5
Street roots
Feb 18, 2011
FORECLOSURE, from page 4
Good Grief America will be hosting a |
servicers have used this program in a very
homeowner workshop in the Tigard area
predatory manner and compounded the
Friday, Feb. 25. Cost is is $20 per
grief and financial loss of the American
household if in foreclosure or default.
people. The servicers have little to no
intention of performing on the trial
Online preregistration is required'-at www,
modifications that they set up. It is doubtful
goodgriefamerica.ning.com. Location will
if they even have authority. They tell people
be e-mailed upon registration.
that it will be a three-month trial period
while they prepare the final modification.
Six, nine and twelve months later,
with the party of standing. Unfortunately
homeowners are still making the payments,
our research shows that in many cases
increasing their anxiety each month as to
why they don’t have a modification. We have there may not be a party of standing,
seen them go up to 18 months and then the “Someone who actually owns our loan that
we can negotiate with and create a win-win.”
homeowner receives a letter that says they
This was difficult for me to believe in our
are denied. The reasons are all over the
early research but it is now hard to deny.
board. We often see them say “excessive
The chain of title between the homeowner
deferred payments.” This means, now you
and the source that provided the money for
are too far behind. Usually a sale date is
th e loan is seriously broken in many places.
within three weeks of the notice and the
After years of being in the industry, I just
homeowner panics. We too often see the
couldn’t believe that this took place. As we
loan servicer foreclose right in the middle
continued to research, we found that the old
of the homeowner making payments
without any notice. The PTSD escalates. We process of transferring deeds and notes to
the new owner
also find that little if
“party of standing”
any of these
had been destroyed
payments even go
in the securitization
toward their loan.
process that Wall
A report that I
"They created a casino
Street banks created.
read over a year ago
beyond my imagination with They created a
explains why this
goes on. It was called our loans. To do this, the old casino beyond my
imagination with our
“Why servicers
system had to go. Many of
loans. To do this, the
foreclose when they
the notes were shredded and old system had to go.
should modify, and
destroyed. The Wall Street
Many of the notes
other puzzling
were shredded and
bankers seemed to think
servicer behaviors.”
destroyed. The Wall
They pointed out
they were invincible and
Street bankers
how profitable
could rewrite real estate law seemed to think they'
foreclosures are. On
were invincible and
in America in the name of
average,a
greed and profit. To a great ! could rewrite real
foreclosure is 46
estate law in
percent more
degree th ey w ere successful
A m erica in th e nam e
profitable than a
of greed and profit
b ut now th a t em p ire is
performing loan.
To a g re a t d eg ree
cru
m
b
lin
g
around
tb
em
."
This does not include
they were successful
the credit default
but now that empire
swaps that the
is crumbling around
servicer may have
them. We just had a
purchased on the
landmark ruling in Oregon on one of our
loans. Yes, those were bets that the
cases regarding MERS, tiie Mortgage
homeowner would not perform. We have
Electronic Registration System. This is the
found up to 30 times the face amount of the
system that Wall Street developed instead of
loan could be the payout if the servicer is
using the county recording system used for
able to foreclose. The bottom line is that
hundreds of years. MERS is non
they lose money when they modify and can
transparent, so they could move the loans
make a fortune when they foreclose.
around at will without anyone knowing who
owned them. This casino spun so fast that it
J.Z.: How is that possible?
is doubtful who owns what anymore. This
N.K.: Many different entities on Wall
is one of the issues at the heart of why the
Street, including the loan servicers bought
modifications aren’t working.
credit default swaps for pennies on the
J.Z.: I know that legislative action on
dollar on these loans. The dirtier the loan
Oregon Laws is part o f your agenda. What are
the more credit default swaps were bought.
you calling for?
The numbers we are seeing are up to, 30
times the face amount. The credit default
N.K.: We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit and our
swaps were sold like an insurance policy but lobbying abilities are limited, but we have
they weren’t insurance because they
shared our research with our legislators so
weren’t regulated, registered anywhere and
theyunderstand what is actually going on.
had very little reserves behind them if the
This has enabled them to write
loans defaulted. Basically, they were bets
amendments to the laws and new
that the loans would go bad. By September ♦ legislation. We have built a network of
2008 the holders of the bets were coming
22-plusattorneys that we have assisted in
forward as the loans were massively
educating to help homeowners. Some of
defaulting. AIG and Lehman Brothers were
them are working with the legislators on
the two main houses on Wall Street that
legal issues as we'U. We want transparency
sold the' credit default swaps. Lehman went
and a moratorium on foreclosures until
down and the government stepped in and is
these issues are resolved. We are not
backing all the bets. They have no idea how
counting on our legisltors to do the job for
many trillion are still out there but it is
us. We are finding that fair and reasonable
massive and will break the taxpayers’ backs
judges are digging in and tearing these
in ways no one is talking about.
issues. We are looking for sustainable
remedies in the courts.
J.Z.: W hat kind of policies are you
advocating for in the future to protect
homeowners?
N.K.: We want sustainable modifications
nearest you. Thank you!
To inquire about orders, go to www.roseciiyresource.org,
or call Becky M ullins at 503-228-5657
Meet Your Local Branch Manager:
T h ib w m iw arent ju st streets and build
ings. Communities are thriving places
where cultures, commerce and souls grow
stronger together. *-
. ■ Mary
More information is available at www.
goodgriefameried. ning. com, or by calling the
homeowner hotline at 541-690-8334.
you can’t find a vendor in your neighborhood,
call Street Roots, 503-228-5657, for the vendor
If
Kll Scriven performs on a sidewalk in Portland. H e’s one o f many street musicians, or
tskers, whose livelihood is under review as the city revisits its Street Musicians
vrtnership. Street performers, business owners, police and others gathered Feb 10 m a
.cetins convened bv City Commissioner fyn^ n d g lfp r it^ ty j^ S ^ ^ g !&
jreement. f h e a ^ e ^ n t allows musicians to perform in a location fo r one hour a t a
me with some guidelines on noise and equipment, and without interruption. The
leeting was an education for attendees, most o f whom knew, little about the agreement.
1ary Edmeades
al impact Banking
503.445.2156
Member
At Albina Community Bank the most ordinary
financial transaction can have an extraordinary
impact on our iocal community.
the places where you live and work?