Update On The Foreclosure Fraud Crisis (Links, Latest Developments, New Ratigan Op-Ed, Denninger Video)
Video: Ratigan with Karl Denninger -- Aired Thursday Oct. 7, 2010
Everything else is below.
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Editorial submitted by Dylan Ratigan.
Property Rights Gone Wrong
Most mortgages in America are now backed by our government. And in order for a bank to get that backing from our government it must fill two criteria:
1. The borrowers must be verified by the banks and their agents as qualified.
2. Lenders must fill out paperwork accurately and make sure that when the home's title changes hands, so does the documentation.
But in the past two decades, a whole lot of the time, that never happened.
Why?
For banks and servicers, the motive was money. Banks profited by packaging and selling those toxic home loans. Then they profited again by betting against those same securities. A bet, in essence, that a fraudulent loan wouldn't be paid back.
But why would politicians allow this?
The simple answer is to stay in office.
Giving people huge government incentives to buy houses made them happier and thus made their politicians more likely to keep their jobs. And at the same time, the financial services sector -- the banks making all the money -- were donating to their political campaigns.
In 2008, the financial sector was the top donor to both the Democratic and Republican candidates.
So where are all these toxic loans now? We own them! At the Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.
And the banks and politicians will do whatever it takes to prevent a legitimate foreclosure proceeding...one which would easily reveal the lack of qualifications and bad documentation in the loans sold to the government.
Finally, the last and most important why:
Why isn't the government dealing with it now?
Simply because it could reveal systematic criminal and civil fraud at the highest levels of America's banks and in its political corridors.
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Latest developments:
Oct 8, 2010 at 2:37 AM
Reader Comments (12)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/business/06mortgage.html?_r=2&source=patrick.net
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-bank-industry-entering-new-crisis-analyst-2010-10-06
Chris Whalen...
The bill, which would have made it more difficult for homeowners to challenge foreclosures, came under the spotlight this week as the furor grew over disclosures that some of the biggest U.S. mortgage processors filed false affidavits in thousands of foreclosure cases.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101007/pl_nm/us_usa_housing_whitehouse;_ylt=ArYWVeO0874zFcgfJXGqE6Cb.HQA;_ylu=X3oDMTNtN2ZxYXN0BGFzc2V0Ay9zL25tLzIwMTAxMDA3L3BsX25tL3VzX3VzYV9ob3VzaW5nX3doaXRlaG91c2UEY2NvZGUDbXBfZWNfOF8xMARjcG9zAzEEcG9zAzEEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNvYmFtYWtpbGxzZm8-
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39553012
John Carney's take...
Big deal, right? Well, yes.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39459132
More from Diana Olick...
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1982327,00.html#ixzz11kSYLi5e
This is crazy talk...margin kills unless used carefully, with stops, and for short periods only...
"In 2008, the financial sector was the top donor to both the Democratic and Republican candidates."
Fantastic. Having stolen the checkbook, the parasite convinced the host it's the other way around. Until people get that, the U.S. will continue deteriorating. No sign of reversing that with next month's election.
Prepare accordingly.
I also think it's amazing that he has people like Denninger on the show and reads The Bail. That kind of link between grassroots bloggers and MSM journalists really hasn't happened before. Part of it is just the nature of media in the age of a robust, mature internet. But another part of it is that Dylan understands that many of his colleagues have their heads in the sand on these issues. These are amazing times. Frustrating, maddening, but amazing all the same.
("MYSTERIOUS BILL
Obama's decision not to sign the bill capped a week which saw the legislation, passed by the House in April, suddenly pushed through the Senate Judiciary Committee and approved by the full Senate on September 27, the day before the Senate recessed for the midterm election campaign.
Passage of the bill caught homeowners' advocates, including lawyers and some state officials, by surprise with some saying the timing seemed peculiar.
The bill had received almost no public attention but stirred controversy once the Senate's rapid passage of bill became public.
Congressional staffers said many lawmakers and White House officials initially didn't realize that the bill, which nominally deals only with notarizations, could have big impact on foreclosure cases.")
H.R. 3808: Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2009
Introduced
Oct 14, 2009
Referred to Committee
View Committee Assignments
Passed House - Yes
Apr 27, 2010
Passed Senate - Yes
Sep 27, 2010
Signed by President - No sent back to Congress
Oct 7,2010
Another example of how totally corrupt U.S. Congress has become
There had to be a hell of a lot of lobbying and money changing hands to get this bill passed so quickly. This Congress hasn't passed anything to really help the American Middle Class for the last three years. Their favorite dance is the committee limbo. yet this one goes through committee and gets passed in the House and the Senate in eleven months and seventeen days. Could the big banks have had anything to do with that? Does a wild bear poo in the woods?
Their only problem is now the cat is out of the bag and if Obama signs it he might as well slit his political wrists, same for the Senators and House Reps. who voted for it.
And if you believe this..
("Congressional staffers said many lawmakers and White House officials initially didn't realize that the bill, which nominally deals only with notarizations, could have big impact on foreclosure cases.")
..you might as well head for the shearing shed with the rest of the sheeple.
That may be true, but they will walk away hugely rewarded for their service to the contributors, and fully pensioned...