For the country’s biggest financial institutions, it’s still worth it to break the law, because the government has no way to make the banks pay for acting illegally
The Atlantic-
Move along, nothing to see here.
That’s been the Wall Street line on the financial crisis and the calamitous behavior that caused it, and that strategy has been spectacularly successful. Since Spring 2010, financial institutions’ predatory practices have fallen off the front pages of newspapers, replaced by manufactured fears of over-regulation and — thanks to an assist from the European continent — an Orwellian belief that government debt lies at the root of our economic problems.
ReconTrust Company, the foreclosure arm of Bank of America, accused of illegal foreclosures against Utah homeowners, moved a state court eviction case to federal court Friday asserting the bank’s national charter exemption from state law. (11-00801)
Utah homeowner, Alexis K. De Azevedo II, represented by St. George attorney John Christian Barlow, said in the counter claim and complaint that the Bank of America through ReconTrust Company knowingly conducted a non-judicial foreclosure sale of the property in Washington, Utah, and recorded a Trust Deed in favor of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) adverse to De Azevedo. The complaint asserts that ReconTrust knew the Trustee’s Sale was fraudulent since it’s neither a member of the Utah Bar Association or a title insurance company required by Utah law.
The Salt Lake City-based law firm Mumford West & Snow, LLC , today announced the filing of a class action lawsuit against the lawyers for Bank of America and its wholly own subsidiary ReconTrust, N.A. for conducting thousands of unauthorized foreclosures in the state. The lawsuit, filed in Utah’s Third Judicial District, is the latest development in an intense, ongoing legal battle in a state where the Utah legislature has recently enacted new civil penalties to assist aggrieved homeowners fighting illegal foreclosures and Utah’s Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, publicly announced that ReconTrust was not in compliance with Utah law.
Lead counsel Marcus R. Mumford explained, “These parties have demonstrated a long standing pattern of illegal activity in taking thousands of homes from Utah homeowners in unauthorized foreclosures. They continue to kick people out of their homes claiming that they are not required to follow Utah law. We intend to put a stop to that.”
The lawsuit, now before Utah Third District Judge Andrew H. Stone, is the first class action suit filed after the recently enacted changes to Utah law. Attorney Tyson B. Snow explains, “We recently met with the Utah Attorney General’s office on this issue and it is our understanding that one of the purposes of the new law is to encourage this very type of lawsuit.” Mumford West & Snow attorneys also intend to seek a statewide restraining order and a preliminary injunction prohibiting the named defendants from conducting any additional foreclosure sales within the state.
Utah’s new law awards $2,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, and attorney’s fees to homeowners who have been subject to an unauthorized foreclosure conducted by “unauthorized persons.” In the past month, ReconTrust has foreclosed on approximately 200 properties and currently has more than 800 foreclosure sales scheduled in the coming months. The newly filed lawsuit alleges that lawyers for Bank of America and ReconTrust violate Utah law each time they conduct these foreclosure sales. Utah homeowners who have been foreclosed on by ReconTrust or who may currently be facing a wrongful foreclosure can contact Mumford West & Snow through the firms website at http://www.mumfordwest.com
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Mumford West & Snow (www.mumfordwest.com) is a Salt Lake City based firm that specializes in representing entrepreneurs, businessmen, executives and individual clients, in Utah and around the country, in complex civil and criminal litigation. The firm handles both defense work and plaintiff’s litigation for clients ranging from individuals and small enterprises to major corporations.
Mumford West & Snow has been called “one of Salt Lake City’s leading new firms in high-profile litigation.”
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If you’d like more information about this release, or to schedule an interview with an attorney at Mumford West & Snow, please call 801-599-0020 or email contact@mumfordwest.com.
A homeowner who is unable to find a local address or phone number for their trustee should file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office online at http://atg.wa.gov/FileAComplaint.aspx. However, this will not stop a foreclosure sale. Homeowners should also contact a housing counselor or an attorney.
Washington is a “non-judicial foreclosure” state, which means that a lender can proceed directly to selling a home at public auction without first filing a lawsuit. This process was created by the state Legislature. Although lenders may foreclose in court in Washington, they almost always choose non-judicial foreclosures.
If a trustee is unwilling to stop a foreclosure, then the homeowner must file a lawsuit under the Deed of Trust Act and obtain a court order before the sale. Bankruptcy may stop or delay a foreclosure but it may also put the homeowner in a worse position. Legal representation is essential to a successful case, McKenna said.
BORROWER RESOURCES:
If you believe unlawful activity has occurred in regard to your mortgage, you should speak with an attorney. A homeowner may file a suit to challenge a foreclosure, but they must do so prior to the foreclosure sale.
If you are unable to afford a lawyer, you should contact the Washington State Homeownership Information Hotline at 1-877-894-4663 (HOME) for referral to the Home Foreclosure Legal Aid Project. The hotline can also refer to you to a free, state-approved housing counselor.
Te Attorney General’s Office cannot stop a foreclosure or provide individuals with legal advice, as the office is barred by law from representing private citizens.
Homeowners should read the Washington Foreclosure Prevention Resources Guide, provided by the Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative Foreclosure Prevention Team and recommended by the Attorney General’s Office and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions.
UPDATE: 49 ALL 50 State Attorney Generals…ALABAMA is signing up as well. CONFIRMED.
“What we have seen are not mere technicalities,” said Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. “This is about the private property rights of homeowners facing foreclosure and the integrity of our court system, which cannot enter judgments based on fraudulent evidence.”
Officials in 49 states launch foreclosure probe
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer – 1 min ago
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WASHINGTON – Officials in 49 states and the District of Columbia have launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.
The states’ attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly.
Alabama was the only state not to join the investigation.
Attorneys general have taken the lead in responding to a nationwide scandal that’s called into question the accuracy and legitimacy of documents that lenders relied on to evict people from the homes. Employees of four large lenders have acknowledged in depositions that they signed off on foreclosure documents without reading them.
More than 2.5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the recession started in December 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Another 3.3 million homes could be lost to foreclosure or distressed sale over the next four years, according to Moody’s Analytics.
The officials said they intend to use their investigation to fix these problems in the mortgage industry.
“This is not simply about a glitch in paperwork,” said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the probe. “It’s also about some companies violating the law and many people losing their homes.”
Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage Unit, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co. already have halted questionable foreclosures. Other banks, including Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. have not stopped processing foreclosures, saying they did nothing wrong.
In a joint statement, the officials said they would look into evidence that legal documents were signed by mortgage company employees who “did not have personal knowledge of the facts asserted in the documents. They also said that many of those documents appear to have been signed without a notary public witnessing that signature, a violation of most state laws.
“What we have seen are not mere technicalities,” said Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. “This is about the private property rights of homeowners facing foreclosure and the integrity of our court system, which cannot enter judgments based on fraudulent evidence.”
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