MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013

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HOMEOWNERS NEWS

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

Today I Was Told by BOA My Home is Going into Foreclosure After three years of filling out loan modification paperwork and sending it in, I was informed via a phone call today from Bank of America that my loan modification was declined on 2/1/13 as I didn't submit all the documents. Bank of America continues to state this as a reason for declining my loan modifications, but I give them everything they ask for and then have my HUD counselor review it for completeness. Anyone who knows me knows how organized and detail-oriented I am. I have a Ph.D. from Columbia University and that required an incredible attention to detail.

Fresh Questions Over a Bank of America Settlement An analysis of real estate records across the country, the filing said, showed that Bank of America had modified more than 134,000 loans in such securities with a total principal balance of $32 billion. Even as the banks loan modifications imposed heavy losses on investors in these securities, the documents show, Bank of America did not reduce the principal on second mortgages it owned on the same properties. The owner of a home equity line of credit is typically required to take a loss before the holder of a first mortgage.

Florida Bar pursues discipline foreclosure-mill boss David J. Stern

against

The Florida Bar is seeking disciplinary action against Florida foreclosure baron David J. Stern, whose massive law firm collapsed in 2011 amid allegations that it mishandled the cases of the nations largest mortgage holders by filing forged and fraudulent court documents. Grievance committees found probable cause to pursue punishment in 17 cases stemming from formal complaints made by homeowners, defense attorneys, judges and a bank representative.

Disabled Hermosa Beach veteran dies in court fighting foreclosure Larry Delassus, a 62-year-old disabled veteran, died in court last month while continuing a threeyear battle against Wells Fargo for foreclosing on his Hermosa Beach home a battle he had to fight even though court records show he paid his mortgage two months ahead of schedule and also paid his property taxes in advance. He suffered heart failure Dec. 19 while his attorney argued against a tentative ruling issued by a Torrance Courthouse judge siding with Wells Fargo.

The CFPB's Ability to Repay Mortgage Rule The Dodd-Frank Act requires that mortgages be underwritten based on the borrower's ability to repay. Failure to do so is an absolute defense against foreclosure. There is an execption allowed, however, for Qualified Mortgages. The CFPB rulemaking defined the term Qualified Morgage. Oversimplifying (but only slightly), a QM is defined as a mortgage that has regular payments that are substantially equal excepting ARMs and step-rate mortgages , and that are always positively amortizing, have terms no longer than 30 years.

Zombie Title Exposes The Real Deal in Foreclosures This is not a new problem. For along time in Florida, the banks would delay the foreclosure sale until they thought they could sell the property fairly quickly. When I was representing several hundred associations we had different tactics we used to get the monthly maintenance and special assessments from the bank but.

Un-Freezing Desert

Foreclosures

in

the

Nevada

It was often referred to as Nevadas robo-signing law, because among other things, the law made it a felony for loan servicers to sign documents without personal knowledge of who owns the note, and it further required lenders to provide an affidavit showing they have the authority to foreclose.

Maxine Waters Urges Congress To Investigate Foreclosure Settlement The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee called Tuesday for Congress to "immediately" hold a hearing to investigate a controversial $8.5 billion foreclosure abuse settlement reached this year. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said in a letter to Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the chairman of the committee, that she wanted bank regulators to explain what went wrong during a case-by-case review of foreclosed homes that ended "abruptly" earlier this year, why a cash settlement with the mortgage industry was reached instead, and what the deal means for struggling homeowners.