Supreme Court Ruling Strengthens Foreclosure Mediation - KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video -

 Nevada has developed a mediation program that seems to have developed some teeth in dealing with banks, mortgage abuses and Robo- Signing fraud.  In short the program allows mandatory mediation between banks and borrowers who have been given notice of foreclosure.  A fee is required in range of $200 dollars by both parties and the banks are supposed to show up with someone able to make decisions regarding a refinance.  It gives borrowers who have been getting the servicer shuffle merry-go-round treatment a chance to make their case for modification.  (in theory of course). 


Although program is good it has had its share of abuses by lawyers charging huge fees to just show up and do nothing while the bank gives another version of the paper shuffle.  The teeth has come now with legislation that makes in mandatory for banks to provide the original note to the mediator and to show the have proper ownership and proper right to foreclose on the property.  As you can see in the article that this is the fly in the ointment for the banks and seem to have slowed the rate of robo-signing and fraudulent paperwork dramatically.

It is hard to say it will have any lasting effect on the foreclosure problem or help increase pressure for a legitimate solution for the seriously underwater home owner but it is one step that calls for increasing accountability by the banks and servicers, something that is long over due. 




Supreme Court Ruling Strengthens Foreclosure Mediation - KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video -

Too Big to Fail Not Fixed, Despite Dodd-Frank: Simon Johnson - Bloomberg

 This is from a piece on Bloomberg about too big to big to fail banks not being fixed yet.

Break Up Banks

To make the FDIC resolution powers credible, large banks should have been made small enough and simple enough to fail.
Of course, if we had really done that, we wouldn’t need a resolution authority. When CIT Group failed in the fall of 2009, it had a balance sheet of about $80 billion. There was no bailout, the firm’s debts were restructured, and today it is back in business -- with an appropriately slimmer $48 billion in total assets at the end of the 2011 second quarter.
There were no adverse systemic consequences for the financial system. I’ve talked to many analysts and people active in financial markets, and cannot find any measurable consequences from the CIT failure on the real economy, including on access to credit for their customers, which were small and medium-sized businesses.

Cross-Border Banks

This was a success for the market system: Financial failure led to creditor losses and restructuring, rather than systemic panic. Unfortunately, the resolution powers won’t work for the largest cross-border banks. And bankruptcy for financial institutions would seriously undermine confidence, as happened with Lehman.
The financial system hasn’t become safer since September 2008. We are not in a strong position to weather the financial storms that now appear on the horizon.

The Full Article can be read by clicking on the following link:

Too Big to Fail Not Fixed, Despite Dodd-Frank: Simon Johnson - Bloomberg