Banks Take Massive Tax Credits, Consumers Face Massive Liability
The Foreclosure Fraud Settlement
The absolutely terrifying reality in this country is that the local, state and federal governments conspire with banks and big business to cheat, harass and punish consumers and citizens, all the while cutting deals between each other that only benefit the banks and corporations.
One clear, recent example of this is all the mortgage “relief” offered to consumers as part of the National Mortgage Settlement. Whatever “relief” given to consumers comes back to haunt the consumer later. But for the bank….well, they get massive tax relief that allows them to further avoid their responsibilities. It’s gross and out of control, but that’s what we get when we live under a government that is bought and paid for by the corporations that run this country.
At local levels, we’re seeing banks walking through foreclosure courtrooms with Final Judgments handed out with little or no preparation or work required. Defenses of homeowners are stripped, and those attorneys that dare to go into courtrooms and interfere with the smooth and efficient delivery of judgments are harassed and persecuted. Meanwhile, the attorneys and the robo perjurers that work for the banks are rewarded with wheelbarrows full of Final Judgments of Foreclosure.
And why has the environment changed so dramatically in their favor? Has some legislation or appellate decision occurred that can explain such a sea change? No. The transparent forms of law and policy change did not change. Instead, Dark Policy, hidden just below the surface caused this most dramatic change. The Florida Legislature did not pass laws that were vetted and supported by legislators and consitutuents…this sea change was not voted on by The People or their representatives…this sea change was purchased through contributions and payoffs between legislators and the executive branches….and the judicial branch is falling right into it…executing the policies that are demanded. Again, no where is this more clear than the National Mortgage Settlement….the money paid by the banks as fines for the crimes they committed returns to Florida Courts to fund Foreclosure Star Chambers where the only objective is returning Final Judgments for banks…..homeowners be dammed.
Come tax time, JPMorgan Chase will be able to write off the $1.5 billion in debt relief it must give homeowners to satisfy the terms of a recent settlement.
But the homeowners who receive the help will have to treat it as taxable income, resulting in whopping tax bills for many families who have just lost their homes or only narrowly managed to keep them.
They are not alone. A tax exemption for mortgage debt forgiveness, put in place when the economy began to falter in 2007, was allowed to expire on Dec. 31, leaving hundreds of thousands of struggling homeowners in financial limbo even as the Obama administration has tried to encourage such debt write-downs.