If you have any questions or current issues concerning the foreclosure crisis and the potential impact on obtaining title insurance, please feel free to give Hallmark Abstract a call at 516.741.4723 or send us an email at orders@hallmarkabstractllc.com.
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/087043-2011-04-03-pooling-and-servicing-agreement-violations-and-a-new-wrinkle-in.htm
(link inside this link)
The Sentinel, provided by Hallmark Abstract Service, is your source to the goings on within the real estate and title industry's. Any developments, strategies, news or ideas will be discussed here.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The foreclosure crisis: PSA has nothing to do with the prostate!
The foreclosure crisis and "Pooling and Servicing Agreement" (PSA) violations On March 31st The Hallmark Abstract Sentinel published an article that discussed the upcoming 60 Minutes story (airing tonight) on the foreclosure crisis, and the potential for it to have far reaching implications and ramifications. The following paragraph comes from the Sentinel article that can be read in its entirety here.
"... There are additional problems that surround the investments that pooled thousands of mortgages and then sold them around the world. These were known as collateralized mortgage obligations or CMO's. They also went by a variety of other names as well such as mortgage backed securities. Many of these were rated AAA although they should not have been based on the mortgages inside. Due to this some holders of the investments are fighting to have the originators "buy-back" the investments, opening the originating firms up to potentially billions of dollars of exposure and losses.
Questions also exist over whether the structure and use of MERS with these REMICS (Real Estate Investment Conduits) was in some way was a violation of the Pooling and Servicing Agreements or PSA. This could have multiple ramifications including bringing the tax structure into question..."
Summary Judgment filed in an Alabama case on March 30, 2011 regarding PSA violationsThe court filing for the Alabama case in question can be read in its entirety at the blog Naked Capitalism here, but this is the gist. As it was described at the Sentinel, some parts of the structure and use of tools such as MERS in the creation of mortgage trusts appeared to be to be a blatant violation of most if not all Pooling and Servicing Agreements (PSA).
These rules require that all documents from a transaction to be transferred to the Trustee of a securitization within a specific period of time among other very specific items. This decision in Alabama found in favor of the borrower saying that notes transferred throughout the securitization process had not been properly endorsed.
With this decision in Alabama, the problem now becomes one of consistency. As documented before in foreclosure crisis issues there is typically nothing clear-cut between the decisions that come out of the courts in different states and even from the courts within the same state.
Fasten your seatbelts as this has the potential to be a very bumpy ride!
If you have any questions or current issues concerning the foreclosure crisis and the potential impact on obtaining title insurance, please feel free to give Hallmark Abstract a call at 516.741.4723 or send us an email at orders@hallmarkabstractllc.com.
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/087040-2011-04-03-foreclosure-gate-the-60-minutes-whitewash.htm
(full story link inside)
Follow the Money: From MERS to Fraudclosure
By Barry Ritholtz - April 2nd, 2011, 10:00AM
Even 60 Minutes seems to be sugarcoating the motivation for fraudclosure:
Follow the money: MERS to subprime lending to automated underwriting to securitization to robosigning to fraudclosure — its ALWAYS been about saving a few bucks regardless of the consequences.
The good thing about this Sunday’s 60 Minutes piece (which I have not seen yet) is that it will apply more popular pressure to the State AGs for some legal action on Fraudclosure.
But they are missing the bigger picture here: Reckless disregard for property rights and the rule of law. And exactly where are all of my Libertarian friends on this . . . ?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20049744-10391709.html?tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea.1
April 3, 2011 6:01 PM
“Banks so poorly handled documentation on millions of mortgages that many today cannot prove that they own the homes they want to foreclose on. The resulting rash of lawsuits from people seeking to save their homes has one of the government’s top banking regulators worried that the torrent of litigation will delay the real estate market’s recovery.”Understand this precisely: This was not a case of slipshod handling, of sloppy paperwork, or bad management. This was a willful decision to break the law in order to save expenses and be more profitable.
Follow the money: MERS to subprime lending to automated underwriting to securitization to robosigning to fraudclosure — its ALWAYS been about saving a few bucks regardless of the consequences.
The good thing about this Sunday’s 60 Minutes piece (which I have not seen yet) is that it will apply more popular pressure to the State AGs for some legal action on Fraudclosure.
But they are missing the bigger picture here: Reckless disregard for property rights and the rule of law. And exactly where are all of my Libertarian friends on this . . . ?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20049744-10391709.html?tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea.1
April 3, 2011 6:01 PM
- Text
Mortgage mess: Who really owns your mortgage?
Scott Pelley explains a bizarre aftershock of the U.S. financial collapse: An epidemic of forged and missing mortgage documents
Do you know who really owns your mortgage? As Scott Pelley reports on "60 Minutes" this week, that question has become a nightmare for many homeowners since the invention of mortgage-backed securities. Yes, those were the exotic investments that sparked the financial collapse in this country. And the're still causing problems.
As it turns out, Wall Street cut corners when it bundled homeowners' mortgages into securities that were traded from investor to investor. Now that banks are foreclosing on people, they're finding that the legal documents behind many mortgages are missing. So, what do the banks do? As Pelley explains in this video, some companies appear to be resorting to forgery and phony paperwork in what looks like a nationwide epidemic.
Even if you're not at risk of foreclosure, there could be legal ramifications for a homeowner if the chain of title has been lost. Watch the "60 Minutes" report and listen to Pelley's discussion with "60 Minutes Overtime" editor Ann Silvio about the findings of his reporting team.
Have you contacted your mortgage servicing company to find out whether your mortgage has been bundled and sold? Did you get a clear answer and a copy of your mortgage paperwork to back it up? Share your experience with other homeowners below.
As it turns out, Wall Street cut corners when it bundled homeowners' mortgages into securities that were traded from investor to investor. Now that banks are foreclosing on people, they're finding that the legal documents behind many mortgages are missing. So, what do the banks do? As Pelley explains in this video, some companies appear to be resorting to forgery and phony paperwork in what looks like a nationwide epidemic.
Even if you're not at risk of foreclosure, there could be legal ramifications for a homeowner if the chain of title has been lost. Watch the "60 Minutes" report and listen to Pelley's discussion with "60 Minutes Overtime" editor Ann Silvio about the findings of his reporting team.
Have you contacted your mortgage servicing company to find out whether your mortgage has been bundled and sold? Did you get a clear answer and a copy of your mortgage paperwork to back it up? Share your experience with other homeowners below.
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