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…]
The Arizona Court of Appeals in Phoenix recently ruled in Independent Mortgage Company v. Alaburda, that Arizona’s anti-deficiency law (A.R.S. Section 33-814(G)) protects a borrower who has a fractional interest in a vacation home. The Alaburdas purchased a 1/10th fractional interest in a single-family residential condo in the exclusive Villas at Seven Canyons in Sedona. … [Read more…]
The Arizona Court of Appeals (Division 1 in Maricopa County) just issued an opinion entitled Helvetica v. Pasquan, which addresses the scope of Arizona’s anti-deficiency protections in the judicial foreclosure (non-trustee’s sale) context. The first issue the Court addressed is whether refinancing a purchase money loan forfeits a borrowers’ anti-deficiency protection, to the extent that … [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…]
A new federal federal task force, dubbed the "Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group" led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has sent subpoenas to the 11 largest financial institutions in the past few days as part of its investigation into possible residential mortgage-backed securities fraud. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who was cast off the central … [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…]
I took three different calls this past week from homeowners who have sought the assistance of Bank of America’s servicing subsidiary, BAC Home Loans Solutions, for a loan modification. What most unsuspecting homeowners do not realize is that BAC simply has no vested interest in actually making good on the false promises it continues to … [Read more…]
In an effort to curb the predatory practices of certain "loan modification" companies, claiming to offer loan modification services for an upfront fee, the Arizona Legislature recently passed several laws with some good sized teeth – codified at A.R.S. Sections 44-1378-1378.08. A.R.S. Section 44-1378.02, for example, prevents a "foreclosure consultant," as defined in A.R.S. Section 44-1378, … [Read more…]