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ForeclosureGate.org Is A Public Service Homeowner Coalition and Cooperative, Created To Exchange News And Information And To Advance Justice For American Homeowners

The Second-Mortgage Shell Game Surprisingly, such a tactic often makes sense for banks. When a lender forecloses on a first mortgage, the house in question is typically sold at auction. If the house is worth less than the loan amount, the bank gets only part of its money back. But after the sale, of course, theres no asset left to pay off any of the second loan. The holder of that second loan which has lower priority than the holder of the first gets nothing. So a lender can forgive a second mortgage which in the event of foreclosure would be worthless anyway and under the settlement claim credits for modifying the mortgage, while at the same time it or another bank forecloses on the first loan. The upshot, of course, is that the people the settlement was designed to protect keep losing their homes.

Why Do Banks Get Away With Murder? Regulators, prosecutors, and plaintiffs in lawsuits continue to unearth scandalous behavior from before, during, and after the credit boom. Bankers conspired with their colleagues, with their counterparts at other banks, and at ratings agencies to milk money through plainly illicit and unkosher means. When caught, frequently indicted by their own emails and instant messages, the banks agree to pay big fines, utter pro forma apologies, and move on. A few people may lose their jobs, and a lot of people may lose their bonuses. But nobody goes to jail.

Arkansas law jails tenants who dont pay their rent Landlords and corrupt public officials have frequently abused the law, which is unlike landlord-tenant law in any other state in the union. HRW reported, Several of the tenants interviewed for this report were confronted at home or at work by police officers who had warrants for their arrest. One woman was berated in open court by a district judge, who compared her to a bank robber. Another woman was repeatedly charged under the law based on false reports from the man she bought her house from, even though she had paid for it in full.

Can These New Federal Rules Rein in Foreclosure-Frenzied Banks? Servicers, which collect mortgage payments from borrowers and work out terms of a loan, are supposed to explore all alternatives to foreclosure before reclaiming a home, and to give homeowners a fair and clear evaluation process.

Henry Cisneros: The nation underestimated impact of foreclosure crisis It is unfortunate that this settlement is about abuses that occurred in the recovery process but it is not part of the long term solution. It was a necessary step but not a great contribution to solve the problem of foreclosures, Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and.

Now that's a revolving door Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was in a meeting Tuesday when a staffer interrupted to show her this tweet from the League of Women Voters Florida: "Sen. Darren Soto expresses concern about revolving door issue at the FL Attorney General's office and asks for regulation." The tweet refers to the practice of staffers leaving state agencies to work for firms that then lobby the agency they left.

Kentucky AG Conway investigating mortgage foreclosures Conway has been looking into the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, an entity created by the mortgage industry that allows financial institutions to trade mortgages behind the scenes without recording changes in ownership in local county clerks offices. In July, Conway said he was withholding $5 million from Kentuckys share of the National Mortgage Settlement so..

Florida's 2nd District Court of Appeals Standing Up For Consumers The facts of this case are undisputed, and only Mr. Palacios and the second mortgagee, Appellee Wachovia Bank, N.A., are interested parties in this appellate proceeding. On April 15, 2008, the circuit court entered a final summary judgment of foreclosure in favor of Florida Funding for $60,136.09. On May 9, 2008, the Clerk conducted the foreclosure sale, at which Mr. Palacios and Florida Funding were the only bidders. Florida Funding bid $40,000 and Mr. Palacios ultimately prevailed with a bid of $41,000. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Palacios moved to release his money from the Clerk because he discovered that there was a second mortgage on the property.