by Brian Mahany It’s been 631 days since Bank of America, Master Card and others have blocked donations to WikiLeaks. For those not familiar with the organization, WikiLeaks is a nonprofit media organization. Since its formation several years ago, both the organization and its spokesperson, Julian Assange, have been surrounded by controversy. Some say that […]
Federal Appeals Court Rules In Favor Of Homeowner In Sub Prime Case
by Brian Mahany We keep saying that courts are finally beginning to wake up and realize that not all lenders and loan servicers were created equally. Recently a federal trial court in Ohio tossed claims against Bank of America and its progeny, Countrywide Home Loans. A husband and wife homeowner sued the lenders for fraud […]
Accounting Firms Chosen To Monitor National Mortgage Settlement
by Brian Mahany Joseph Smith is a powerful guy. He is the monitor of the $25 billion national mortgage settlement hammered out by 49 states, the federal government and several large lenders including our perennial “favorites”, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi and Chase. As part of the settlement, several major lenders promised to clean […]
Can I Sue For Denial Of HAMP Loan Modification?
by Brian Mahany “Can I sue for denial of a HAMP loan modification” is a question we frequently hear. Some lenders (Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo) seem to run borrowers through the ringer only to ultimately deny them a mortgage modification. That’s a shame since Congress authorized the Home Affordable Modification Program as part […]
New Wave of Foreclosures Coming
by Brian Mahany The headline from CNBC that a new round of foreclosures is coming comes without surprise. Thankfully, fewer borrowers are falling behind but there are still millions of Americans who are hopelessly behind on their loans. We say “hopelessly” because the lending community has miserably failed to assist homeowners who may have needed […]
Bank of America & The Mexican Drug Cartels
by Brian Mahany Around our Detroit office, we often refer to Bank of America as the “Death Star.” Sci-fi fans understand the reference but for those who haven’t seen Star Wars, the Death Star is a huge space station with a death beam capable of destroying a planet. Bank of America isn’t quite that powerful […]
Predatory Lending – Refinancing & Personal Guarantees
by Brian Mahany After the mortgage meltdown in late 2007 and 2008, many small community banks suddenly found their commercial loan portfolio was undercollateralized. The better banks gave borrowers plenty of notice that they would be requiring additional collateral – often in the form of personal guarantees and mortgages on the borrower’s residence. Some small […]
Lawyers Latest Targets In Mortgage Fraud Mess
by Brian Mahany Lawyers that profited from the halcyon days of the housing industry are now finding themselves on the other side of the law. Several lawyers have been sued for their role in the mortgage crisis and many more are likely to find themselves in jail or in court. We have long suspected that […]
More Ammo In The Fight Against Fraudulent Foreclosures
by Brian Mahany Over the last several months we have identified many of the legal mistakes made by big banks and loan servicing companies – mistakes that may allow the homeowner to avoid foreclosure or at least force lenders to negotiate a fair and equitable resolution. Today’s post examines loan bundles and improper mortgage assignment […]
"Show Me The Note" Foreclosure Argument FAILS
by Brian Mahany Some people reading this post are thinking we have gone to the dark side. Don’t worry – nothing could be farther from the truth. As lawyers, we fight hard for our foreclosure clients but have to be realistic. Anyone reading mortgage blogs and some of the Occupy Homes materials would think that […]