by Brian Mahany
Originally, I wasn’t going to write about the $2 billion loss suffered by banking giant JP Morgan. After all, it just affects investors foolish enough to have purchased stock in the bank. (JP Morgan’s stock plunged after the loss became public.) The response to the loss in recent days is what has us concerned.
After the financial meltdown of 2007, big banks came running to the federal government (meaning taxpayers) asking for bailout monies. J.P. Morgan was no exception, it borrowed $25 billion in taxpayers funds.
Shortly after asking the public for money – and getting it – CEO Jamie Dimon made so very critical remarks about the very people who loaned his bank the money. At a conference in 2009, Dimon claimed banks were being improperly singled out and blamed for the country’s financial mess.
Now that the bank has lost $2 billion, Dimon is not making wise cracks about taxpayer funded bailouts. Instead, he is making excuses.
For many of us, it is hard to see if anything has changed at J.P. Morgan and the other big banks. After the “record” $25 billion dollar settlement, most of the banks promised a new era of best practices. Instead, we have seen the disabled being tossed on the street, banks forging signature on lending documents, and in one case a large lender illegally changing the locks on a fully disabled man confined to a wheel chair. In other words, business as usual.
$2 billion losses are not simply a “stupid” mistake. What worries us is the lack of remorse and the callousness exhibited by several of the larger banks – J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Bank of New York and Wells Fargo, to name a few. It appears that many banks truly do believe that they are “too big to fail.”
If the big banks aren’t afraid of Congress and the Federal Reserve, they should really begin to worry about juries. Although foreclosures in most states are not subject to a jury trial, lawsuits against the banks can usually be heard by a jury. With so many homeowners under water, most jurors know someone who has suffered a bad experience at the hands of a lender. 5 years ago, courts were much trusting and sympathetic towards banks. That attitude has probably changed forever.
If you have been harassed, wrongfully denied a mortgage modification (HAMP), were a soldier who was subjected to foreclosure while deployed or believe your mortgage documents were forged, give us a call. Our foreclosure defense lawyers sue banks for damages. Currently we have the largest false claims act case against a mortgage lender in the nation, the $2.4 billion suit against Allied Home Mortgage.
For more information, contact attorney Anthony Dietz at or the author, attorney Brian Mahany at . For immediate help, Brian can be contacted directly at . All inquiries are protected by the attorney – client privilege and held in confidence.
Mahany & Ertl – Giving America’s Homeowners A Voice. Offices in Milwaukee, Detroit, Portland & Minneapolis. Services available in many jurisdictions.