What's going on inside BOA as of the end of the second quarter of the National Mortgage Settlement? Here's your chance to hear it straight from the source... in advance of the monitor's report. Another Mandelman Matters Exclusive!... (Continue reading)
"This analysis suggests that the country should not focus on the immediate problem of mass unemployment, about which little can be done. Instead we should turn attention to long-term issues, such as tax reform and education." ... (Continue reading)
"In Spain right now, we have nearly a million empty housing units. In this situation, the government and the economy ministry ... has to take steps so that no family in good faith goes without a home."... (Continue reading)
They call it a "mass torte," but it can also go by the name "mass joinder," or "multi-plaintif," or whatever other term d'art it might be using tomorrow, but no matter what it's called, the person calling to tell you... (Continue reading)
If you receive a solicitation that looks or says anything like what you see below, DO NOT RESPOND TO IT... IT IS A FRAUD... IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE. ... (Continue reading)
LPS also reports that as of September, 3.7 million loans were at least 30 days delinquent, but not yet in foreclosure.... and 1.53 million loans were at least 90 days delinquent, but not yet in foreclosure. Almost two million... (Continue reading)
Jon Stewart asked you about why you didn't spend so much of the money available for HAMP... on HAMP... or on other efforts to mitigate the damage being caused by the foreclosure crisis. And you knew what he had... (Continue reading)
It's foreign policy night but although each question starts out overseas, it ends up buried in our flaccid economy somewhere near Cleveland. Romney points out that Obama can't seem to buy jobs let alone create them. ... (Continue reading)
So, if the normal market had 100 buyers, where there used to be 66 repeat buyers, now there will only be 33. Where there were 25 first timers, now there will only be 12. Are you getting the... (Continue reading)
What could Mr. Bernanke and others have done differently? Addressed the real cause of the crisis, the lost trust part... by announcing that the U.S. government would be stepping into the bond market and guaranteeing the investment grade bonds...... (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)
Once you're underwater, however, as at least half of homeowners are today, you can't borrow against your home's equity, nor can you sell your home, so any of those life events are likely to hit you where you live. ... (Continue reading)
For those in the Seattle area... I'll be speaking to homeowners, lawyers and anyone else interested in the foreclosure crisis at a meeting this evening from 6:00pm - 8:00pm...... (Continue reading)
why would Smith publish a report whose only meaningful certainty was to scare even more homeowners away from paying attention to Bank of America's borrower outreach efforts? BOA and its peers were already having a hard time reaching... (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)
Neil Barofsky is a name I'll never forget, and it won't be hard for anyone to understand why that's the case when I tell you the reason why. Neil was the Special Inspector General for the Treasury's Troubled Asset... (Continue reading)
According to a story in Mortgage News Daily, California's Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom took a couple of shots at a Washington D.C. trade group called the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association ("SIFMA") in response to their threatening San Bernardino... (Continue reading)
Everybody says the new law and recent decision are going to provide protections and in general make things better for Oregon's homeowners at risk of foreclosure., and for the people of thee state as a whole. They're wrong.... (Continue reading)
Tom has recently discovered a practice employed by the GSE's... Fannie and Freddie. It has to do with what we're calling "The Decoy Assignment," and it's a matter of policy. He's arguing it successfully in court.... (Continue reading)
So, this year started out depressed, as well it should have, but very quickly, and I do mean within weeks, a six-year downturn was transformed into a robust recovery based on... well... nothing really. None of the fundamentals changed,... (Continue reading)
The recent passage of California's Homeowner Bill of Rights (53-25, 25-13) is the most conclusive example that what I spoke of at that conference in 2010, has come to pass. The financial services industry lobbied heavily against the passage... (Continue reading)
If you want my advice... don't read this post, or watch it... just skip this page and head for the sports section or something. I'm sorry I'm even posting it... seriously... click away... while you still can.... (Continue reading)
Why has no one at the top been investigated or prosecuted for fraud or anything else for that matter as related to the financial meltdown that has destroyed trillions of dollars in consumer wealth? Especially when William K. Black's... (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)
Washington State consumer attorney Scott Stafne is running for a seat on the State Supreme Court in the State of Washington. Why is he running, and why should you care regardless of where you live... click play and listen... (Continue reading)
And now I'm supposed to come to terms with the idea that the administration's bored with the topic itself? I could understand it if they were bored with something they'd mastered, although I can't for the life of me... (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)
Let's let C.A.R. know that even though many of us may be losing homes today, that doesn't make us deadbeats... it makes us strong... it makes us focused... and it makes us remember who was and who wasn't on our... (Continue reading)
The recent collapse of the real estate and financial markets in this country created the need for attorneys to help many of their homeowner clients by negotiating with lenders for a forbearance or modification of loans secured by the clients'... (Continue reading)
It's hard to describe what I do when I say I help homeowners. I'm not a lawyer and I never offer anything close to legal advice. I'm not a mortgage expert either. I think my value is... (Continue reading)
We need growth, or we're not getting out of this alive. It's the only way. We can't borrow and spend our way out of this one, like we have all the past recessions, or at least the ones... (Continue reading)
What the state bar is left with are not the lawyers that SB94 was intended to address but a target nonetheless because of SB 94's overly broad and possibly unconstitutional remedy... lawyers simply caught up in the loan mod dragnet.... (Continue reading)
The real point is that we don't deserve someone like Elizabeth Warren and likely won't get her or anyone like her until we can answer her question about being ready with a resounding YES! and really mean it, as in... (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 Bank CEO John Stumpf Did you see what happened yesterday? It’s hysterical, really. I mean, not for Aaron Krowne at ML-Implode, or Michael Nazarinia at Rest Report Matters… you see, Wells Fargo was shooting at me… but shot... (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)
Edward DeMarco of the FHFA is the conservator for the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At this point the president, the Secretary of the Treasury, and many in congress have asked him about participating in anything... HAMP, principal... (Continue reading)
If someone has told you that I am involved in a loan modification law firm or any other type of operation, asking that you pay him or her money to get your loan modified, it is a SCAM. ... (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)
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)
What is a strategic default? These days, it occurs to me, there would be even less morality involved in the decision to walk away from a mortgage. I can't believe anyone actually feels morally obligated to a bank today.... (Continue reading)
Jay Patterson teaches lawyers how to use the SEC Edgar database, among others, in order to find out who owns a loan. How to identify the trust a loan is in and find the Pooling and Servicing Agreement. how... (Continue reading)
Nothing is going to change that quickly. It was a huge problem yesterday... it'll be a huge problem tomorrow. None of the underlying fundamentals have changed one bit. In fact, last month's unemployment data was a nightmare,... (Continue reading)
Praise the Lord, and please pass the foreclosures, right? We need to get through the foreclosures... clear the market... let it hit bottom... isn't that what Mitt Romney, Rick Santelli, House Republicans, quite a few Democrats too... and a... (Continue reading)
Wells Fargo "stepped up" with a $22,000 "gift." Is that how that should ideally be phrased? I suppose it's fine. But, having spent the last few days writing and talking about Norm Rousseau, who took his own... (Continue reading)
Just to make sure I understand what you said there... the problem is that there aren't enough homes for people to buy? We're having a shortage of houses for sale, are we? Wow... you know, I was sleeping... (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)
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)
If you're a lawyer or real estate licensee that has been involved in helping homeowners save their homes from foreclosure over the last few years, or a homeowner struggling to understand the crisis at hand... I PROMISE... YOU DO NOT... (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)
Zanides estimates that the bank has spent a significant amount already on legal fees and now is certain to spend a whole lot more. Patricia Martin's home is worth no more than $275,000. How can it be worth... (Continue reading)
In 2012, the road to the White House runs directly through the states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, most notably Ohio and Florida, but also Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina, et al. For the Obama campaign, I would... (Continue reading)
This week on 30 MINUTES OF TALKING I'm looking at the contradictions that are being thrown at us almost every day now... this past week it was the housing market that hit bottom, according to quite a few. But... (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)
First of all, I realize that I wasn't there. And I understand that the guy had a beer in one hand and a gun in the other. But he was obviously thinking pretty clearly... after all, a couple... (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)
The video below puts you in the courtroom to watch as both sides of the debate present oral arguments related to MERS' involvement in the foreclosure process in front of the nine justices of the Washington State Supreme Court.... (Continue reading)
On this Mandelman Matters Podcast, I ask Ed about the results of his extensive research into the FHA, which he refers to as the "new sub-prime," and "the next bailout." His extensive study of the FHA's data in terms... (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)
But, the structural problems we face have NOT changed, so I see no possibility that we aren't going to see some continued weakening in the housing market in the years ahead, and I don't care whether we're talking Phoenix, or... (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)
Who knows... trying to pick the bottom has long since proven itself to be a fool's errand anyway, right? It certainly should have by now. My advice would be to buy on the way up. Missing the... (Continue reading)
California State Senator Vargas has introduced SB 980, which would extend SB 94 through 2017.... (Continue reading)
Ireland journalist won't give up. Why do our journalists fail to get started?... (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)
If one million people give $70 each, that's more than any of the GOP candidates has raised. He needs to get 15% in a national poll to get on the stage during the presidential debates so he can challenge... (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)
Wells Fargo... let me be clear about this because time is short. Particia Martin is scheduled for UD Court tomorrow. So, you have some law firm, some unsuspecting foreclosure mill, no doubt... and you should call and cancel... (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)
The settlement agreement is supposed to help one million households by reducing their loan balance reduced. There's no way is there enough money in this settlement to do all that much for anyone. But Obama has said it's... (Continue reading)
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... (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)
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)
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... (Continue reading)
In just two days from now, on Monday, January 30, 2012, at 3:00 PM... a terrible, tragic and yet easily avoidable event is scheduled to occur... and MUST BE STOPPED. OneWest Bank is scheduled to conduct a foreclosure auction... (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)
Reducing mortgage balances is a risky idea that hasn't been shown to keep borrowers who owe more than their property's worth in their homes, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. (CSGN). Suspending accounting rules is a risky idea that hasn't been... (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)
Look... are you feeling me here? Do you see what I'm saying? What's the deal? Are they lying or are they stupid, because there's no way in the world we should be talking about whether the FOMC... (Continue reading)
Doug and Holly were excellent customers of your bank for over 16 years, and then they hit a rough patch. They needed the bank's help... some guidance to get them through difficult times. You had a chance to... (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)
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)