Liberal Billionaire George Soros… Major Shareholder in IndyMac/One West Bank
When it comes to being inflexible and unresponsive to homeowners in need of a loan modification, IndyMac Bank, which has just been renamed “One West Bank,” is legendary.
This is the bank that failed spectacularly in July 2008, was taken over by the FDIC, and ended up costing taxpayers something like $11 billion… give or take… I can’t keep track of billions anymore… I’ve moved on to tracking trillions. And the new buyers of this fire sale financial institution that’s deservedly become the poster child for stupid lending tricks, includes billionaire George Soros.
Soros, along with billionaire Michael Dell and others, agreed to purchase the bank for $20.7 billion. As of Jan. 31, 2009, IndyMac’s assets totaled $23.5 billion and deposits were $6.4 billion, roughly half the cash and assets the bank had at the time of its failure. The new buyers also got a handy-dandy “loss sharing agreement” from the FDIC, whereby after shouldering the first 20% of any future losses, the FDIC gets stuck with most of the rest. So, I guess you could say they got a deal. A sweetheart of a deal… not to put too fine a point on it.
Considering that kind of taxpayer supported deal, and with so-called liberal philanthropist George Soros as one of the bank’s major shareholders, you might think the new One West Bank would be the last financial institution to be throwing people out of their homes when loan modification would make more sense financially, but you’d be wrong. One West Bank isn’t participating in the President’s program either.
Basically, the President of the United States asked the banks of this country to participate in a program designed to stop our economy from circling the drain, after the taxpayers of this country agreed to save the financial institutions who had bankrupted themselves… and this bank said: “No, thank you… no.” Or in other words… “F#@k you, Mr. President.”
They declined to participate. Am I the only one that feels like a 5 year-old just told me he or she wasn’t going to take a bath as requested? Oh really? Get in the damn tub now… one… two…
How can George Soros, the liberal philanthropic billionaire who’s money made MoveOn.org the country’s most influential left wing political force, capable of mobilizing hundreds of thousands if not millions of volunteers, influencing millions of voters, and defending ACORN no matter the charge, now owns a bank that’s about as easy to reason with as Kim Jong-il with a migraine?
No matter which side you’re on… MoveOn.org was a huge success, now raises untold millions, and occasionally runs ads that would have to make even those on the left… cringe.
I get more letters complaining about IndyMac than any other lender or servicer in the country, although there are others, like Litton, that come in close seconds. I was personally involved in one situation in which an Arizona homeowner, who’s wife had been fighting breast cancer and brain cancer, whose mortgage of $250,000 was $50,000 more than the home’s appraised value, and whose employment was temporarily interrupted by the economic meltdown, was denied a modification. They ultimately lost their home to foreclosure and now it sits empty while the bank pays a maintenance company to mow the lawn. Shrewd, IndyMac… very shrewd… the bank will be lucky to clear $100,000 on the deal… if and when the house sells, which could be some time.
And once I was in an attorney’s office listening in while he called IndyMac on behalf of a client seeking a loan modification with the borrower also on the call. When the IndyMac representative finally answered the phone, which took about 30 minutes, her first words shocked me. She said to the borrower: “You know… you don’t have to pay him.”
I couldn’t help it. I interrupted and said: “Excuse me. I’m a writer and I was just wondering… how do you know she’s paying him? What if he’s her brother-in-law and doing this for free? Did someone train you to say that? Is that part of your training program there?” And the woman from IndyMac hung up. Nice.
Just this past week, I received a call from another attorney who expressed his frustration at IndyMac’s/One West Bank’s refusal to modify a Freddie Mac mortgage because they said their bank isn’t participating in the HAMP program. The attorney reminded the bank that it didn’t matter because Freddie Mac WAS participating in the program and the mortgage in question was owned by Freddie Mac. The bank representative wasn’t interested. Click… and that was that.
So, if you want more information on Mr. Soros’ new bank maybe you’ll soon be able to find it online at: www.MOVEOUT.org
Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:37 pm
Your comments about IndyMac and their brethren are well placed but possibly lacking a sufficiently severe call to violence.
That said, I would like to tender a portion my firm's direct experience representing homeowners on the battlefield as it currently exists, skirmishing either directly with bank representatives or in the court of law.
First a couple of ("facts") Please note that the name IndyMac/OneWestBank is included on the MakingHomeAffordable website list of program member mortgage servicers.
Also, on the FreddieMac Website (Freddie is the administrator of MHA on authority from Treasury) the program guidelines state that a servicer must consider a modification to any qualified borrower prior to foreclosure
One of our IndyMac clients earlier this year received a modification from
the bank, executed it and tendered a check for the stated payment.
The check was later returned and the client was notified of the foreclosure date. A St. Louis County Judge issued a restraining order against the foreclosure pending litigation.
But it gets better....Last week IndyMac belligerently refused to consider a modification to a qualified client with a 9/16 Foreclosure Sale Date. A restraining order will be filed for on Tuesday and we expect it to be granted on the basis of
"An MHA Member Servicer has refused to comply with their own MHA guidelines that require that they consider a modification to a qualified borrower prior to foreclosure."
Now, if you think about the implications, this is really uncharted legal waters.
Oh, obviously we are not in California where I assume it would be illegal to advocate on behalf of the client's interest. Unless, of course, your client is the bank.
I am a negotiator working for a law firm. When I read this article, I also have experiences helping borrowers modify with this lender. I also hear many horror stories myself from other negotiators. Before the bank was sold to one west bank, I was able to stop the trustee sale however; they were still difficult to work with and purposely losing documents, several lazy loss mitigation specialists that don't want to do their job. I would have to literally have to call back 4 or 5 times to get a person with a brain that could actually help the homeowner. I had this one couple that lived in Pennsylvania and was late about 18 mos. I was able to put them on a trial modification prior to the trustee sale in one week. The lender took the western union payment and then the following day they returned the payment back to the borrowers. At this point I was angry for these folks, I called back and said they were in violation of the contract that was offer and acceptance, the calls are monitored for quality assurance and if they were to get sued, our attorney would sopena the records and sue them for breech of contract. This went to upper management and they were once again approved and resigned another modification, sent the payment western union and the house was saved one day before the trustee sale. I was happy with the outcome. After One West bank took over, the modification process was more difficult and Indy Mac would make the borrowers come up with at least 95% of the down payment to bring the payments somewhat current and then put them n a forbearance agreement and did not guarantee a trial modification under the government program. This negotiation process with Indy Mac is clearly not a wise financial decision and therefore causes the borrowers to go into a chapter 13 arrangement to stop the sale until a modification or workout plan is negotiated. The bank forces the borrower to go into Bankruptcy and then the borrower is able to save their money until the bank comes up with an agreement. I don't blame the borrowers for making this decision. Why spend your life savings and then perhaps having this ruthless bank foreclose on you? And have no funds to move out and take care of their family. This bank is RUTHLESS and should be laws regulating and sanctioning these bank that received funds from the government. I also have a story about an executive that worked for Countrywide and made a six digit income and then was hired onto Bank of America. She was never late however; only had a reserve of 14k left over per year to live on. This package was sent over and over again, the package was purposely lost and was documented with fax transmittals and I sent to the borrower showing how many times they received her paperwork. This is clearly showing gross negligence on the lenders part. I’ve read many articles about this new law sb94 about attorneys and loan modification companies not able to help borrowers modify their loans. This responsibility also lies within the lender, investor, government programs etc. on the many delays, lost paperwork, unorganized, untrained personnel, understaffed banks that causes the miscommunication and many delays to get the homeowner approved. These laws and responsibility no only lies within the Attorney’s and Loan Modification companies but, also the banks that received our tax money that we pay on. Until the government resolves this issue the foreclosure issue will not be resolved entirely.