Joseph Smith, the monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement has reported that the five major banks have officially fulfilled the consumer relief obligations of the National Mortgage Settlement. He further reported that the banks have provided more than $50 billion of gross relief, which allegedly equates to more than $20 billion in credited relief. Smith … [Read more…]
So, the election is over and the "fiscal cliff" is awaiting. Will The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 (the "Act") be extended? Given its bi-partisan support in the past, I would venture to say that it likely will be extended another year. The extension of the Act is a concern for many given … [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…]
University of Arizona College of Law Professor Brent T. White has stirred quite a bit of controversy over his recent article in the Arizona Legal Studies entitled "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis." His basic thesis is that despite the increasing number of homeowners walking … [Read more…]
Despite unending attempts to step the flow of illegal immigration to the United States through an increasingly militarized border, the mortgage lending industry was not about to pass up the chance to capitalize on the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States looking for their own slice of the American dream. Enter the … [Read more…]