The Foreclosure Fraud Settlement, By The Numbers. By Pat Garofalo on February 9, 2012 at 9:20 am "The Foreclosure Fraud Settlement, By The Numbers" Federal and state officials today will finally announce that they’ve reached a settlement with the nation’s biggest banks over the banks’ various foreclosure fraud abuses, such as “robo-signing” foreclosure documents and submitting falsely notarized documents to courts.
The settlement has been in the works for several months, as a few key states — most notably California and New York — were holding out for tougher terms against the banks. Here are some of the key numbers in the settlement, which is being officially announced at 10 a.m. 49: States that have reportedly signed onto the settlement. The deal protects banks from state and federal lawsuits pertaining to some foreclosure fraud abuses, including robo-signing. Whistleblower Lawsuits Against Banks Extinguished in Foreclosure Fraud Settlement. I think my disgust over federal housing policy is just about complete.
As you know, we’re still waiting for the actual terms of the foreclosure fraud settlement, more than one month after the announcement. But more information has dribbled out, not much of it to the good. Michael Hiltzik rounded up some of the more troubling issues. He mentions that OCC penalties will get folded into the settlement , basically charging $0 for their violations. The Federal Reserve did the same thing. But it gets worse. The suit claims Bank of America: Told borrowers and regulators that a complaint was “under review” while internally classifying the files as incomplete. And there was another whistleblower case , unsealed last month documenting appraisal fraud at Countrywide , now part of BofA. Well, guess what. The $25 billion foreclosure settlement released Bank of America from a lawsuit charging the bank with fraud violations under the Home Affordable Modification Program.
John O’Brien: Mortgage Settlement Fails to Address Banking Criminal Enterprise. Yves here.
The release by San Francisco county assessor-recorder Phil Ting of a study of document irregularities in foreclosures has put a spotlight on the failure of Federal banking regulators and state officials to do anything beyond cursory examinations of servicers’ bad practices. If a country official with limited resources can show that there are widespread abuses, what is the excuse of state and Federal officials for their failure to understand the depth and severity of these problems? As Dave Dayen has pointed out, it was two county registers of deeds, Jeff Thigpen in Guiford County, North Carolina, and John O’Brien of South Essex County, Massachusettes, who were the first to look at their own records to see how extensive the frauds were.
O’Brien has called his office a “crime scene” and refused to register any more fraudulent deeds. He also performed a study of his own, and the results were released in June 2011. By John L. Let’s not forget that foreclosures benefit no one. BREAKING: Victory for Minneapolis mom over Citibank's foreclosure effort. John wrote the other day about Nick Espinosa’s mom.
She was behind on her mortgage, finally was able to get the money together, but Citibank said “no” – they refused to accept her mortgage payment, and instead were going to sell her house tomorrow. That is, until Nick and a lot of his friends stepped up and saved the day. Nick Espinosa is an organizer with Occupy Homes MN, where he’s helped people facing foreclosure and eviction fight off the bank and keep their homes for the last eight-plus months. Nick is also well-known in activist circles for being the creator of the Glitter Bomb as a tactic in support of LGBT rights.
In short, he’s a great activist who’s putting his full being into helping others. Unfortunately while Nick had been helping other families in his community, his mother, Colleen McKee Espinosa, received a foreclosure notice. This is a tremendous victory for Nick and Colleen and their community, as well as the entire Occupy Our Homes movement.