For as safe as tax liens are touted, there is a risk of loss, especially during the tax lien foreclosure stage. While Arizona Revised Statutes Section 42-18206 provides a remedy to collect attorney’s fees and costs that have been incurred by the tax lien investor, timely service of process of the tax lien foreclosure complaint … [Read more…]
David Funkhouser and Benjamin Nielsen, attorneys with Quarles & Brady LLP, recently warned in their Commercial Litigation Law Update that Arizona tax lien foreclosures are wreaking havoc on lenders and borrowers. Quarles & Brady represents many large banks and lenders, so it should come as little surprise that they are concerned about the impact of … [Read more…]
The Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) was created by the mortgage industry to fast-track the loan assignment process and helped bypass the burden of having to record every assignment. MERS was a perfect solution during the mortgage securitization frenzy. When the housing bubble imploded and foreclosure activity went through the roof, MERS found itself the target … [Read more…]
The New York Times recently reported that when homeowners went to cash checks coming from the National Mortgage Settlement, the checks bounced – yes bounced. Ronnie Edward, whose home was sold in a foreclosure auction, apparently waited three years for his $3,000 check. When it arrived, he went to his local bank in Tennessee, only … [Read more…]
Pima County just finished up its 2012 tax lien sale. Pima County offered up nearly 14,000 tax liens over the two day live auction. One thing was readily apparent this year – the competition for these liens was stiff. The influx of private equity money into the Pima County sale was obvious. Competition for $500 … [Read more…]
Arizona will receive $1.6 billion of the purported $25 billion joint federal-state settlement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers for their role in wide-spread servicer and foreclosure abuses. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s decision to join the broad settlement also means that his office has reached an agreement with Bank of America over allegations … [Read more…]
A long-vaunted settlement arising from the sixteen-month 50-state investigation into faulty bank foreclosure practices, which has perpetually been imminent, has finally concluded. The deal was struck between federal banking officials, 49 states Attorneys General, and the five largest mortgage servicers – Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase Co., Wells Fargo Co., Citigroup Inc., and Ally … [Read more…]
Fourteen U.S. mortgage servicers and their affiliates are making available a free, "impartial" Independent Foreclosure Review process (website – Independent Foreclosure Review) to certain of their borrowers, as part of certain consent orders entered into with federal bank regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and … [Read more…]
The Mortgage Electronic Registration System ("MERS") is increasingly under attack from multiple angles. MERS describes itself as "an innovative process that simplifies the way mortgage ownership and servicing rights are originated, sold and tracked." Created by the real estate finance industry, including many of the largest lenders and Fannie Mae, MERS allegedly "eliminates the need … [Read more…]
When it rains, it pours. The fallout from the artificially generated housing bubble and the attendant financial crisis is really starting to take hold against the various major players in the banking industry. It seems everyone with any stake in the mortgage meltdown, from individual home owners to purchasers of mortgage-backed securities, are seeking their … [Read more…]