Mortgage Crisis

60 Minutes Segment On Foreclosure Paperwork Mess & Defective Titles

by Rich Vetstein 04.04.2011 Foreclosure

Last night, 60 Minutes did a compelling segment — Mortgage Paperwork Mess: Next Housing Shock? – on an important issue we’ve been covering here on the Blog . The segment details rampant forgeries by $10/hour bank “vice-presidents” and the pervasive robo-signing of bogus mortgage documents by “document mills” and “foreclosure factories.” We’ve been particularly concerned [...]

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Oh My, Oh MERS! NY Bankruptcy Judge Rules That Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Lacks Right To Assign Mortgages

by Rich Vetstein 02.15.2011 Fannie Mae
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First the robo-signing controversy. Then the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez ruling. Now the next bombshell ruling in the foreclosure mess has just come down from a New York federal bankruptcy judge. The case is In Re Agard (click here to download), and essentially throws a huge monkey wrench into a hugely important cog of the [...]

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More U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Foreclosure Talk: VIDEO

by Rich Vetstein 02.09.2011 Mortgage Crisis

I put together my first YouTube video, and thought a good topic would be the impact of the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case on the foreclosure and REO market. The case underscores the necessity of obtaining an owner’s policy of title insurance for any REO transaction, and really any conventional transaction for that matter. Appreciate [...]

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Online Seminar: The Massachusetts Ibanez Decision, Its Ruling and Implications For the Industry, Attorneys & Consumers

by Rich Vetstein 02.03.2011 Foreclosure
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I am honored to be a panelist — along with the lawyers who prevailed in the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case –in an upcoming online seminar on February 12 and 15. Here are the details: The Massachusetts Ibanez Decision: The Ruling and its Implications for the Industry, the Practitioner and the Consumer Saturday, February 12th, [...]

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A New Chapter M for Mortgage Bankruptcy?

by Rich Vetstein 02.02.2011 Bankruptcy
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I recently came across a very provocative and interesting idea to address the foreclosure and bankruptcy crisis: a new Chapter M for Mortgage bankruptcy. As described on FireDogLake: “Prof. Adam Levitin has proposed this with his Chapter M for Mortgage bankruptcy. It would remove foreclosure actions from state court to federal bankruptcy court. Successful petitions [...]

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Late To The Party? More Foreclosure Legislation Filed In Massachusetts

by Rich Vetstein 01.28.2011 Foreclosure
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You knew this was coming. The politicians smell a big political opportunity with the foreclosure mess in Massachusetts, and are filing legislation left and right. The latest is legislation filed by State Senator Karen Spilka and Attorney General Martha Coakley mandating loan modifications in certain circumstances. Specifically, the loan modification legislation requires creditors to take [...]

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Secretary of State Galvin Files Legislation To Resolve Faulty Foreclosures After U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Ruling

by Rich Vetstein 01.27.2011 Foreclosure
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From the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle Tribune: Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin filed legislation last Friday to give the Land Court authority to create a special master to deal with foreclosures that may have occurred improperly. Anyone seeking to challenge the legitimacy of a foreclosure would have one year to file a lawsuit in the [...]

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Dealing With The Mess U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Left Behind: SJC To Consider Sale After Invalid Foreclosure

by Rich Vetstein 01.22.2011 Foreclosure
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Breaking News (10/18/11): The Court has issued its opinion, affirming the Land Court’s dismissal. For a full analysis, click here. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has taken up an appeal about whether a home buyer can rightfully own a property if the bank that sold it to him didn’t have the right to foreclose on [...]

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Book Review: The Big Short by Michael Lewis, Inside The Sub-Prime Mortgage Doomsday Machine

by Rich Vetstein 01.18.2011 Mortgage Crisis
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I read The Big Short, by Michael Lewis a few months ago. Now after the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez ruling exposed possible widespread irregularities in the mortgage securitization industry, I thought it would be a great blog topic. If you are going to read one book about the market this year, read this one. Back [...]

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Apocalypse Now? Will The Massachusetts Ibanez Case Unravel Widespread Irregularities In The Residential Securitized Mortgage Market?

by Rich Vetstein 01.08.2011 Foreclosure
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Breaking News (10/19/11): SJC Rules Purchaser Of Ibanez Property Left Without Valid Title in Bevilacqua Case (click for more info) Barely 24 hours old — the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s U.S. Bank v. Ibanez decision is already a huge national story. The high court ruled that two foreclosures of sub-prime mortgages were null and void [...]

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Breaking News: U.S. Bank v. Ibanez Foreclosure Ruling Upheld: An Indictment Of The Securitized Mortgage System

by Rich Vetstein 01.07.2011 Foreclosure
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“[W]hat is surprising about these cases is … the utter carelessness with which the plaintiff banks documented the titles to their assets.” –Justice Robert Cordy, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled against foreclosing lenders and those who purchased foreclosed properties in Massachusetts in the controversial U.S. Bank v. Ibanez [...]

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New Fannie Mae Lending Rules Will Help Some Borrowers, Hurt Others

by Rich Vetstein 11.28.2010 Fannie Mae
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Fannie Mae will roll out new lending guidelines on December 13 which will make securing a mortgage a lot easier for some borrowers but harder for others. The Good News: Gift Money For Entire Down Payment Borrowers can now use gifts or grant funds for their entire down payment, avoiding the old rule requiring at [...]

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Don’t Fight The Fed! Will The Fed’s Quantitative Easing II Policy Cause Residential Mortgage Interest Rates To Rise Or Fall?

by Rich Vetstein 11.10.2010 Mortgage Crisis
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We welcome for the first time, guest blogger Ricardo Brasil. Ricardo is a Vice President at one of America’s largest Banks, and is recognized as one of the top mortgage originators nationally. For more info, go to his website at www.ricardobrasil.com or call him directly at (617) 897-5192. Quantitative Easing Policy I (QE I): The [...]

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Focus On The Foreclosure Mess: Title Insurance, Robo-Signing, & Ibanez

by Rich Vetstein 10.26.2010 Foreclosure
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Two good questions came from my Boston.com real estate blog readers about the recent foreclosure mess. “Are title insurance companies still insuring foreclosure properties?”– James In Cambridge Answer: Yes, they are. Initially, the press reported that some major title insurers had temporarily stopped insuring foreclosure titles from JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financial, and Bank of [...]

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The Current State Of The Massachusetts and U.S. Residential Mortgage Lending Market

by Rich Vetstein 10.22.2010 Fannie Mae
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David Gaffin of Greenpark Mortgage,  www.massmortgageblog.com, is here with a superb summary of what’s now going on with Massachusetts (and national) residential mortgage market. The National and Massachusetts Mortgage Lending Picture Lot’s has been happening in the Mortgage World lately. Refinance business is very good. Purchase business is fair, heading into the all important year [...]

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Ibanez Foreclosure Case Oral Argument Recap

by Rich Vetstein 10.07.2010 Foreclosure
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I just finished watching the oral argument web-cast in the U.S. Bank v. Ibanez controversial foreclosure case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. It was a bit anti-climatic, with the judges and attorneys spending an inordinate amount of time discussing the complex, mortgage securitization documents and process. Here’s a recap of what caught my eye: [...]

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U.S. Bank v. Ibanez: Supreme Judicial Court Oral Argument Oct. 7 Preview

by Rich Vetstein 10.04.2010 Foreclosure

Click for Ibanez Foreclosure Case Oral Argument Recap The oral argument in the much anticipated U.S. Bank v. Ibanez companion cases is Thursday October 7, 2010 at 9:00AM at the Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston, MA. If you cannot make it into Boston, you can watch the live webcast here. [...]

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Major Lenders Halt Foreclosures Over Concerns With Faulty Documents

by Rich Vetstein 10.02.2010 Foreclosure
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Updated: Bank of America halts foreclosures in all 50 states On the eve of arguments in the controversial U.S. Bank v. Ibanez foreclosure case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Oct. 7, Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank, became the latest lender to halt foreclosures in 23 states because of concerns that lenders [...]

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Taking Another Stab at Massachusetts Loan Modifications: Refinancing Underwater Mortgages

by Marc Canner 09.21.2010 Fannie Mae
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The recent historic drop of mortgage rates has created a refinancing boom for qualified homeowners. Unfortunately, the refinancing wave washing over the country has paradoxically left dry homeowners who would most benefit:  those who are “underwater.” Underwater mortgages, or “negative equity” (i.e., they owe more on the mortgage than the property is worth) cause foreclosures [...]

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The Impact Of The Mortgage Reform & Anti-Predatory Lending Act On The Conventional Residential Lending Industry

by Rich Vetstein 08.25.2010 Disclosures
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The new Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, buried in the fine print of the much publicized Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains strict new rules aimed at preventing another sub-prime mortgage collapse. Overview: What Is The Impact To Mortgage Lenders and Originators? The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act certainly changes [...]

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