February 24, 2012

A book for loners, perhaps...

From a review of a new book about introverts:Why it's OK to be an introvert.

"According to the informal test found early in the pages of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking” I am an introvert:
I’d rather talk to single good friend than several acquaintances;
I wish all of my communication was in writing;
I’m not driven by ideas of wealth and fame;
and I don’t like small talk.
Sometimes, I even prefer books to people.

This does not bode well for me. According to Susan Cain, author of “Quiet” we live in a time when introversion is “somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.”
Anyone who has been to a public school in the past twenty years (if not more) will probably agree.
The ideal person in our culture is extroverted; comfortable in front of crowds, and gregarious. Any deviation from extroversion is a sickness, and we should make it our life’s project to eradicate these traits from ourselves.

But Cain offers a reprieve to all oppressed introverts: not only is it OK to be introverted, sometimes it’s even advantageous.
Many of the most important cultural and technological advances in our culture have come from introverted people, from Newton’s theories to stories of E.M. Forster.
Introverts are more careful; they have concentration necessary to develop expertise in a subject and they are more creative than extroverts.

Pure extroversion, on the other hand, is not necessarily an unmitigated good.
The financial crisis is an example of what can happen when the risk taking extroverts take control. For years traders who took the biggest risks and who were more adept at selling themselves and their ideas prevailed until finally the worst fears of the cautious introverts came to be. Extroverted behavior can be dangerous and even at times downright dishonest."

http://www.metro.us/newyork/life/article/1096823--why-it-s-ok-to-be-an-introvert

February 22, 2012

Banks charging fees for mortgages they do not own

From foreclosure Fraud website: ( halfway down the article)

"While the settlement with Mr. Pino is confidential, we do know that a satisfaction of his mortgage was recorded in the public records in July 2011 (below).

Despite the fact that this mortgage “asset” no longer exists,
the trust is still claiming this mortgage as an asset as of the Jan 2012 investor report,
charging all sorts of fees, including monthly servicing fees, etc."

Snip:

Our research has uncovered other non-existent “assets” on the books of this trust. To put this in perspective, at the origination of this trust there were 6,734 loans of which 61 were originated in Palm Beach County.
As of the Jan 2012 investor report, 29 of the original 61 Palm Beach County loans remain on the trusts’ books. Only ONE is performing as originally contracted at closing.
Three others have been modified; one has a $39k forbearance, one has a $8k added to principal, one has $16k added to principal. The other 25 loans are non-performing
. (As of Jan 2012 report, total left in the trust 2,921; of the 2,921 left 1,187 are non-performing (delinquent = 237, bankruptcy 188, foreclosure = 512, REO = 250) but we know this data isn’t correct, so….)

Some “non-existent” loan examples from the trust

Roman Pino loan #130133456 – $162,400 – (July 2011 satisfaction – still on the books in Jan 2012 trust report in “foreclosure” status)
BoA monthly servicing fee for non-existent mortgage $50.73

Samantha Woodruff loan #130521936 – $171,940 – (Sept 2011 deed from trust REO to new buyer – still on the books in Jan 2012 trust report in “REO” status)
BoA monthly servicing fee for non-existent mortgage $33.70

Robert Rodriguez loan #130450231 – $176,542 – (Sept 2011 short sale deed & Nov 2011 satisfaction – still on the books in Jan 2012 trust report in “REO” status)
WOW – BoA monthly servicing fee for non-existent mortgage $181.69

Elsa Castillo Rivas loan #130445815 – $375,000 – (July 2011 short sale deed) – remained on books through Dec 2011 in “REO” status), finally reported as “liquidated” in Jan 2012 report
WOW – BoA monthly servicing fee for non-existent mortgage $328.04

This is just a small example of what we are uncovering. If we learned anything from the robosigning scandal, if there are more than two “irregularities,” there are thousands.

More examples from other trusts to come.

We feel comfortable saying that this is widespread…

http://4closurefraud.org/2012/02/20/exclusive-the-sophisticated-and-the-scammed-mbs-trusts-keeping-assets-on-the-books-long-after-they-are-liquidated/

February 17, 2012

Good news: Lehman Seeks to Subpoena Geithner In J.P. Morgan Suit

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and its creditors late Thursday said they want to subpoena Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to question him under oath over allegations J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. illegally siphoned billions of dollars from the collapsing investment bank in the days before it filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

https://www.fis.dowjones.com/WebBlogs.aspx?aid=DJFDBR0020120217e82hcwde2&ProductIDFromApplication=&r=wsjblog&s=djfdbr

February 16, 2012

Looks like the foreclosure fraud WAS as bad as we thought:

This was posted in LBN earlier, I think it is worth a 2nd look here:

California audit finds broad irregularities in foreclosures
Majority of S.F. cases scrutinized in review marred by violations
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19974381

Key points in the article:

1..transfers of many loans in the foreclosure files were made by entities that had no right to assign them, and institutions took back properties in auctions even though they had not proved ownership.

2..the same deed of trust to a property was assigned to two or more entities, raising questions about which of them actually had the right to foreclose

3..written transfers from the original owner to the entity currently claiming to own the deed of trust have disappeared.

4..58 percent of loans listed in the MERS database showed different owners than were reflected in other public documents like those filed with the county recorder's office.

February 14, 2012

Joint State-Federal Mortgage Servicing Settlement FAQ

If you are a homeowner, start with this FAQ page
http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com/faq
and be sure to poke around the links on the page to find out more about the settlement, esp these pages:

http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com/about

http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com/

Important details ( to me, at least) are:

BANKS ARE STILL ACCOUNTABLE FOR OTHER CLAIMS NOT COVERED BY THIS SETTLEMENT

This agreement holds the banks accountable for their wrongdoing on robo-signing and mortgage servicing. This settlement does not seek to hold them responsible for all their wrongs over the years and the agreement and its release preserve legal options for others to pursue. Specifically, this settlement does not:

Release any criminal liability or grant any criminal immunity.
Release any private claims by individuals or any class action claims.
Release claims related to the securitization of mortgage backed securities that were at the heart of the financial crisis.
Release claims against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems or MERSCORP.
Release any claims by a state that chooses not to sign the settlement.
End state attorneys general investigations of Wall Street related to financial fraud or the financial crisis.

The agreement settles only some aspects of the banks conduct related to the financial crisis (foreclosure practices, loan servicing, and origination of loans) in return for the second largest state attorneys general recovery in history and direct relief to distressed borrowers while they can still use it.

February 14, 2012

What’s Inside the $25 Billion Mortgage Settlement: An Early Look

If you click on each underlined heading of the article, a PDF opens.
I would be very interested in how y'all see this.
(Thanks to Ms. Smiler for the heads up on this)

"Federal and state officials haven’t made public the $25 billion settlement agreement that they reached with five large banks. As the Journal noted, the exact wording was still being finalized even as officials announced the deal on Thursday morning.

Officials said the final agreement would be made public once it’s filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., but that might not happen for a few weeks. Until then, here are some of the recent drafts of the settlement. The settlement includes several different components, some of which officials could release before the agreement is submitted to court.

The draft documents obtained by the Journal show the many moving pieces that were the product of more than one year of discussions. As indicated, the documents are draft copies that were issued on Jan. 19, just as state attorneys general were briefed on the deal. It’s not clear how much the terms have changed since these drafts were written:"

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/02/13/whats-inside-the-25-billion-mortgage-settlement-an-early-look/

February 10, 2012

Dear Admins: forcing us to use Paypal is not a good idea.

Original, here:
I know I am not the only person here who will not link their bank for withdrawals.
Wayyyy too many problems have happened that way.

Pls bring back the credit card option for those of us who would like to pay for DU.

For those who are reading this, north of the border has posted that DU will only accept a bank deducted payment via PayPal.
See here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/124042217#post101

Anyone else here have a problem with this ?

February 8, 2012

Robosigner Exec. has been indicted!!!!!!!

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Docx LLC, a unit of Lender Processing Services Inc., was charged in Missouri with forgery and making a false declaration related to mortgage documents it processed.

A grand jury in Columbia, Missouri, handed down the 136- count indictment against Docx and founder Lorraine Brown alleging that a person whose name appears on 68 notarized deeds of release didn’t actually sign the paperwork, Chris Koster, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement yesterday.

“When you sign your name to a legal document, it matters,” Koster said. “Mass-producing fraudulent signatures on millions of real estate documents across America constitutes forgery.”

Lender Processing, based in Jacksonville, Florida, says about half of all U.S. mortgages by dollar volume are serviced using its loan-servicing platform. The company will fight the charges, said Michelle Kersch, a Lender Processing spokeswoman.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-07/lender-processing-unit-docx-indicted-in-missouri-for-forgery.html

136 counts, most of them felonies!

LPS created Docx to create, out of whole cloth, forged titles, notes, mortgages, for foreclosures, and was one of the first robo-signing outfits to be under suspicion.

February 6, 2012

NY AG suing MERS!!!!

If I were a praying person, I would pray for this guy every day.

From the NY State AG Official Page:

Schneiderman: MERS And Servicers Engaged In Deceptive and Fraudulent Practices That Harmed Homeowners And Undermined Judicial Foreclosure Process

NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today filed a lawsuit against several of the nation’s largest banks charging that the creation and use of a private national mortgage electronic registry system known as MERS has resulted in a wide range of deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings in New York state and federal courts, harming homeowners and undermining the integrity of the judicial foreclosure process. The lawsuit asserts that employees and agents of Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, acting as "MERS certifying officers," have repeatedly submitted court documents containing false and misleading information that made it appear that the foreclosing party had the authority to bring a case when in fact it may not have. The lawsuit names JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Bank of America, N.A., Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as well as Virginia-based MERSCORP, Inc. and its subsidiary, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.

The lawsuit further asserts that the MERS System has effectively eliminated homeowners' and the public's ability to track property transfers through the traditional public records system. Instead, this information is now stored only in a private database – which is plagued with inaccuracies and errors – over which MERS and its financial institution members exercise sole control. Additional defendants include BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP, Chase Home Finance LLC, EMC Mortgage Corporation, and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc.

“The banks created the MERS system as an end-run around the property recording system, to facilitate the rapid securitization and sale of mortgages. Once the mortgages went sour, these same banks brought foreclosure proceedings en masse based on deceptive and fraudulent court submissions, seeking to take homes away from people with little regard for basic legal requirements or the rule of law,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Our action demonstrates that there is one set of rules for all – no matter how big or powerful the institution may be – and that those rules will be enforced vigorously. Only through real accountability for the illegal and deceptive conduct in the foreclosure crisis will there be justice for New York’s homeowners.”

The financial industry created MERS in 1995 to allow financial institutions to evade local county recording fees, avoid the hassle and paperwork of publicly recording mortgage transfers, and facilitate the rapid sale and securitization of mortgages. MERS operates as a membership organization, and most large companies that participate in the mortgage industry – by originating loans, buying or investing in loans, or servicing loans – are members, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Over 70 million loans nationally have been registered in MERS System, including about 30 million currently active loans.

Through their membership in MERS, these companies avoided publicly recording the purchase and sale of mortgages by designating MERS Inc. – a shell company with no economic interest in any mortgage loan – as the "nominal" mortgagee of the loan in the public records. Instead, MERS members were supposed to log mortgage transfers in the MERS private electronic registry. The basic theory behind MERS is that, because MERS Inc. serves as a "nominee" (or agent) for most major lenders, it remains the "mortgagee" in the public records regardless of how often the loan is sold or transferred among MERS members. Thus, although MERSCORP has only about 70 employees, MERS Inc. serves as the mortgagee of record for tens of millions of loans registered in the MERS System.

MERS has granted over 20,000 “certifying officers” the authority to act on its behalf, including the authority to assign mortgages, to execute paperwork necessary to foreclose, and to submit filings on behalf of MERS in bankruptcy proceedings. These certifying officers are not MERS employees, but instead are employed by MERS members, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.

MERS' conduct, as well as the servicers’ use of the MERS System, has resulted in the filing of improper New York foreclosure proceedings, undermined the integrity of the judicial process, created confusion and uncertainty concerning property ownership interests, and potentially clouded titles on properties throughout the State of New York. In fact, several New York judges have questioned the standing of the foreclosing party in cases involving MERS loans and the validity of mortgage assignments executed by MERS certifying officers.


http://www.ag.ny.gov/media_center/2012/feb/feb03a_12.html

February 5, 2012

Worn Pipes Shut California Reactors ( the pipes are relatively NEW!)

The two reactors at the San Onofre nuclear-power station near San Clemente, Calif., will remain shut down this weekend while federal safety officials investigate why critical—and relatively new—equipment is showing signs of premature wear.
The problem surfaced Jan. 31, when one of the units sprang a leak in a pipe called a steam tube, releasing small amounts of radioactive steam and tripping radiation alarms. Operators shut down the reactor four hours later.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204662204577201343461828720.html

get this:
San Onofre was built in the 1980s. Its owners, Edison International and Sempra Energy, spent more than $800 million replacing nearly 40,000 steam tubes and four giant steam generators in 2009 and 2010, buying the equipment from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The tubes are made of a metal called Inconel alloy 690, a state-of-the-art material intended to address a prior problem with cracking in tubes made of a different alloy, experts said.

Steam-tube leaks aren't unusual in older plants, experts said, "but I think such rapid degradation is clearly unusual," said Edwin Lyman, nuclear expert for the Union of Concerned Scientists. He added that it suggests manufacturing defects or operational issues.