Arizona’s hundreds of thousands of hopelessly underwater homeowners are having the best day they’ve had since the “days of equity” back in 2006.  Even with opposition from professional obstructionists to change-in-anything-mortgage-related like MERS own William Hultman, and other banking industry lobbyists including James Lundy, president of the Arizona Bankers Association, among others… the state’s Senate Banking & Insurance Committee’s hearing this afternoon on SB 1451, the Housing Finance Reform Act of 2012, went exceptionally well.  The bill not only passed, but it passed unanimously… ’6′ Ayes to ’0′ Nays.

Hultman flew in to Phoenix last night around 7:00 PM specifically to testify at today’s hearing… and boy were his arms tired.  For those familiar with him from seeing him on C-SPAN and the like, I can tell you that he looks a lot shorter… when he loses.

Actually, Hultman didn’t have too much to say about the bill’s revolutionary approach to revitalizing the state’s increasingly water-logged housing market, which has left over 500,000 Arizona’s homeowners in a hopelessly immobile state.  He said a few things about how the new state program would add complexity and that MERS remains committed to working closely with Sen. Reagan to address the possibly unforeseen and snugligby pomid gibble hmzzzzzzzz … Oh dear.  Sorry about that.  Nodded off there for a moment.

Lundy, a silver-haired smooth talker that one imagines looks marvelous on the links or by the courts in crisp tennis whites delivered the standard banking industry objections… “I fear it will cast a pall over all lending in Arizona for at least a millenium…”  I’m paraphrasing, of course.

Other industry representatives were slightly more vocal expressing concerns that came across as pure scare tactics.  The state can be sued by taking title to a home for any environment damage?  Under the program the state takes title for about an hour… maybe two.  And, of course, all echoed how it’s unconstitutional and in general just not fair.

Sen. Reagan was quite adept at fielding all of the statements made in opposition to the bill… she was calm… entirely confident… and best of all persuasive and I think the rest of the committee fed off of her obvious conviction that the State of Arizona has seen enough of the federal government’s response to the housing crisis and needed to now take matters into the state’s hands.  She made very clear that her bill used private money, cost taxpayers nothing, and offered the equivalent of a much needed rescue ship to people adrift in a sea of unfairness created by the national players in the mortgage industry.

Reagan’s peers on the committee were impressive in their resolve as well, and as the Ayes had it, the bill seemingly passed the committee effortlessly and with a couple of revisions to amendments and the like, is headed to the full senate.  Senator Robert Meza (D-W. Phoenix), in explaining his Aye vote said that “the bill obviously creates tension… and if there’s one thing this problem needs it’s tension.”

Here here!  

The Arizona State Senators that make up the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee: Sen. Gray, Sen. Schapira, Sen. Meza, Sen. Smith, Vice-Chairman Reagan, and Chairman McComish, and although it’s only the beginning and there are certainly battles ahead, it was inspiring to see a bi-partisan group of politicians courageous enough to stare down the empty threats and scare tactics of the banking industry and put the interests of constituents above everything else.

Mandelman out.

It all started early last Saturday morning when I got a call about a homeowner in Massachusetts scheduled to lose her home to foreclosure sale in just two days…

Now, I don’t mind telling you that I had just posted a DOERS ALERT the day before, and to be honest they’re all a lot of work and I really didn’t want to have to write another one the very next day… I was exhausted and looking forward to sleeping for the next couple days.

The client’s name was Lisa Ferrecchia, who I was told was one of the thalidomide babies. At the time, I did’t know if that meant she was part of a sister singing trio… you know… The Thalidomide Babies,” or what, but I’d soon find out.

So, I read about thalidomide and OneWest Bank most of the day and then started writing a DOER ALERT, which was finally ready to post at about 5:30 PM on Sunday afternoon.  I was beyond tired and feeling kind of awful, if you must know.  I hadn’t been outside of my study for yet another weekend straight… my wife wasn’t saying anything, and my daughter was saying she missed me.  But what could I do?  I mean, seriously?  Lisa Ferrecchia’s home was to be sold the very next day at 3:00 PM in Massachusetts.

Plus, in Massachusetts, do you know how they do it?  They auction the home off right on the soon to be ex-homeowner’s front lawn, for all to see.  I’ll tell you what… that is some 17th century nonsense right there.  As in… Me thinketh she is a witch!  Aye, a witch!  Might as well be making the homeowner walk around with a scarlet ‘F’ on his or her clothing.  I figured that Lisa had probably spent a lifetime seeing people stare at her, and the thought of her home being auctioned off in front of her neighbors… well… that just was not going to happen.  Not today.

I had spoken to attorney Glenn Russell early on Saturday, and told him to have a skeletal bankruptcy filing ready just in case.  I had just spent the whole weekend behind closed doors in my study typing and posting at 5:35 PM on Sunday, I wasn’t at all sure my DOERS would DO it in time… or even could DO it in time.  And if that was the case… why the heck did I just blow the whole weekend with my family… again.  I was conflicted and unsure of everything.

To make matters even worse…  and I wouldn’t normally share this publicly… but Steve Diberrt of MFI Miami called me on Sunday evening… he was in Denver for something foreclosure-related.  He had read my DOER ALERT post and asked me what I was doing about Lisa Ferrecchia.  I said I posted a DOER ALERT and my DOERS would handle it.  He asked if I had called Glenn Russell and if Glenn was going to file a TRO, etc. etc. to stop the next day’s sale. He asked a bunch of other technical legal questions until I had a headache.

I said there wasn’t time for any of that, but my DOERS would handle it.  He wasn’t buying any of it.  I said, don’t worry… I’m sure it’ll be fine.

And he replied: “Dude, I think your nuts.  I’ll call Glenn and find out  what else can be done.”  He hung up.

“Oh, ye-of-little-faith-shithead,” I thought to myself.  

We all know what happened next, right?  OneWest Bank’s CEO emailed me late on Sunday night saying that he’d look into the situation the next morning… and the next morning OneWest contacted Lisa… told her that the sale had already been postponed… and that they’d do everything they could to get her a loan modification that would allow her to keep her home.  I wrote to tell everyone the good news, and said that I was certain that OneWest Bank would do exactly what they had promised.  Of course, not everyone was sure whether I was kidding… I was right… or I was a fruit loop.

One West said that they would let Lisa know by today… Tuesday, February 7, 2012.  And so here we are…

OneWest Bank Called Today and Lisa Just Couldn’t Be Happier!  

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a HAMP modification… 2 percent for 40 years.

Her mortgage payment went from $2700 and change… to $1500 and change.  

~~~

DOERS you DID it again!

(Hey, Dibert… how do you like me now?)

Mandelman out.

It’s an issue that begs to be turned into a riddle, such as…  Who lives hopelessly underwater and in the desert at the same time?

Answer: Arizona’s homeowners.

Over this past year, Arizona State Senator Michelle Reagan (R) began a careful study of what appeared to be some very frightening numbers about her home state, but she was never willing to view them as a fait accompli.

“In Arizona we don’t ignore problems, nor do we pretend they aren’t there,” Sen. Reagan explains.  “Obviously, the federal programs aren’t going to address our state’s needs, and that’s fine.  We’re perfectly capable of doing what’s best for Arizona.”  

This past week Sen. Reagan brought her historically significant solution bill, SB 1451, to the Arizona State Senate.

According to CoreLogic, as of the third quarter of last year, more than 50 percent of Arizona’s homeowners were underwater, meaning they owed more on their mortgage than their homes were worth… 52 percent, to be specific.

If that weren’t bad enough, according to the latest Case-Schiller survey, which uses data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), by the third quarter of 2012, home prices in the Phoenix metro area are expected to drop another 9.6 percent, and the same study shows an additional 3.4 percent drop a year after that.

And the really frightening thing about such forecasts is that for at the last four or five years, the actual numbers have, in all cases, exceeded forecasted amounts.  The reverse is never true.

Now, run a tape on all that and you’ll be looking at 65 percent of Arizona homeowners being underwater by the third quarter of 2013, then add in the eight percent or so to account for the homeowners “effectively underwater,” meaning they would be underwater were real estate sales commissions and the like factored in, and we’re talking about well over 70 percent of Arizona homeowners underwater within a couple of years, which is to say nothing of the amounts involved.  Recently, one Arizona homeowner wrote to me about the sale of a home across the street from his for $310,000.  He was very upset.  His mortgage, I later learned, was $860,000.

Why hadn’t he just walked away, was my immediate question.  His response was the his adjustable rate mortgage had been reduced annually and was now at 2.25 percent.  Were interest rates to rise even to five percent and he’d be out of there in no time flat.

Want to know why there aren’t more strategic defaulters in places like Phoenix, AZ?  Now you know.

So, what’s the federal government’s response to the soggy situation?  Well, last fall the Obama Administration loosened restrictions on the HARP program, so now it can be used to refinance your home no matter how far it’s underwater… 100 percent, 200 percent… 300 percent… it doesn’t matter.  Of course, you’ll still be just as underwater as you were before, but you might shave a point or two off your interest rate, which might save you a couple hundred bucks a month… maybe.

Not surprisingly, the new HARP program has not exactly taken off like gangbusters in Arizona or anywhere else for that matter.  And just imagining someone signing a promissory note that obligates one to pay an amount two or three times the market value of  the property, will give you an idea why it doesn’t happen all that often.

Moody’s now pegs Arizona’s recovery in the housing markets at 2034, without adjusting for inflation.  One might as well have forecasted recovery as coming… never.  When 70 percent of a housing market is underwater, and recognizing that under normal circumstances at least two-thirds of home buyers are also home sellers, it’s easy to see that future demand will look nothing like demand seen in past years.

More homeowners realizing they are hopelessly underwater and walking away would seem a certainty.  Costs associated with foreclosed homes being incurred by the state are mounting beyond all previous forecasts and the resulting state budget deficits are becoming increasingly difficult to close.  By 2013, many state economies will be caught up in negative feedback loops that will prevent recovery as, for example, requisite budget cuts and tax increases further surpress consumer spending.

Foreclosures breed foreclosures…

So, after five years of being told that next year would be better… Sen. Reagan had enough.

First, she set out to learn everything about the economic meltdown and the situation related to foreclosures and underwater homes, and once she understood the dynamics, she set out to find a way to free homeowners in her home state from the downward spiral in which they were clearly locked, because she came to understand that otherwise the state’s future could only be bleak.  She assembled a team of experts in various disciplines and the result is found in Senate Bill 1451, The Housing Finance Reform Act of 2012.

I like to refer to it as… Raising Arizona… or, sometimes as, “The shot heard ’round the world.”  You’ll see why soon enough.

Senator Reagan’s bill represents BREAKTHROUGH THINKING as far as solutions to the housing crisis are concerned.  To be blunt, there’s been nothing like it proposed anywhere as yet, nothing close… but that’s not going to be the case for long… already other state legislatures are taking a close look.

Want a little taste?  How’s this just for starters… 

• Writes down mortgage balances for Arizona homeowners to up to 125% of  current market value.
• Lowers monthly mortgage payment by at least 33%.
• NO COST to taxpayers, not a dime.
• No credit score requirement, borrower must be current on mortgage or be able to bring loan current.

But, I’m not going to spoil it for you… CLICK PLAY BELOW and listen in on the conversation with Senator Michelle Reagan, along with key members of her team, Ira Hecht, Steve Kravitz and of course, yours truly, as we talk all about… what the bill is all about.  

(You’ll also find a copy of the bill below.)  

Mandelman out.

*******

ATTENTION ARIZONA HOMEOWNERS…

IF YOU WANT IT, YOU HAVE TO SPEAK OUT!

Sen. Reagan NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT to get this revolutionary mortgage financing bill passed into law.  It’s crucial that you email your state representatives and tell them how important this bill is to your life and your future.

To find email addresses for your state assembly and senate representatives…

 CLICK HERE. 

It’s easy and only takes a few seconds, I promise.

AZ Housing Finance Reform Act Bill

When it comes to defending homeowners against wrongful foreclosure, or suing banks on behalf of homeowners, Attorney Nathan Fransen, of the firm Fransen & Molinaro in Corona, California is a very smart, experienced and dedicated attorney.  This I know for a fact.

How do I know this?  It’s simple.  Over the last few years, I’ve watched him literally bang his head against the wall as California’s courts have unabashedly approved of MERS, disregarded flaws in the securitization process, not cared one bit who signed what, and in general ignored everything having to do with foreclosure cases except the fact that the borrowers hadn’t made mortgage payments in so many months.  He argued complex legal theory and simple fraud… he was honing his approach, and although he had his share of frustrating days, he was careful which cases he took on, never following an unproductive path twice.  I’d refer potential clients to him fairly often, and in most cases, he’d talk them out of filing suit against whoever they had thought they had wanted to file suit against.

Don’t tell him I said it, but he’s also just generally a very smart person, you know, paid attention in school kind of person… fairly well-read… knew about things outside his area of expertise… the whole bit.  He also had both the patience and ability to explain things about the law to me when I was frustrated over how things weren’t working.  When someone can keep complicated things simple, you know they understand them inside and out… and when they can hold their own in a debate with me… well, I’m sorry but that’s saying something.

So, he called me a few weeks back and told me quite nonchalantly that he’d had a very good week.  I was happy to hear that someone had.  What was so good about it?  Well, he had won two of his cases and at least one would result in his client getting a “free house.”  The other might be a free house too, or maybe just a pretty good size pile of money.  It’s true… Nathan had gone in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals… his first time, by the way… and beaten US Bank, hands down… in Causey v. US Bank.

It seemed to me to be an impressive win, because he was appealing after losing in the lower court.  He’s smart, patient and methodical… three things that tend to pay off eventually, but he wasn’t just going up against US Bank… no, he was going up against the dreaded “free house,” meaning that if the court ruled in his favor, his client would no longer have a mortgage secured by real property.  At best, the amount owed would be unsecured debt, like credit card debt, and that would mean it could potentially be discharged in bankruptcy.

But, don’t jump to conclusions because it’s not what you’re thinking.

He showed me how I could actually listen to him argue the case in court, the 9th Circuit has audio files of the courtroom proceedings online, and listening to it was fascinating.  So I figured out how to download it and then convert it to a file format that I could put inside a podcast.  Then I asked him to comment before and after the case so listeners would really get valuable information and be able to learn from his experience.

I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say anything more… well, okay I’ll say one more thing.  As I listened to him argue his case in court, one thing came through loud and clear: Judges hate the dreaded “free house.”

This is one Mandelman Matters Podcast that you definitely don’t want to miss.  Nathan sets it up in the beginning, then you hear the audio of the actual courtroom arguments, both his and the lawyer for US Bank… and then he and I argue various topics such as whether robo-signing should be prosecuted and by whom, along with several other things that I know are frustrating homeowners today.

This is the real deal… you could call it “reality podcasting.”  Turn up your speakers, sit back, relax, and listen as three justices from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struggle to balance the rule of law against the dreaded “free house.”  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did… 

CLICK BELOW:

Mandelman Out.

Since 1999, Professor David Coates has been the Worrell Chair of Anglo-American Studies at Wake Forest University.  Prior to joining the faculty at Wake Forest he directed the International Centre for Labour Studies, and was Professor of Government at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.  He also writes a blog at www.davidcoates.com, and it’s absolutely a fantastic read in all cases.

I found Professor Coates’ blog last year on my birthday as I was searching the Web for like voices and when I came across his, I felt like I had been given a birthday present.  And I wrote to him at the time and told him exactly that.

David’s latest article, for example, is titled: Republican Truth and the Real Truth: GSEs and the Housing Bubble.

David and I have been communicating over the last year and I invited him to join me on a podcast because he offers points of view that are as fascinating as they are erudite and well-considered.  They are also not the same thing you’ve heard before, as they cover the foreclosure crisis both here in the U.S and in the UK.  He also talks about the global financial crisis and the political ramifications that are manifesting themselves in this country and frankly, what he says is important at every turn.

David has also written two books, both of which you can find on his blog.  One is, “Answering Back,” which offers “liberal responses to conservative arguments,” and the other, “Making the Progressive Case.”  Both are worth reading.

I’ve learned a lot from Professor Coates and I’m confident you will too.  So, turn up your speakers… click below… sit back and relax… and listen to an uninterrupted hour with Professor David Coates as he talks about the foreclosure crisis here and in the UK, why democracy and progressive politics are more important today than perhaps ever before…  and whole lot more… on A Mandelman Matters Podcast.

(Plus… I don’t know about you, but somehow the foreclosure crisis sounds better in a British accent… go figure.)

CLICK BELOW

Mandelman Out.

Hey DOERS… Good News Once Again, this time for

Tom Stover & Jeneane Traynor-Stover

(And that would be 8 out of 8 for the DOERS… but who’s counting?) 

Ooops, you did it again!  Yes, it’s true… Wells Fargo contacted Tom and Jeneane up in Granite Bay, California mid-day today to let them know that their SALE DATE of February 3, 2012 HAS BEEN POSTPONED.  This was the DOER ALERT posted late in the day last Friday, and today is Tuesday, so even though it wasn’t handled within 24 hours as we’ve gotten used to… I can live with 48 hours too.  (I don’t like it, but I can live with it… LOL.)

The truth is that although I did see that some DOERS sent emails in response to the ALERT on Friday, there weren’t nearly enough.  And then when we didn’t hear anything from Wells yesterday, Jeneane called me and mentioned that she thought that maybe the DOER ALERT got lost in people’s inboxes as a result of being posted late on Friday.

So, I reposted it yesterday and last night I sent out about 100 emails to DOERS, and sure enough… a lot more emails started flying towards Wells… and by today at 11:00 AM… it was a brand new day for Jeneane and Tom.  See how that works?  DOERS have got to stay up on this… you promised to for 120 days, right?  And I’ll try not to post late on Fridays… deal?  Cool.

Here’s the email I received from Jeneane at 11:00 AM today.

Dear Mandelman and the DOERS…

I wanted to let you know asap that I received a call from Michael Berg from the executive office of complaints at Wells Fargo.  He was very nice, the first thing he said was the sale was postponed and he is my single point of contact and he is getting a package out to me today and when I receive it tomorrow he wants me to call him back to go over it.    

WOW, that was great, you really are doing an amazing job at getting results, I will keep you posted!

You are a lifesaver, or shall I say a family saver, I do realized that there is not guarantee of a loan modification, but just being given the consideration of being informed is all I asked for!

Thanks again,  

Jeneane

Okay, well now that Wells has stopped the clock on the sale date… I for one have all the confidence in the world that Wells Fargo will find a way to modify this loan so Tom, Jeneane and their beautiful daughter will be able to stay in their home with payments they can afford.  And I’m sure all of our prayers are with Tom that he fully recover so he can get back to work on a full-time basis soon.

Thank you to all the DOERS who helped DO this! But there still aren’t enough of you DOING what you promised you would DO.  If we want to be able to affect bigger issues… national issues… then everyone’s going to have to turn up their game… get with the program… start taking this more seriously and continue spreading the word.

Sorry… it’s work I know.  But it’s not that much work.  You should all be very proud of what we’ve accomplished together and over a very short period of time… so you should be talking about it everyone you know… bragging even.

Stay tuned… unfortunately there are more DOER AlERTS to come!

Mandelman & Field OUT!

~~~

OFFICIAL DOER STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

BY MARTIN ANDELMAN & ABIGAIL FIELD

We, Mandelman & Field, are joining forces to end the foreclosure crisis. We’ve been writing about the crisis—Mandelman for more than three years and 600+ articles, Field for about half that—but frankly, writing’s not enough.

We need to DO more to solve the massive crisis our country is enduring. We must act now, because the crisis we’re in will get much, much worse.  This year is an election year… the time for decisive action is now.

But by ourselves we can’t do enough. We need YOU to DO too.

Mandelman has already inspired a core group of DOERS, people who have already solved the mortgage modification nightmares of six people. But to solve the problems faster than one mortgage at a time and to attack bigger problems, we need more DOERS… a lot more.

Here’s what we DOERS DO:

1. We take action.

We are knowledgeable, active and involved. We know that our actions make a difference because we’re all working together, multiplying our impact. That’s why we continue to take action, each and every day.

2. We know there’s no “try” in DO.

Either you DO, or you don’t.

3. We build big victories out of little victories.

We’re singles hitters with a really high on base percentage.   We scratch out the runs it takes to win every way we can. Our actions are simple, discrete, and quick to do, like sending an email, making a call, mailing a letter.

We work this way because swinging for the fences wastes lots of effort and results in more strikeouts than our country has time for. Besides, it took years to make the mess we’re in, and there’s no silver bullet that fixes everything all at once. We have to do many things, and collectively they will make the big changes we need.

4. We focus on our similarities, not our differences.  

We’re not about right and left… we’re about right and wrong. Frankly, our nation’s policies on housing and banks are so bad, we have plenty of solid common ground for everyone. Since we’re focused on fixing those two interrelated issues—housing and bank policy—our divisions on other issues are irrelevant.

5. We believe in “We, the People.”  

We join forces to make change because we are Americans. It’s our Constitutional birthright to be in charge, to make change together. And we know if we act together to make good policy, we all benefit.

6. We recruit more DOERS, because size matters.

To solve the big problems we need to be correspondingly big. We’re not playing games. We are DOING to win.

7. And we are in it to win it.

We are relentless.  We take our tasks seriously.  We do our best. We  never let down our fellow DOERS by not DOING our individual parts.

ProPublica is reporting that Freddie Mac has been placing “multi-billion dollar bets designed to only pay off when homeowners remain “trapped” in high interest rate loans, and that the government-owned mortgage monster began increasing such bets late in 2010, which they say is, “the same time Freddie was making harder for homeowners to get out of high-interest mortgages.”

Now, the ProPublica story goes on to say…

“No evidence has emerged that these decisions were coordinated. The company is a key gatekeeper for home loans but says its traders are “walled off” from the officials who have restricted homeowners from taking advantage of historically low interest rates by imposing higher fees and new rules.”

And I suppose ProPublica had to say that for whatever reason, probably because that’s what the Freddie Mac SpokesLiar said when they asked about this egregious, fraudulent, criminal behavior that is also AT BEST yet another FAILURE OF GOVERNMENT to protect the American people.

Now, let me be very clear here, so as not to leave any doubt in what we should all understand about this situation that has been uncovered by an investigation conducted by NPR and ProPublica…

1. Freddie Mac has essentially been nationalized. It is 100 percent funded by U.S. taxpayers because if it weren’t for U.S. taxpayers Freddie Mac would be bankrupt. 

2. As ProPublica also points out in its story, Freddie Mac’s charter “calls for the company to make home loans more accessible. Its chief executive, Charles Haldeman Jr., recently told Congress that his company is “helping financially strapped families reduce their mortgage costs through refinancing their mortgages.”  Really, Haldeman?  Or maybe, not so much.

3. The statement above about how Freddie’s traders are “WALLED OFF” from the people at Freddie who have restricted homeowners from getting lower rates so they could keep their homes is OFFENSIVE in so many ways I hardly know where to begin.

First of all, Freddie Mac… IT’S A BOLDFACED LIE.  Do you think you are dealing with a nation of 4 year-olds?  How dare you even try to make such a case to the American people?  Secondly, what right do you have to be “restricting homeowners” from doing ANYTHING?  You are a bankrupt mortgage company that failed so spectacularly that you have cost the American taxpayers incalculable and untold billions of dollars.  The way I see it, you have no right to “restrict” anyone from doing anything.

4. Mr. Charles Haldeman Jr. if you do not end up in prison for the rest of your life, it will be an abominable miscarriage of justice.  When you consider the state of the U.S. and even the world’s economy, and the fragile nature of our banking system, in which almost all trust has been destroyed… Freddie’s acts here constitute TREASON, and Mr. Haldeman should be considered nothing less than a TRAITOR to this country.

No, he didn’t declare war on the United States, or give aid and comfort to our enemies, but congress has, at times throughout our history, passed statutes creating offenses related to treason for acts that undermine the government or the national security, and in my mind, Mr. Haldeman as Freddie Mac’s Chief Executive, most certainly allowed such acts to occur in this case.

5. But Haldeman didn’t commit these acts alone… the others involved must be arrested and tried for these crimes so they may be brought to justice as well.  And where is Mr. Edward DeMarco, the head of the FHFA, the conservator of both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?

At an absolute minimum, and to avoid his own prosecution, if that’s even possible, we should all be calling for his IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION, and he should be delivering on national television his most profound apologies to the people of this country, for what he has overseen is a national disgrace at a level I’ve never even contemplated as being possible in this country.

6. Because you should make no mistake about this… the acts committed here have cost more than trillions of dollars in lost wealth, but beyond the incomprehensible monetary cost, they have cost American lives. 

There are children who will grow up without their loving parent or parents because of our foreclosure crisis, senior citizens who have lost all faith in our nation in the last years of their lives… families that have suffered in muted agony for months turned years… and to have used American taxpayer dollars to intentionally exacerbate the effects of the crisis, is so appalling… so contemptible… so utterly vile…  that it truly is unspeakable. 

Eric Holder & Lanny Breuer

Further, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder should also immediately RESIGN in DISGRACE…

That these unconscionable trades of securities and derivatives, whatever they are, had to be uncovered by an investigation ProPublica and NPR illustrates the, at best laughable, and at worst  corrupt nature of Attorney General Eric Holder and his Department of In-Justice.

Not only has Eric Holder failed to prosecute any of the banking industry executives responsible for our catastrophic economic collapse, but he hasn’t even lifted a finger to do so, or even taken the time to tell the people of this country anything substantive about anything related to the crisis.

It should go with saying that he needs to be replaced, and perhaps this time we should not hire as our “top cop,” a lawyer from Covington & Burling, one of Washington’s biggest white shoe law firms, widely known to represent… WHILE HOLDER and BREUER WERE PARTNERS AT THE FIRM… some of the largest banks in the country, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, CITIGROUP, WELLS FARGO BANK, MERS, one of the largest servicers, and yes… FREDDIE MAC too.

As reported by Huffington Post on January 19th…

“U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, were partners for years at a Washington law firm that represented a Who’s Who of big banks and other companies at the center of alleged foreclosure fraud, a Reuters inquiry shows.

Covington represented Freddie Mac, one of the nation’s biggest issuers of mortgage-backed securities, in enforcement investigations by federal financial regulators.

A particular concern by those pressing for an investigation is Covington’s involvement with Virginia-based MERS Corp, which runs a vast computerized registry of mortgages. Little known before the mortgage crisis hit, MERS, which stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, has been at the center of complaints about false or erroneous mortgage documents.

Court records show that Covington, in the late 1990s, provided legal opinion letters needed to create MERS on behalf of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and several other large banks. It was meant to speed up registration and transfers of mortgages. By 2010, MERS claimed to own about half of all mortgages in the U.S. — roughly 60 million loans.

But evidence in numerous state and federal court cases around the country has shown that MERS authorized thousands of bank employees to sign their names as MERS officials. The banks allegedly drew up fake mortgage assignments, making it appear falsely that they had standing to file foreclosures, and then had their own employees sign the documents as MERS “vice presidents” or “assistant secretaries.”

And get this…

“Covington declined to respond to questions from Reuters. A Covington spokeswoman said the firm had no comment.”

Roger that.  I understand perfectly.  Let me see if I’ve got this straight…

• President Obama announces Making Home Affordable Program.
• Obama puts Treasury Secretary Geithner in charge of HAMP loan modification and HARP refinancing programs.
• Geithner appoints Fannie Mae administrator and Freddie Mac regulator of MHA programs.
• Obama puts Edward DeMarco in charge of FHFA.
• FHFA is responsible for oversight of Fannie and Freddie.
• Obama and Geithner say they want Fannie & Freddie to offer principal reductions to stem tide of defaults.
• But DeMarco says no to principal reductions, claims it’s because of “short-term accounting reasons.”
• In 2010, Obama nominates permanent replacement for DeMarco, but Republicans in Congress block nomination.
• Charles Haldeman Jr. is in charge of Freddie Mac.
• Late in 2010.Freddie starts making it much harder for homeowners to get out of high interest loans. 
• For example, during Thanksgiving week 2010, Freddie increases post-settlement delivery fees charged to borrowers refinancing.
• Also late in 2010, Freddie starts placing multi-billion dollar bets that pay off by keeping homeowners trapped in high interest loans.
• These investments are called “inverse floaters.” Instead of backed mainly by principal, these are banked by interest payments.
• Because inverse floaters are riskier, they pay much higher rate of return, if people remain in higher interest rate loans.
• Meanwhile, Sec. Geithner and President Obama continue to state publicly that they want loans refinanced and/or modified.
• It’s impossible  to believe that Obama, Geithner, DeMarco, and Haldeman haven’t interacted over the last two years.
• FHFA knew about Freddie’s purchase of $3.4 billion in inverse floaters in 2010.
• The Federal Reserve recently said Fannie and Freddie fees charged make it harder to refinance “difficult to justify.”
• And the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was a partner in the law firm representing Freddie Mac, along MERS and major banks.
• Freddie and Fannie need another multi-billion bailout in 2011… and will need more in future.

Does that about cover it?  Awesome.

And President Obama…

If you haven’t figured it out yet, and I think you have, you’ve hired the WRONG PEOPLE, or been given bad advice, because the way your administration has handled the financial and foreclosure crises is fast getting entirely out of anyone’s control.  Today’s crisis is very much like a tsunami in the middle of the ocean when it looks like a small bump on the water.  But it’s approaching the shore and when it arrives it is likely to be 1,000 feet tall and moving at 600 miles per hour.

You are where the buck stops, and ultimately it is your administration that has allowed Freddie Mac to commit these horrific acts against America’s distressed and vulnerable homeowners.  You are the one responsible for putting Covington and Burling lawyers in charge of the DOJ… you are the individual in which we placed our trust and you have let us down.

I wish I thought you were capable of redeeming yourself, but you can’t… can you?  You’re in too deep and can’t see a way out.  You allowed Washington’s powerbrokers and structure to take over your presidency and now you don’t know how to change the path you’re on… I can feel it.  I am truly sorry, as I’ve felt that way before in my life.

All I can say is that you are still the President of the United States and you can break what needs to be broken.  It’s all about inches, like the journey of 1,000 miles beginning with one small step.

ONE LAST THING… A NOTE TO PROPUBLICA and NPR…

Thank you for your work on this.  Now, if you haven’t already done so, would you mind sauntering on over to Fannie Mae to check out what’s trading places over there.  I’m pretty sure I already know, but I don’t want to say because frankly… I don’t want to be right.

And after that… maybe check out what’s trading at all the major banks… you know… just round up the usual suspects and that oughta’ do it, don’t you think?  Yeppers… I think you’ve just uncovered one of the reasons why it’s been so damn hard to get a loan modification.

Because it seems to me that the odds are outstanding that… just like “robo-signing” wasn’t… this ain’t no “isolated incident.”

Mandelman out.

ARE YOU A DOER, OR JUST A READER?

TO FIND OUT MORE CLICK HERE.

Please don’t delay.  It’s FREE, so DO it today  It’s easy to DO.  And to win, we need you.

Becoming a DOER and committing to our code of action is easy. Just send an email to either one of us:

Martin Andelman at: mandelman@mac.com

Abigail Field at: ACFRealityCheck@yahoo.com

And also don’t forget to subscribe here: SUBSCRIBE

All you have to write in the message is: Count on me to be a DOER.  Or,  just say: I’m in.  Tell me what to DO.

About once a week we’ll call on you to DO something important… something that matters a lot.  

It feels really good to be a DOER, ask anyone who is.

Mandelman & Field… OUT!

Who Let the DOERS Out?  Who-Who-Who-Who-Who?

Who Let the DOERS Out?  Who-Who-Who-Who-Who?

First thing this morning and in response to our DOERS… One West Bank STOPPED THE SALE of Lisa Ferrechia’s home in Milford, Massachusetts… asking that we please call of our DOERS!  They have assured Lisa that they are looking at her situation at the highest levels and will do everything possible to make sure she can keep her home.

DOERS… you did it again.  That’s 7 out of 7 DOERS… we really are DOING it and making a real and very meaningful difference not only for the homeowners whose homes we’ve saved by helping them get sustainable loan modifications, but we’re also helping in a bigger picture sense as well by calling attention to situations that no one should want to see happen.

Obviously, we’ll be staying on top of what’s going on in Lisa’s case, but I’m quite confident that One West Bank is going to find a way for Lisa keep her home, they responded quickly… as a matter of fact the CEO emailed last night… Sunday night… to say that they would be looking into the situation first thing this morning… which they obviously did… and we thank them for being responsive and considerate in this instance.

So, thank you ONE WEST BANK.  Let’s get this done for Lisa and thousands of other homeowners… let’s make this into a win-win scenario, instead of the lose-lose-lose situation we have today.

But, we also recognize that we still have a long way to go before this fight will be over.  So, we need more DOERS signing on every day.  We can’t rest on our laurels, our voice needs to get stronger so we can take on bigger and bigger challenges.  Remember what they say… politicians won’t see the light until they feel the heat.  So, here’s what you need to know about DOERS…

OFFICIAL DOER STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

BY MARTIN ANDELMAN & ABIGAIL FIELD

We, Mandelman & Field, are joining forces to end the foreclosure crisis. We’ve been writing about the crisis—Mandelman for more than three years and 600+ articles, Field for about half that—but frankly, writing’s not enough.

We need to DO more to solve the massive crisis our country is enduring. We must act now, because the crisis we’re in will get much, much worse.  This year is an election year… the time for decisive action is now.

But by ourselves we can’t do enough. We need YOU to DO too.

Mandelman has already inspired a core group of DOERS, people who have already solved the mortgage modification nightmares of six people. But to solve the problems faster than one mortgage at a time and to attack bigger problems, we need more DOERS… a lot more.

Here’s what we DOERS DO:

1. We take action.

We are knowledgeable, active and involved. We know that our actions make a difference because we’re all working together, multiplying our impact. That’s why we continue to take action, each and every day.

2. We know there’s no “try” in DO.

Either you DO, or you don’t.

3. We build big victories out of little victories.

We’re singles hitters with a really high on base percentage.   We scratch out the runs it takes to win every way we can. Our actions are simple, discrete, and quick to do, like sending an email, making a call, mailing a letter.

We work this way because swinging for the fences wastes lots of effort and results in more strikeouts than our country has time for. Besides, it took years to make the mess we’re in, and there’s no silver bullet that fixes everything all at once. We have to do many things, and collectively they will make the big changes we need.

4. We focus on our similarities, not our differences.  

We’re not about right and left… we’re about right and wrong. Frankly, our nation’s policies on housing and banks are so bad, we have plenty of solid common ground for everyone. Since we’re focused on fixing those two interrelated issues—housing and bank policy—our divisions on other issues are irrelevant.

5. We believe in “We, the People.”  

We join forces to make change because we are Americans. It’s our Constitutional birthright to be in charge, to make change together. And we know if we act together to make good policy, we all benefit.

6. We recruit more DOERS, because size matters.

To solve the big problems we need to be correspondingly big. We’re not playing games. We are DOING to win.

7. And we are in it to win it.

We are relentless.  We take our tasks seriously.  We do our best. We  never let down our fellow DOERS by not DOING our individual parts.

 SO, HERE’S THE BOTTOM-LINE…

In 1954, Brown v. The Board of Education didn’t end segregation.  It took ten years and hundreds of thousands of people marching in the streets before President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1964-65.

In 1971, President Nixon saw from his White House windows, tens of thousands of people protesting the war in Viet Nam and became paranoid that he would lose the election in 1972.  It drove those around him to break into the Democratic headquarters and led to the Watergate scandal… even though he won reelection in 1972 by a landslide.

And more recently, in 2009, news of AIG bonuses totaling $160 million and a corporate retreat at the St. Regis luxury resort in Southern California, caused people to take to the streets, outraged that a company recently bailed out by the taxpayers would be allowed to pay out what appeared to be extravagant bonuses.  Within two weeks the House of Representatives authored and passed a bill that would have placed a 90 percent tax on those and other bonuses.  It was killed in the senate, of course, but that’s not the point.

The point is that our elected representatives can move quickly… if they are properly motivated.

To become a DOER you only need to DO 3-4 things and they’re all easy:

1. Click here to SUBSCRIBE to Mandelman Matters.  That’s the only way you’ll get an email whenever there’s a new post and when you see “DOER ALERT” in the headline, you know it’s time to DO something that will matter.
2. Send an email to me at mandelman@mac.com.  Just type: I’m a DOER or something close in the subject line.  I’ll add you to the database of DOER emails.  When we want the element of surprise I won’t post it, I’ll email you the plan.
3. Actually check your email from Mandelman Matters or from mandelman@mac.com and when you see the words DOER ALERT, open it and read it right away or certainly ASAP.  Not the next day… that day.  Then, assuming you want to help make a difference, read it and send an email to the CEO’s email while I always list at the bottom of the DOER Alert.  Of course, the more thoughtful the email the better, but it doesn’t have to be a long email if you’re pressed for time.  Just a few sentences is just fine and dandy.
4. Help recruit other DOERS.  Send others links to articles on Mandelman Matters and tell them you’re DOING it and it’s working.

That’s all there is to it, and all I’m asking for is a four month commitment.  After that, if you agree that it’s worth DOING, then give me another four months.  The more DOERS we have the larger the problem we can tackle.

Consider this… right now there’s all this controversy over the 50 state AG settlement.  A few days ago many people thought the deal was about to be announced and people were very upset.  Well, if we had 100,000 DOERS now, we could stop that deal from getting done for sure.

Just think of being a DOER as being a way to “occupy” without leaving your home, sleeping on the ground, getting arrested and sprayed with pepper spray.  It’s also more effective than doing those things.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t do them, but I’m telling you that DOERS can stop this mess in its tracks this year or next.

]]> http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2012/01/our-doers-did-it-again-one-west-bank-stops-sale-in-east/feed/ 0 http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2012/01/doer-alert-wells-fargo-this-is-unnecessary-unreasonable-and-unthinkable/ http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2012/01/doer-alert-wells-fargo-this-is-unnecessary-unreasonable-and-unthinkable/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:42:31 +0000 Mandelman http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/?p=8795

Look, Wells Fargo… we have to talk.  And frankly, I’d appreciate it if you’d jot down a few notes as we go because I really don’t want to have to repeat myself on this subject… and dear Lord, trust me when I say that you don’t want me to have to repeat myself either.

Here’s the deal…

When you’re dealing with a family that has lived in their home and been a part of their community for 15 years… who have raised four children in that home… and has contacted you because the father in that family who works for the school district has been seriously injured in a work-related auto accident and placed on workers comp… right after his wife lost her SECOND JOB (that’s right, she works two jobs), and they have a special needs child, a beautiful daughter who is autistic… you KNOW you are dealing with VERY RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE, right?

Because the parents I just described are the embodiment of the word “responsible,” you do see that, right?

So, when you say to them, “Let’s get you qualified for a loan modification.” you’re doing the right thing.  And when they immediately send you all of their information and documentation, including updated paystubs and bank statements every 30 days for six months, you shouldn’t be all that surprised.

Even so, their Wells Fargo representative was quite surprised, so much so that he actually expressed to them how surprised he was, saying that they had done an outstanding job getting together everything he asked for, right on time, and exactly as he had instructed.  Jeneane, the wife, explained that she used to be an escrow officer so she was quite familiar with preparing and submitting such paperwork.

Not that doing everything right and on time mattered all that much, because Wells still filed an NOD and now has scheduled a sale date for February 3, 2012.

Of course, Grant… their Wells Fargo representative, was very comforting when he explained that they should not worry about that pesky little sale date, because if a decision wasn’t made by the underwriting department, he would simply request that the sale be postponed.  Well, that certainly must have been a relief for these parents to hear, I’m sure.

A little more than a week before the sale date Jeneane called again to check on how things were going but wouldn’t you know it, her Wells Fargo specialist, Grant, was just transferred to a different department.  A department without phones, apparently.

She was told that she would have to wait to speak with her newly assigned specialist until he or she was assigned.   (That’s what your people said, Wells Fargo.  I’m not responsible for that sentence.)

So,  Jeneane called back again yesterday and was told that someone had been assigned but, darn the luck, they weren’t available, so she asked the person who answered the phone if her home’s sale date had been postponed or if there had been an answer on their loan modification.

Now, stay with me here because this is the sort of thing that you read… and it makes your hair hurt.

The Wells Fargo woman said that it appeared that they needed some additional documentation.  Jeneane is quite adamant that this was not true, because she had just sent Grant 36 pages last week.  He had said that everything was there and he even told her that he had scheduled the postponement while they were on the phone.

Are you getting confused?  Yeah, well aren’t we all.

(I have to tell you, when it comes to paperwork being together, I believe Jeneane 100 percent.  This woman knows her paperwork.  She’s a paperwork Queen, you might even say.)

Nonetheless, Jeneane asked what Wells needed and was told she needed to send in  her 2010 tax return.  Jeneane replied that she had just sent in her 2010 Tax Return last week and was quite sure that it was there.  The woman placed her on hold for 10 minutes (kind of a long time to be on hold, don’t you think) and when the woman returned she said: “”Yes, I have it,” which by the way is not the proper response in that situation.

Just so you know… in that situation you’re supposed to say, “Oh, I’m sorry… you were right… we do have it.”  Or something to that effect.  I’m not trying to be picky here, in fact my expectations of Wells people have been lowered to such a degree that if they don’t spit or throw up in the middle of a conversation, I consider it pleasant.

The Wells woman then explained that the delay is because… are you ready for this: How does the bank know that Mr. Stover will EVER return to work full-time?  Can you even imagine?  Jeneane pointed out that he is back to work half time, and everyone certainly hopes he ultimately recovers 100%.  They think he will… they’re prayers are… OMG.  Would someone like to explain to me how in the world Wells Fargo would go about answering that question.  Do they have a direct line to the Almighty… I mean, Lloyd Blankfein?  I mean… rude much?

Since the tax return thing didn’t stick… and the obnoxious unanswerable question didn’t seem to help… the next thing the Wells woman thought of to say was:  They won’t approve a postponement unless there was approval of the loan modification.

Come again?  Say what?  Ex-screws me?  Wells Fargo won’t approve a postponement of a sale… unless there’s approval of a loan modification?  Go over that sentence again for me… real slow.  Wells you are starting to make my hair hurt.  Does that make sense to ANYONE?  So, noodle me this:

If there was approval of a loan modification, why would there be a sale date to postpone?  

Jeneane then asked if there were any notes in her file from last week when good old Grant said that he had requested the postponement.  She said no… and I have no trouble believing that.  In fact, at this point I wouldn’t have any trouble believing that there wasn’t even a file in which to potentially put notes.

Then the woman said, “You can’t even request a postponement until one day prior to the sale date.”

I’m getting dizzy… is it hot in here?

Then the woman told her to contact the trustee… Jeneane had never heard of a trustee before, but she figured you guys needed the extra hands so she made the call.  Can you guess what happened next?

The trustee said they hadn’t received anything about a postponement from Wells Fargo, but that it could be with Wells’ liaison, whatever that means, and that “sometimes you can’t find out if a sale is being postponed until the day before the sale.”

That’s when in her email to me, Jeneane said: “Somebody is playing a game with me!”

A game?  I’m not sure about that.  I don’t think I’d call it a “game.”

So, here we are at the end of the day on January 27th… it’s a Friday, by the way… so Saturday is the 28th, Sunday is the 29th, Monday the 30th, Tuesday the 1st, Wednesday the 2nd… and voila’… Wednesday the 3rd will be upon us.

And still… no call from Wells Fargo. 

I know you guys must be wicked busy over there but can’t you feel what these parents must be feeling as they watch the clock tick-tock into the weekend.  They’re looking at a weekend in HELL because it’s going to be spent knowing that when it ends there will be only two days to do anything about losing your home.  And you’re dealing with an organization that can take two days just to receive a fax.

Memo to Wells Fargo CEO, John Stumpf…

You and I have been around this sort of issue before, and not very long ago.  And the last time, you were very gracious and attentive to the problem at hand, so I’m going to make the assumption… and I want very much to believe… that this is just another unfortunate slipped through the cracks sort of thing.

So, I’m going to assume that you’ll read this and feel the absolute unfairness of what Jeneane and her husband Tom are being forced to endure at the hands of Wells Fargo’s personnel and systems.

Because I just can’t believe that anyone would intentionally do this to the parents of an autistic 12 year-old girl… invite them to apply for a loan modification, and then after six months, leave them over a weekend with the uncertainty of losing the only home they’ve known for 15 years… in a matter of days… the home in which they have raised four children… all because the husband was injured while while working for the school district… and the wife lost her second job… it’s simply unthinkable.

Who will call first… underwriting to say they’ve been saved… or the investor that just bought their home?  It’s positively surreal, Mr. Stumpf.  It is very definitely a form of torture.  How can a consumer brand like Wells Fargo not feel less secure about its future every time something like this happens?  Short memories?  I think not.

And here’s the thing… I’ve looked at this couple’s numbers.  Their mortgage is around $320,000, and their income is right where it should be to qualify for a loan modification relative to that amount.  And not only that, but their home is 50% UNDERWATER, so not only do I believe they qualify, but I would bet you dinner at the Cliff House that they pass any NPV test you’ve got going at Wells.

Wells Fargo Beats Expectations… 

By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that your earnings showed the bank’s income was, “boosted by a release of $600 million from reserves.”  I’ll tell you what… that is some mighty flowery language considering what you really seem to be saying is that income was “padded by the recapture of a prior expense.”

 

So, I’m curious how was it done?  Was it booked as a negative expense provision, or just some kind of a reverse of an expense taken in a prior period?  Six of one half dozen of another, I suppose, but it’s still kind of cutting off the end of the blanket and sewing it onto the other end to make the blanket longer, right?  I don’t suppose we should we be expecting you to shift that amount back over during the next quarter or two, should we?

 

The only reason I ask is that Bloomberg said the following…

 

Slowing economic growth, low interest rates and volatile capital markets have sapped revenue at the largest U.S. banks, leading them to seek other sources and cut expenses. Stumpf, 58, reduced his staff by 3 percent to 264,200 and reaffirmed plans to trim $1.5 billion in quarterly costs by the end of this year.

I realize that I’m kind of the ultimate cynic about these things, especially when they happen in the fourth quarter… you know… bonus season.  So, what was it that led you to conclude that you wouldn’t need the $600 million in reserves for future losses in light of the fact that you reduced staff by three percent and pledged $6 billion in cuts by the end of 2012?  That sounds like you’re expecting the economy to contract this coming year, and that would seem to mean the potential for losses.

Never mind, it’s none of my business anyway.  Besides, net income up 20 percent to $4.11 billion… you beat earnings estimates by a penny a share, and best of all you made Jamie Dimon over at JPM Chase look like a piker.

Okay, back to the issue at hand…

So, Jeneane’s new Wells’ specialist is Albert at Ext. 60613.  I won’t print his last name here.  He’s the one who was just too busy to make a call before taking off for the weekend. So, is it that he just has to many people in the same position as Jeneane and Tom, so there’s not enough time to call all of them, and so what the heck… time to go?  Or if this couple’s situation is at least somewhat unique, and I sure do hope it is… then what kind of person is too busy to make a call in such a situation?  I’d have taken the number home with me… called over weekend.

But, I don’t blame Albert at Ext. 60613… well, or maybe I do… I don’t even know… honestly, the whole thing has me dumbfounded… flummoxed… you might even say that I’m completely STUMPFED?  I just do not know what else to DO…

Lucky for me, I know some people who DO know what to DO…

RIGHT DOERS?

Tom Stover & Jeneane Traynor-Stover

8216 Seeno Ave.

Granite Bay, CA 95746

Loan Number #0150299733

~~~ 

And look what I found… a whole list of email addresses for Wells Fargo execs, but let’s start with letting Mr. John Stumpf know how littler we think of this situation his bank has created.  Let’s let him know we’re here and we’re paying attention… and that there are quite a few of us.

Chairman of the Board, President, CEO: John.G.Stumpf@wellsfargo.com

~~~~

John Stumpf (415) 396-7018
john.g.stumpf@wellsfargo.com
CEO: John G. Stumpf
420 Montgomery St.
San Francisco, CA 94163
1-866-878-5865

~~~

Howard.I.Atkins@wellsfargo.com

James.M.Strother@wellsfargo.com

Richard.D.Levy@wellsfargo.com

David.A.Hoyt@wellsfargo.com

David.M.Carroll@wellsfargo.com

patricia.r.callahan@wellsfargo.com

kevin.a.rhein@wellsfargo.com

Carrie.L.Tolstedt@wellsfargo.com

AVID.MODJTABAI@wellsfargo.com

BoardCommunications@wellsfargo.com
sharon.cecil@wellsfargo.com
Todd.M.Boothroyd@wellsfargo.com

john.g.stumpf@wellsfargo.com
cara.heiden@wellsfargo.com
denise.erickson@wellsfargo.com
cara.k.heiden@wellsfargo.com
mary.coffin@wellsfargo.com

BoardCommunications@wellsfargo.com

 ombudsman@fdic.gov

On Monday at 5:00 PM, as I was running to catch a flight to Phoenix to work with a state senator on a piece of legislation I’ll be announcing soon, I posted a DOER ALERT titled: “Dear Bank of America,” about an octogenarian by the name of Dale Wright.  He had been trying to get his loan modified for a couple of years… been turned down… reapplied, and was told he was under consideration as recently as December 23, 2011… and then Bank of America sold his home on January 3, 2012.  Mr. Wright found out when an investor showed up at his door saying that he would understand it he needed more than THREE DAYS to get out.

By mid-day on Tuesday, Bank of America had responded to say they were looking into it… and by 4:30 PM that same day Bank of America DID THE WRIGHT THING, and gave Mr. Dale Wright his home back… from a bonafide third party purchaser.  BofA has also notified me to assure me that the bank is also modifying the loan, and I’ll be talking with them tomorrow to get details, among other things.

The point is that there should be no question that my DOERS are very effective, and likewise there shouldn’t be any question as to why that’s the case.  In our democracy, there’s only one thing more important than money and that’s getting reelected.  If our elected officials understand that they are at risk of being voted out of office… they react.  Their loyalties to banking lobbyists dissipate quickly when they realize that no amount of money will overcome the will of the people.  We used to understand this to be the case.

In 1954, Brown v. The Board of Education didn’t end segregation.  It took ten years and hundreds of thousands of people marching in the streets before President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1964-65.

In 1971, President Nixon saw from his White House windows, tens of thousands of people protesting the war in Viet Nam and became paranoid that he would lose the election in 1972.  It drove those around him to break into the Democratic headquarters and led to the Watergate scandal… even though he won reelection in 1972 by a landslide.

And more recently, in 2009, news of AIG bonuses totaling $160 million and a corporate retreat at the St. Regis luxury resort in Southern California, caused people to take to the streets, outraged that a company recently bailed out by the taxpayers would be allowed to pay out what appeared to be extravagant bonuses.  Within two weeks the House of Representatives authored and passed a bill that would have placed a 90 percent tax on those and other bonuses.  It was killed in the senate, of course, but that’s not the point.  The point is that our elected representatives can move quickly… if they are properly motivated.

We’ve got over a thousand DOERS… and we’ve saved 6 out of 6 homes, all of which were about to be sold within days or already sold as was the case with Mr. Dale Wright.  (6 out of 6 is NOT a coincidence, by the way.)  But, if you really want to stop the foreclosure crisis…

We’ll need at least 100x that number… 

To become a DOER you only need to DO 3-4 things and they’re all easy:

1. Click here to SUBSCRIBE to Mandelman Matters.  That’s the only way you’ll get an email whenever there’s a new post and when you see “DOER ALERT” in the headline, you know it’s time to DO something that will matter.
2. Send an email to me at mandelman@mac.com.  Just type: I’m a DOER or something close in the subject line.  I’ll add you to the database of DOER emails.  When we want the element of surprise I won’t post it, I’ll email you the plan.
3. Actually check your email from Mandelman Matters or from mandelman@mac.com and when you see the words DOER ALERT, open it and read it right away or certainly ASAP.  Not the next day… that day.  Then, assuming you want to help make a difference, read it and send an email to the CEO’s email while I always list at the bottom of the DOER Alert.  Of course, the more thoughtful the email the better, but it doesn’t have to be a long email if you’re pressed for time.  Just a few sentences is just fine and dandy.
4. Help recruit other DOERS.  Send others links to articles on Mandelman Matters and tell them you’re DOING it and it’s working.

That’s all there is to it, and all I’m asking for is a four month commitment.  After that, if you agree that it’s worth DOING, then give me another four months.  The more DOERS we have the larger the problem we can tackle.

Consider this… right now there’s all this controversy over the 50 state AG settlement.  A few days ago many people thought the deal was about to be announced and people were very upset.  Well, if we had 100,000 DOERS now, we could stop that deal from getting done for sure.

Just think of being a DOER as being a way to “occupy” without leaving your home, sleeping on the ground, getting arrested and sprayed with pepper spray.  It’s also more effective than doing those things.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t do them, but I’m telling you that DOERS can stop this mess in its tracks this year or next.

I have to be honest about something…

There are two things that really bother me.  One is that we only have a thousand DOERS.  That means that thousands of people are reading and not signing up as DOERS.  How can that be?  Hopefully it’s because Im haven’t promoted it well, which is something that’s going to change.  But, if its not that… if you’re reading my column and not signing up and subscribing so you can join forces with the rest of us… why the heck not?

How can you not want to help save someone’s home or influence the state legislature, or make congress in Washington D.C. take notice and hear our voice?  I really don’t understand… so please… if you’re not going to DO it, please at least let me know.  Maybe you have a good reason that I’m not thinking of, in which case fair enough.  But if you don’t, why wouldn’t you DO this?  How can you not DO this?

And two… if you’re a DOER and you didn’t send an email this last time around… and please don’t tell me you didn’t have time to send a 3 line email because if I had time to write it, you could send an email about it.  I missed my flight to write about Mr. Wright by the way.  Had to drive all the way back home, then worked until 2:00 AM and then back to the airport the following morning.  And you didn’t have 5 minutes?  Come on…

Not only that, but how could you let down your fellow DOERS… to say nothing of Mr. Wright?  What if BofA hadn’t done what they did, and Mr. Wright had lost his home?  And you didn’t send an email as you promised by being a DOER.  I’m serious about this… I couldn’t DO that and sleep at night.  Your email can be the one that matters.  But you were too busy… so now at 82 years old, a veteran loses his home… and you let down your fellow DOERS?  Not cool, people.  Really, not cool.

Time Matters… A Lot.

DO you not see that we are losing this war… because we definitely are.  More than 3,000 evictions a day, seven days a week.  Foreclosures not slowing a bit.  And interest rates are still low.  What’s going to happen when they are six percent or even higher?

And this is an election year… this is when politicians are the most concerned with reelection.  We have to act and it must be now.  Period.  We’re doing the wave and we need you and everyone else or it doesn’t look like a wave.  And even though it’s just begun, it’s unquestionably working.  What else is working even half that consistently… NOTHING, I’m sorry to say.

Sample emails from a few DOERS to Bank of America this last time around…

Some of the emails received by the bank show just how deeply offended Americans are by what’s being allowed to go on… I’ve excerpted a few paragraphs as examples… they are all addressed to Mr. Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America…

“It seems more and more these days your Bank and the rest of the Banks that are involved in Mortgage backed secured investments are reaching criminal status 

 What has just happened to Mr Wright in Cloverdale, CA should at least bring a long jail sentence to your door. I am sending out as many e-mails as I have contacts and then I am going on every blog site I can find and pass this article to them as well. Then I am writing my congressman and then the Attorney General !!!!!”

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“As if we needed any more proof that servicers have no clue who owns the loans or how to properly service them, now we have the nincompoops who worked on Mr. Wright’s foreclosure to illustrate the depths of BOA’s incompetence. This one will stick in everyone’s mind because an old man is being thrown out of his house after BOA repeatedly “lost” the papers or “misidentified” the investor in a series of memorably unfortunate events.

I work a lot of real estate buyers and if this mistake isn’t rectified immediately then I’m telling all of them about elderly Mr. Wright and cautioning them to stay away from BOA mortgages from Wednesday until I retire in 20 years. Hope we’re able to do business again in the next two decades Brian, but remember there’s lots of other lenders out there and I can’t recommend BOA with this kind of crap going down.”

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“I have read the story about Bank of America’s foreclosure sale on January 3, 2012 of the home of Mr. Dale Wright of Cloverdale, California.  He is an 82 year old Veteran and a widower.  Your bank refused to convert his HAMP trial payment plan because of a false claim that he had failed to send you in IRS Form 4506-T.  This was a false claim.  Even if it wasn’t, for the lack of such a minor document, no institution with any moral sense would have allowed that to be a basis to proceed to take away this man’s home. The action of Bank of America feeds the public view of your institution as one which has no corporate responsibility or conscience.

I was recently told by Bank of America’s Maine Market President how Bank of America has improved its practices.   How can anyone believe that when a story such as Mr. Wright’s is exposed.

 Bank of America’s abuse of America’s homeowners has simply got to stop.  Would you please act like a responsible executive of one of America’s largest financial institutions and intervene in this case by telling your people to do what ever it takes to get the title to Mr. Wrights back into his hands, to give him the HAMP permanent modification to which he is entitled, and to compensate him for the enormous emotional distress that your bank has caused him to suffer.

 It would be unconscionable for you to fail to do this at once.”

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“I’m not sure how much more egregious you can possibly get than to sell a home out from under an 82 year old veteran after 1) approving him for a modification and 2) admitting that after you screwed up the first time since he was making his payments and then 3) while he was “under consideration” a second time as recently as December 23, 2011 you sold his home? 

 And then you BLAMED WELLS FARGO?

It would behoove you to immediately rectify this situation with Mr. Wright.  Make it right!  I don’t really care how you do it, but to turn his home over to a “home flipper” when he not only qualified for a modification but was approved for one and made his payments on time is beyond disgusting. 

 I’m only e-mailing this because your offices are closed at the moment.  Wait until I call, then I’ll give all of your staff an earful.  This really has me steamed.  And they should be ashamed that you are their boss.

 I’m positive that I will not be the only one that will be contacting you on this one.  This is only the first wave of a coming tsunami.      

 Fix it, Moynihan.  We are all tired of you and your cronies shenanigans and the dam of outrage is about to break all over this country.  There will be way too many holes in it for you to plug up, and it will all come crashing down like the worthless paper you claim to hold on all these mortgages.”

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“Regarding the above-referenced loan, please use your infinite powers to assist this elderly gentleman in the later years of his life to work through this difficult situation.  It is so atrocious the way in which distressed property owners in all age groups, of all ethnicities and from all socioeconomic strata are being treated by institutions that simply do not appear to care about the impact their industry has had on the citizens of this country.  But his particular story goes beyond the customary and usual.  This gentle man has served to defend those of us that are unable or unwilling to put our lives on the line for our country! 

When will you do something about the way in which Bank of America’s servicing departments botch up paperwork, lie to people in life-changing circumstances, and then blame it on others?  As a major institution within the financial realm, one would think that BofA would be on the cutting edge in the technology arena to keep paperwork intact; in hiring capable and ethical employees to problem-solve rather than lie, cheat, or delay, and in providing resources with whom customers can discuss their problems to get back on tract? 

More importantly, however, is when will Bank of America become the financial institution that deserves the trust of the people that keep you in business? 

It is time to stop the spiraling loss of wealth to the vast majority of homeowners that rely on the equity in their homes to enjoy a peaceful and well-deserved retirement. It is time to have compassion for those individual homeowners whose jobs have been cut out and now must move their entire families elsewhere in a real estate market that causes them to go into default.  It is time to develop a plan to actually work on customer service that truly assists (rather than bullies) homeowners in lieu of the almighty dollar. 

Mr. Wright’s story is, without a doubt, a very sad story that requires immediate measures.  Mr. Moynihan, let his story be the catalyst for extreme changes within your institution.  It is, after all, within your power to make these changes.  The bucks stops with YOU.”

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Having read the story of Mr. Wright and his appalling treatment by Bank of America, I trust you will reverse the sale of this house and return it to its rightful owner.

I hope you are familiar with the details of this horrific treatment by your bank.  If not, then you can read about it here:

http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2012/01/doer-alert-dear-bank-of-america/

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OFFICIAL DOER STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

BY MARTIN ANDELMAN & ABIGAIL FIELD

We, Mandelman & Field, are joining forces to end the foreclosure crisis. We’ve been writing about the crisis—Mandelman for more than three years and 600+ articles, Field for about half that—but frankly, writing’s not enough.

We need to DO more to solve the massive crisis our country is enduring. We must act now, because the crisis we’re in will get much, much worse.  This year is an election year… the time for decisive action is now.

But by ourselves we can’t do enough. We need YOU to DO too.

Mandelman has already inspired a core group of DOERS, people who have already solved the mortgage modification nightmares of six people. But to solve the problems faster than one mortgage at a time and to attack bigger problems, we need more DOERS… a lot more.

Here’s what we DOERS DO:

1. We take action.

We are knowledgeable, active and involved. We know that our actions make a difference because we’re all working together, multiplying our impact. That’s why we continue to take action, each and every day.

2. We know there’s no “try” in DO.

Either you DO, or you don’t.

3. We build big victories out of little victories.

We’re singles hitters with a really high on base percentage.   We scratch out the runs it takes to win every way we can. Our actions are simple, discrete, and quick to do, like sending an email, making a call, mailing a letter.

We work this way because swinging for the fences wastes lots of effort and results in more strikeouts than our country has time for. Besides, it took years to make the mess we’re in, and there’s no silver bullet that fixes everything all at once. We have to do many things, and collectively they will make the big changes we need.

4. We focus on our similarities, not our differences.  

We’re not about right and left… we’re about right and wrong. Frankly, our nation’s policies on housing and banks are so bad, we have plenty of solid common ground for everyone. Since we’re focused on fixing those two interrelated issues—housing and bank policy—our divisions on other issues are irrelevant.

5. We believe in “We, the People.”  

We join forces to make change because we are Americans. It’s our Constitutional birthright to be in charge, to make change together. And we know if we act together to make good policy, we all benefit.

6. We recruit more DOERS, because size matters.

To solve the big problems we need to be correspondingly big. We’re not playing games. We are DOING to win.

7. And we are in it to win it.

We are relentless.  We take our tasks seriously.  We do our best. We  never let down our fellow DOERS by not DOING our individual parts.

Please don’t delay… DO it today… it’s easy to DO… and to win, we need you.

Becoming a DOER and committing to our code of action is easy. Just send an email to either one of us:

Martin Andelman at: mandelman@mac.com

Abigail Field at: ACFRealityCheck@yahoo.com

And also don’t forget to subscribe here: SUBSCRIBE

All you have to write in the message is: Count on me to be a DOER.  Or,  just say: I’m in.  Tell me what to DO.

And we’ll be in touch. Something like once a week we’ll call on you to DO something important… something that matters a lot.  It feels really good to be a DOER, ask anyone who is.

Mandelman & Field… OUT!