Tuesday, June 14, 2011

BofA ‘Significantly Hindered’ Foreclosure Review, U.S. Says - Bloomberg

Here is more information the previous post relating to Bank of America and there cooperation with the investigation and the "foreclosure review"



BofA ‘Significantly Hindered’ Foreclosure Review, U.S. Says - Bloomberg


The bank was slow in providing data and offered incomplete information, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general’s office, which conducted the review.
“Our review was significantly hindered by Bank of America’s reluctance to allow us to interview employees or provide data and information in a timely manner,” William Nixon, an assistant regional inspector general for the agency, said in a sworn declaration.
The filing, dated June 1 and obtained yesterday by Bloomberg News, was submitted as an exhibit in a lawsuit by the state of Arizona against the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank. Arizona, which is seeking to interview former Bank of America employees, accused the bank of misleading homeowners who were seeking mortgage modifications.

Federal agencies and attorneys general from all 50 states are investigating the way banks service mortgage loans and conduct foreclosures. The group is in settlement talks with the five largest mortgage servicers, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The article further states that B of A used its attorney's to limit the effectiveness of the interviews during the investigation.  It wasn't as though further confirmation was needed to show that B of A was not cooperating fully but now you have it.  In spite of the public relations onslaught where the bank denied hindering anything, the truth is being slowly revealed.  The foreclosure review was hindered by the bank and their lawyers, there is no doubt about this fact.  We have seen several banking institutions being saved by the government and the taxpayer only to continue there suspect behavior that has kept the lid on what a mess the banks have created. 
According to Nixon’s declaration, when interviews with Bank of America employees were permitted, the presence or involvement of the bank’s attorneys “limited the effectiveness” of the interviews. Attorneys also refused to allow employees to answer questions “on a number of occasions.”
The bank’s delay in providing “readily available information” also hurt the review of the bank’s processes and controls, Nixon said. The information provided in response to two subpoenas wasn’t complete, he said.


The banks have now coupled fraud, perjury and blatantly interfering with a federal investigation to their resume.  How is it possible that people are still using the lame excuse that people are just trying to hold the banks accountable so they can get a free house?  The banks have caused a serious delay in the housing recovery and continue to hold the country hostage behind legions of lawyers willing to cover up any malfeasance by the bank. 





read related stories here and HERE




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HUD: Bank of America “Significantly Hindered” Mortgage Probe (Updated) « naked capitalism

HUD: Bank of America “Significantly Hindered” Mortgage Probe (Updated) « naked capitalism Make big money in penny stocks today

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Down Market more news of manipulation

Evidently the media can no longer deny the reality of our economy.  They have milked the so called recovery for as long as possible.  Now that the market is not being manipulated to the upside by large corporations any longer, the media has to get on the band wagon that is rolling out the economy sucks banner.  The reporting on the economic crisis has been nothing less than despicable the past few years.  A few have taken up the truth flag such as Dylan Radigan, but the reporting of the msm has been completely bought and paid for by corporate America and the  White House.

The middle class America has been wiped out and the burden on small businesses has been so onerous that they can not grow and hire.  The thought of running a small business is not longer the thought of growing and expanding.  Owning your own business in this day and age is just a way to trick people into thinking they have something more than a job.  Even worse, owning your small business has become just a way to have a job without any vacation or benefits.
 
The balance in our economy, if there ever was one, has been tilted completely in favor of the elites and those running the government.  Now we hear the media ringing the bell that the stock market is headed south but it has little to do with the economy. 

The stock market will go down because the institutional traders want it to go down so they can screw any one holding stock now that it has gone upward far enough for people regain some hope that they may be able to take a breath and relax. 
How could it be any clearer?  The Stock market went up with no growth in the economy.  It was a total manipulation by corporate American and the government.  The hope was that it would improve the attitude of the country and they would all start spending money, Even the ones that are still  unemployed.  The complete incompetence of the government has screwed the economy for years ahead.  People still talk crap that housing is not a large part of the economy.  Evidently they don't teach much in econ class at the ivy league institutions.  This is likely because economics is bull shit and it has been and always will be used to manipulate the American people.  Economics is not difficult to understand the government doesn't want people to question the Oligarchs running the country.  We have been divided into a two class society with the separation of rich and poor getting larger and larger. 

The truth of a down economy has never been told, other that Matt taibbi in his recent rolling stone piece, (this is a must read by everyone)   makes it clear we were raped by the likes of Goldman Sachs and their friends in the government. 







Investors may have to get used to down market - Business - Stocks & economy - msnbc.com
from MSNBC

After closing at its highest level in nearly three years on April 29, the S&P 500 has tumbled nearly 7 percent on the back of a barrage of soft economic data, sparking the debate over whether the economy is headed for a double-dip, or has merely hit a soft patch in its recovery.


The benchmark S&P 500 recorded its sixth straight weekly decline Friday and volume has picked up, as it typically does, on down days. Another week of selling will mark the longest stretch of weekly losses for the index since 2001.



Red flags, including ugliness in the junk bond market, options activity and the ease with which support levels have been broken, suggest more selling ahead.



"You have to be realistic. You've got to have some sort of correction to go into this marketplace just for the healthiness of the market," said Cliff Draughn, president and chief investment officer at Excelsia Investment Advisors in Savannah, Georgia.



As stocks have declined, both investment-grade and high-yield risk premiums in the bond market have slumped as investors sought safe-haven assets.



That's troublesome since the stock market often moves in sympathy with the junk bond market because rising borrowing costs crimp corporate profits.

Read more on the lack of a recovery here at Naked Capitalism (Dude where is my recovery)

Saturday, June 11, 2011

FDIC Sues LPS and CoreLogic Over Appraisal Fraud; Shows Investors Leaving Money on the Table | The Subprime Shakeout

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It is Shocking that after years of collusion between banks and appraisers, there has been little discussion as to what role the appraisers played in creating the doom for real estate. I have found it hard to believe that appraisers have gotten off so easily for years when it was always clear that they were in the business of facilitating sales and loans rather than to give good appraisals. The appraisers have always been in the banks pocket whether it is for inflating or deflating appraisals. Anyone who has knowledge of real estate and has been involved in more than a couple of transactions knows that 99.9% of the time an appraisal relying on the sales comparison approach comes in at the sales price.

How can that happen? Well it can only happen if their is an agenda being followed. Namely, that the appraisers do what the banks tell them to do because they get hired by the banks. However, the way the banks cover up the conflict of interest is by having the buyer pay for the appraisal even though it is required by the bank, and usually done by an appraiser or appraisal firm that is tight with the bank and mortgage underwriters. Appraisers commit fraud on a daily basis. If a banks suggested a price is too high on a purchase agreement then the appraisal will get re written at a lower price. This type of fraudulent appraisal costs the borrower far more that an inflated appraisal costs the bank because the borrower doesn't get TARP money when the economy collapses.

READ MORE on appraisal fraud at this link

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Critical Mers Decision in Michigan

Another monster decision in Michigan effecting MERS and the transfer of mortgages into Trusts.  It has been discussed that the banks were failing to abide by the Pooling Service Agreements for transferring loans into trusts for securitization.  The Michigan ruling clearly states that if the banks have not complied with the terms of the PSA then the loan has never been properly transferred into the trust. 

Why is this such a huge issue?  It involves the complete disregard the banks have had for proper chain of title for transfer of real estate.  It calls into question any authority that MERS claims to have and it calls into question the fraudulent attempts to create documents showing proper paperwork months and even years after the PSA agreement time lines had not been met. 

For those of you still crying that people just want a free house, get your head out of your... or just open your eyes to the facts.  This is the foundation of the mortgage crisis.  The banks knew they were doing questionable things to profit as much as possible.  As soon as the house of cards started to crumble they locked their doors and came begging to the government for a bailout. 
Even after the bailout banks didn't trust each other because they knew they had not followed the PSA stipulations and that they could complete freeze the economy by holding congress hostage.  The banks created this crisis and have perpetuated with more and more lies. 
They still will not come clean and do what they could to get the housing market moving.  They have taken billions from the government and have continued to deny any responsibility for decimating the economy. 
People are not looking for a free home.  But if the banks had not committed the egregious acts of fraud for years with no repercussions we would not have had a housing crisis.  The crisis can not be handled by the banks and it is clear the banks are running and hiding because they know this could get much worse for them.  There is no way to speed up the process to get through this unless the banks begin to make prudent business decisions to reduce principal and restructure loans.  They have milked the country out of everything and the government has played into their hands.  Banks are profiting from free money from the government that was meant to be used to aid in housing recovery but the banks have continued to invest in Treasuries to collect interest on the money they are getting at 0%. 

People would be wise to wake up and realize that banks can go on in this fashion forever.  As long as the congress is afraid to act on the truth and the Federal Reserve is willing to float banks free money, and Tim Geithner keeps acting as a tool for the banks, we will sit as we are and there will be no recovery. 

The Right is no better than the Left.  We can see that nothing has happened since the influx of new blood into congress.  They all are more concerned with re election than any thing else.  The banks and their lobbyist are always at the tip of the spear influencing congress.  We are all being sold down the river by our elected government.  Anyone supporting Obama as president for the people needs to own up to the reality that you have all been duped.  Just because he is a minority doesn't mean he represents the people.  This all should be clear just by looking at who he has turned to for help during the financial crisis.  Who?  Just about every single person who had a hand in creating the crisis and wiping out the fortunes of many hard working Americans. 

The problem now is growing and the longer the banks are let off the hook the deeper the crisis.  There is no one in the next election that will do the right thing and do something to re create trust within the economic system.  No one will have the fortitude to take on the money centers.  The corporations that are called banks are quasi government entities that have taken over the government.  They have either bought off or brainwashed every one in Washington. 

The Michigan case once again proves the banks have committed fraud repeatedly.  So far they have all gotten away with it and until everyone stops their self righteous behavior, and realizes that everyone who has ever had a mortgage is at risk.   If the banks are capable of wiping out years of proper chain of title evidence just because they don't want to pay fees and transfer costs, it effects ownership everywhere. 

If you can't see the truth to this then you are missing the point.  If you value the country as much as your own current state of affairs, you will see that the fabric of the country is in jeopardy. 

Read more on the Michigan case Here at Naked Capitalism
and HERE at 4closurefraud


From 4closure Fraud


“Failure to strictly comply with the terms of the PSA means that the loan at issue was never properly transferred to the trust”

Defendants’ failure to strictly comply with the terms of the PSA means that the loan at issue was never properly transferred to the trust. Any transfer of mortgage loans, such as Plaintiffs, was mandated to comply with New York Trust law and the terms and conditions of the PSA governing conveyance of mortgage loans into the Trust. PSA pp 155 and 36. This the Defendants did not do.
The Court finds that the “Assignment”, recorded on December 30, 2009 in the Washtenaw County Register of Deeds, serves to transfer nothing. The alleged conveyance failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the PSA and New York Trust law which governs the PSA. The alleged conveyance stated that MERS assigned the Mortgage and Promissory Note to USB, however, there has been no evidence presented to support the chain of the required assignments and endorsements of the mortgage and note as required by the terms and conditions of the PSA.

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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Quelle Surprise! Banks are Concerned About Mortgage Slowdown « naked capitalism

It is no surprise that mortgage bankers are whining again about the low numbers of new originations.  For some reason they think that a glut of buyers will be coming out of the wood work to save the banking industry from explaining their part in ruining the housing market.  The collusion of government and banker has succeeded in a few things and none of them have created demand for new originated mortgages.  The low interest rates is not beginning to solve the housing problem and until the banks own up to their part in the decimation of the economy, most people will gladly wait before they jump into the buying mode again.  It is hard to believe that the current administration is willing to bow down to the banking industry for their entire term.  They have tried to get the economy back on track so the banks could get away with egregious criminal behavior while doing nothing to protect the American home owner from getting screwed for years. 

Naked capitalism has another article documenting the arrogance and hubris of the mortgage and banking industry today.  The total denial of responsibility is as apparent as ever. 



It seems not to have occurred to the banking industry that relying people to be fools on an ongoing, large scale basis is not a viable business model. Investors have come to realize a bit late in the game that private label securitizations were structured so as to be far too favorable to the originators and servicers: too little disclosure, too many abuses, too little accountability, combined with impediments to seeking redress in court. Borrowers feel every bit as stung between deteriorating housing markets, foreclosure malfeasance, and doubts over chain of title.




It isn’t simply that banks have been slow to ‘fess up and clean up; instead, they’ve kicked and screamed at every possible reform measure, from pro investor reforms such as a very good FDIC proposal that got watered down to nothingness and a weak 5% risk retention rule (which Dean Baker estimates will add all of 0.13% to the yield on a mortgage) to pretty much anything that would help borrowers. And that’s before we get to widespread evidence of incompetence (continuing stories of foreclosing on people who don’t have mortgages is the tip of the iceberg) and fraud.






Quelle Surprise! Banks are Concerned About Mortgage Slowdown « naked capitalism




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Is Las Vegas the new Detroit? - 1 - underwater homeowners - MSN Money

Is Las Vegas the new Detroit? - 1 - underwater homeowners - MSN Money Make big money in penny stocks today

Monday, June 6, 2011

Weiner comes clean or something to that effect

Anthony Weiner Comes Clean

After squirming through countless interviews trying to deny without lying, Weiner not only admits the photo in question was sent my him, but also that he has had several relationships through the Internet with other women as well. 
Whatever the guy does in his personal life is his personal life.  I am sure he is not the only politician who has done something like this in the past few years.  Other than the fact that he was cheating on his wife and they tried to cover up the truth, in this day and age pictures of 1/2 the population are online or exchanged between friends, including boyfriends and girlfriends etc. We live in a different world now and there is no assumption of privacy. The public service ads caution children to beware on line and to keep your identity a secret but maybe they should start doing the same commercials for adults.   Or we all need to get over the fact that if you are a public figure, and even if you are not, there are two new realities at play.  One is that if you have picture of yourself online someone else other than the person you want to see it is going to find it, whether you are in a swim suit or a birthday suit.  It doesn't have to be scandalous.  If someone felt strongly enough to send a friend a nude photo of themselves then good for them, it is their choice, their right and their body.  So What?  It is every one's personal choice.
I think it is more of a concern that a seemingly reasonable intelligent person would think that something of this nature would remain private in the extreme media microscope everyone lives under today.  Also trying to deny the reality of the photos isn't the behavior of a person who understood the consequences of their actions. And that  brings to question if someone who is either that naive or that arrogant and self absorbed can actually serve the public good. 

I would question his character and integrity going foreword for a number of reasons.  It seems as though politicians can get enamored with their own sense of power and they act out in many ways.  Weiner evidently thought it was OK to do these things even after he was married.  If he was single I wouldn't think it meant anything about his character or integrity but once he was married he needed to start acting like a husband or get a divorce. 

The next question has to be whether he has an addiction or compulsion related to sex.  If not he is guilty of adultery, lying, arrogance or naivete or just plain stupidity. 

There seems to be a "type" of person who seeks power and strives to become a politician.  The media culture and constant attention Congress has to deal with creates the illusion of all being ultra important and it tends to twist the mind of a person inclined to see power and fame.  The constant attention can turn over confidence into full blown arrogance or grandiosity.  I do not think it is any coincidence that we are seeing a continually increasing gap between the elite and the middle class.  Those seeking power tend to have one objective:  to keep the power they acquire as long as possible.  Until the country realizes how the government is no longer by the people and for the people, we will see more and more actions by politicians and corporate executives that will reveal greater and greater levels of arrogance, narcissism and self absorption. 

Weiner had two ways to put this behind him and lying about it wasn't one of them.  If it wasn't him in the photos he could have just said no its not me end of story. 
Or he could have said yes its me, I have sent photos like this many times and I will again because I don't think it is wrong end of story  of course if he was single. 

The fact that he is married made this inappropriate not the fact that he likes to send nude photos to his friends. 

Read the full story by following the link below:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43299964/ns/politics-capitol_hill/t/website-says-weiner-sent-shirtless-photo-woman/?GT1=43001

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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Larry Platt, Prominent Securitization Lawyer, Made False Statements About BofA Mortgage Transfers « naked capitalism

Here is a follow up article regarding story in Fortune regarding the cover up by the big banks and some of there representatives who have recently been caught in several different lies. 

From Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism (yves is the authority on the housing crisis and how corruption on wall street and within the major banks have screwed the american public)
Among other things, its shows prominent securitization attorney Larry Platt, who accused judges who interfered with the imperial rights of banks to foreclose of engaging in an “assault on the legal system,” to be a liar. Funny how that type is eager to try to say everyone else is engaged in bad conduct.




Contrast Platt’s statements with Field’s findings:


 
To check DeMartini’s testimony, Fortune examined the foreclosures filed in two New York counties (Westchester and the Bronx) between 2006 and 2010. There were 130 cases where the Bank of New York (BK) was foreclosing on behalf of a Countrywide mortgage-backed security. In 104 of those cases, the loan was originally made by Countrywide; the other 26 were made by other banks and sold to Countrywide for securitization.



None of the 104 Countrywide loans were endorsed by Countrywide – they included only the original borrower’s signature. Two-thirds of the loans made by other banks also lacked bank endorsements. The other third were endorsed either directly on the note or on an allonge, or a rider, accompanying the note.



The lack of Countrywide endorsements, combined with the bank’s representation to the court that these documents are accurate copies of the original notes, calls into question the securitization of these loans, as well as Bank of New York’s right, as trustee, to foreclose on them. These notes ostensibly belong to over 100 different Countrywide securities and worse, they were originally made as long ago as 2002. If the lack of endorsement on these notes is typical — and 104 out of 104 suggests it is — the problem occurs across Countrywide securities and for loans that pre-date the peak-bubble mortgage frenzy.



In other words, DeMartini and the supposedly incompetent were truthful, and the damage control team, including outside counsel, lied. I wonder, given the dive that Bank of America stock has taken, whether Bank of Americas’ misstatements on this topic constitute securities fraud. If so, Platt has not only enabled but participated in it directly.



The reason I am harping on this is the American Securitization Forum, SNR Denton, K&L Gates and others went on a full bore campaign to defend their meal tickets last fall, and their rearguard action is looking increasingly to be an utter fabrication. Yet the media took up their line because they were large recognized players. What is offensive is not only is Platt not about to suffer any reputational consequences, but small firm attorneys like Nick Wooten who are targeting banking industry malfeasance get hit with frivolous sanctions motions and industry mouthpieces like Housing Wire trumpet them as if they are serious.



Yes, Virginia, we have a two tier system of justice in this country. And we need to understand all its ugly manifestations if we are to have any hope of rooting it out.

 







Larry Platt, Prominent Securitization Lawyer, Made False Statements About BofA Mortgage Transfers « naked capitalism

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Fortune Confirms Pervasive Defects in Bank of America Mortgage Documents « naked capitalism#comment-404611#comment-404611#comment-404611

This story as found on Naked Capitalism is a must read for anyone who has interest is seeing just how big the mortgage securitization and foreclosure crisis has grown. It appears that the banks and the courts, along with their lawyers, have been in on a scam that has drastic consequences for the banks as well as homeowners. The reality that CountryWide never followed the pooling and servicing agreements can no longer be hidden. The article from Fortune points out that CountryWide was batting 1ooo for following the proper steps to securitize mortgages for many years. It baffles the mind to think anyone could just say well their is an implied write inherent for B of A to foreclose on property that they actually have no real ownership. The effect of the wrongly repossessing property could effect title chaings for decades. Also if the banks would have been held accountable in the beginning of the foreclosure mess, it is likely that the housing meltdown would have been much less severe. The major issue that the banks were allowed to proceed illegally and long enough to ruin the housing industry. Now there is no recovery. The banks are in possesion of millions of properties yet to hit the market and furthermore could have been taken back illegally or without merit.

Read on:

Do you remember the brouhaha over testimony by a senior executive in Countrywide’s mortgage servicing unit last year? It called into question whether mortgages had been conveyed properly to securitizations, which in turn would impair Bank of America’s ability to foreclose.




Let me refresh your memory. As we wrote last year:



Testimony in a New Jersey bankruptcy court case provides proof of the scenario we’ve depicted on this blog since September, namely, that subprime originators, starting sometime in the 2004-2005 timeframe, if not earlier, stopped conveying note (the borrower IOU) to mortgage securitization trust as stipulated in the pooling and servicing agreement….



As we indicated back in September, it appeared that Countrywide, and likely many other subprime orignators quit conveying the notes to the securitization trusts sometime in the 2004-2005 time frame. Yet bizarrely, they did not change the pooling and servicing agreements to reflect what appears to be a change in industry practice. Our evidence of this change was strictly anecdotal; this bankruptcy court filing, posted at StopForeclosureFraud provides the first bit of concrete proof. The key section:



As to the location of the note, Ms. DeMartini testified that to her knowledge, the original note never left the possession of Countrywide, and that the original note appears to have been transferred to Countrywide’s foreclosure unit, as evidenced by internal FedEx tracking numbers. She also confirmed that the new allonge had not been attached or otherwise affIXed to the note. She testified further that it was customary for Countrywide to maintain possession of the original note and related loan documents.

Countrywide tried, in a thoroughly unconvincing manner, to retreat from the damaging testimony.



Abigail Field, an attorney who has regularly written on the mortgage mess at Daily Finance, published an article at Fortune that looks into whether DeMartini was simply being truthful and the notes were not conveyed correctly, which would mean Bank of America has a very big mess on its hands. Her conclusions are damning :



Fortune has examined dozens of court records that corroborate the employee’s testimony. And if Countrywide’s mortgage securitizations systematically failed as it appears they did, Bank of America’s potential liability dwarfs its shareholder equity, as the Congressional Oversight Panel points out…..



DeMartini….testified that Countrywide didn’t deliver the notes to the securitization trustee, and that Countrywide notes weren’t endorsed except on a case-by-case basis generally long after securitization ostensibly occurred. Both steps are required, in one form or another, under all securitization contracts.



Only the delivery issue was really scrutinized at the time, because without a doubt the failure to deliver the notes would invalidate the securitization. The other issue, failure to endorse the notes, sparked a debate: the American Securitization Forum argues the notes would still have been securitized without endorsement, while Adam Levitin, associate professor of law at Georgetown Law, convincingly argues that they would not have been…



Although law enforcement should be able to answer the delivery question easily — DeMartini indicated that Bank of America has FedEx tracking records for each note — it’s impossible for the public to check. But the endorsement of notes is easy to test. In every foreclosure, the bank must give the court the note or an accurate copy of it. And those notes are either properly endorsed or they’re not.


To check DeMartini’s testimony, Fortune examined the foreclosures filed in two New York counties (Westchester and the Bronx) between 2006 and 2010. There were 130 cases where the Bank of New York (BK) was foreclosing on behalf of a Countrywide mortgage-backed security. In 104 of those cases, the loan was originally made by Countrywide; the other 26 were made by other banks and sold to Countrywide for securitization.




None of the 104 Countrywide loans were endorsed by Countrywide – they included only the original borrower’s signature. Two-thirds of the loans made by other banks also lacked bank endorsements. The other third were endorsed either directly on the note or on an allonge, or a rider, accompanying the note. (Emphasis Added by FRR)



The lack of Countrywide endorsements, combined with the bank’s representation to the court that these documents are accurate copies of the original notes, calls into question the securitization of these loans, as well as Bank of New York’s right, as trustee, to foreclose on them. These notes ostensibly belong to over 100 different Countrywide securities and worse, they were originally made as long ago as 2002. If the lack of endorsement on these notes is typical — and 104 out of 104 suggests it is — the problem occurs across Countrywide securities and for loans that pre-date the peak-bubble mortgage frenzy.



This is about as bad as it could get, and confirms what we reported last year, that the failure to convey the note was pervasive, if not endemic. We wrote last September, prior to the DeMartini testimony:



We provided a report that suggests all the notes from Countrywide deals are still with Countrywide, even though it securitized 96% of the mortgages it originated. We got even stronger confirmation over the weekend.



One of my colleagues had a long conversation with the CEO of a major subprime lender that was later acquired by a larger bank that was a major residential mortgage player. This buddy went through his explanation of why he thought mortgage trusts were in trouble if more people wised up to how they had messed up with making sure they got the note. The former CEO was initially resistant, arguing that they had gotten opinions from top law firms. My contact was very familiar with those opinions, and told him how qualified they were, and did not cover the little problem of not complying with the terms of the pooling and servicing agreement. He also rebutted other objections of the CEO. They guy then laughed nervously and said, “Well, if you’re right, we’re fucked. We never transferred the paper. No one in the industry transferred the paper.”



And although the sample of non-Countrywide-originated notes in the Fortune study is small, the widespread use of allonges is a tell (an allonge is a separate piece of paper, which is supposed to be very firmly attached to the original note, to allow for more signatures to be added). They were simply unheard of prior to the mortgage meltdown and have this funny way of appearing and solving all the problems with the note conveyance. Quite a few have visible signs of being forgeries (signatures that are pixtillated and shrunk to fit when notes are required to have wet ink signatures).



So sports fans, this is looking to be as bad as it could be. As we said, the only reason for attorneys to be engaging in widespread document fabrications and forgeries was if they have a very bad fact set on their hands. Perversely, things have to get worse before they get better. The mortgage securitization system, which could have operated well if the industry had not gotten greedy and violated its own procedures, is hopelessly broken. The industry has engaged in a massive PR campaign to deny that fact but too much contrary information keeps coming forward. We can only hope that enough judges have become skeptical of banks to give the documentation a real look. Only when we admit the depth of failure can we have a chance of addressing the mortgage crisis and reconstituting our system of transferring residential real estate.
Fortune Confirms Pervasive Defects in Bank of America Mortgage Documents « naked capitalism#comment-404611#comment-404611#comment-404611

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Friday, June 3, 2011

10 Year Real Wage Gains Lower Than During Depression « naked capitalism

The reality of wage gains in the US is dismal.  Regardless of how great the stock market has recovered or that we have "maintained 9%" unemployment, the government working hand and hand with corporate American and their lobbyists, have turned the country on its ear.  An Article from Naked Capitalism explains that we have had 10 year decline in real wage growth. 

Really?  How can this be true if the economy is in such a state of recovery and Wall Street Execs are getting billions of dollars in bonus payments even as they trash the overall economy?  There is something wrong with this picture and it is something wrong with our country.  We have allowed the government to become a government by the elites and wealthy.  It is clear that the policies of the country have turned heavily in favor of the large companies and those that run those large companies.  They are given free reign to maximize profits for themselves, not including shareholders, with no accountability even if what they are doing has always been considered criminal in the past. 

How can the overall middle class be better off with wage patterns shown in this graph?  Inflation is running wild despite the claims by the government.   If people are earning less and less income by being squeezed by corporate America because the lack of job creation has taken all the cards away from employees Americans have less and less to set aside for their future. 

Here a few examples of inflation:

gas prices nearly double since 2008
food costs increasing continually
electricity rates increases in spite of billions in profits by the monopolistic energy providers
Health Care costs and insurance sky rocketing with personal  health insurance seeing over 30% increases in the past 2 years. 

Of course we have seen the deflating home prices but all of the necessary items that are unavoidable to most consumers have increased dramatically.  The manipulation of economic statistics is one of the most outrageous scams of our lifetime.  We would you want to have food and energy prices calculated in the real inflation rate?  Of course politicians are against this because it would reveal just how much they have screwed the citizens of our country.  But this goes in line with the general laundry list of political abuses committed by all politicians, even those from the so called "tea party" movement for change.  They are fast become typical politicians. 






Another factor weighing on the collective psyche, and thus voter attitudes, is the inability of most people to get ahead in real economic terms. Reader Francois T pointed out an article in Investors Business Daily that highlighted that real wage gains in the last ten years are even worse than during the Great Depression:
The past decade of wage growth has been one for the record books — but not one to celebrate.
The increase in total private-sector wages, adjusted for inflation, from the start of 2001 has fallen far short of any 10-year period since World War II, according to Commerce Department data. In fact, if the data are to be believed, economywide wage gains have even lagged those in the decade of the Great Depression (adjusted for deflation).
Two years into the recovery, and 10 years after the nation fell into a post-dot-com bubble recession, this legacy of near-stagnant wages has helped ground the economy despite unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus — and even an impressive bull market.

Over the past decade, real private-sector wage growth has scraped bottom at 4%, just below the 5% increase from 1929 to 1939, government data show.



10 Year Real Wage Gains Lower Than During Depression « naked capitalism