Posted on 04/04/2011 1:40:39 PM PDT by Libloather
Mortgage mess: Who really owns your mortgage?
Scott Pelley explains a bizarre aftershock of the U.S. financial collapse: An epidemic of forged and missing mortgage documents
April 3, 2011 6:01 PM
Do you know who really owns your mortgage? As Scott Pelley reports on "60 Minutes" this week, that question has become a nightmare for many homeowners since the invention of mortgage-backed securities. Yes, those were the exotic investments that sparked the financial collapse in this country. And the're still causing problems.
As it turns out, Wall Street cut corners when it bundled homeowners' mortgages into securities that were traded from investor to investor. Now that banks are foreclosing on people, they're finding that the legal documents behind many mortgages are missing. So, what do the banks do? As Pelley explains in this video, some companies appear to be resorting to forgery and phony paperwork in what looks like a nationwide epidemic.
Even if you're not at risk of foreclosure, there could be legal ramifications for a homeowner if the chain of title has been lost. Watch the "60 Minutes" report and listen to Pelley's discussion with "60 Minutes Overtime" editor Ann Silvio about the findings of his reporting team.
Watch Scott Pelley's report.
Have you contacted your mortgage servicing company to find out whether your mortgage has been bundled and sold? Did you get a clear answer and a copy of your mortgage paperwork to back it up?
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
This has been going on for years....60 Minutes is kinda late to the ball game
I guess it will be a little harder now for the Bankster supporters to spew their Business Socialist/Free Trade Communist Globalist “they’re all deadbeats” rant....and push for more Bank Bailouts
This is what title insurance is for.
Don’t buy cheap title insurance, buy good title insurance from a reputable insurance company.
Yet another reason among many why in my opinion these so-called mortgage backed securities ought to be 100% illegal.
Wait til the bankster’s apologists show up and blame this all on deadbeats.
Sounds like there are very few honorable players in the mortgage business. The only REAL victims are the ones who did the right thing. Not your daddy’s America anymore.
Got mine from a credit union that does not sell their mortgages and thank God I did.
Rush Limbaugh will say the federal gubmint made them do it.
These people are not being "defrauded", they did not make their required payments and defaulted. No one is being kicked out of their house who made all the required payments.
I do not call them deadbeats, there are many reasons people default on their mortgage, but neither are they "victims".
Exactly. That’s what’s missing in these stories. The people being foreclosed upon didn’t pay their mortgage.
Yeah, the lenders didn’t get the paperwork right but that doesn’t change the underlying fact of default.
I agree few who have made their payments have been removed from their homes.
However, let’s forget about the morgtagees for a moment and talk about the mortgagors.
What is the proper term for using forgery to generate documents in order to gain possession of a valuable piece of property?
Sounds like fraud to me.
The misbehavior of the borrowers is often being used to claim the lenders are fully justified in whatever they have done, and the reverse.
My point is that many on both sides have committed fraud. Many investors took shortcuts in order to save money, ignoring the very clear state laws, and now are taking further (illegal) shortcuts to hide their previous failure to follow the law.
Problem is that in the late 90's, Manhattan went crazy with bizarre versions of MBS, putting out tons of the things with little or no documentation and due dilligence, and literally fraudulent marketing propaganda. The fact that investment bankers are paid on how many deals go through, regardless of proper documentation and quality of collateral, meant that irresponsible dumbshit liberal New Yorkers did what irresponsible dumbshit liberal New Yorkers should be expected to do...
The problem isn't MBS per se, but rather a banking sector that lives off of government welfare and protections. Manhattan is full of crony capitalists who claim they support free markets, until an opportunity comes their way to use the state to advance their private interests at the expense of the rest of the nation. And when they lose money, they always expect someone else (the taxpayer) to fit the bill. After all, they went to Harvard. They shouldn't be allowed to lose money. //s
Simply outlawing MBS won't solve the problem, because really any kind of investment security could result in this kind of stupidity so long as the government rewards stupidity. What we need is a truly free-market financial system where those who fail, fail period, and no one's lobbying efforts are rewarded with laws meant to destroy more talented small competitors. This will punish irresponsible dumbshit liberal New Yorker-ism, and reward dilligent, intelligent, and responsible investing behavior.
Problem is that in the late 90's, Manhattan went crazy with bizarre versions of MBS, putting out tons of the things with little or no documentation and due dilligence, and literally fraudulent marketing propaganda. The fact that investment bankers are paid on how many deals go through, regardless of proper documentation and quality of collateral, meant that irresponsible dumbshit liberal New Yorkers did what irresponsible dumbshit liberal New Yorkers should be expected to do...
The problem isn't MBS per se, but rather a banking sector that lives off of government welfare and protections. Manhattan is full of crony capitalists who claim they support free markets, until an opportunity comes their way to use the state to advance their private interests at the expense of the rest of the nation. And when they lose money, they always expect someone else (the taxpayer) to fit the bill. After all, they went to Harvard. They shouldn't be allowed to lose money. //s
Simply outlawing MBS won't solve the problem, because really any kind of investment security could result in this kind of stupidity so long as the government rewards stupidity. What we need is a truly free-market financial system where those who fail, fail period, and no one's lobbying efforts are rewarded with laws meant to destroy more talented small competitors. This will punish irresponsible dumbshit liberal New Yorker-ism, and reward dilligent, intelligent, and responsible investing behavior.
Exactly. I have only 2 questions for the mortgagor being foreclosed on. Did you take a mortgage loan? Did you make payments on the mortgage loan? Arguing that the mortgagor should get a pass because of the banks misdeeds after the fact to correct a paperwork issue is analagous to a burglar arguing he should not be prosecuted because the homeowner replaced the stolen goods with goods he bought with counterfeit money.And, no I am not saying unfortunate folks foreclosed on are burglars and yes, the banks should be fined for their violations.
Why isn’t Pelley looking into Obama’s background?
Huh?
That would be me.
Bad analogy. What's happening here is closer to the situation where you drive over the speed limit, you get into an accident with car #1, and the driver of car #2 sues you. You may have been at fault, but only the person you actually injured has the right to sue you.
Here, some of the banks that are suing don't own the mortgage anymore. Yes, the borrower defaulted, but he could get foreclosed upon by Bank A and then, a year later, could get sued by Bank B on the same debt, because Bank A actually sold the mortgage to bank B ten years ago. Unless the bank that's suing can prove that they still own the mortgage, they have no right to go to court. (The problem is that some banks were so sloppy with their paperwork that no one can possibly figure out who owns the mortgage now. That will give some deadbeat borrowers a windfall, but if so, it's the banks' fault. And the alternative will really create the risk of some borrowers getting sued twice for the same debt.)
As near as I can read, thus far almost all of this comes from Foreclosures bringing the poorly documented transfers to light. I have heard/read stories of multiple banks trying to foreclose on the same property each claiming to be the sole note holder.
Wait a few years as the economy starts to recover and a segment of homeowners go to refi or sell and find they cannot refi or have to sell at a discount due to clouded title. Will be interesting to hear what the they are all deadbeats crowd will say then.
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