Free Republic

The United States does not have debtors prisons, per se -- they effectively were outlawed in 1833 -- but you can still go to jail for failure to pay your debts. Surprised? You wouldn't be if you thought about it for a bit. Judges occasionally jail a parent who fails to pay court-ordered child support, but only after going to considerable effort to extract the money in other ways, and usually only if the courts believe the parent can afford to pay. And there are still "pay the fine or …" judgments, although community service in lieu of slammer time...

Federal mortgage backer Freddie Mac is taking its foreclosure cases from the Fort Lauderdale-based Marshall C. Watson law firm, one of eight Florida firms facing state scrutiny for its handling of home repossessions. Brad German, a spokesman for Freddie Mac, confirmed the removal of the cases this morning, but did not say why Watson will no longer be used. “Going forward our servicers will be directing business to other counsel,” German said. In a statement, the Marshall C. Watson law firm said the parting was a mutual decision made by both sides. “Freddie Mac and our firm mutually decided to...

Duchess of York admits Duke arranged for convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to pay off her debts The Duchess of York has admitted that her former husband arranged for a convicted paedophile to pay off her debts.

The representatives of the petition on kjosum.is, where President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is urged not to sign the new Icesave legislation and send it to a national referendum, delivered almost 37,600 signatures to Bessastadir, the presidential residence, today at 11 am. One of the petition’s organizers, Hallur Hallsson, told ruv.is that the signatures were run against the National Registry database by the company Creditinfo, which resulted in 186 names being crossed off the list. Hallsson said the methodology of the collection and the processing of the data would be explained to the president. The petition was closed to...

Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein bagged a $14.6M compensation package.....including stock awards, which were also paid to other top executives. Blankfein also got a 230% bump in his base salary to $2M, up from $600,000 since 2007....excluding private jets, cars and other perks. CFO David Viniar, COO Gary Cohn and Vice Chair Michael Evans received identical boosts, with each hauling in $1.85M annually. Blankfein's pay in the halcyon days of 2007, was $67.9M. Other firms have been hiking base pay at a time when regulators are mulling new rules for Wall Street pay.

Video: Those crazy Taiwanese animators are back!... Trust me, this is a brilliant clip. This is how the rest of the world sees the Wall Street bailout. Don't forget what Bill Black has been making very clear the past few weeks - The payouts are based on fictional FASB accounting, leading to fictional profits, and billions in bonuses for bank executives running the scam. Covering up the losses had three real (carefully unstated) purposes: (1) permitting evasions of the PCA [Prompt Corrective Action law], (2) allowing the banks to remove themselves from the strictures of the TARP program even if...

NBC News exclusive JPMorgan Chase also improperly foreclosed on homes : One of the nation's biggest banks — JP Morgan Chase — admits it has overcharged several thousand military families for their mortgages, including families of troops fighting in Afghanistan. The bank also tells NBC News that it improperly foreclosed on more than a dozen military families. The admissions are an outgrowth of a lawsuit filed by Marine Capt. Jonathan Rowles. Rowles is the backseat pilot of an F/A 18 Delta fighter jet and has served the nation as a Marine for five years. He and his wife, Julia, say...

As the foreclosure crisis has escalated over the past several months, one overarching debate has been about who bears the most blame: homeowners or banks? After everything I've learned and written about the foreclosure mess, my verdict is: The banks are responsible for 90% of the problem, troubled homeowners 10%. Yes, every foreclosure involves a homeowner not paying his mortgage. But every foreclosure also involves a bank that made the loan. And usually another bank, or several more, that profited from securitizing the loan. And still another bank, or several, that profited from servicing the loan. Together, those banks have...

The chief executive of the privately-held Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, is planning to leave the company and an announcement of his departure could come within days, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has been under fire by Congress and state officials for its role in the mortgage-document crisis. The firm's board has met in recent days to address the fate of the company and its chief executive, R.K. Arnold, people said.

After more than a week of largely upbeat financial results from banks and brokerages, the markets got solid reminders that the fallout from the home-lending crisis isn’t over. Not by a long shot. Today, CNBC is reporting that Bank of America has stopped issuing initial foreclosure notices to home owners in states that don’t require a judge to sign off on foreclosures. Bloomberg News also is reporting about a coalition of private investors, including TIAA-CREF and New York Life Insurance, who are accusing BofA’s Countrywide lending unit of “massive fraud” in selling mortgage-related securities. Analyst estimates of banks’ potential losses...

The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled against U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. Friday in a widely watched mortgage foreclosure case that could have serious implications for the nation’s largest banks. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a lower court judge’s ruling invalidating two mortgage foreclosure sales because the banks did not prove that they actually owned the mortgages at the time of foreclosure. Last fall, the banking industry’s foreclosure machine came under intense scrutiny with the revelations that low-level employees called "robo signers" powered through hundreds of foreclosure affidavits a day without verifying a single sentence. At the...

*BANKS LOSE PIVOTAL FORECLOSURE CASE IN MASSACHUSETTS HIGH COURT *MASSACHUSETTS TOP COURT DECIDES CLOSELY WATCHED IBANEZ CASE *MASSACHUSETTS DECISION MAY AFFECT FORECLOSURE-CRISIS CASES

On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan. The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable — and controversial — fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.

Veto upheld. The link will be here: http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/bill-information.php?num=203808 Most Democrats voted to uphold the Veto. Nearly all Republicans voted to override. I GUESS YOU DIDN'T HEAR US LOUDLY ENOUGH IN THE ELECTION EH? Update 16:50 CT: The Jackass Republicans made the mistake of calling me asking for money just a few minutes ago. I think their ears are still ringing from the extremely foul response they received to their solicitation.

Max Keiser shares his brilliantly simple plan to bring down the precious metal manipulation cartel (those two terrific guys, JPM and HSBC who have recently been implicated in an avalanche of lawsuits involving silver price manipulation): "if everyone in America buys a silver coin" (which today costs much less then yesterday courtesy of Jim Cramer's wholehearted, and about 2 years overdue, endorsement of gold last night - a far better contrarian signal than even Goldman's FX desk ever could be), a plan originally proposed by ZH contributor Mike Krieger, "it would crash JP Morgan" presumably as the margin calls result...

STIGLITZ: We Have To Throw Bankers In Jail Or The Economy Won't Recover George Washington, Washington's Blog | Nov. 4, 2010, 7:57 AM As economists such as William Black and James Galbraith have repeatedly said, we cannot solve the economic crisis unless we throw the criminals who committed fraud in jail. And Nobel prize winning economist George Akerlof has demonstrated that failure to punish white collar criminals – and instead bailing them out- creates incentives for more economic crimes and further destruction of the economy in the future. See this, this and this. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz just...

Ron Paul explains why we need to put our money in gold and how we can do that as America slowly drifts towards socialism. I'm fully aware I can't change any one's mind about Dr. Paul on FR but please listen to this video you might agree with some of what he says.

CHELSEA CLINTON in full meltdown mode after severe panic attacks - that new hubby will be a cheater. Panicky bride-to-be Chelsea Clinton is secretly undergoing emergency prenuptial counseling ordered by her mom Hillary, insiders say. "Chelsea is a nervous wreck as her wedding approaches. She's terrified that she'll disgrace herself and her family," a Clinton family friend told The ENQUIRER. The 30-year-old former first daughter is set to wed Wall Street-er Marc Mezvinsky in a $1 million dream wedding on July 31 at the Astor Courts, a 50-acre private estate in Rhinebeck, N.Y. But now she's having second thoughts. "Chelsea...

Consumers Learning From BankstersTuesday, June 1. 2010 Posted by Karl Denninger in Editorial at 16:52 No surprise here.... Foreclosure has allowed them to stabilize the family business. Go to Outback occasionally for a steak. Take their gas-guzzling airboat out for the weekend. Visit the Hard Rock Casino. Yes, the tone of the article is rather negative toward these individuals. Guess what - I disagree. The banksters haven't exactly acted in a fashion that is worthy of ethical conduct by borrowers. Let's count (some of) the ways: •They intentionally marketed loans to people they had no expectation would be paid as...

About 75 per cent of Iceland is expected to vote “no” in an emotionally charged referendum to be held tomorrow. Despite last-minute negotiations with the UK and the Dutch finance ministry, the referendum looks a lost cause. -SNIP- A “no” vote could be an existential decision for Iceland, cutting it off from global markets. An Icesave settlement is needed to free up funds from its $10 billion IMF rescue package.