMorgan Chase & Co in a lawsuit over losses on securities backed by risky home equity loans, a ruling that could strengthen claims by insurers seeking to hold banks responsible for such losses.
U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty said on Tuesday that Syncora Guarantee Inc, which claimed losses from insuring securities created by JPMorgan’s EMC Mortgage Corp unit, need not prove that alleged warranty breaches caused the underlying loans to default in order to force EMC to buy back the underlying loans.
Crotty also said Syncora can establish a material breach of contract by showing that breaches of representations and warranties by EMC caused a material increase in risk. He declined to award equitable relief.
Special News Alert from Register of Deeds John L. O’Brien
Register O’Brien, “Fannie and Freddie should pay up”
Southern Essex District Register of Deeds John O’Brien says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be paying real estate transfer taxes on properties they sell in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, just as they are now required to do in Michigan after a Federal Court found they were not “exempt” entities from excise and real estate transfer taxes.
Back in March, Register O’Brien asked the Massachusetts’s Department of Revenue to immediately reverse a policy that allowed these privately-owned mortgage companies to claim exemptions from the transfer taxes that Seller’s of real estate in the Commonwealth are required to pay. He believes that the DOR’s decision is taking too long and in the meantime our communities are losing millions of dollars in revenue. “If I had the authority to do this, my Registry alone would have collected over $200,000 in tax revenue from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since March of this year. These privately-owned companies are claiming false exemptions and cheating the citizens of this Commonwealth from much needed tax revenue.”
“Fannie and Freddie areprivate corporations that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. These entities have even told Congress that Congress has no control over their salaries or any right to invoke the freedom of information laws as it relates to them. Other counties like New Castle County, Delaware have also ruled that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer be exempt from the transfer taxes on homes that they are selling and are now collecting the tax from them. It’s time Massachusetts does the exact same thing. We have the law and a Michigan federal judge on our side; it is time to collect this transfer tax. This is taxpayer’s money that is needed and could be used to finance key services in our state.”
O’Brien was the first Register of Deeds in the country to the blow the whistle on the big banks who have been participating in fraudulent mortgage practices.
Hopefully, Michigan, Nevada and or Missouri will take them down since Florida’s AG doesn’t know what her job is. It’s only a matter of time.
Miami New Times-
When June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards were called into a meeting last May with their boss at the Office of the Attorney General, they figured it was to talk about their promising new investigation. The two economic crime specialists were onto something big.
Florida was amid a staggering wave of foreclosures, but more and more homeowners were noticing odd problems: strange signatures, missing information, notary seals
with no signatures. With multiple investigations underway, Clarkson and Edwards had zeroed in on a single company — Lender Processing Services — they increasingly believed was illegally feasting on underwater residents.
But as soon as they sat down, their boss cut to the chase: “You’re both done at the end of the day. It’s a done deal, all the way up to Tallahassee. You can either quit or be terminated.”
Today, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is testifying before the House Financial Services Committee about his megabank’s stunning $2 billion loss. As during his testimony before the Senate last week, Dimon is being shown enormous deference by members of Congress, many of whom receive campaign contributions from Dimon’s bank. Take, for example the committee’s chairman, Spencer Bachus (R-AL). Bachus failed to put Dimon under oath during the hearing…
Charles Hopper — 63 years old and facing mounting financial troubles — hanged himself in the garage of his Connecticut home last month. But five years earlier, before desperation drove him to that point, he’d been an executive at Lehman Brothers earning seven figures a year.
Hopper’s fall from grace — as revealed in a detailed New York Post feature this week — is just one in a long series of tragic outcomes that can be traced back to the financial crisis.
Hopper had been a hedge fund advisory executive at Lehman, but he lost his job in 2007, about a year before that firm filed for bankruptcy and triggered the bank panic of 2008. Hopper struggled to find work for two years, eventually landing a job at Appomattox Advisory that paid $150,000. He was underwater on his mortgage and had borrowed and spent a little too freely during the good years — for himself, pricey watches and a Porsche; for his wife, whatever she wanted, it seems, including cameras, sculling lessons and graduate school courses.
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