Hat tip to JimG for sending this along, from the AP:
JPMorgan Chase’s CEO says the bank has stopped using the electronic mortgage tracking system used by major financial institutions.
Lawyers have argued in court proceedings that the system is unable to accurately prove ownership of mortgages. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks have suspended some foreclosures following allegations of paperwork problems in thousands of cases.
The Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, acts as a trading house for millions of mortgages. Lawyers for homeowners say the system lacks the required paper trail to prove mortgage ownership in foreclosure proceedings.
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Bank of America and Fidelity Title came to some “arrangement” in a half-day.
The solution has to already be in the works – scrap MERS, put a fancy name on the new and improved system, and keep foreclosing. And dodge the lawyers!
MERS was no good after it stopped using steriods, anyway… Oh, wait.
Can I assume that the short sale I bought last June is safe from all this foreclosure robo-signing mess?
Yes, you are safe from robo-signers, it is the former owners I’d be concerned about.
You haven’t left the house lately, have you?
Just read this article, which mentions the Simi siege –
…”financial institutions and their mortgage servicing departments hired hair stylists, Walmart floor workers and people who had worked on assembly lines and installed them in “foreclosure expert” jobs with no formal training, a Florida lawyer says.
In depositions released Tuesday, many of those workers testified that they barely knew what a mortgage was. Some couldn’t define the word “affidavit.””
link to full text –
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Robosigners-Mortgage-apf-382327091.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
Sol, respectfully, anytime it says. “…a lawyer says…” means it is likely 180 degrees from the truth. I will make any Claim you want for $400/hour!!!
What can I say… “poor decisions” likely seem to have reached epidemic proportions on all foreclosure fronts.
What does this do to bank earnings?
The usual earnings model is interest on loans.
Foreclosures are supposed to provide a makeup recovery so the bank avoids significant loss.
The new model is the bank sells the loans to a trust
and then makes money on the fees from servicing and
foreclosure. In this case the fee income grinds to a halt. I imagine the trusts will be suing the banks too, for not doing the fiduciary work.
Is this going to crash the banks again?
Pat B, our government will not allow the banks to crash again.
Troubled Loner wrote:
> Pat B, our government will not allow the banks to crash again.
Which basically means that we’ll be paying for it one way or another.
Either through higher bank fees or higher taxes.
No way Tarp 2 gets passed. Liquidation via Dodd-Frank and the US Govt will control the lion’s share of real estate.
What’s next, using Wikipedia to determine mortgage ownership?