Another gem from Bill Black, ex S&L regulator and professor of law and criminology: The Ethics-Free WSJ Story on the Regulator’s Latest Betrayal of Homeowners The context of this WSJ story is the broader series of betrayals of homeowners by the regulators and prosecutors led initially by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his infamous “foam the […]
Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md ) wrote to Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Ca), asking for a hearing on the Fed’s and the OCC’s abrupt and premature conclusion of the Independent Foreclosure Review. Full letter here. “Now that we have obtained copies of these documents, they confirm that some […]
Massive New Fraud Coverup: How Banks Are Pillaging Homes—While the Government Watches Great new article by David Dayen. I would correct the title to say while the government “participates.” It doesn’t just passively watch. A failure to act when you have a duty to act–by the Justice Department, and regulators authorized to act, and by […]
Elizabeth Warren, the Fighter CBS News, full video interview at the link. Warren was appointed chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, the fund’s watchdog. Her clashes with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the fund’s administrator, became an unlikely YouTube hit. WARREN: “I am sorry. I just want to make sure I am following. You are saying that there […]
Matt Taibbi has a new book called The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap. This ties right in with Joseph Stiglitz’s comments in the Price of Inequality, But a basic principle of the rule of law and property rights is that you shouldn’t throw someone out of his home when you […]
The Dissent in this decision by the California Court of Appeals is a thing of beauty. CA Peng v Chase The only party prejudiced by an illegitimate creditor-beneficiary’s enforcement of the homeowner’s debt, courts have reasoned, is the bona fide creditor-beneficiary, not the homeowner. Such reasoning troubles me. I wonder whether the law would apply […]
In federal district court in California, a magistrate judge has issued two decisions refusing loan servicers’ bid to dismiss a homeowner’s negligence claims, as related to loan modification efforts. The magistrate judge parses the divergent legal authority and sides with the finding of a duty on behalf of the servicer when certain factors are met. […]
Beth Findsen Attorney 