Posted on 09/01/2009 3:09:24 PM PDT by Kartographer
Every week, the nation’s mightiest banks come to his court seeking to take the homes of New Yorkers who cannot pay their mortgages. And nearly as often, the judge says, they file foreclosure papers speckled with errors.
He plucks out one motion and leafs through: a Deutsche Bank representative signed an affidavit claiming to be the vice president of two different banks. His office was in Kansas City, Mo., but the signature was notarized in Texas. And the bank did not even
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I'm sure some FReepers will bristle at this guy, but that sounds pretty fair to me.
I’m glad someone is looking out for these businesses to not screw folks over. Legally, this is absolutely what they are supposed to do! I like this judge.
This is a variation on the idea that the note holder must “produce the paper” showing every detail.
“I’m sure some FReepers will bristle at this guy, but that sounds pretty fair to me.”
I’m bristling. I’ve seen cases like this. There is absolutely no question that the mortgagor has not been paying — usually for a year or more. There is no real question that the bank owns the property. But because mortgages get packaged into tranches, and ownership of the tranches moves around so much, technical errors can pop up. That’s all this is. Postponing the inevitable, driving up costs, and making the banks losses on the foreclosure (which average about 50 percent of their investment, and up to more than 70% in some states) even larger. This is ridiculous, populist crap.
You would think that a bank (second only to a law firm, I suppose) would know the value in dotting all the “i”s and crossing all the “t”s...
I'm sure some FReepers will bristle at this guy, but that sounds pretty fair to me.
Ownership can be difficult to establish because the mortgages were sliced and diced and sold off into mortgage backed securities. One security might get the principal and another the interest from a single mortgage. Then these mortgage securities are sold and resold. No wonder ownership is hard to trace. Then was all of this done legally?
Maybe some people will get free houses out of this mess
I have heard of people declaring bankruptcy these days and keeping very nice vehicles because the lender never came to court.
Sloppy books and crazy mortgage bundling and reselling of those were not a problem ....The banksters and Wall St thought real estate would always go up up up
But when real estate tanks the person/family that is going to foreclosed on would be crazy not to demand well documented ownership of their mortgage
I don't think that's in doubt by anyone, including the judge.
There is no real question that the bank owns the property.
But is there no real question? As I understand it, that mortgage is lumped in with a bunch of others, carved up by God-knows-what parameters, and sold off in various chunks to God-knows-who.
If there is a proper paper trail, then the bank should get it, but if not...well, I can't imagine a bank being very lenient on Joe Blow who was trying to claim something was his without the proper paperwork to back it up...
On one hand, the companies involved do appear to need to get their stuff together.
On the other hand, I think I’m exceedingly glad this guy’s out of the teaching business. He might actually be less dangerous where he is now.
I'm willing to wager that will happen in many cases all over the country.
I’m a judge and I agree with you.
That may all very well be true.
But if it can't be demonstrated who actually owns the mortgage, when the house is ultimately sold, how does one ensure the right creditor gets the proceeds?
What a great judge! Instead of finding a penumbra to help the rich and powerful, he just does a straight judgment by the book.
Why would FReepers bristle at a judge who wants big powerful corporations to be subject to the same laws that the little guy has to abide by? If the paperwork is not in order, the banks are not holding up their end of a bargain. If they took advantage of the buyer in the first place and yet enriched themselves at the expense of vulnerable borrowers, where's the problem with holding their feet to the fire? Good for him.
I agree. This judge is a threat to legitimate property rights. If his approach were adopted on a large scale, the mortgage industry would be radically transformed. The rats would like to nationalize the entire mortgage and housing industries. A breakdown of the mortgage industry would give them the cover to take control.
“This is ridiculous, populist crap.”
Bu*lsh!t
Screw em, if they can’t keep their paperwork straight. Do you think for one minute the banks would cut J6P slack if the tables were turned?
Absolutely not.
Let ‘em rot from the inside out. The sooner the better.
I’m not in favor of persons trying to use this situation to take advantage, whether it is the lender or the borrower. If a borrower is behind on payments, he should have to surrender the property at some point if a loan cannot be repackaged to mutual benefit. But the article mentioned shoddy lending practices, such as a $300K building with a $500K mortgage. Surely the banks have some responsibility here?
When the financial geniuses came out with MBSs, they must have wondered why no brilliant person had thought of that great idea before.
Now they know.
The complications and downside of MBSs may produce a return to simpler arrangements.
Well, lady lawyer, we sure know where you stand on the law don't we?
Meet my dentist - he will numb you up with whisky - in the syringe if you really want.
Meet my banker - he will put your money in mr lawyer's account - you are married to him aren't you?
Meet your president - he's shown you an internet image of a photocopy of a printout of something that might exist in Hawaii.
Meet your auto mechanic - he's put some liquid or other in your brake hydraulics.......and
Meet your pilot - he has practiced on the Microsoft program quite a bit.
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