Yves Smith has a pair of damning posts about the OCC foreclosure reviews (part I and part II). Yves is compiling an extensive documentary record about the way the foreclosure reviews were structured to guarantee a whitewash that would provide little assistance even to borrowers who were seriously harmed. There's plenty of material here for any investigative journalist or Congressional committee to run with, and I really hope that this story gets picked up elsewhere.
That said, I suspect that the complexity of the review process combined with the general ennui about foreclosure shennanigans will mean that the story doesn't go much further. After five years of regulatory tolerance of outrageous behavior involving loan modifications and foreclosures, it's hard for anyone to get excited about the problems with the review process. I'm afraid it's become a dog bites man story. This isn't to say that it isn't all awful, but just to express my sense that media–and political–interest in the issue is waning. The only interesting and ironic twist with the last reconfiguration of the settlement was that it turned out that the accounting/consulting firms doing the reviews ended up squeezing the banks for a lot more money than they anticipated.
Comments
8 responses to “Inside the Foreclosure Reviews”
“…media–and political–interest in the issue is waning…”
Why shouldn’t they lose interest? – Especially when they see that former, eminently quotable champions – who were always too few and far between – have given up and are sitting on the sidelines (this blog), yawning.
There’s still a lot of opportunity for advocacy. And this is still a good place for it.
Mattie,
I don’t think it’s fair for you to characterize this blog (and by implication these bloggers) as “sitting on the sidelines” without knowing more about what we do regarding foreclosures, which goes beyond blog posts. That said, continuing to blog about a situation that hasn’t changed and isn’t likely to change does often feel like banging one’s head against the wall.
Discussing a symptom does not cure the disease.
I am a foreclosure fighter for five years. Former corporate bond trader. I sense there is a change going on. The sudden resignation of Lenny Breuer, Geither’s resignation, Mary Jo White replacement, the sudden collapse of the IFR and subsequent settlement with 10 banks in almost a month with no serious consumer groups involved…and then we have AG’s all over the country suing MERS, seemingly out of the blue (AG from KY took me by surprise). Does anyone think that these data points might be connected? Good or bad? Also, NJ, where I live, quietly passed a fc bill on December 6, 2012 that errodes the judicial process and I haven’t heard a peep out of anyone about that. I’m a Sandy victim and I am real interested to see how that plays out. The situation is changing at a glacial pace. My conclusion is that if you keep fighting you MIGHT get a marginal win. I’m not a quitter, so I’m hoping more attorneys pay attention to Yves Smith’s whistleblowers. Use their statements to compel things like, the various books the servicers keep on BK cases to compel those records. Or compel the records of how mods were boarded or not boarded. I think following the money has promise.
Adam, I understand the frustration, but the most sympathy must be reserved for the 6 – 10 million more families that will eventually be foreclosed upon unless Reason or Miracle intervene.
When the champions for Reason(you, et al) express hopelessness, well hell – how do you suppose all those poor souls might react?
(It doesn’t help that there are potentially powerful advocates out there, like Yves Smith, who seem unreasonably biased toward protecting investors at the borrowers’ expense – even as she broadcasts evidence that investors’ rights or claims may be founded on high-volume nickel-and-dime fantasies put to paper by loan officers, brokers, and loss mitigators.)
That you responded to my comment so forcefully only reveals your big, tired heart for all those folks who are still hanging on by their fingernails, and the ones who have already lost everything for no pretty reason.
That’s an admirable thing – your big brave heart, I mean to say. Remarkable even, given the current epidemic of fearfulness inside the beltway.
The President says we must raise our voices for such apparently lost causes. Should we regard his message as a dangerous or cynical dare, and remain silent?
Review or more theater?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/121700023/Monkeys-Hear
A good number entered into mortgages they could not afford, who didn’t understand that You’re responsible for MORE than just the monthly Note. Repairs, insurance, heating – all added to the costs. Another set just signed the dotted line for near half million dollar checks and just painted the town and the next door county red– and then went to Europe to live it up. Then the Music stopped and they were suddenly faced with a Mortgage they could not pay because they had no money left and what people need is a good lender in UK as soon as possible.
Over the last few years, mortgage giants have faced their share of litigations. Many of these lawsuits involved the banks’ actions (and sometimes inaction) that involved foreclosure filings and processes – including robo-signing. Unfortunately, it has little if any affect on the average consumer. The group Occupy Fight Foreclosures, is actively fighting to help ensure that the justice system is actively protecting these struggling homeowners. Yet still, there has been little remediation to the consumer. We can only hope that the ongoing litigation is enough to at least prevent this tragedy from happening in the future.
What is going on with Bank of America and their foreclosures: http://www.bankforeclosuressale.com/wp/article-01294209.html