Free Republic

Bank of America Corp. and its Countrywide Home Loans unit were accused of racketeering in a lawsuit filed by two Indiana residents claiming that perjured affidavits were used to foreclose on their home. Dwayne Ransom Davis and Melisa Davis filed the complaint Tuesday in federal court in Indianapolis. Their lawyer, Irwin Levin, confirmed the filing in a phone interview, but it couldn’t be independently verified. “The defendants and their cohorts engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity in which they routinely and repeatedly prepared perjured affidavits in order to rapidly churn foreclosures,” the couple said in the complaint.

Update: CNBC confirms that the New York Fed is part of a consortium that have launched a lawsuit against BofA regarding Countrywide mortgages. Shares are now off 3%. Original post: Interesting! Shares of Bank of America (BAC) are getting crushed on headlines that the New York Fed and PIMCO are about to jump on the Bank of America mortgage putback bandwagon. It's particularly surprising to see the NYFED jump in on the action, since that means they'd be actively working to weaken Bank of America. PIMCO is private, so their only interest is making more money. It makes sense. All...

4 In Your Corner continues to investigate the Rocket Docket. That's the speedy-foreclosure process in Southwest Florida's 20th Judicial Circuit. We have the story of one Charlotte County man who's trying to stop it. As a notary public with over 20-years experience, Ron Gillis scrutinized his mortgage documents preparing for his foreclosure hearing. And he claims to have found on paper what many of you have complained to 4 In Your Corner about, mortgage fraud and falsified documents; and in the courtroom, violation of due process and rogue judges. That's why he's filing complaints against foreclosure judges Leeann Schreiber and...

Bank of America alleged in a court filing this June: It appears as though many loans and other mortgage-related assets have been double and even triple-pledged to various constituencies As I have repeatedly pointed out, the failure of the mortgage originators and banks to prepare and record proper documentation has led to an epidemic of fraud. The pledging of the same mortgage again and again to different trusts related to mortgage backed securities is just one result. And as long-time foreclosure investigator Nye Lavalle writes: On thousands of occasions I stated to regulators, CEOS, banks, Fannie and Freddie that the...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The White House is committed to holding banks accountable for any legal violations tied to housing foreclosures, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday. Gibbs also reiterated that the administration "strongly" supports an investigation by 50 state attorneys general into allegations that bank employees signed foreclosure documents without carefully reviewing the contents. Gibbs' statement comes as several large financial institutions, including Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and GMAC Mortgage, a lender and loan servicer, said they were restarting foreclosures. Bank of America said the company hasn't found significant problems with its process for seizing homes. The bank...

Foreclosure attorney David Stern, who is being investigated for fabricating legal documents, purposefully hid files from inspectors with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a former employee said in recently released deposition. Stern had a tight-knit relationship with the two mortgage giants, and referred to them as his “babies,” former employee Kelly Scott said. Scott also said office managers and key staff members got gifts, including new cars. Stern’s law firm is one of the largest foreclosure law firms in Florida, handling thousands of cases per month. Attorney General Bill McCollum is investigating the firm for allegedly creating phony documents. McCollum’s...

Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Protective Order at 7. As grounds for it's motion, Plaintiff points to the embarrassment GMAC and it's employees suffered, and will continue to suffer, from the posting of excerpts from Stephan's deposition transcript on an Internet blog. The Court is not persuaded that the Plaintiff has shown the requisite "good cause" to justify entry of a protective order in this case.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Thursday as investors retreated from financials because of concerns over banks' foreclosure practices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.51 points, or 0.01%, to 11094.6, snapping a four-session winning streak in a day of choppy trading. Financials led the Dow's declines. Bank of America dropped 69 cents, or 5.2%, to 12.60 and J.P. Morgan Chase fell $1.12, or 2.8%, to $38.72. Both are among the wave of banks reviewing their foreclosures after temporarily suspending evictions due to concerns over "robo signers," who approve hundreds of foreclosure documents a day. Among other banks...