Matt Weidner – Fighting With The American People

Posts Tagged ‘florida supreme court residential mortgage task force’

This is a repost of an entry entered in January 2010…..consider where we are today….

The Mortgage Mafioso Hijack the Judiciary

The theme that is developing on this blog is that the regular Americans are getting screwed in this foreclosure crisis while the institutions and Fat Cats on Wall Street party on and get fatter.  The screw job began when the lenders jammed mortgages down the throats of Americans that could never afford them.  Now the screw job has moved into courtrooms across the country as judges are being asked to ignore basic law and rules on evidence so that front companies or shadow entities acting on behalf of the mortgage cartels  can take back homes and throw families out on the street.  In Florida, the Supreme Court Residential Task Force Report identified several distinct practices that the Mortgage Mafioso are engaging in as part of their campaign to hijack the judiciary.  Some courageous judges around the country, particularly some federal judges in bankruptcy courts, are beginning to push back against these blatantly improper practices.  (For one example, type here.) At some point in time, appellate court decisions are going reverse many of these improper and fraudulent practices and the ensuing fallout will be an even bigger mess.  Bottom line is, the Mortgage Mafioso and their hired guns are creating and then submitting false evidence to the courts to support their foreclosure, then demanding courts accept that evidence even though the judiciary and all parties involved know the Mortgage Mafioso are committing widespread fraud in courts across the country.

The Mortgage Mafioso How High Does it Go?

Certainly some of these borrowers knew they had no business taking out these loans and the consumer was complicit, lying about income and otherwise doing whatever was required to get an inflated loan, but the average consumer was no match for the sophtisticated and high pressured marketing machine that was the American Mortage Industry.  It was not just industry policy, it was the expicit policy of the government of the United States of America that every American needed to take out the largest mortgage possible, then refinance and do it again and again and again.  The fact that this was government policy is evidenced by the absurdly generous terms given on money the larger players used to fund the purchase of multi million dollar pools of loans, low or no taxing of those polls and profits and almost no regulation of this entire industry.  This paper that was being slung by Wall Street and the major players was the gas that fueled the American economy begining in 2000 and ending with the crash that is the Great Recession.

Case Study in the Mortgage Mafioso Series- Indymac Now OneWest, Americans Suffer While Fat Cats Lap Up Yummy Cream

I keep intending to detail one particularly good example of a cartel deal that results in massive profit for the top of the pyramid at the expense of those at the bottom, and that example is the OneWest purchase of Indymac assets.  In 2008, the FDIC closed Indymac and estimated that the closure would cost the FDIC’s insurance fund $8.5 billion to $9.4 billion.  In 2008 a seven-member investor group including affiliates of the billionaire George Soros and of Michael Dell, the founder of Dell, agreed to purchase IndyMac Bank, a failed lender and one of the largest casualties of the U.S. housing bust, for $13.9 billion. IndyMac had $32 billion in assets when it was seized in July and included 33 branches, mostly in the Los Angeles area, with about $6.5 billion in deposits, as well as loan and securities portfolios of about $23 billion. IMB HoldCo is also buying a mortgage servicing portfolio with unpaid principal balances of more than $175 billion. (See article here.)  This purchase was apparently one hell of a sweet deal because not even one year after the purchase, One West reported that it had generated a $182 million dollar profit.  Now profit is generally good, but when the profit comes on the backs of everyday Americans, who funded the purchase and now receive none of the benefit, it’s fair to say something is way out of line.

On December 28, 2009 the Florida Supreme Court issued its Final Order and findings relating to residential mortgage foreclosures in Florida.  The full text of the report can be found here. The report notes that,

Florida has the third highest mortgage delinquency rate, the worst foreclosure inventory, and the most foreclosure starts in the nation.  At the close of 2009, it is estimated there will be an inventory of approximately 456,000 pending foreclosure cases statewide.

I am still digesting the information contained within the Order, but the most significant element of the Order, is that all residential mortgages in foreclosure will be referred to mediation.  This is a significantly positive development for homeowners because it will force the lender to communicate directly with the borrower.

Hidden Treasures in the Florida Supreme Court’s Mortgage Foreclosure Order

While I am just in the process of reviewing this 105 page Order to ferret out all the best parts for my clients, I am happy to report that there are several elements included in the report which are going to be very helpful for homeowners.  Look back on this blog often because I will be updating as I find new nuggets of good information for borrowers.  Keep in mind, that I will preserve most of the best bits for my clients….no sense in letting all the good secrets get out there!

Suffice it to say, this Order is great news…to find out how it can help you visit my website at

www.mattweidnerlaw.com

In response to the foreclosure crisis in Florida, the Florida Supreme Court commissioned a task force made up of attorneys, consumers,  judges and other stake holders in this crisis.  For a copy of the complete report, visit my website at www.mattweidnerlaw.com.

Some interesting facts that I found in the report:

• The vast majority of foreclosure cases in the state of Florida are brought by a very limited pool of plaintiffs’ firms, who handle approximately 90% of the cases state-wide.
• Two of the firms control approximately 60% of the cases.
• Some Plaintiff’s firms have an ownership interest in the service of process firms that serve the lawsuit on Defendants and they are charging unusually larger fees for this service (I wonder why?)
• Some law firms are having their own employees introduce evidence of amounts owed to their clients….a clear violation of legal and ethical rules, but this goes unchallenged in many cases.

I’m often asked when I think we’ll get out of this current real estate crisis and I keep saying that we’re a long, long way off from any resolution.  The following facts support this sobering proposition:

• Florida has the third highest mortgage delinquency rate, the worst foreclosure inventory, and the most foreclosure starts in the nation.

• The July GAO report confirms the highest default and  foreclosure rate in 30 years.

• The foreclosure start rate is the highest on record.  The national delinquency rate of 12.07% of mortgages is the highest ever recorded.

• Seriously delinquent prime loans were up 271% from first  quarter 2008 to first quarter 2009. Seriously delinquent subprime loans were up 846% during the same time period.

• In terms of seriously delinquent loans, the numbers increased 94% over the last quarter of 2008.

• The National Delinquency Survey determined that of the 3,542,940 loans being serviced in Florida, 374,134 are in the judicial foreclosure process.

• A total of 98,848 foreclosures were initiated in the first quarter of 2009, during a time period when many moratoria were in place.

• Another 378,031 loans are delinquent, with 181,044 seriously delinquent (90+ days delinquent).

• The flow of foreclosure cases and homes in the Florida pipeline to foreclosure filing shows only signs of increasing.

• Early information from the United States Treasury Department indicates that the following Florida communities will qualify under the Home Price Decline Protection program, beginning September 1, 2009:  Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Deltona, Lauderdale, Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

Sobering facts, indeed.