Introduction
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TITLE:
FIND FRAUD, FORGET FORECLOSURE
Subtitle:
It's Time To Cock And Load
By
Iris Martin, author of “MORTGAGE WARS: HOW YOU CAN FIGHT FRAUD AND REVERSE FORECLOSURE
Want some good news? Ironically, your mortgage lender’s haste to securitize your loan has provided you with a security blanket that protects you from foreclosure. In fact, you probably already own your home free and clear and just don’t know it yet. Consider this reversal of misfortune divine intervention against a greedy global conspiracy aimed at defrauding you and stealing your home.
And don’t look to the federal government for help, as they have been part of the conspiracy. The new Obama plan, wise to the fact that securitized mortgages cannot be legally modified, is focusing instead on homeowners not in default, leaving some ten million homeowners hung out to dry. The research group, REALTYTRAK estimates over three million homeowners now face foreclosure and another ten million will soon be in payment shock when their toxic loans reset this year, forcing them into foreclosure.
Like an uninvited and unwelcome Santa Ana, American homeowners are reeling from a blast of illegal foreclosures and unlawful evictions. Tragically, while many have already turned in their keys, others are quickly learning if they can find fraud, they can forget foreclosure. The recently won class action predatory lending lawsuit, The People of California vs. Countrywide, which settled for 8.7 billion dollars, has been a wakeup call to many distressed homeowners now empowered to wage mortgage war. Homeowners already kicked out of their precious homes can file fraud claims as well. And there is plenty of fraud to go around: fraud in the solicitation, processing, closing, securitizing and servicing of toxic mortgages; fraud in the courtroom as lenders’ attorneys file fraudulent foreclosures; fraud in the packaging, selling and credit ratings of mortgage backed securities; and fraud in the loan modifications of securitized loans.
While the government keeps bailing out the very institutions at the heart of the fraud, there isn’t enough money in the world to cover the costs of bad loans, litigation, credit default swaps and workouts. A better move would be to quickly extinguish these loans upon evidence of homeowner fraud.
How did this mess happen? How did the economy just ten years ago, buoyed by a budget surplus, end up in a recession soon to be a depression? The answer is greed in the form of commissions, kickbacks, yield spread premiums, rebates, referral fees and profit.
The derivatives explosion, coupled with the Fed’s lowering of interest rates and the Senate’s relaxation of credit standards led Wall Street to create toxic “non-traditional loans” sold to homeowners purely to generate profit. These include hybrid adjustable rate mortgages, no doc loans and even NINJA loans, made with no income, no assets and no job. As the loans changed hands during each stage of the securitization process, fees were paid in the form of yield spread premiums, kickbacks, commissions, referral fees, bonuses, closing costs and profits.
It has been nothing short of a conspiracy to defraud homeowners, with everyone from the loan broker, to the loan officer, to the appraiser, to the title agent, to the servicer, to the Depositor, to the Trustee, to the foreclosing Trustee, to the lender’s attorney—all on the take. However, their little dirty secret is being uncovered by judges across the nation who are refusing to grant foreclosures due to lenders’ lack of standing on the loans. Judge’s orders have been to dismiss the foreclosures because the foreclosing Trustee cannot be legally tied to the original lender on the mortgage loan. Why? In the haste to convert the loans to securities, proper assignments, transfers and endorsements were not made, and notes were lost and even destroyed.
Southern California commercial litigator, Robert Allan of the Robert Allan Law Group, says this: “These claims can be won if counsel for the homeowner can prove the lender’s intention to fraudulently induce the homeowner into a transaction for the lender’s sole benefit. A lender has a statutory duty to ensure a homeowner has the financial ability to repay a loan for their home.” Allan believes a forensic audit of the loan is crucial to establishing the lender’s intent and in evaluating the merits of a homeowner’s claim.
Nationally recognized forensic mortgage auditor, Marie McDonnell agrees. “A mortgage audit these days is a search for fraud in the inducement, origination, closing and servicing of toxic loans. It is the homeowners’ best plan of attack against their predatory lender and a sure defense against foreclosure.”
McDonnell, along with other advocates, auditors and attorneys, believes over 80% of adjustable rate mortgages were fraudulently induced so the lenders could quickly transform the loans into profitable mortgage backed securities.
Next to California’s rapidly growing foreclosure crisis, Florida, not far behind, has taken up the fight. Attorney April Charney, known as “the foreclosure killer,” provides attorney workshops to stop and reverse foreclosures, while foreclosure defense/offense attorney Dawn Rapoport focuses on educating judges about the illegal machinations inherent in securitized mortgages. She says, “It is common to prove that transfers and endorsements of notes were not properly made, and the real note holders are impossible to identify. The securitization process has failed, and the lenders cannot live up to the claims and contracts outlined in their 10 and 8K Securities and Exchange Commission filings.”
A slew of judges across the nation, including Judges Boyko, Rose, Schack, Kurtz, Rosenblatt, O’Malley, Martin, Shaw, Bryant and Foley, all agree. Furious at the arrogance, greed and malicious intent of lenders, they are siding with defrauded homeowners who are bringing these “quiet title actions” to court. By demanding that lenders prove their right to foreclose, homeowners’ attorneys are unraveling the covert interweaving of conspiring mortgage brokers, lenders, investment banks, depositors and Trustees who all have their hand in the securitization cookie jar. The silver lining for homeowners? In the haste to generate fees, most loans were securitized illegally, making the mortgages and notes null and void.
Therefore many homeowners who have adjustable rate mortgages already own their homes free and clear and just don’t know it yet. My upcoming book, entitled “MORTGAGE WARS: HOW TO FIND FRAUD AND REVERSE FORECLOSURE” not only helps the homeowners overcome payment shock and post traumatic stress disorder, but leads them, step by step, into a war plan of engagement against their predatory lender , including how to evaluate their toxic loan, get it audited, rescind (cancel) it and hire the right attorney to take your lender to court.
Predatory lending lawsuits not only bring quiet title to the court’s attention, which will result in foreclosure dismissal, but pay substantial damages to homeowners, including a full refund from their lender, as well as attorney fees. Laws like The Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, fall squarely on the side of homeowners. Other causes of action include fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. I discussed this issue with Senator Arlen Spector during a recent dinner and he agreed that victimized homeowners ought to go before a judge and demand justice.
This road to reversing payment shock, delinquency, default, foreclosure, or even eviction—by filing a predatory claim, like Bryan and Susan Andrews did against Chevy Chase Bank, focuses on the lender’s fraudulent misrepresentations and predatory practices. While the Andrews’ lawsuit has yet to reach class action status, the couple walked out of court owning their home free and clear. Their Wisconsin attorney, Kevin Demet, is fighting their cause straight to the Supreme Court. He is encouraging other attorneys to do the same.
So far, the media has had it all wrong. They have painted a false picture of a nation of deadbeats who sought liar loans. In reality, the demand for derivatives led to the conspiracy to defraud homeowners and investors in a parallel scheme of falsely inflating loan amounts, real estate values and credit ratings. These derivatives, which have been leveraged to the hilt and swapped, are the true reason for the global financial crisis.
Homeowners have an arsenal of legal weapons at their disposal to fight their mortgage wars and win. They just need to be shown, step by step, how to do it. The home is the family’s sanctuary and psychological haven. Ripping homeowners from their homes is not only wrong, it is extremely damaging to the family system and has proven fatal in some cases.
As far as the government bailout goes, there is not enough currency in the world to monetize the trillions in derivatives leveraged against now worthless mortgage backed securities. But that is not your problem. Your own personal bailout is. While the Obama Administration should follow the lead of Ohio, which insists that lenders prove their right to foreclose before filing foreclosures, the nation of enraged homeowners will have to litigate their cases one by one to remove their toxic lenders from title via a judge’s order for reconveyance.
If, in a fantastic and improbable flight into health, the President decides to play Robin Hood, and demands these toxic loans be extinguished, vindicated homeowners would be able to reverse the recession. That would be an economic stimulous plan that would swiftly work, rather than handing the predators more money on behalf of the very homeowners who have been defrauded. By more likely, it will take millions of homeowners just like yourself to rescind their predatory loans before much happens on a national scale. So, go for it and become soldiers in the mortgage war. I will be cheering you on.
“MORTGAGE WARS” will be available in bookstores on June 15th 2009. Or go to www.yourmortgagewar.com to order an advance copy or find resources to assist you.
FIND FRAUD, FORGET FORECLOSURE
Subtitle:
It's Time To Cock And Load
By
Iris Martin, author of “MORTGAGE WARS: HOW YOU CAN FIGHT FRAUD AND REVERSE FORECLOSURE
Want some good news? Ironically, your mortgage lender’s haste to securitize your loan has provided you with a security blanket that protects you from foreclosure. In fact, you probably already own your home free and clear and just don’t know it yet. Consider this reversal of misfortune divine intervention against a greedy global conspiracy aimed at defrauding you and stealing your home.
And don’t look to the federal government for help, as they have been part of the conspiracy. The new Obama plan, wise to the fact that securitized mortgages cannot be legally modified, is focusing instead on homeowners not in default, leaving some ten million homeowners hung out to dry. The research group, REALTYTRAK estimates over three million homeowners now face foreclosure and another ten million will soon be in payment shock when their toxic loans reset this year, forcing them into foreclosure.
Like an uninvited and unwelcome Santa Ana, American homeowners are reeling from a blast of illegal foreclosures and unlawful evictions. Tragically, while many have already turned in their keys, others are quickly learning if they can find fraud, they can forget foreclosure. The recently won class action predatory lending lawsuit, The People of California vs. Countrywide, which settled for 8.7 billion dollars, has been a wakeup call to many distressed homeowners now empowered to wage mortgage war. Homeowners already kicked out of their precious homes can file fraud claims as well. And there is plenty of fraud to go around: fraud in the solicitation, processing, closing, securitizing and servicing of toxic mortgages; fraud in the courtroom as lenders’ attorneys file fraudulent foreclosures; fraud in the packaging, selling and credit ratings of mortgage backed securities; and fraud in the loan modifications of securitized loans.
While the government keeps bailing out the very institutions at the heart of the fraud, there isn’t enough money in the world to cover the costs of bad loans, litigation, credit default swaps and workouts. A better move would be to quickly extinguish these loans upon evidence of homeowner fraud.
How did this mess happen? How did the economy just ten years ago, buoyed by a budget surplus, end up in a recession soon to be a depression? The answer is greed in the form of commissions, kickbacks, yield spread premiums, rebates, referral fees and profit.
The derivatives explosion, coupled with the Fed’s lowering of interest rates and the Senate’s relaxation of credit standards led Wall Street to create toxic “non-traditional loans” sold to homeowners purely to generate profit. These include hybrid adjustable rate mortgages, no doc loans and even NINJA loans, made with no income, no assets and no job. As the loans changed hands during each stage of the securitization process, fees were paid in the form of yield spread premiums, kickbacks, commissions, referral fees, bonuses, closing costs and profits.
It has been nothing short of a conspiracy to defraud homeowners, with everyone from the loan broker, to the loan officer, to the appraiser, to the title agent, to the servicer, to the Depositor, to the Trustee, to the foreclosing Trustee, to the lender’s attorney—all on the take. However, their little dirty secret is being uncovered by judges across the nation who are refusing to grant foreclosures due to lenders’ lack of standing on the loans. Judge’s orders have been to dismiss the foreclosures because the foreclosing Trustee cannot be legally tied to the original lender on the mortgage loan. Why? In the haste to convert the loans to securities, proper assignments, transfers and endorsements were not made, and notes were lost and even destroyed.
Southern California commercial litigator, Robert Allan of the Robert Allan Law Group, says this: “These claims can be won if counsel for the homeowner can prove the lender’s intention to fraudulently induce the homeowner into a transaction for the lender’s sole benefit. A lender has a statutory duty to ensure a homeowner has the financial ability to repay a loan for their home.” Allan believes a forensic audit of the loan is crucial to establishing the lender’s intent and in evaluating the merits of a homeowner’s claim.
Nationally recognized forensic mortgage auditor, Marie McDonnell agrees. “A mortgage audit these days is a search for fraud in the inducement, origination, closing and servicing of toxic loans. It is the homeowners’ best plan of attack against their predatory lender and a sure defense against foreclosure.”
McDonnell, along with other advocates, auditors and attorneys, believes over 80% of adjustable rate mortgages were fraudulently induced so the lenders could quickly transform the loans into profitable mortgage backed securities.
Next to California’s rapidly growing foreclosure crisis, Florida, not far behind, has taken up the fight. Attorney April Charney, known as “the foreclosure killer,” provides attorney workshops to stop and reverse foreclosures, while foreclosure defense/offense attorney Dawn Rapoport focuses on educating judges about the illegal machinations inherent in securitized mortgages. She says, “It is common to prove that transfers and endorsements of notes were not properly made, and the real note holders are impossible to identify. The securitization process has failed, and the lenders cannot live up to the claims and contracts outlined in their 10 and 8K Securities and Exchange Commission filings.”
A slew of judges across the nation, including Judges Boyko, Rose, Schack, Kurtz, Rosenblatt, O’Malley, Martin, Shaw, Bryant and Foley, all agree. Furious at the arrogance, greed and malicious intent of lenders, they are siding with defrauded homeowners who are bringing these “quiet title actions” to court. By demanding that lenders prove their right to foreclose, homeowners’ attorneys are unraveling the covert interweaving of conspiring mortgage brokers, lenders, investment banks, depositors and Trustees who all have their hand in the securitization cookie jar. The silver lining for homeowners? In the haste to generate fees, most loans were securitized illegally, making the mortgages and notes null and void.
Therefore many homeowners who have adjustable rate mortgages already own their homes free and clear and just don’t know it yet. My upcoming book, entitled “MORTGAGE WARS: HOW TO FIND FRAUD AND REVERSE FORECLOSURE” not only helps the homeowners overcome payment shock and post traumatic stress disorder, but leads them, step by step, into a war plan of engagement against their predatory lender , including how to evaluate their toxic loan, get it audited, rescind (cancel) it and hire the right attorney to take your lender to court.
Predatory lending lawsuits not only bring quiet title to the court’s attention, which will result in foreclosure dismissal, but pay substantial damages to homeowners, including a full refund from their lender, as well as attorney fees. Laws like The Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, fall squarely on the side of homeowners. Other causes of action include fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. I discussed this issue with Senator Arlen Spector during a recent dinner and he agreed that victimized homeowners ought to go before a judge and demand justice.
This road to reversing payment shock, delinquency, default, foreclosure, or even eviction—by filing a predatory claim, like Bryan and Susan Andrews did against Chevy Chase Bank, focuses on the lender’s fraudulent misrepresentations and predatory practices. While the Andrews’ lawsuit has yet to reach class action status, the couple walked out of court owning their home free and clear. Their Wisconsin attorney, Kevin Demet, is fighting their cause straight to the Supreme Court. He is encouraging other attorneys to do the same.
So far, the media has had it all wrong. They have painted a false picture of a nation of deadbeats who sought liar loans. In reality, the demand for derivatives led to the conspiracy to defraud homeowners and investors in a parallel scheme of falsely inflating loan amounts, real estate values and credit ratings. These derivatives, which have been leveraged to the hilt and swapped, are the true reason for the global financial crisis.
Homeowners have an arsenal of legal weapons at their disposal to fight their mortgage wars and win. They just need to be shown, step by step, how to do it. The home is the family’s sanctuary and psychological haven. Ripping homeowners from their homes is not only wrong, it is extremely damaging to the family system and has proven fatal in some cases.
As far as the government bailout goes, there is not enough currency in the world to monetize the trillions in derivatives leveraged against now worthless mortgage backed securities. But that is not your problem. Your own personal bailout is. While the Obama Administration should follow the lead of Ohio, which insists that lenders prove their right to foreclose before filing foreclosures, the nation of enraged homeowners will have to litigate their cases one by one to remove their toxic lenders from title via a judge’s order for reconveyance.
If, in a fantastic and improbable flight into health, the President decides to play Robin Hood, and demands these toxic loans be extinguished, vindicated homeowners would be able to reverse the recession. That would be an economic stimulous plan that would swiftly work, rather than handing the predators more money on behalf of the very homeowners who have been defrauded. By more likely, it will take millions of homeowners just like yourself to rescind their predatory loans before much happens on a national scale. So, go for it and become soldiers in the mortgage war. I will be cheering you on.
“MORTGAGE WARS” will be available in bookstores on June 15th 2009. Or go to www.yourmortgagewar.com to order an advance copy or find resources to assist you.