bank foreclosure

· Lenders
should extend moratoriums on home foreclosures to all states, including
Michigan, rather than just those states with judicially supervised
foreclosures.

· Lenders that have initiated moratoriums
should insure that they actually prevent foreclosures rather than just
evictions subsequent to foreclosures.

· The Federal
Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
thereby controlling a major portion of mortgages subject to foreclosure
in the U.S., should review its procedures for proper compliance and
also consider initiating a foreclosure moratorium

At the
same time, Conyers announced plans to investigate mortgage lenders to
learn more about their foreclosure practices, including paperwork
violations and false affidavits, and ascertain what can be done to
protect homeowners from possible abuses. As part of this effort,
Conyers is asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency – the federal
agency charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to ensure
that they abide by the law, to consider initiating a moratorium, and to
conduct an audit of their actions. In addition, Conyers will be calling
upon the DOJ’s Executive Office for U.S. Trustees to investigate the
extent to which false affidavits have been filed in bankruptcy cases by
lenders seeking to foreclose on debtor’s homes.

Thus far, only
three lenders – Ally Financial (parent of GMAC Mortgage), Bank of
America, and JP Morgan Chase – have ceased post-foreclosure enforcement
actions in 23 states that have court- controlled foreclosure
proceedings: Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Even those
lenders appear to have only ceased evictions, while they continue to
engage in foreclosures, which take title from homeowners.

At this
point Michigan and 26 other states are not on the moratorium list for
these lenders, purportedly because they have a non-judicial foreclosure
process. However, without judicial oversight, the possibility of abuse
can be even greater in these states. As a result, elected state
officials in non-judicial foreclosure states such as California,
Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts, and Maryland have recently asked lenders
to suspend their foreclosures.

Widespread concern about
documentation abuses in the mortgage industry is not limited to state
officials. Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of
the California congressional delegation called on the Justice
Department, the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve to
investigate large mortgage lenders’ handling of delinquent mortgages,
mortgage modifications, and foreclosures. Additionally, Senators Robert
Menendez (NJ) and Al Franken (MN) called on the Government
Accountability Office to investigate the role of federal government
entities charged with overseeing the mortgage lending industry to
determine how they allowed lenders’ misconduct to occur without
detection for so long. Also, Members of Congress from Maryland and
Arizona – two non-judicial foreclosure states - called on large lenders
to halt foreclosures in their states.

“It makes little sense to
limit the moratoriums to judicial foreclosure states when many of the
same errors and paperwork flaws likely plague non-foreclosure states,”
said Conyers. “When the very same lenders that ignored the rules which
helped get us into the real estate bubble are placed in charge of the
foreclosures that are exacerbating the problem, locking millions of
Americans in a financial trap they cannot escape from, we have a
situation that is spiraling out of control and cries out for
intervention.”

“Given the depth of the financial calamity in
Michigan and other states, the huge number of foreclosures, and the
chain reaction of problems involving foreclosures that has impacted
communities and individuals, I would urge home mortgage lenders to cease
their foreclosure activities,” said Conyers. “Rather than spending
their time running mass production foreclosure mills, the lenders should
be working with individuals to keep families in their homes and
restructure their loans.”

“Home foreclosures affect individual
families and devastate entire communities,” said Congresswoman
Kilpatrick. “For home foreclosures to proceed under false pretenses is
patently unwarranted and unfair. I am proud to join one of the founders
of the CBC and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in this
clarion call for justice, fairness, and equality to Michiganders and all
Americans.”

###

 

There are so many fronts to the foreclosure crisis that it’s now becoming difficult to stay on top of all of them.

One development Monday that didn’t get the attention it deserved is the fact that Bank of America is now eating title insurance liability on foreclosed properties sold by its servicer. Per Bloomberg:

Bank of America’s agreement with Jacksonville, Florida- based Fidelity National calls for the lender to cover the title insurer’s costs in the event of an error in the company’s processing of foreclosure documents, Sadowski said. The bank will notify the insurer in each case that the foreclosure complies with state laws and regulations.

Bank of America is in talks with other title insurers for similar agreements, said Richard Bramhall, the bank’s chief title officer. He declined to name the other companies.

This is a big deal for several reasons:

1. The liability in case of a wrongful foreclosure is large. There is no way for the wronged borrower to get his house back, so title insurance is the only recourse. As Bob Lawless explained in Credit Slips:

…most every (or maybe even every–I’ll let someone else do the 50-state survey) state provides the strongest possible finality protections for deeds obtained through foreclosure sales. We also see similar rules for other judicially supervised sales in other contexts such as sales of personal property subject to a security interest or bankruptcy sales….

Suppose Henry and Helen Homeowner lost their home in foreclosure proceeding, and it has since been purchased by Bill and Betty Buyer. Now, Henry and Helen discover the affidavits in their foreclosure proceeding had some of the very same apparently fraudulent signatures reported in the media. When Henry and Helen complain to the court, the answer should be: “Your complaint is against Deutsche Bank (or whoever foreclosed) and not against Bill and Betty. You can recover damages from Deutsche Bank but not eject Henry and Helen from possession.” In turn, this will mean that that Bill and Betty (or their lender) will not have to look to the title insurer for recovery.

2. This means the large banks now effectively have direct exposure to borrowers for screw ups in foreclosures (note that they did earlier, in theory, but this move shortens the process of the money coming from the bank).

3. The liability is via the bank servicer. Note the Bank of American is now the largest servicer in the US (Wells is a close second) by virtue of having bought Countrywide.

4. Some contend that the risk of clouded title means that title insurers may come to require warranties from banks for all properties sold that has securitized mortgages. As Adam Levitin indicated in a Citigroup report, documentation lapses could “cloud title on not just foreclosed mortgages but on performing mortgages.”

It isn’t hard to see that other banks are likely to be required to take the same step as Bank of America, at least if they want to unload foreclosed property.

It isn’t hard to see where this is going. The biggest servicers are part of TBTF banks. The biggest trustees (the folks who were supposed to make sure that the loans all got to the securitization trust properly) are part of TBTF banks. The major structurer/packagers are now all part of TBTF banks.

Isn’t a concentrated financial services industry grand? Any time they screw up, they are too large to be made to pay for their crimes. The die was cast at the beginning of the Obama administration. It was a critical window of opportunity to take over and put new management in the weakest of the big banks (and probably force them to shed operations too) and they instead were coddled and sent back on their merry way.

I guarantee that the losses, between extend and pretend that will no longer be viable (in particular, the unrealistic marks on second mortgages) and the liabilities resulting from this colossal mess, at least one major bank will be insolvent. But the odds of the new special resolution authority being used? I put the odds at pretty much zero.

benchcraft company portland or

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<b>News</b> - Joy Behar, Bill O&#39;Reilly Continue Trading Insults <b>...</b>

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benchcraft company scam
· Lenders
should extend moratoriums on home foreclosures to all states, including
Michigan, rather than just those states with judicially supervised
foreclosures.

· Lenders that have initiated moratoriums
should insure that they actually prevent foreclosures rather than just
evictions subsequent to foreclosures.

· The Federal
Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
thereby controlling a major portion of mortgages subject to foreclosure
in the U.S., should review its procedures for proper compliance and
also consider initiating a foreclosure moratorium

At the
same time, Conyers announced plans to investigate mortgage lenders to
learn more about their foreclosure practices, including paperwork
violations and false affidavits, and ascertain what can be done to
protect homeowners from possible abuses. As part of this effort,
Conyers is asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency – the federal
agency charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to ensure
that they abide by the law, to consider initiating a moratorium, and to
conduct an audit of their actions. In addition, Conyers will be calling
upon the DOJ’s Executive Office for U.S. Trustees to investigate the
extent to which false affidavits have been filed in bankruptcy cases by
lenders seeking to foreclose on debtor’s homes.

Thus far, only
three lenders – Ally Financial (parent of GMAC Mortgage), Bank of
America, and JP Morgan Chase – have ceased post-foreclosure enforcement
actions in 23 states that have court- controlled foreclosure
proceedings: Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Even those
lenders appear to have only ceased evictions, while they continue to
engage in foreclosures, which take title from homeowners.

At this
point Michigan and 26 other states are not on the moratorium list for
these lenders, purportedly because they have a non-judicial foreclosure
process. However, without judicial oversight, the possibility of abuse
can be even greater in these states. As a result, elected state
officials in non-judicial foreclosure states such as California,
Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts, and Maryland have recently asked lenders
to suspend their foreclosures.

Widespread concern about
documentation abuses in the mortgage industry is not limited to state
officials. Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of
the California congressional delegation called on the Justice
Department, the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve to
investigate large mortgage lenders’ handling of delinquent mortgages,
mortgage modifications, and foreclosures. Additionally, Senators Robert
Menendez (NJ) and Al Franken (MN) called on the Government
Accountability Office to investigate the role of federal government
entities charged with overseeing the mortgage lending industry to
determine how they allowed lenders’ misconduct to occur without
detection for so long. Also, Members of Congress from Maryland and
Arizona – two non-judicial foreclosure states - called on large lenders
to halt foreclosures in their states.

“It makes little sense to
limit the moratoriums to judicial foreclosure states when many of the
same errors and paperwork flaws likely plague non-foreclosure states,”
said Conyers. “When the very same lenders that ignored the rules which
helped get us into the real estate bubble are placed in charge of the
foreclosures that are exacerbating the problem, locking millions of
Americans in a financial trap they cannot escape from, we have a
situation that is spiraling out of control and cries out for
intervention.”

“Given the depth of the financial calamity in
Michigan and other states, the huge number of foreclosures, and the
chain reaction of problems involving foreclosures that has impacted
communities and individuals, I would urge home mortgage lenders to cease
their foreclosure activities,” said Conyers. “Rather than spending
their time running mass production foreclosure mills, the lenders should
be working with individuals to keep families in their homes and
restructure their loans.”

“Home foreclosures affect individual
families and devastate entire communities,” said Congresswoman
Kilpatrick. “For home foreclosures to proceed under false pretenses is
patently unwarranted and unfair. I am proud to join one of the founders
of the CBC and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in this
clarion call for justice, fairness, and equality to Michiganders and all
Americans.”

###

 

There are so many fronts to the foreclosure crisis that it’s now becoming difficult to stay on top of all of them.

One development Monday that didn’t get the attention it deserved is the fact that Bank of America is now eating title insurance liability on foreclosed properties sold by its servicer. Per Bloomberg:

Bank of America’s agreement with Jacksonville, Florida- based Fidelity National calls for the lender to cover the title insurer’s costs in the event of an error in the company’s processing of foreclosure documents, Sadowski said. The bank will notify the insurer in each case that the foreclosure complies with state laws and regulations.

Bank of America is in talks with other title insurers for similar agreements, said Richard Bramhall, the bank’s chief title officer. He declined to name the other companies.

This is a big deal for several reasons:

1. The liability in case of a wrongful foreclosure is large. There is no way for the wronged borrower to get his house back, so title insurance is the only recourse. As Bob Lawless explained in Credit Slips:

…most every (or maybe even every–I’ll let someone else do the 50-state survey) state provides the strongest possible finality protections for deeds obtained through foreclosure sales. We also see similar rules for other judicially supervised sales in other contexts such as sales of personal property subject to a security interest or bankruptcy sales….

Suppose Henry and Helen Homeowner lost their home in foreclosure proceeding, and it has since been purchased by Bill and Betty Buyer. Now, Henry and Helen discover the affidavits in their foreclosure proceeding had some of the very same apparently fraudulent signatures reported in the media. When Henry and Helen complain to the court, the answer should be: “Your complaint is against Deutsche Bank (or whoever foreclosed) and not against Bill and Betty. You can recover damages from Deutsche Bank but not eject Henry and Helen from possession.” In turn, this will mean that that Bill and Betty (or their lender) will not have to look to the title insurer for recovery.

2. This means the large banks now effectively have direct exposure to borrowers for screw ups in foreclosures (note that they did earlier, in theory, but this move shortens the process of the money coming from the bank).

3. The liability is via the bank servicer. Note the Bank of American is now the largest servicer in the US (Wells is a close second) by virtue of having bought Countrywide.

4. Some contend that the risk of clouded title means that title insurers may come to require warranties from banks for all properties sold that has securitized mortgages. As Adam Levitin indicated in a Citigroup report, documentation lapses could “cloud title on not just foreclosed mortgages but on performing mortgages.”

It isn’t hard to see that other banks are likely to be required to take the same step as Bank of America, at least if they want to unload foreclosed property.

It isn’t hard to see where this is going. The biggest servicers are part of TBTF banks. The biggest trustees (the folks who were supposed to make sure that the loans all got to the securitization trust properly) are part of TBTF banks. The major structurer/packagers are now all part of TBTF banks.

Isn’t a concentrated financial services industry grand? Any time they screw up, they are too large to be made to pay for their crimes. The die was cast at the beginning of the Obama administration. It was a critical window of opportunity to take over and put new management in the weakest of the big banks (and probably force them to shed operations too) and they instead were coddled and sent back on their merry way.

I guarantee that the losses, between extend and pretend that will no longer be viable (in particular, the unrealistic marks on second mortgages) and the liabilities resulting from this colossal mess, at least one major bank will be insolvent. But the odds of the new special resolution authority being used? I put the odds at pretty much zero.

bench craft company reviews

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benchcraft company scam

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<b>News</b> - Joy Behar, Bill O&#39;Reilly Continue Trading Insults <b>...</b>

She accuses him of making "hate speech"; he says he refuses to sugar coat "harsh realities"

<b>News</b> Corp. Could Buy Yahoo

It's possible Rupert Murdoch could buy Yahoo if AOL doesn't. His tech isn't cutting edge, but he does hate Google.

benchcraft company portland or
· Lenders
should extend moratoriums on home foreclosures to all states, including
Michigan, rather than just those states with judicially supervised
foreclosures.

· Lenders that have initiated moratoriums
should insure that they actually prevent foreclosures rather than just
evictions subsequent to foreclosures.

· The Federal
Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
thereby controlling a major portion of mortgages subject to foreclosure
in the U.S., should review its procedures for proper compliance and
also consider initiating a foreclosure moratorium

At the
same time, Conyers announced plans to investigate mortgage lenders to
learn more about their foreclosure practices, including paperwork
violations and false affidavits, and ascertain what can be done to
protect homeowners from possible abuses. As part of this effort,
Conyers is asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency – the federal
agency charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to ensure
that they abide by the law, to consider initiating a moratorium, and to
conduct an audit of their actions. In addition, Conyers will be calling
upon the DOJ’s Executive Office for U.S. Trustees to investigate the
extent to which false affidavits have been filed in bankruptcy cases by
lenders seeking to foreclose on debtor’s homes.

Thus far, only
three lenders – Ally Financial (parent of GMAC Mortgage), Bank of
America, and JP Morgan Chase – have ceased post-foreclosure enforcement
actions in 23 states that have court- controlled foreclosure
proceedings: Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Even those
lenders appear to have only ceased evictions, while they continue to
engage in foreclosures, which take title from homeowners.

At this
point Michigan and 26 other states are not on the moratorium list for
these lenders, purportedly because they have a non-judicial foreclosure
process. However, without judicial oversight, the possibility of abuse
can be even greater in these states. As a result, elected state
officials in non-judicial foreclosure states such as California,
Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts, and Maryland have recently asked lenders
to suspend their foreclosures.

Widespread concern about
documentation abuses in the mortgage industry is not limited to state
officials. Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of
the California congressional delegation called on the Justice
Department, the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve to
investigate large mortgage lenders’ handling of delinquent mortgages,
mortgage modifications, and foreclosures. Additionally, Senators Robert
Menendez (NJ) and Al Franken (MN) called on the Government
Accountability Office to investigate the role of federal government
entities charged with overseeing the mortgage lending industry to
determine how they allowed lenders’ misconduct to occur without
detection for so long. Also, Members of Congress from Maryland and
Arizona – two non-judicial foreclosure states - called on large lenders
to halt foreclosures in their states.

“It makes little sense to
limit the moratoriums to judicial foreclosure states when many of the
same errors and paperwork flaws likely plague non-foreclosure states,”
said Conyers. “When the very same lenders that ignored the rules which
helped get us into the real estate bubble are placed in charge of the
foreclosures that are exacerbating the problem, locking millions of
Americans in a financial trap they cannot escape from, we have a
situation that is spiraling out of control and cries out for
intervention.”

“Given the depth of the financial calamity in
Michigan and other states, the huge number of foreclosures, and the
chain reaction of problems involving foreclosures that has impacted
communities and individuals, I would urge home mortgage lenders to cease
their foreclosure activities,” said Conyers. “Rather than spending
their time running mass production foreclosure mills, the lenders should
be working with individuals to keep families in their homes and
restructure their loans.”

“Home foreclosures affect individual
families and devastate entire communities,” said Congresswoman
Kilpatrick. “For home foreclosures to proceed under false pretenses is
patently unwarranted and unfair. I am proud to join one of the founders
of the CBC and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in this
clarion call for justice, fairness, and equality to Michiganders and all
Americans.”

###

 

There are so many fronts to the foreclosure crisis that it’s now becoming difficult to stay on top of all of them.

One development Monday that didn’t get the attention it deserved is the fact that Bank of America is now eating title insurance liability on foreclosed properties sold by its servicer. Per Bloomberg:

Bank of America’s agreement with Jacksonville, Florida- based Fidelity National calls for the lender to cover the title insurer’s costs in the event of an error in the company’s processing of foreclosure documents, Sadowski said. The bank will notify the insurer in each case that the foreclosure complies with state laws and regulations.

Bank of America is in talks with other title insurers for similar agreements, said Richard Bramhall, the bank’s chief title officer. He declined to name the other companies.

This is a big deal for several reasons:

1. The liability in case of a wrongful foreclosure is large. There is no way for the wronged borrower to get his house back, so title insurance is the only recourse. As Bob Lawless explained in Credit Slips:

…most every (or maybe even every–I’ll let someone else do the 50-state survey) state provides the strongest possible finality protections for deeds obtained through foreclosure sales. We also see similar rules for other judicially supervised sales in other contexts such as sales of personal property subject to a security interest or bankruptcy sales….

Suppose Henry and Helen Homeowner lost their home in foreclosure proceeding, and it has since been purchased by Bill and Betty Buyer. Now, Henry and Helen discover the affidavits in their foreclosure proceeding had some of the very same apparently fraudulent signatures reported in the media. When Henry and Helen complain to the court, the answer should be: “Your complaint is against Deutsche Bank (or whoever foreclosed) and not against Bill and Betty. You can recover damages from Deutsche Bank but not eject Henry and Helen from possession.” In turn, this will mean that that Bill and Betty (or their lender) will not have to look to the title insurer for recovery.

2. This means the large banks now effectively have direct exposure to borrowers for screw ups in foreclosures (note that they did earlier, in theory, but this move shortens the process of the money coming from the bank).

3. The liability is via the bank servicer. Note the Bank of American is now the largest servicer in the US (Wells is a close second) by virtue of having bought Countrywide.

4. Some contend that the risk of clouded title means that title insurers may come to require warranties from banks for all properties sold that has securitized mortgages. As Adam Levitin indicated in a Citigroup report, documentation lapses could “cloud title on not just foreclosed mortgages but on performing mortgages.”

It isn’t hard to see that other banks are likely to be required to take the same step as Bank of America, at least if they want to unload foreclosed property.

It isn’t hard to see where this is going. The biggest servicers are part of TBTF banks. The biggest trustees (the folks who were supposed to make sure that the loans all got to the securitization trust properly) are part of TBTF banks. The major structurer/packagers are now all part of TBTF banks.

Isn’t a concentrated financial services industry grand? Any time they screw up, they are too large to be made to pay for their crimes. The die was cast at the beginning of the Obama administration. It was a critical window of opportunity to take over and put new management in the weakest of the big banks (and probably force them to shed operations too) and they instead were coddled and sent back on their merry way.

I guarantee that the losses, between extend and pretend that will no longer be viable (in particular, the unrealistic marks on second mortgages) and the liabilities resulting from this colossal mess, at least one major bank will be insolvent. But the odds of the new special resolution authority being used? I put the odds at pretty much zero.

benchcraft company scam

benchcraft company portland or

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If you are like many scared homeowners that fear they will lose their home to foreclosure chances are good that you have probably spent some time researching on the Internet for information on how to stop a foreclosure from taking place and alternatives that may be available to assist you in saving your home.

Although there are numerous books and websites readily available that offer solid advice and factual information on various options there does exist many sites setup by foreclosure rescue scammers whose only interest lie in separating you from your money by pretending to offer assistance in helping you save your house or home from a foreclosure.

With all of the financial uncertainty and stress that comes with a possible home foreclosure it is easy to get swindled and lost in the wild exaggerations and false promises made by these scammers whose websites are loaded with glowing testimonials from satisfied homeowners with pictures and even audio clips whose homes were saved by these self proclaimed foreclosure rescue specialists.

However, like most anything these days, if it sounds and looks too good to be true then chances are it is probably an elaborate scam. With so many people facing a possible foreclosure and being duped by these false bail out plans, most of the experienced scammers have developed a method where they merely jump from one website storefront to the next staying slightly ahead of everyone allowing them to continue to scam naive and desperate homeowners.

Fortunately, there are a few simple tips you can follow below that will help decrease your chances of being scammed or falling victim to these online foreclosure pirates.

How To Avoid Foreclosure Scams Online Tip #1

Never provide any personal information such as your social security number, bank account information, credit card details or any other financial data to any website that is promising or promoting the ability to rescue you from a foreclosure from taking place.

How To Avoid Foreclosure Scams Online Tip #2

Always perform a check or search of the company in order to see if there have been any complaints lodged against the business by using search terms such as scam, fraud, complaint or foreclosure rescue scam.

How To Avoid Foreclosure Scams Online Tip #3

The best way to avoid being scammed is to avoid conducting any financial transaction that involves an online foreclosure rescue or bail out plan. You are much safer finding an offline business that specials in foreclosure rescues so that you can conduct your business face to face in an office environment.


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Hullabaloo

Saturday, October 02, 2010

 

Blighted Titles

by digby

If you've been following this amazing, unfolding foreclosure fraud story then you probably already know that JP Morgan/Chase, BofA and GMAC have all suspended foreclosure processes around the country now that it's been revealed they've been committing massive fraud. And Attorneys General in a number of states have also stepped in to stop the process, for the same reason.

But if you are just coming into the story, as is most of the national press, Alan Grayson has prepared a valuable primer on the crisis that's wee worth watching:

He lays out the history from the beginning when mortgage mills failed to properly file documents, instead using shortcut electronic transfer program instead of the documentation required by law. It's snowballed from there, to the point where nobody really knows who owns what and the crisis atmosphere has given cover to fraudsters, con men and greedy bankers.

Grayson is knee deep in this issue, leading the charge to get to the bottom of it, since ground zero for the foreclosure crisis is in Florida (and which this columnist warns could destroy Florida's economy.) He's dealing with some of these situations among his own constituency and among others, has been at the forefront of bringing this to the attention of the nation:

Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson of Orlando recently wrote the Florida Supreme Court, saying, "taking someone's home should not be done lightly." He asked the court to halt foreclosure proceedings for flawed paperwork brought by the most active "foreclosure mill" law firms in the state. Four firms are already under investigation by the Florida Attorney General's office. They are the Law Offices of David J. Stern, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, Shapiro & Freeman and Florida Default Group.

In response to Grayson, the state Supreme Court punted, saying it lacked the authority to get involved. The court referred the official to the Florida Bar to investigate any allegations.

Sadly, the legal system isn't rapidly stepping up to the plate in most cases to right this, offering up excuses and in some cases, indicating a far great concern for efficiency than justice. Keep in mind that this latest wave of foreclosures isn't a bunch of high flying speculators or people who bit off more than they could chew in the go-go real estate market of the Bush years. Those people were foreclosed upon already. These are prime mortgages that have gone south because of the unemployment crisis. Many of these are people who are victims of a bad economy, not their own bad judgment and in some cases they are being fraudulently foreclosed upon without just cause.

The New York Times speculates that this freeze on foreclosures is a needed pause, allowing borrowers a little breathing room and giving the market a chance to stabilize a bit. Unfortunately, it would also appear that it's going to freeze the market since title insurance companies are justifiably gun shy in the wake of all these fraud revelations. It's a huge mess.

Again, I urge you to watch Grayson's video, especially if you haven't been following this story. It's one of the best illustrations we've yet seen of how the the unregulated businesses of the manic Bush years continue to destroy the lives of average Americans. And if you feel like getting his back on this, you can donate to his campaign here.


.

digby 10/02/2010 09:00:00 AM


|

Progressive Rep. Bob Filner Risks Arrest To Save Cancer Victim’s Home From Foreclosure

As ThinkProgress has noted, there are currently two competing visions of governance in the United States. One, the conservative version, believes in the on-your-own society, and sides with powerful corporations and other privileged sectors of America. The other vision, the progressive one, believes in an American Dream that works for all people, regardless of their racial, religious, or economic background.

This progressive vision was on full display yesterday during a vigil led by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) that halted, for now, the foreclosure of a cancer victim’s home. For months, Bonita, California resident Luz Maria Villanueva had been facing impending foreclosure on her home by Union Bank. Villanueva’s situation was especially dire due to the fact that her son has a kidney disease as well as cancer. As medical bills began to pile up, Villanueva had to choose between the life of her son and her home, and she chose her son.

As Union Bank began to close in on Villanueva’s home, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), who represents the woman and her son in Congress, took note of her situation. Comparing the struggle of families trying to keep their homes to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s which landed him in a Mississippi jail for two months, Filner announced that he’d be holding a community vigil on the steps of Villanueva’s house on the day a local sheriff was scheduled to come foreclose on her. He warned that doing so “may result” in his arrest, but that was willing to risk it to help her save her home. Thanks to the publicity Filner and the surrounding community brought to the case, Union Bank decided to call off the foreclosure, for now:

“Thank you, thank you!” Luz Maria Villanueva’s voice was choked with emotion at a rally on her front lawn organized by Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego). Nearly 100 people turned out at 5:30 a.m. for a candlelight vigil to protest Union Bank’s announced plan to have the Sheriff’s department take Villanueva’s Bonita home. She has pleaded for a reprieve at least until her young son, who has cancer, completes chemotherapy treatments.

“We’re going to stand together to change America,” said Rep. Filner. “We have a president who talked about hope. We have to give him strength. The banks have taken over both parties.” He called for changes in the law to protect those victimized by predatory lending practices. The rally drew widespread media attention; at least three major TV stations as well as print and online media reporters were on hand to cover the event. Although Villanueva attained a temporary stay when Union Bank called off the Sheriff today, the order could be reissued, Filner warned those present. “We got them to back down, but we need you to be on call.”

Local news station San Diego 6 covered the event. Filner told the station that he gets “hundreds of calls” every day from other constituents facing foreclosure on their homes. He also reiterated his commitment to passing cramdown legislation — which was defeated in Congress last year — to help people stay in their homes. Watch San Diego 6’s report:

The fate of Villanueva’s home is still up in the air, as Union Bank has promised to continue negotiations with her and Filner. For his part, the congressman hopes that other communities and their legislators fight to help their neighbors keep their homes. “I hope this spreads across America,” he said at the vigil yesterday.

Blizzard dates Cataclysm launch as December 7 | <b>News</b>

Blizzard Entertainment has finally lifted the lid on plans for the launch of World of Warcraft's latest expansion - Catac...

IMPORTANT: Bing <b>News</b> RSS feed has moved! (France National Soccer <b>...</b>

... FIFA World Cup™ problems which followed the sending home of Nicolas Anelka after his clash with Blanc's predecessor Raymond Domenech. Blanc banned the entire 23-man FIFA World Cup squad from his first More FIFA World Cup News ...

The Birmingham <b>News</b> Pink Edition: Supporting the fight against <b>...</b>

Reports on the work being done in our community to fight the disease and sharing the stories of breast cancer survivors.

eric seiger eric seiger

Hullabaloo

Saturday, October 02, 2010

 

Blighted Titles

by digby

If you've been following this amazing, unfolding foreclosure fraud story then you probably already know that JP Morgan/Chase, BofA and GMAC have all suspended foreclosure processes around the country now that it's been revealed they've been committing massive fraud. And Attorneys General in a number of states have also stepped in to stop the process, for the same reason.

But if you are just coming into the story, as is most of the national press, Alan Grayson has prepared a valuable primer on the crisis that's wee worth watching:

He lays out the history from the beginning when mortgage mills failed to properly file documents, instead using shortcut electronic transfer program instead of the documentation required by law. It's snowballed from there, to the point where nobody really knows who owns what and the crisis atmosphere has given cover to fraudsters, con men and greedy bankers.

Grayson is knee deep in this issue, leading the charge to get to the bottom of it, since ground zero for the foreclosure crisis is in Florida (and which this columnist warns could destroy Florida's economy.) He's dealing with some of these situations among his own constituency and among others, has been at the forefront of bringing this to the attention of the nation:

Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson of Orlando recently wrote the Florida Supreme Court, saying, "taking someone's home should not be done lightly." He asked the court to halt foreclosure proceedings for flawed paperwork brought by the most active "foreclosure mill" law firms in the state. Four firms are already under investigation by the Florida Attorney General's office. They are the Law Offices of David J. Stern, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, Shapiro & Freeman and Florida Default Group.

In response to Grayson, the state Supreme Court punted, saying it lacked the authority to get involved. The court referred the official to the Florida Bar to investigate any allegations.

Sadly, the legal system isn't rapidly stepping up to the plate in most cases to right this, offering up excuses and in some cases, indicating a far great concern for efficiency than justice. Keep in mind that this latest wave of foreclosures isn't a bunch of high flying speculators or people who bit off more than they could chew in the go-go real estate market of the Bush years. Those people were foreclosed upon already. These are prime mortgages that have gone south because of the unemployment crisis. Many of these are people who are victims of a bad economy, not their own bad judgment and in some cases they are being fraudulently foreclosed upon without just cause.

The New York Times speculates that this freeze on foreclosures is a needed pause, allowing borrowers a little breathing room and giving the market a chance to stabilize a bit. Unfortunately, it would also appear that it's going to freeze the market since title insurance companies are justifiably gun shy in the wake of all these fraud revelations. It's a huge mess.

Again, I urge you to watch Grayson's video, especially if you haven't been following this story. It's one of the best illustrations we've yet seen of how the the unregulated businesses of the manic Bush years continue to destroy the lives of average Americans. And if you feel like getting his back on this, you can donate to his campaign here.


.

digby 10/02/2010 09:00:00 AM


|

Progressive Rep. Bob Filner Risks Arrest To Save Cancer Victim’s Home From Foreclosure

As ThinkProgress has noted, there are currently two competing visions of governance in the United States. One, the conservative version, believes in the on-your-own society, and sides with powerful corporations and other privileged sectors of America. The other vision, the progressive one, believes in an American Dream that works for all people, regardless of their racial, religious, or economic background.

This progressive vision was on full display yesterday during a vigil led by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) that halted, for now, the foreclosure of a cancer victim’s home. For months, Bonita, California resident Luz Maria Villanueva had been facing impending foreclosure on her home by Union Bank. Villanueva’s situation was especially dire due to the fact that her son has a kidney disease as well as cancer. As medical bills began to pile up, Villanueva had to choose between the life of her son and her home, and she chose her son.

As Union Bank began to close in on Villanueva’s home, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), who represents the woman and her son in Congress, took note of her situation. Comparing the struggle of families trying to keep their homes to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s which landed him in a Mississippi jail for two months, Filner announced that he’d be holding a community vigil on the steps of Villanueva’s house on the day a local sheriff was scheduled to come foreclose on her. He warned that doing so “may result” in his arrest, but that was willing to risk it to help her save her home. Thanks to the publicity Filner and the surrounding community brought to the case, Union Bank decided to call off the foreclosure, for now:

“Thank you, thank you!” Luz Maria Villanueva’s voice was choked with emotion at a rally on her front lawn organized by Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego). Nearly 100 people turned out at 5:30 a.m. for a candlelight vigil to protest Union Bank’s announced plan to have the Sheriff’s department take Villanueva’s Bonita home. She has pleaded for a reprieve at least until her young son, who has cancer, completes chemotherapy treatments.

“We’re going to stand together to change America,” said Rep. Filner. “We have a president who talked about hope. We have to give him strength. The banks have taken over both parties.” He called for changes in the law to protect those victimized by predatory lending practices. The rally drew widespread media attention; at least three major TV stations as well as print and online media reporters were on hand to cover the event. Although Villanueva attained a temporary stay when Union Bank called off the Sheriff today, the order could be reissued, Filner warned those present. “We got them to back down, but we need you to be on call.”

Local news station San Diego 6 covered the event. Filner told the station that he gets “hundreds of calls” every day from other constituents facing foreclosure on their homes. He also reiterated his commitment to passing cramdown legislation — which was defeated in Congress last year — to help people stay in their homes. Watch San Diego 6’s report:

The fate of Villanueva’s home is still up in the air, as Union Bank has promised to continue negotiations with her and Filner. For his part, the congressman hopes that other communities and their legislators fight to help their neighbors keep their homes. “I hope this spreads across America,” he said at the vigil yesterday.

Blizzard dates Cataclysm launch as December 7 | <b>News</b>

Blizzard Entertainment has finally lifted the lid on plans for the launch of World of Warcraft's latest expansion - Catac...

IMPORTANT: Bing <b>News</b> RSS feed has moved! (France National Soccer <b>...</b>

... FIFA World Cup™ problems which followed the sending home of Nicolas Anelka after his clash with Blanc's predecessor Raymond Domenech. Blanc banned the entire 23-man FIFA World Cup squad from his first More FIFA World Cup News ...

The Birmingham <b>News</b> Pink Edition: Supporting the fight against <b>...</b>

Reports on the work being done in our community to fight the disease and sharing the stories of breast cancer survivors.

eric seiger eric seiger

foreclosure victims

Q: I work for the New Mexico VA health care system.  My question is that, I think as an integral part of being Hispanic, being from here, home is very integral to that, and not only for Hispanics, for all New Mexicans, for all Americans.  And yet I hear stories of my family members’ friends, veterans that I treat, of losing their homes due to this economy that we’ve been through or are going through.  And I guess my question is, what are we doing to prevent people from losing their homes?

    

I know education is truly incredible — it moves people beyond what we can ever expect — but if we don’t have homes to go to, what good is the education?

    

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, the housing crisis helped to trigger the financial crisis.  And it’s a complicated story, but essentially what happened was, banks started seeing money in peddling what looked like these very low-interest-rate mortgages, no money down.  Started peddling these things to folks.  A lot of people didn’t read the fine print, where they had adjustable-rate mortgages or balloon payments, and they ended up being in situations where they were in homes that they couldn’t necessarily afford. 

    

The banks made a whole bunch of money on all these mortgages that were being generated.  But what happened was — is that when the housing market started going down, then all these financial instruments that were built on a steady stream of payments for mortgages, they all went bust, and that helped to trigger the entire crisis

     

Now, this is a multitrillion-dollar market, so there’s no government program where we can just make sure that whoever is losing their home that we can just pick up the tab and make sure that they can pay.  And frankly there are some people who really bought more home than they could afford, and they’d be better off renting, or they’re going to have to make adjustments in terms of their house.

What we have tried to do, though, is to make sure that people who had been making their payments regularly, who are meeting their responsibilities, if they could have a little bit of an adjustment with the banks, if some of the principal was reduced, if some of the interest was reduced on their mortgage payment, they could keep on making payments.  The bank would be better off than if the home was foreclosed on, obviously they’d be better off, and as the housing market starts picking back up again — which it will do over time, although not in the same trajectory as it used to, right; it’s going to be more much gradual — then potentially the bank could recoup some of the money that it had lost by making the adjustments on the mortgages.

So we’ve set up a number of these mortgage modification programs that are out there.  But I don’t want to lie to you — we’ve probably had hundreds of thousands of people who’ve been helped by it.  I think there have been a couple of million who’ve applied.  But that doesn’t meet the entire need because this is such a huge housing market. 

    

And what really is probably the most important thing I can do right now to keep people in their homes is to make sure the economy is growing so that they don’t feel job insecurity.  That’s probably the thing that’s going to strengthen the housing market the most over the next couple of years.  If we’ve got a growing economy, unemployment is gradually being reduced, then people are going to feel more confident; they’re going to be able to make their mortgage payments; new — homeowners, people who are potentially buyers of homes, are going to say, you know what, I don’t mind entering the market because I think things have sort of bottomed out — that starts lifting prices and that gets us on a virtuous cycle instead of a negative cycle.

    

But it’s going to take some time.  We’re working our way out of overbuilding in the housing market, a lot of not very sensible financial arrangements in the housing market.  And we’ve got to get back to sort of a traditional, more commonsense way of thinking about housing which is, if you want a house you got to save for a while.  You got to wait until you have 20 percent down.  You should go for a mortgage that you know you can afford.  You’ve got to — there shouldn’t be any surprises out there, right?  That kind of traditional thinking about saving and thinking about the house not as something that is always going up 20 percent every year and you’re going to flip and take out home equity loans and all that — we’ve got to have a different attitude, which reflects what you talked about, more of an attitude that this is your home.  This is not just a way to make quick money.

Bloomberg reports US Home Prices Fall Again:

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — U.S. home prices dropped 3.3 percent in July from a year earlier, the eighth consecutive decline, as foreclosed properties flooded the market.

Prices fell 0.5 percent from June, the
Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said in a report today.
Economists had projected prices to fall 0.2 percent from the previous
month, based on the average of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The
agency revised the previously reported May-to-June decline to 1.2
percent from 0.3 percent.

Foreclosures are boosting the supply of available properties and reducing prices, even as mortgage rates tumble to record lows. The time it would take to clear the market of homes for sale was 12.5 months
in July, the highest in more than a decade of data, according to the
National Association of Realtors. Banks seized a record 95,364
properties from delinquent borrowers in August, according to RealtyTrac
Inc., an Irvine, California-based seller of housing data.

This should be of no surprise to anyone that reads the BoomBust or
follows me regularly. I’ve been warning about the crash for over 5 years
now, and those who feel we are nearing a bottom need to take out their
spreadsheets and plug in some historical numbers.

 

Paying Subscribers are welcome to download the mortgage and credit
template that was used in the original US (Don’t) Stress (US) tests,
otherwise known as SCAP. We have taken the liberty to update the
template on a periodic basis for the government, since it appears they
are not forcing the banks to do so SCAP Assumptions Updated_09082010 Web Version.
This model shows a weakness in the Case Shiller method of following
prices in that the CS doesn’t include investment properties (usually the
first to go into foreclosure), new construction, and REOs. As a matter
of fact, Case Shiller actually looked slightly rosy as of late. The
following graphs were generated from  SCAP Assumptions Updated_09082010 Web Version..

Notice how the federal numbers show falls where CS doesn’t. Signs on the street tell me the federal numbers are correct.

As a matter of fact, things are so bad that I believe banks will have
a perverse incentive to actually walk away. Now wouldn’t that be
something??? Next, we take a look into the home builder that makes more
money doing distressed investing than it does building and selling
homes.

Related content of interest:

• I
  Told You Housing Was Going to Take a Downturn for the Worse. I’ll Tell
  You Something Else, We Are in a Housing Depression! It’ll Get Worse
  Until Market Forces Rule Over Government Bubble Blowing!
• Anecdotal Evidence That Banks Are Hiding Depressed High End Real Estate
• As I Made Very Clear In March, US Housing Has a Way to Fall
• The Shortlist of the Shortlisted “Stocks to Short for 2010″: What We See as the Most Profitable Bear Postions for 2010
• Commercial
  Real Estate Continues to Dropped into Foreclosure as the Landlords of
  Said Properties Enjoy Skyrocketing Share Prices? Yep, Makes Plenty of
  Sense
• Recent Mortgage Loss and Credit Performance Commentary
• Australia: The Land Down Under(water in mortgage debt)
• Australia: The Land Down Under(water in mortgage debt), pt. Deux: Which Banks to Short?
• Aussi Bubble Video to Go With You Aussie Bubble Speculation?

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning, AP and welcome to the weekend. As always, you'll find today's Kansas City Chiefs news below. Lots of love today. The O-line, Crennel, Happy Haley, and our Rookies should be feeling pretty proud of themselves according to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

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Tony Hawk: Shred dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

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bench craft company rip off
bench craft company rip off

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning, AP and welcome to the weekend. As always, you'll find today's Kansas City Chiefs news below. Lots of love today. The O-line, Crennel, Happy Haley, and our Rookies should be feeling pretty proud of themselves according to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Tony Hawk: Shred dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Activision's launched an interactive website "that gives players a head start on honing their over-the-top skate and snowboarding skills as they explore new game content, the latest news and much, much more!" Check it out here. ...

bench craft company rip off bench craft company rip off

Q: I work for the New Mexico VA health care system.  My question is that, I think as an integral part of being Hispanic, being from here, home is very integral to that, and not only for Hispanics, for all New Mexicans, for all Americans.  And yet I hear stories of my family members’ friends, veterans that I treat, of losing their homes due to this economy that we’ve been through or are going through.  And I guess my question is, what are we doing to prevent people from losing their homes?

    

I know education is truly incredible — it moves people beyond what we can ever expect — but if we don’t have homes to go to, what good is the education?

    

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, the housing crisis helped to trigger the financial crisis.  And it’s a complicated story, but essentially what happened was, banks started seeing money in peddling what looked like these very low-interest-rate mortgages, no money down.  Started peddling these things to folks.  A lot of people didn’t read the fine print, where they had adjustable-rate mortgages or balloon payments, and they ended up being in situations where they were in homes that they couldn’t necessarily afford. 

    

The banks made a whole bunch of money on all these mortgages that were being generated.  But what happened was — is that when the housing market started going down, then all these financial instruments that were built on a steady stream of payments for mortgages, they all went bust, and that helped to trigger the entire crisis

     

Now, this is a multitrillion-dollar market, so there’s no government program where we can just make sure that whoever is losing their home that we can just pick up the tab and make sure that they can pay.  And frankly there are some people who really bought more home than they could afford, and they’d be better off renting, or they’re going to have to make adjustments in terms of their house.

What we have tried to do, though, is to make sure that people who had been making their payments regularly, who are meeting their responsibilities, if they could have a little bit of an adjustment with the banks, if some of the principal was reduced, if some of the interest was reduced on their mortgage payment, they could keep on making payments.  The bank would be better off than if the home was foreclosed on, obviously they’d be better off, and as the housing market starts picking back up again — which it will do over time, although not in the same trajectory as it used to, right; it’s going to be more much gradual — then potentially the bank could recoup some of the money that it had lost by making the adjustments on the mortgages.

So we’ve set up a number of these mortgage modification programs that are out there.  But I don’t want to lie to you — we’ve probably had hundreds of thousands of people who’ve been helped by it.  I think there have been a couple of million who’ve applied.  But that doesn’t meet the entire need because this is such a huge housing market. 

    

And what really is probably the most important thing I can do right now to keep people in their homes is to make sure the economy is growing so that they don’t feel job insecurity.  That’s probably the thing that’s going to strengthen the housing market the most over the next couple of years.  If we’ve got a growing economy, unemployment is gradually being reduced, then people are going to feel more confident; they’re going to be able to make their mortgage payments; new — homeowners, people who are potentially buyers of homes, are going to say, you know what, I don’t mind entering the market because I think things have sort of bottomed out — that starts lifting prices and that gets us on a virtuous cycle instead of a negative cycle.

    

But it’s going to take some time.  We’re working our way out of overbuilding in the housing market, a lot of not very sensible financial arrangements in the housing market.  And we’ve got to get back to sort of a traditional, more commonsense way of thinking about housing which is, if you want a house you got to save for a while.  You got to wait until you have 20 percent down.  You should go for a mortgage that you know you can afford.  You’ve got to — there shouldn’t be any surprises out there, right?  That kind of traditional thinking about saving and thinking about the house not as something that is always going up 20 percent every year and you’re going to flip and take out home equity loans and all that — we’ve got to have a different attitude, which reflects what you talked about, more of an attitude that this is your home.  This is not just a way to make quick money.

Bloomberg reports US Home Prices Fall Again:

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — U.S. home prices dropped 3.3 percent in July from a year earlier, the eighth consecutive decline, as foreclosed properties flooded the market.

Prices fell 0.5 percent from June, the
Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said in a report today.
Economists had projected prices to fall 0.2 percent from the previous
month, based on the average of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The
agency revised the previously reported May-to-June decline to 1.2
percent from 0.3 percent.

Foreclosures are boosting the supply of available properties and reducing prices, even as mortgage rates tumble to record lows. The time it would take to clear the market of homes for sale was 12.5 months
in July, the highest in more than a decade of data, according to the
National Association of Realtors. Banks seized a record 95,364
properties from delinquent borrowers in August, according to RealtyTrac
Inc., an Irvine, California-based seller of housing data.

This should be of no surprise to anyone that reads the BoomBust or
follows me regularly. I’ve been warning about the crash for over 5 years
now, and those who feel we are nearing a bottom need to take out their
spreadsheets and plug in some historical numbers.

 

Paying Subscribers are welcome to download the mortgage and credit
template that was used in the original US (Don’t) Stress (US) tests,
otherwise known as SCAP. We have taken the liberty to update the
template on a periodic basis for the government, since it appears they
are not forcing the banks to do so SCAP Assumptions Updated_09082010 Web Version.
This model shows a weakness in the Case Shiller method of following
prices in that the CS doesn’t include investment properties (usually the
first to go into foreclosure), new construction, and REOs. As a matter
of fact, Case Shiller actually looked slightly rosy as of late. The
following graphs were generated from  SCAP Assumptions Updated_09082010 Web Version..

Notice how the federal numbers show falls where CS doesn’t. Signs on the street tell me the federal numbers are correct.

As a matter of fact, things are so bad that I believe banks will have
a perverse incentive to actually walk away. Now wouldn’t that be
something??? Next, we take a look into the home builder that makes more
money doing distressed investing than it does building and selling
homes.

Related content of interest:

• I
  Told You Housing Was Going to Take a Downturn for the Worse. I’ll Tell
  You Something Else, We Are in a Housing Depression! It’ll Get Worse
  Until Market Forces Rule Over Government Bubble Blowing!
• Anecdotal Evidence That Banks Are Hiding Depressed High End Real Estate
• As I Made Very Clear In March, US Housing Has a Way to Fall
• The Shortlist of the Shortlisted “Stocks to Short for 2010″: What We See as the Most Profitable Bear Postions for 2010
• Commercial
  Real Estate Continues to Dropped into Foreclosure as the Landlords of
  Said Properties Enjoy Skyrocketing Share Prices? Yep, Makes Plenty of
  Sense
• Recent Mortgage Loss and Credit Performance Commentary
• Australia: The Land Down Under(water in mortgage debt)
• Australia: The Land Down Under(water in mortgage debt), pt. Deux: Which Banks to Short?
• Aussi Bubble Video to Go With You Aussie Bubble Speculation?

bench craft company rip off

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning, AP and welcome to the weekend. As always, you'll find today's Kansas City Chiefs news below. Lots of love today. The O-line, Crennel, Happy Haley, and our Rookies should be feeling pretty proud of themselves according to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Tony Hawk: Shred dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Activision's launched an interactive website "that gives players a head start on honing their over-the-top skate and snowboarding skills as they explore new game content, the latest news and much, much more!" Check it out here. ...

bench craft company rip off bench craft company rip off

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning, AP and welcome to the weekend. As always, you'll find today's Kansas City Chiefs news below. Lots of love today. The O-line, Crennel, Happy Haley, and our Rookies should be feeling pretty proud of themselves according to ...

Pulse <b>News</b> Reader for iPad 2.0: More sources, better organization

Alphonso Labs reported today that their Pulse News Reader for iPad (currently US $1.99) has been updated to version 2.0. The new version of the app addresses one of the major complaints about the original by allowing up to 60 news feeds ...

Tony Hawk: Shred dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Activision's launched an interactive website "that gives players a head start on honing their over-the-top skate and snowboarding skills as they explore new game content, the latest news and much, much more!" Check it out here. ...

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Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning, AP and welcome to the weekend. As always, you'll find today's Kansas City Chiefs news below. Lots of love today. The O-line, Crennel, Happy Haley, and our Rookies should be feeling pretty proud of themselves according to ...

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Making Money Without

Among those charged was Robert Rizzo, the former city manager of Bell, whose compensation package led the way with annual salary and benefits totaling more than $1.5 million. Prosecutors accused him of illegally writing his own employment contracts and steering nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized city loans to himself and others. He was booked into Los Angeles County Jail and was being held on $3.2-million bail.

The charges follow months of nationwide outrage and renewed debate over public employee compensation since The Times reported in July that the city's leaders were among the nation's highest paid municipal officials.

Cooley described Rizzo as the "unelected and unaccountable czar" of Bell, accusing him of going to elaborate lengths to keep his salary secret. Prosecutors alleged that Rizzo gave himself huge pay raises without the City Council's approval.

"This was calculated greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy," Cooley said.

Rizzo's attorney, James W. Spertus, said the charges came as no surprise and were politically motivated by Cooley, who is running for California attorney general.

"The allegations are mistaken," Spertus said. "They are factually untrue in many readily provable ways."

Cooley denied that his election effort played any part in the decision to file charges.

At a news conference, Cooley accused City Council members of failing to oversee Rizzo's actions, saying that they instead had collected more than $1.2 million in total pay since 2006 for presiding over city agency meetings that never occurred or lasted just a few minutes.

Many city residents greeted news of the charges with joy.

"Finally the crooks are going to suffer what the city suffered for many years," said Carmen Bella, a longtime Bell activist.

About two dozen Bell residents gathered outside City Hall to celebrate. One man used a bullhorn to broadcast the Queen rock song, "Another One Bites the Dust," while others laughed, cheered and applauded.

But at least one resident wondered what would happen to his embattled city.

"Who's going to call the shots?" asked Hassan Mourad, 32. "That's the most important thing right now."

-- Richard Winton and Jack Leonard

Photo: Booking shots of Robert Rizzo, former city manager, and Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez. Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Photos: Arrests in Bell

Remember the old days of dialler Trojan horses?

Back when most of us didn't have broadband at home, and connected to the internet via a modem, we saw a type of malware which could take advantage of the phone line plugged into the back of your PC and dial an expensive premium rate number.

In this way, criminal hackers could make money out of your infected computer - and you might know anything about it until you received an expensive telephone bill.

Dialler Trojan horses went the way of the dinosaur as consumers turned their back on modem connections and adopted broadband en masse.

But, as F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen explained today at the Virus Bulletin conference, the threat may have returned in a different form through the use of virtual premium rate numbers.

Earlier this year I described the Terdial Trojan horse, which was distributed posing as a Windows mobile game called "3D Anti-terrorist action", but appeared to make calls to Antarctica, Dominican Republic, Somalia and Sao Tome and Principe without the owner's permission.

So how did it make money for the hackers?

Well, it transpires that although the Trojan did make phone calls to numbers associated with various far-flung corners of the world, the calls never made it that far.

That's because the phone numbers were what are known as virtual numbers. It's perfectly possible to find telephone operators on the web who will rent you premium phone number associated with, say, Antarctica, and pay you every time that a call is made.

Unlike other legitimate premium rate numbers (such as 1-900 in USA), there is no regulation preventing abuse of the virtual numbers, and the 'owner' of the number gets paid instantly rather than having to wait 30 days.

And your call never actually gets as far as Antarctica or North Korea. It's stopped in your own country, but you're still billed as though you rang that far away place.

The days of Trojan horses making money out of dial-up modem connections may be long gone, but here's a model for money-making that mobile malware authors could certainly exploit.

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Among those charged was Robert Rizzo, the former city manager of Bell, whose compensation package led the way with annual salary and benefits totaling more than $1.5 million. Prosecutors accused him of illegally writing his own employment contracts and steering nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized city loans to himself and others. He was booked into Los Angeles County Jail and was being held on $3.2-million bail.

The charges follow months of nationwide outrage and renewed debate over public employee compensation since The Times reported in July that the city's leaders were among the nation's highest paid municipal officials.

Cooley described Rizzo as the "unelected and unaccountable czar" of Bell, accusing him of going to elaborate lengths to keep his salary secret. Prosecutors alleged that Rizzo gave himself huge pay raises without the City Council's approval.

"This was calculated greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy," Cooley said.

Rizzo's attorney, James W. Spertus, said the charges came as no surprise and were politically motivated by Cooley, who is running for California attorney general.

"The allegations are mistaken," Spertus said. "They are factually untrue in many readily provable ways."

Cooley denied that his election effort played any part in the decision to file charges.

At a news conference, Cooley accused City Council members of failing to oversee Rizzo's actions, saying that they instead had collected more than $1.2 million in total pay since 2006 for presiding over city agency meetings that never occurred or lasted just a few minutes.

Many city residents greeted news of the charges with joy.

"Finally the crooks are going to suffer what the city suffered for many years," said Carmen Bella, a longtime Bell activist.

About two dozen Bell residents gathered outside City Hall to celebrate. One man used a bullhorn to broadcast the Queen rock song, "Another One Bites the Dust," while others laughed, cheered and applauded.

But at least one resident wondered what would happen to his embattled city.

"Who's going to call the shots?" asked Hassan Mourad, 32. "That's the most important thing right now."

-- Richard Winton and Jack Leonard

Photo: Booking shots of Robert Rizzo, former city manager, and Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez. Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Photos: Arrests in Bell

Remember the old days of dialler Trojan horses?

Back when most of us didn't have broadband at home, and connected to the internet via a modem, we saw a type of malware which could take advantage of the phone line plugged into the back of your PC and dial an expensive premium rate number.

In this way, criminal hackers could make money out of your infected computer - and you might know anything about it until you received an expensive telephone bill.

Dialler Trojan horses went the way of the dinosaur as consumers turned their back on modem connections and adopted broadband en masse.

But, as F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen explained today at the Virus Bulletin conference, the threat may have returned in a different form through the use of virtual premium rate numbers.

Earlier this year I described the Terdial Trojan horse, which was distributed posing as a Windows mobile game called "3D Anti-terrorist action", but appeared to make calls to Antarctica, Dominican Republic, Somalia and Sao Tome and Principe without the owner's permission.

So how did it make money for the hackers?

Well, it transpires that although the Trojan did make phone calls to numbers associated with various far-flung corners of the world, the calls never made it that far.

That's because the phone numbers were what are known as virtual numbers. It's perfectly possible to find telephone operators on the web who will rent you premium phone number associated with, say, Antarctica, and pay you every time that a call is made.

Unlike other legitimate premium rate numbers (such as 1-900 in USA), there is no regulation preventing abuse of the virtual numbers, and the 'owner' of the number gets paid instantly rather than having to wait 30 days.

And your call never actually gets as far as Antarctica or North Korea. It's stopped in your own country, but you're still billed as though you rang that far away place.

The days of Trojan horses making money out of dial-up modem connections may be long gone, but here's a model for money-making that mobile malware authors could certainly exploit.

bench craft company rip off

All You Need to Know: Fox <b>News</b> &#39;Destructive,&#39; MSNBC &#39;Invaluable <b>...</b>

Obama hates Fox because Fox is the only broadcast news outlet that exposes him for what he really is – a lazy, psuedo intellectual empty suit, who is being stopped in his tracks before he can complete his mission – as assigned to him by ...

Evri Expands Mobile Offerings Beyond Tech <b>News</b> to Sports, Music <b>...</b>

Evri is going mobile in a big way. The Seattle- and San Francisco-based information discovery website backed by Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital introduced an.

Bulletstorm dev talks down FPS fatigue <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Bulletstorm dev talks down FPS fatigue.

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All You Need to Know: Fox <b>News</b> &#39;Destructive,&#39; MSNBC &#39;Invaluable <b>...</b>

Obama hates Fox because Fox is the only broadcast news outlet that exposes him for what he really is – a lazy, psuedo intellectual empty suit, who is being stopped in his tracks before he can complete his mission – as assigned to him by ...

Evri Expands Mobile Offerings Beyond Tech <b>News</b> to Sports, Music <b>...</b>

Evri is going mobile in a big way. The Seattle- and San Francisco-based information discovery website backed by Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital introduced an.

Bulletstorm dev talks down FPS fatigue <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Bulletstorm dev talks down FPS fatigue.

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All You Need to Know: Fox <b>News</b> &#39;Destructive,&#39; MSNBC &#39;Invaluable <b>...</b>

Obama hates Fox because Fox is the only broadcast news outlet that exposes him for what he really is – a lazy, psuedo intellectual empty suit, who is being stopped in his tracks before he can complete his mission – as assigned to him by ...

Evri Expands Mobile Offerings Beyond Tech <b>News</b> to Sports, Music <b>...</b>

Evri is going mobile in a big way. The Seattle- and San Francisco-based information discovery website backed by Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital introduced an.

Bulletstorm dev talks down FPS fatigue <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Bulletstorm dev talks down FPS fatigue.

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