Two bad economic reports this morning reinforce today’s call by 300 economists and policymakers urging the president and Congress to “redouble efforts to create jobs” through investment in infrastructure, sending aid to the states and creating public service jobs.
First, the bad news.
- U.S. poverty hit its highest rate since 1994, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2009, one in seven people were in poverty, and one in five children were in poverty.
- U.S. home seizures reached a record for the third time in five months in August as lenders completed the foreclosure process for thousands of delinquent owners, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Bank repossessions climbed 25 percent from a year earlier to 95,364. RealtyTrac sees a record 1.2 million repossessions this year, up from just under 1 million last year, with more than 3.2 million homes in some stage of foreclosure.
Such data make all the more relevent the statement by 300 prominent economists, “Don’t Kill Growth and Jobs in the Name of Deficit Reduction.” In short, the statement urges the president and lawmakers:
- Don’t kill growth and jobs in the name of deficit reduction.
- Target what drives deficits. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
- Restore fiscal responsibility, while investing in the future.
- Take the high road to fiscal balance.
In a conference call today with some of the signers, Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage said the statement is:
a cry action on the economy—for a return to common sense.
In urging Washington to focus on bold initiatitves and massive job creation rather than deficit reduction, Borosage said the reason is simple: More unemployment will only reduce government income, which in turn will lead to a higher budget defict.
Robert Reich, former labor secretary, put it this way on today’s conference call:
Some people point to the fact that U.S. economy is tech growing…but what we learned is that it’s slowing.
Last quarter’s sorry 1.6 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP):
should be a warning sign to everyone that we are not just in danger of a double dip recession, but that we are not getting out of the hole at all.
What you expect when an economy is getting out of the hole is rapid economic growth [because so many people are ready to jump into the production process]. But this time it’s not happening. This is a very dangerous sign.
Borosage says in contrast, the position of House Minority Leader John Boehner, who says he and the Republicans will cut $100 billion from the budget if they get a majority in the House this November,
condem us to higher unemployment and continued stagnation.
With more than 26 million unemployed and underemployed U.S. workers, a dire need to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and shore up vital socal services, Borosage said:
Anyone with a wit of business sense would grab this moment as the time to rebuild America.
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So rather than take the time to generate the correct documentation, it seems the banks cut corners. Yet these are not small nicks off the end of the corners, despite protests from the banks that the documents are essentially true, just signed badly.
Documents like those cited in this article -- which are common -- falsify the chain of title for the underlying properties. Clean title is so crucial for real estate deals that they won't close if a seller can't give good title. In fact, one major title insurer, Old Republic National Title Insurance, will no longer insure titles for GMAC foreclosures because of the document problem. The stock market is weighing in, too, as shares of title insurers have taken a hit.
The chain-of-title problems has other practical consequences. Banks sometimes don't know which properties they can foreclose on. For example, banks have foreclosed on homes bought with cash. Two banks have tried to foreclose on the same property. And so on. The "mistakes" have been many.
Beyond the title problem is the fundamental issue of the integrity of the court system. When attorneys file false documents, it's called a fraud on the court for a reason: Courts can't function when lawyers do that.
The Bright Light of Bankruptcies
According to attorneys who assist clients facing foreclosure, bad documents have been turning up for years. So why is the practice only coming to light now? Because most people facing foreclosure don't have attorneys to check the documents. Most don't even contest the foreclosure.
Bankruptcy court is where most of the fraud comes out because in bankruptcy, to prove the bank is owed money and that its claim is "secured" -- meaning it should get paid first -- a bank has to prove it has the right to foreclose. It has to produce the necessary documents. Indeed, the reason that the banks are halting foreclosures in only 23 states is that in those states, judges are involved in the foreclosure process, meaning somebody might actually start looking at the documents.
Not all debtors in bankruptcy have attorneys, and not all those attorneys know what to look for. But enough attorneys have caught on to the bank's practices that robo-signer fraud is finally getting exposure on the same scale as it's being committed.
Caveats All Around
Title companies take note: It's increasingly obvious that GMAC's foreclosure problems are the tip of the iceberg. The title you insured on the resale of any foreclosed property -- particularly on mortgages that were included in securitizations -- might be clouded. Better double-check those documents.
Purchasers of foreclosed properties: I hope you bought title insurance. And you might want to get your lawyer to look at the foreclosure file.
Homeowners facing foreclosure: Make sure you or your attorney scrutinizes bank documents carefully because if anything is amiss, you may be able to get a meaningful modification of your mortgage instead of losing your home.
Banks submitting these documents: You could face big sanctions if courts notice you make the same kind of bad filings over and over.
Attorneys submitting these documents: If state bar associations start paying attention, you could risk your professional license on the robo-signed dotted line.
Sea Ice <b>News</b> – delayed a day – but still something interesting <b>...</b>
It makes good news right now because of the nice 15 year trend down, which is actually a 30 year trend down. The problem is that our satellite data for the sea ice extent started in 1979 (for the whole year at least). ...
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<b>News</b> the Old Media Won't Tell You: More Trash at One Sparsely <b>...</b>
12774581 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fbigjournalism.com%2Fmpleahy%2F2010%2F10%2F03%2Fnews-the-old-media-wont-tell-you-more-trash-at-one-sparsely-attended-left-wing-rally-than-at-all-the-tea-parties-around-the-country-in-a-year-and-a-half%2FNews ...
eric seiger eric seiger
Two bad economic reports this morning reinforce today’s call by 300 economists and policymakers urging the president and Congress to “redouble efforts to create jobs” through investment in infrastructure, sending aid to the states and creating public service jobs.
First, the bad news.
- U.S. poverty hit its highest rate since 1994, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2009, one in seven people were in poverty, and one in five children were in poverty.
- U.S. home seizures reached a record for the third time in five months in August as lenders completed the foreclosure process for thousands of delinquent owners, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Bank repossessions climbed 25 percent from a year earlier to 95,364. RealtyTrac sees a record 1.2 million repossessions this year, up from just under 1 million last year, with more than 3.2 million homes in some stage of foreclosure.
Such data make all the more relevent the statement by 300 prominent economists, “Don’t Kill Growth and Jobs in the Name of Deficit Reduction.” In short, the statement urges the president and lawmakers:
- Don’t kill growth and jobs in the name of deficit reduction.
- Target what drives deficits. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
- Restore fiscal responsibility, while investing in the future.
- Take the high road to fiscal balance.
In a conference call today with some of the signers, Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage said the statement is:
a cry action on the economy—for a return to common sense.
In urging Washington to focus on bold initiatitves and massive job creation rather than deficit reduction, Borosage said the reason is simple: More unemployment will only reduce government income, which in turn will lead to a higher budget defict.
Robert Reich, former labor secretary, put it this way on today’s conference call:
Some people point to the fact that U.S. economy is tech growing…but what we learned is that it’s slowing.
Last quarter’s sorry 1.6 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP):
should be a warning sign to everyone that we are not just in danger of a double dip recession, but that we are not getting out of the hole at all.
What you expect when an economy is getting out of the hole is rapid economic growth [because so many people are ready to jump into the production process]. But this time it’s not happening. This is a very dangerous sign.
Borosage says in contrast, the position of House Minority Leader John Boehner, who says he and the Republicans will cut $100 billion from the budget if they get a majority in the House this November,
condem us to higher unemployment and continued stagnation.
With more than 26 million unemployed and underemployed U.S. workers, a dire need to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and shore up vital socal services, Borosage said:
Anyone with a wit of business sense would grab this moment as the time to rebuild America.
Print This Article
| E-Mail This Article
|Comments
(2)
So rather than take the time to generate the correct documentation, it seems the banks cut corners. Yet these are not small nicks off the end of the corners, despite protests from the banks that the documents are essentially true, just signed badly.
Documents like those cited in this article -- which are common -- falsify the chain of title for the underlying properties. Clean title is so crucial for real estate deals that they won't close if a seller can't give good title. In fact, one major title insurer, Old Republic National Title Insurance, will no longer insure titles for GMAC foreclosures because of the document problem. The stock market is weighing in, too, as shares of title insurers have taken a hit.
The chain-of-title problems has other practical consequences. Banks sometimes don't know which properties they can foreclose on. For example, banks have foreclosed on homes bought with cash. Two banks have tried to foreclose on the same property. And so on. The "mistakes" have been many.
Beyond the title problem is the fundamental issue of the integrity of the court system. When attorneys file false documents, it's called a fraud on the court for a reason: Courts can't function when lawyers do that.
The Bright Light of Bankruptcies
According to attorneys who assist clients facing foreclosure, bad documents have been turning up for years. So why is the practice only coming to light now? Because most people facing foreclosure don't have attorneys to check the documents. Most don't even contest the foreclosure.
Bankruptcy court is where most of the fraud comes out because in bankruptcy, to prove the bank is owed money and that its claim is "secured" -- meaning it should get paid first -- a bank has to prove it has the right to foreclose. It has to produce the necessary documents. Indeed, the reason that the banks are halting foreclosures in only 23 states is that in those states, judges are involved in the foreclosure process, meaning somebody might actually start looking at the documents.
Not all debtors in bankruptcy have attorneys, and not all those attorneys know what to look for. But enough attorneys have caught on to the bank's practices that robo-signer fraud is finally getting exposure on the same scale as it's being committed.
Caveats All Around
Title companies take note: It's increasingly obvious that GMAC's foreclosure problems are the tip of the iceberg. The title you insured on the resale of any foreclosed property -- particularly on mortgages that were included in securitizations -- might be clouded. Better double-check those documents.
Purchasers of foreclosed properties: I hope you bought title insurance. And you might want to get your lawyer to look at the foreclosure file.
Homeowners facing foreclosure: Make sure you or your attorney scrutinizes bank documents carefully because if anything is amiss, you may be able to get a meaningful modification of your mortgage instead of losing your home.
Banks submitting these documents: You could face big sanctions if courts notice you make the same kind of bad filings over and over.
Attorneys submitting these documents: If state bar associations start paying attention, you could risk your professional license on the robo-signed dotted line.
Sea Ice <b>News</b> – delayed a day – but still something interesting <b>...</b>
It makes good news right now because of the nice 15 year trend down, which is actually a 30 year trend down. The problem is that our satellite data for the sea ice extent started in 1979 (for the whole year at least). ...
Medical Nobel Goes To Developer Of IVF - Science <b>News</b>
Robert Edwards receives prize for work that led to 4 million births.
<b>News</b> the Old Media Won't Tell You: More Trash at One Sparsely <b>...</b>
12774581 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fbigjournalism.com%2Fmpleahy%2F2010%2F10%2F03%2Fnews-the-old-media-wont-tell-you-more-trash-at-one-sparsely-attended-left-wing-rally-than-at-all-the-tea-parties-around-the-country-in-a-year-and-a-half%2FNews ...
eric seiger eric seiger
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