Ethical Foreclosure

The best new example is the Obamacare plan.

Now before you get emotional, pay attention to these facts.
1) GMAC, BofA, Ally, PNC and Chase have all put a moratorium on Foreclosure processing and Sales of Foreclosure properties, REO's

2) Today (10/13/2010) 40 state Attorney Generals got a deaf ear from the White House and Wall Street to have all Lending institutions halt foreclosure proceedings and have an official investigation in to the allegations, specifically dealing with "robo-stamping" of up to 42 foreclosure files per hour.

3) 44 million people in the USA have loans, of them 4 million are in distress, yet the government HAFA/HAMP program EXCLUDES Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac loans. To date only 400,000 Hafa/Hamp mods have been issued, however 196,000 have either gone back in to foreclosure ore exited the government program due to the teaser rates that continue to climb.

4) Real Estate Investors are taking the responsibility to help distressed home owners with short sales, where the banks refuse to do a proper loan modification... to be honest we (the ethical investors) would prefer the banks DO a proper loan modification.

So where is the Government really trying to help? It seems the Attorney Generals and Investors are doing the real watch-dogging and work. So this brings me back to Obamacare...do you know how it will be partially funded? They will go after investment homes, that's right, your investment property to help build your nest egg and the price is 3.8% EXTRA when the investment property is sold. Can you say redistribution of wealth?

So if you own another home, or commercial building, not only do you pay out HUGE commissions to Realtors, in addition to property taxes, now there will be an additional 3.8%, which of course will do as much damage as appraisers did from 2003-2008 by artificially raising the price to the end buyer.

However if you are interested in growing your IRA or HSA TAX FREE, my company has the answers to help you still live the American Dream of financial independence, where the government seems hell bent on keeping the proceeds for themselves. AND YES I CAN PROVE THIS with even more facts.

Contact me at info@ethicalforeclosure.com if you want more facts.

STOP BELIEVING that government is the answer, IT IS the PROBLEM, which is WHY our founders did EVERY THING possible to make and keep the central government as small as possible answering to the people and the states rights.

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Congress Wants Answers on Robo-Signer Scandal -10/14/2010
Nancy Pelosi and other California members of Congress have petitioned the U.S. Justice Department and various regulators to investigate the foreclosure affidavit procedures of the major servicers. Letters demanding a probe were sent last week to Attorney General Eric Holder, Chairman Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve Board, and federal Comptroller, John Dugan.

The request comes in the wake of thousands of letters of protest from constituents, according to these members of Congress. Constituents are concerned that there is a pattern of fraud and abuse that may violate federal laws.

Some of the legal violations that the California Congressional delegation cited as problem areas include not only faulty document signing procedures, but also failure to respond to inquiries from homeowners in a timely manner, misplacing paperwork, and misleading homeowners concerning the availability of loan modifications and other foreclosure remedies.

Government gets involved in foreclosure fiasco -10/14/2010
The top prosecutors in all 50 states announced a coordinated probe into improper foreclosures by the nation's largest loan servicers, but stopped short of calling for a freeze on all foreclosures. The group of attorneys general and bank regulators says it will work to put an immediate stop to improper mortgage foreclosure practices, and review past and present practices by loan servicers and come up with potential remedies. The inquiry will be led by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. "This group has the backing of nearly every state in the nation to get to the bottom of this foreclosure mess, and we plan to work together as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible," said Miller.

Alabama was not included in the original coalition of 49 states, but Attorney General Troy King indicated Tuesday afternoon that his state would end its holdout and join the investigation. In addition to action at the state level, the Federal Housing Finance Agency on announced Wednesday directed servicers to review documents and remediate problems when found. The agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also requested that servicers proceed quickly in foreclosure cases where no problem are found, in order to avoid unnecessary vacancies.

Fannie and Freddie, which are supported by the government, own or back the vast majority of the country's mortgages. Some Democratic congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, have voiced support for a foreclosure moratorium while an investigation is conducted. But those Democrats have found themselves at odds with top members of the Obama administration, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who argue that a nationwide freeze would undermine an already fragile housing market and prolong vacancies. Hey, if even Obama is against more government intrusion, it's got to be a bad idea.

Ohio Attorney General Files Suit against GMAC -10/14/2010
Richard Cordray, Ohio's Attorney General, has asked the court for a permanent injunction against GMAC and its parent, Ally Bank, to cease and desist from filing foreclosures in that state until all foreclosure practices have been reviewed and all improper practices have been corrected. He has also filed fraud charges against the Lender as a result of the robo-signing snafu which could result in fine of $25,000 for each foreclosure filed in Ohio found to have fraudulent paperwork. Many other states are preparing similar charges.

The charge stems from a Maine case where a GMAC foreclosure processor testified in court that between 2006 and 2010 he had signed thousands of affidavits each month for foreclosures without reading the documentation, a practice the Ohio Attorney General said is fraudulent.

Cordray has also asked Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase to cease and desist from foreclosure actions in Ohio until the whole issue has been cleared up in these institutions as well. He has sent letters to Wells Fargo and Citibank asking bank officials to meet with him to discuss their foreclosure procedures also.

GMAC contends that they have already revised their document signing practices and hired more staff for the division responsible for the foreclosure process.

Wells Fargo adds to crisis -10/14/2010
Legal documents obtained by the Financial Times suggest that Wells Fargo, the second-largest US mortgage servicer, also used a "robo signer". Unlike its rivals, Wells Fargo has not halted foreclosures. The San Francisco-based bank said on Tuesday it was reviewing some pending cases, but it has maintained that it has checks and balances designed to prevent serious procedural lapses. In a sworn deposition on March 9 seen by the FT, Xee Moua, identified in court documents as a vice-president of loan documentation for Wells, said she signed as many as 500 foreclosure-related papers a day on behalf of the bank. Ms Moua, who was deposed as part of a foreclosure lawsuit in Palm Beach County, Florida, said that the only information she verified was whether her name and title appeared correctly, according to the document.

Asked whether she checked the accuracy of the principal and interest that Wells claimed the borrower owed — a crucial step in banks' legal actions to repossess homes — Ms Moua said: "I do not." Ms Moua nevertheless signed affidavits that said she had "personal knowledge of the facts regarding the sums of money which are due and owing to Wells Fargo". The affidavits were used by the bank in foreclosure proceedings. Ms Moua added that before reaching her desk, it was her understanding that the foreclosure documents had been reviewed by outside lawyers. Wells declined to comment on the deposition but said its records show its "foreclosure affidavits are accurate".

Mortgage fiasco - the latest -10/13/2010
Ally Financial, previously known as GMAC, the finance arm of General Motors, said Tuesday it has hired outside accounting and legal firms to examine its foreclosure procedures in all 50 states. That effort will not look at individual cases. Ally also said it would review pending foreclosure sales to ensure that all documents are accurate. In addition, Ally had previously announced that it was temporarily suspending evictions and post-foreclosure closings in the 23 states in which judges must sign off before someone loses their home. The company will continue its internal review in those 23 states. Ally Financial said it has found no evidence of any inappropriate foreclosures. Separately, both Wells Fargo and Litton Loan Servicing said Tuesday they were modifying their foreclosure processes. A spokesman for Wells Fargo, one of the nation's largest loan servicers, said the bank is conducting additional reviews of documents, but is not freezing foreclosures. Litton said in a statement that it "has suspended foreclosure proceedings in certain cases while it completes a review of its procedures."

Pressure increases to halt more foreclosures -10/6/2010
Members of Congress from California wrote to the heads of the Justice Department, the Federal Reserve, and the Comptroller of the Currency on Tuesday, requesting that they investigate the foreclosure processes of banks under their purview for "possible violations of law or regulations." In Texas, the Attorney General's office sent "suspension notices" to 30 loan servicers in the state, asking them to halt foreclosures until they have completed a review of their procedures. The Attorney General in Massachusetts also urged financial institutions in the state to put a hold on all foreclosures. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., wrote Tuesday to the chief executives of Ally, JPMorgan, and Bank of America, along with officials at 117 mortgage servicing companies, requesting details on their internal investigations and what is being done to fix the problem. Menendez, along with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., has also asked the Government Accountability Office to open an investigation into
whether "shortcomings" in federal oversight contributed to "false affidavits" in foreclosure proceedings.

In their letter to the regulatory agencies, California lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said lenders in the state have routinely resisted working with borrowers hurt by the weak economy. They argued that banks are slowing the economic recovery by worsening the foreclosure crisis. The recent revelations "only amplify our concerns that systemic problems exist in the ways many financial institutions have dealt with homeowners who are seeking to avoid foreclosures," the letter said. "It is time that banks are held accountable for their practices that have left too many homeowners without real help." Ok, so the banks screwed up, but Congress complaining about accountability really takes the cake for hypocrisy.

Mortgage Rates Drop Again -10/5/2010
Mortgage rates have fallen again. Just when it feels as if the rates cannot go lower, they fall a bit more to the lowest level in at least 50 years.

Freddie Mac listed the 30 year fixed-rate mortgage at an average of 4.32% for the week ending Sept. 30. That's down 5 basis points from the week before, and tied with the rate from four weeks ago that set an all-time record.

Freddie Mac reported the 15 year fixed-rate at a record low of 3.75%, or 7 basis points below last week's rate. The 5 year ARM rate also dropped to a new record low at 3.52%.

The drop in rates represents an additional decline in consumer confidence despite some really encouraging news about the economy. The Federal Reserve has reported that about $1 trillion in home equity was regained in the 2nd quarter of the year after an overall drop over the last 3 years of $7.5 trillion in equity.

The Bankrate survey for the week also reflected record lows. For 30 year fixed-rate mortgages the Bankrate survey pegged average rates at the top 10 lenders as unchanged at 4.5%. The 15 year mortgage reached a new low of 3.94%, a drop of 2 basis points.

Bankrate said the 5 year ARM rate decreased to 3.68% and the 7 year ARM to 3.91%.

Bankrate officials said the continued historic low rates were because investors anticipate the Federal Reserve will soon resume some quantitative easing in order to stimulate the economy. They expect the Fed to start buying up government bonds in order to drive interest rates down further. Investors are getting out in front of the Fed on this one.

Loan delinquencies up -10/5/2010
The American Bankers Association says the overall delinquency rate rose slightly from 2.98 percent to 3 percent in the second quarter based on the statistics the group uses to measure how much trouble consumers are having making payments on loans. The delinquency rate had been dropping steadily since hitting 3.35 percent in the second quarter of 2009. Mobile home loan delinquencies went from 3.65 percent to 4.01 percent in the second quarter while marine loan delinquencies jumped from 1.93 percent to 2.2 percent.

Among the bright spots, bank card delinquencies fell from 3.88 percent to 3.62 percent in the second quarter, and direct auto loan delinquencies fell from 1.79 percent to 1.67 percent over the same period. Consumer spending had been a major driver of the economy before the recent recession. During this time, however, the accumulation of too much debt, particularly through mortgages, is seen as a leading cause of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the ensuing economic downturn. How to strike a balance between spending and debt has proved vexing. On Monday, President Obama said consumer spending was less likely to drive a robust recovery because Americans are focusing more on reducing their debts and increasing their savings.

BOA, JPMorgan, GMAC Halt Foreclosures in Judicial States -10/4/2010
Last week John Walsh, acting chief of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) ordered the seven largest loan servicers to take a hard look at their foreclosure procedures in light of the revelations from GMAC and JP Morgan that they had discovered irregularities in the paperwork for some foreclosures.

The Lenders involved in the OCC directive include JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citibank, HSBC, PNC Bank, US Bank and Wells Fargo. Together they represent the lion's share of foreclosures in this country. To date, JPMorgan, GMAC, and Bank of America have announced halts to their foreclosures in judicial states until the investigation is complete.

OCC has staff on site at each of these servicers to audit the procedural review. The OCC will not only review process but also assess the damage done in the form of foreclosures already filed or complete

Fannie Mae Cuts Back on Mortgage Investment Portfolio -10/4/2010
Because delinquencies have fallen off substantially Fannie Mae has been able to shrink its portfolio as of August at an annualized rate of 4.1%. Its portfolio fell by 1.3% in August. Fannie Mae is the country's biggest mortgage backer.

The single family serious delinquency rate for mortgages more than 90 days late fell 17 basis points in July to 4.82%. This rate is higher than at the same month in 2009, but the rate is consistently falling. The reasons for the drop in serious delinquencies are attributed to the higher quality of newly purchased loans, and to the loss mitigation efforts of Fannie Mae.

Reportedly, Freddie Mac is experiencing declines in serious delinquencies also. The single family delinquency rate fell 6 basis points in August to 3.83% and shrank its portfolio by 5.2%.

TARP Goes Out of Business -10/4/2010
The $700 billion fund set up two years ago to bail out the banks went out of business over the weekend. The program ended up only costing taxpayers between $50-70 billion. Most of the money has been paid back. The program will continue to collect payments and dividends, but will not make any further loans.

As a political issue, TARP has been unpopular and has damaged incumbents' chances of reelection. Democrats are generally taking a hit for it and experts expect it to be a large factor in the upcoming mid-term elections with republicans promising not to take similar measures in any future economic crises.