Or do we only judge a loan to be "bad" after it defaults, and because it defaults? Assuming there are NOT predatory practices involved, is a loan "good" until it defaults and then it becomes "bad." And is... (Continue reading)
Nevada's legislature is considering adopting its own Homeowner Bill of Rights, and in fact, the bill... SB 321... has already passed the Nevada State Senate and is headed to the House.... (Continue reading)
It's been 3.5 years since the money was made available. It's time for the programs funded by hardest hit funds to help homeowners... stopping foreclosures with aggressive benefits and inclusive qualifying requirements. Surely we know what doesn't work...... (Continue reading)
Unless you believe that the foreclosure picture in this country somehow magically changed dramatically over the last month or two... you don't want to wake up one day to find out you might need mediation... only it's no longer there.... (Continue reading)
There is one mortgage banker that did it right for their shareholders and borrowers. They didn't take TARP funds or any sort of tax-payer funded bailout... instead they took their losses, restructured the company, and protected their shareholders... ... (Continue reading)
Okay, so that's GAME OVER for the State of Illinois. Ball four... take a hike... we'll see you back here in 2014 or 2015. Take some time off, you deserve it. ... (Continue reading)
David takes us through concise and easy to understand explanations of most of the major events since the meltdown began on July 10, 2007... the day the credit markets went into a deep freeze that continues to this day. ... (Continue reading)
Then how in the world can we be "at the bottom," of housing price declines or starting to see ANY sort of "housing recovery" as the MORONS in the media are also reporting TODAY, after receiving your press releases?... (Continue reading)
Foreclosure defense attorneys Matt Weidner and Tom Cox tell Mandelman what's working and what's not for homeowners in foreclosure courts. ... (Continue reading)
All homeowners are "responsible" people. Or, to be more accurate, 99.9 percent of homeowners are responsible people. Some minuscule percentage of any group make up the small tail of the bell curve. The simple fact, and we... (Continue reading)
On this Mandelman Matters Podcast: Foreclosures Rising with Attorney Brian Chapman, I ask Brian to walk through two recent decisions by the North Carolina courts, one of which is now headed for the state's Supreme Court. ... (Continue reading)
Here's your first chance to listen to Phillip Swagel on a Mandelman Matters Podcast... he'll be back again... but you don't want to miss this one because we won't be going backward in time, so click PLAY below and listen... (Continue reading)
Known as the "statement of qualified holder," it doesn't require a lawyer to look at anything that shows the bank holds the original mortgage, but even more stunning is that it also provides lawyers with complete absolution from any wrongdoing... (Continue reading)
The mortgage market is not just dominated by the government, the mortgage market is the government, and that's not just here in the US, it's everywhere. Governments are the lenders of ONLY resort. ... (Continue reading)
Is that what I'm to believe? She hid it from LPS. For SIX years. A million documents. And the whole time, LPS must have just thought she was great at getting the signatures she... (Continue reading)
I know what happened here. A homeowner in Connecticut was denied for a loan modification based on excessive income and her lawyer told her she would have to file bankruptcy to stop the sale of her home. Then... (Continue reading)
By understanding the truth of what happened and why at these two pivotal moments in time, everything else will fall into place, for it was these two moments that set the course for a global economic downturn that, if history... (Continue reading)
Back in April of this year, they were granted 180 days to get their servicing operations ready to comply with the new standards, and as of yesterday, they'll be held to the 304 new rules for addressing the needs of... (Continue reading)
Per the settlement agreement, Smith will be testing the servicers adherence to the new rules using 29 defined metrics to assess such breaches as improper trustee sales, wrongful denial of modification, the use of fraudulent affidavits in the foreclosure process,... (Continue reading)
They actually believe that too much regulation is the problem facing our financial institutions... that foreclosures are a good thing for the housing market... that tax cuts for the rich will create prosperity... that people on food stamps won't get... (Continue reading)
Settle in and get ready to hear the real inside scoop on how Washington works and too often doesn't. It may cause vomiting and probably shouldn't be listened to if you have a heart condition... I'm really not sure.... (Continue reading)
So, I guess I had this dream. I was watching CNBC... which, by the way, is how I knew it was a dream because I never watch CNBC... anyway, so I was watching CNBC and on comes Sanford "Sandy"... (Continue reading)
Killing this bill facilitates lying to the American people. And short of something that's kept secret in order to protect our national defense, there is never a reason we should tolerate anyone or anything that does that.... (Continue reading)
The biggest change that servicers are feeling is the one that can't be seen or even written down. I imagine it's similar to how homeowners felt when they discovered that their government didn't give a Fudgsicle® whether they lost... (Continue reading)
Marty said that the SunTrust Bank executive said they should be able to do something to prevent her from losing her home. Marty said it was the first time in four years that she felt like someone was actually... (Continue reading)
It was a bad path to be on, as things turned out, but she didn't know that for about 18 months. Right up until the day Chase sold her home without any real notice, Chase kept saying that they... (Continue reading)
Don't have time right now? MAKE TIME RIGHT NOW. Read this and DO SOMETHING.... (Continue reading)
Anyway, so that's the deal... $500 to $125,000... PLUS EQUITY! It makes it sound like the worst you can do, assuming you get past the qualifying round, is the $500, right? Five hundred's not bad, I suppose. ... (Continue reading)
Overall, the point I'm making is that I don't really care that the government wants to pay Scrabble-type word games with the word "recession" or "recovery." I don't care how they want to screw around with the unemployment rate... (Continue reading)
Wells Fargo denied her application for a loan modification after roughly 18 months of trying. The letter said, "we carefully reviewed your... blah, blah, blah... and the investor has declined to modify your mortgage." ... (Continue reading)
I'm not saying that HAMP is the best solution I could come up with, but under the circumstances, I don't see anything better... or frankly anything close as far as keeping people in homes. I end up helping a... (Continue reading)
It's worth noting that in this case, the borrower did not allege that the two Banks had right to enforce the notes, only said the notes had to be shown, and the Court simply ruled that no such requirement was... (Continue reading)
When I saw the very first state make a grab for the settlement cash allegedly headed the state's way, I laughed and vowed not to let it get to me. Mandelman Matters, after all, only writes about things that... (Continue reading)
What goes on in Jamie Dimon's head? He loses billions in a few weeks and then goes on Sunday morning talk shows looking like he's just written a cookbook or whatever, saying that he's getting tired of people hating... (Continue reading)
Tim Miller, is a singer/songwriter from Dallas, Texas. Here he is performing a song he wrote after reading a news story about a family who lost their home, the victim of predatory lending.... (Continue reading)
So, have you ever wondered what Goldman Sachs CEO is saying when the cameras aren't on, own what goes on under that highly polished dome of his? Well, I sure have. ... (Continue reading)
There's no reason to wait another day to begin building your Whislteblowing Futures Empire. It requires the smallest if investments, and the leverage involved can turn out to be off the charts... I mean, we're talking tens of thousands... (Continue reading)
"While Paulson didn't want to write down mortgages, the single biggest factor in determining whether the American middle class has any stored wealth, Paulson was willing to do so in response to pressure. Barack Obama... (Continue reading)
Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke communicates more than any of his predecessors, but have you found yourself increasingly wondering what in the world the man is thinking behind that shiny dome and professorial facial hair?... (Continue reading)
This makes the third year in a row that the banking lobby has said a resounding no to any sort of change that's supposed to protect homeowners from abusive foreclosure practices. Why do we keep doing this? Haven't... (Continue reading)
Fannie Mae hates strategic default. Then you say it's bad for communities, Terrence, why do you think that's the case? I mean... bad is a relative term, wouldn't you agree. And, in terms of doing bad things... (Continue reading)
Dimon was quoted as having said that just because his bank had been stupid, it didn't mean that all the other banks would be equally stupid. But, see... it sort of does, right? That's why the sort of... (Continue reading)
I for one am glad to see that this country is finally taking the foreclosure crisis seriously and that my tax dollars are being put to good use, and I really do hope that everyone take advantage of the new... (Continue reading)
Oh, good Lord. We're still doing this sort of thing, huh? Some guy at JPMorgan Chase in London was gambling with credit default swaps, no one was watching, and next thing you know the bank was down $2... (Continue reading)
I'm not sure why, but meeting with a "Home Save Counselor" doesn't make me feel like I'll be talking with a commissioned salesperson who will be potentially making up to $1,000 on my loan modification case? A "Home Save... (Continue reading)
For one thing, filing quiet title did work out well for Denise Saluto, and since I would never have predicted it happening in her case, I'm certainly not going to tell you it won't happen again in yours, because as... (Continue reading)
Iceland's mortgage write-down program happened as a result of thousands of its citizens taking to the streets demanding that something be done about the debts the people had incurred buying homes during the bubble at what turned out to be... (Continue reading)
AP reported that the powder in the envelopes caused evacuations at bank branches, but no injuries, as if that last part mattered in the least. Idiots appear to be happy that the powder was found to be cornstarch... as... (Continue reading)
The European bankers are no different than is the FHFA, which is led by Ed DeMarco, the guy stopping Fannie and Freddie from reducing principal balances of mortgages. He says he won't do it because his job is to... (Continue reading)
Doesn't it just figure that in this country, where we have so much food we that throw away inconceivable amounts on an hourly basis and literally pay farmers millions of dollars not to grow stuff... that we'd have trendy intellectuals... (Continue reading)
This week's show focuses on the Obama Administration's handling of the foreclosure and housing crisis, by examining the statements made during the press conference the administration held to announce the settlement between the 49 state attorneys general and the five... (Continue reading)
I can tell you that I receive more complaints about Wells Fargo refusing to approve loan modifications than any three other mortgage servicers combined. But then, Wells did modify one of the homeowners I wrote about a few months... (Continue reading)
Decisions made by Larry Summers have been disastrous for this nation... that much is abundantly clear. Tim Geithner's been no peach either. Together their folly has cost our country incalculable amounts of money, but further, they have caused... (Continue reading)
Last week, Hawaii homeowners at risk of foreclosure had reason to be pleased. Not ecstatic… not jubilant… and certainly not electrified, as other bloggers have intimated might be appropriate. The decision is not cause for any of those emotions… there’s... (Continue reading)
Some are saying the case may set a precedent for the packagers of CDOs, making their only responsibility to disclose risks and conflicts of interest involved. A lawyer said to be "deeply involved" in the case, was quoted as... (Continue reading)
What follows below are slides from an actual presentation of a Residential Mortgage-backed Securities - RMBS/REMIC deal... but NOT the slides from a "road show" presentation to potential investors... what you're about to see are slides from an INTERNAL meeting... (Continue reading)
I write to identify a policy change that would add trillions of dollars of liquidity to the housing market overnight. It would stimulate home sales, stabilize home prices, and reduce the number of home foreclosures.... (Continue reading)
To really understand what happens when trying to determine the present and future value of a pool of loans within a mortgage-backed security, let's put ourselves in the place of the investors... we'll be investors together... and we'll want to... (Continue reading)
Clearly, today's news from Spain shows that when it comes to protesting, Americans have lost some of our creativity and are simply not up for it as often as we once were. Frankly, many have expressed concern about... (Continue reading)
If you're not already familiar with Ellen Brown, then I might as well just go ahead and say: "Your welcome," because I can't imagine anyone not liking this prolific blogger, author of 11 books, attorney, and President and Chairman of... (Continue reading)
Having Nye Lavalle and Max Gardner together is a rare event. Together, they would have to be considered the founding fathers of today's foreclosure defense movement, so this is an opportunity to learn how it all began and where... (Continue reading)
Also, I'm wondering something... when you say that, "foreclosures are a necessary ingredient to the housing market's recovery," how many do you figure we're going to need in order to "recover?" ... (Continue reading)
Actually, I don't even know if she can pull off that angry black woman thing, but that's exactly what we need at a time like this. You think Weezy Jefferson would be putting up with some nerdy pasty white... (Continue reading)
Heidi Cuda, a producer from Fox 11 News in Los Angeles produced a week long series on the foreclosure crisis for the Channel 11 news and asked to interview me. I didn't like Part 1, but Part 2 was... (Continue reading)
So... housing is not, not, not at bottom, "“ check. Unemployment not improving "“ check. And does the stock market at 13,000 mean something to the economy? Nothing good "“ check.You might want to bookmark this page, so... (Continue reading)
So, why did I write this? Because it makes just as much sense as everything else that's going on in this country, and at least it made me smile. ... (Continue reading)
The foreclosure crisis is seeping into our society everywhere. Or, at least it soon will be... ... (Continue reading)
What follows is a podcast featuring the "whistle blower"... the anonymous independent file reviewer working for Promontory on the Wells Fargo Bank account that reached out to us because he was fed up. I verified his identity and spoke... (Continue reading)
The bottom-line is, as anyone should be able to clearly see... Patricia Martin should NOT have lost her home and Wells Fargo SHOULD help her get it back with a modified payment so she can continue to live in the... (Continue reading)
Dear Greece... The Dracma will be fine and so will the people, but not if you wait too long, or if you continue with a prime minister who is an ex-central banker. Toss him out, re-shuffle the deck and... (Continue reading)
I haven't actually seen any of them, but I've gone ahead and described them, so you can see the candidates through my somewhat jaded perspective... and my list is likely a little different than the others you'll run across... I... (Continue reading)
This Mandelman Matters Podcast with Professor David Coates is not the same thing you've heard before, as he covers the foreclosure crisis both here in the U.S and in the UK. He also talks about the global financial crisis... (Continue reading)
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. ... (Continue reading)
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... (Continue reading)
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... (Continue reading)
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... (Continue reading)
If Mickey Mouse is going to sign it, and Donald Duck is going to notarize it... THEN DON'T SIGN IT... because we don't need it signed. BUT... if we DO need it signed, then don't forge it and file... (Continue reading)
The man's wife passed away in 2006. They were married for 53 years. Your bank explained that a request for postponement went in on the 23rd of December 2011 on a loan which Bank of America agreed to... (Continue reading)
Consider this... bankers say that they've been overwhelmed by the millions of homeowners unexpectedly seeking loan modifications and that's why applying for a loan modification has been such a nightmare. But, what about the number of foreclosures occurring in... (Continue reading)
How does the Fed write a white paper and present it to the United State Congress that is packed with proof positive of an entirely inadequate level of knowledge, understanding... education, even? Am I going to find out that... (Continue reading)
Utah Attorney Walter Keene is the lawyer that filed four quiet title claims last year, which means he was seeking to obtain a court order granting clear title to the properties in question. And all four were granted by... (Continue reading)
If that is going to be allowed to happen, we... and I mean WE, as in ALL OF US... should demand that we stop signing such things altogether. If a Linda Green look-a-like is going to sign a fraudulent... (Continue reading)
I don't usually do this, but with Holly's permission, I've posted the three emails I received from her today. I get a lot of very flattering emails from homeowners across the country, and I appreciate them all very much...... (Continue reading)
So, below is a video that Marco just put together. It's dramatic... disturbing even. It includes footage of the sheriff coming to evict a family, obviously without notice... or at least without adequate notice. Marco put the... (Continue reading)
ALJAZEERA: "If you want to find out about this story of the year and years past, in all of its disgusting detail, you can't just trust major media. You have to read Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone, a music magazine,... (Continue reading)
I decided that the best person to ask about what's going on with these positively inane negotiations would be a former State Attorney General, so I called Ohio's former AG, Marc Dann. Marc knows these people, he understands the... (Continue reading)
Every year I take a whole week off at Christmastime. Of course, it wasn't always that way. When I started working for my Uncle Scrooge years ago, he never would have allowed that. In fact, back then,... (Continue reading)
And to the homeowners who feel ashamed... who have suffered the indignity of losing a home in silence... this wasn't your fault. You didn't break the bond market and send housing prices into a free fall. You didn't... (Continue reading)
FIRST UP: A favorable ruling from Florida's Supreme Court in the Pino Case... I ask attorney Matt Weidner and Foreclosure Hamlet's Lisa Epstein to tell us what it means to homeowners. SECOND STORY: A blogger in Ohio teams up with... (Continue reading)
And, since it is the holidays, it's also time for my annual year-in-review-in-rhyme, read to the famous holiday poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I started writing my 'Twas the Night year-in-review in 2007, or at least that's the year... (Continue reading)
I was a guest on the News Dissector radio show with Danny Schechter out of NYC. And I was joined by one of the Occupy Wall Street organizers and Capt. (Ret.) Ray Lewis. Check it out... given the... (Continue reading)
A Mandelman Matters Podcast - Washington State attorney, Shawn Newman is fighting to protect the rights of homeowners. His legal theories and experiences in court related to Fannie and Freddie "owned" loans are interesting, to say the least, and... (Continue reading)
This letter was written today by attorney Thomas Cox of Portland Maine, and posted on several legal listservs. It was totally unexpected and more than moving. Tom is the lawyer whose work and depositions of GMAC's Jeffrey Stephan... (Continue reading)
Bank of America... stop torturing disabled American veterans, and stop torturing Arlie Matthews and I do mean immediately... and I also mean... or else. He's a brave and strong guy, but I know he's got to be scared to... (Continue reading)
No one helps those who don't help themselves. We need to be WE... and now. Because as long as the country believes that irresponsible borrowers are the problem, nothing will change for borrowers... not enough lawyers will join... (Continue reading)
The Arizona Bankers Association has been trying to change that for years so banks could go after the homeowners for the amount of the deficiency, and finally they've found their boy in Jack Harper. Inconceivably, Harper says he will... (Continue reading)
Fannie and Freddie actually had a policy stating that they didn't want to receive the physical "notes?" This "policy" was created by Freddie and Fannie and clouds who actually has legal title to the property (i.e. mortgagee) and who... (Continue reading)
Now, when right in front of our eyes, the banking lobby is pushing to make the only federal agency whose role is to protect consumers entirely toothless, once again we're failing to make our voices heard. I know this... (Continue reading)
Well, I caught up with Jeff after receiving a "friend request" from him on Facebook... I recognized the name right away and sent him a note asking him to join me for a podcast... and he said yes, of course.... (Continue reading)
The FBI has issued a statement saying that the Bureau is, "working with German authorities to assess the incident in Frankfurt and any potential threat to facilities or people here." NYPD has increased security around the Deutsche Bank locations in... (Continue reading)