mortgage modification

Foreclosure Settlement Shows 4.2 Million Borrowers Shafted in 2009-2010

The truth comes out on the mortgage fraud settlement.  The OCC announced the payout terms and for most people, they get less than $1,000 out of the deal.  Only in America can one be fraudulently foreclosed on, lose their home, have their credit ruined, only to be compensated less than $1,000 for the ordeal.

Mortgage Settlement Is Corruption Poster Child

housemazeIt's simply a failure of law. Barry Ritholtz wrote a admonishment of the Obama administration and state attorney generals for buying into the 50 state mortgage settlement pig in a poke:

We never want to see an innocent party “accidentally” evicted from a home. The legal system has evolved so this has become a “legal impossibility.” Imagine returning home from work or vacation to find the front door padlocked, the belongings strewn all over the block, a big orange sticker screaming “FORECLOSED” on the garage door, with an auction sign in the front lawn. Now imagine that this occurred even though you are not in default or even delinquent on payments. Thanks to the robosigning banks, this legal impossibility has happened repeatedly, even to homeowners who paid cash for their houses and had no mortgages. Imagine that — foreclosed with no mortgage.

Pretty incredible huh? It used to be no one could simply just take your home. Such a violation of personal and property rights was unheard of. Now the stories are so routine, the press barely covers them.

Bloomberg Law interviewed an on fire Ritholtz, who explains, in simple English, why this settlement is such a big deal. Literally the settlement throws out 1000 years of individual property rights, law and is a loss of personal freedom you really need to pay attention to.

NACA Save the Dream Mortgage Help Tour

Mother Jones reporter Andy Kroll has gotten down and personal with desperate homeowners. In the illusion of recovery Kroll witnesses people showing up for free help from a group I've never heard of, the NACA.

Currently the NACA is touring the country with free help for distressed homeowners in the Save the Dream program. Current Pit stop is Charlotte, NC. Here is Kroll's account from the NACA mortgage help tour at San Francisco's Cow Palace: