Relevant:
- Report: Bank of America, Wells Fargo received incentives but mortgages redefaulted
- Wells Leads Commercial, Multifamily Servicers: MBA
- NY state regulators eyeing Wells Fargo foreclosure manual | New York Post
- Wells Fargo's "Reprehensible" Foreclosure Abuses Prove Incompetence and Collusion of OCC
- U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Foreclosing in Texas Without the Note is Okay
2008-07-24 — creditslips.org
In the last few weeks, several courts have issued opinions ruling that mortgage servicers' actions have harmed consumers... Debtors won big in these cases, variously recovering sizeable damages, having the foreclosure action against their home dismissed, or getting a preliminary injunction issued against a servicer's misconduct. Taken collectively, they all signal an increased willingness by courts at all levels (state, federal, bankruptcy) to take challenges to mortgage servicers' actions seriously. While I'm convinced that legislation, regulatory enforcement, and different market incentives are necessary to stop the misbehavior of mortgage servicers, this trio of decisions shows how litigation can help real families and point the way for further policymaking.
And in a comment reminiscent of the "Fight Club" scene on automobile deadly defect actuarials:
If I were Wells Fargo (and I'm grateful that I'm not), I'd be worried that the remand is an invitation to a large sanction. Wells' decision to appeal the new accounting standards is itself noteworthy. Why not embrace correct accounting? Do servicers prefer to pay monetary damages on those rare (albeit increasingly frequent) occassions when they get caught and continue to overcharge debtors in all other instances? It appears the answer may be "yes."
And, frighteningly (if you're Wells Fargo or many of its peers):
On June 5, 2008, a New York state court dismissed with prejudice a foreclosure proceeding because Wells Fargo, and its servicing agent, Litton, could not prove that Wells Fargo owned the mortgage. The note had purportedly been assigned from Argent to Ameriquest to Wells Fargo but the court found the assignments defective. It also ruled that the servicing agreement between Wells Fargo and Litton was insufficient to give Litton authority to make the required "affidavit of facts" to support the foreclosure petition.
...
While my research study found that 40% of bankruptcy claims were not accompanied by a note, these cases reveal the existence of an even bigger problem--the companies who are foreclosing may not have any legal right to do so. That is, it's not just that some servicers are sloppy and don't bother with the note, it's that some do not have the authority to foreclose at all!
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