US Banks Lose Foreclosure Case

Some of my early posts were about the blatant fraud of banks and the way they handle the paperwork after your mortgage payments begin. I wrote that they sold on those mortgages to other financiers but omitted to tell the home-owner. Should the home-owner fall on hard times or a change in their circumstances means that they miss a few payments, the banks in the US foreclose. The folks are booted out of their homes and the bank then resells the property. Except that they do not have the deeds in their possession. That's because they gave them to the new "owner" when they sold the mortgage on. The trouble is that the buyers also sell the mortgages on, and often, there can be multiple owners of the same property. One man found that 9 different companies around the globe claimed ownership of his home. The judge decided to give the man his deeds and threw the nine companies out of his courtroom. He did not have to pay another penny for his home. A good result.

Yesterday a supreme judicial court upheld a decision by a lower court which alters the game entirely. For a change, it is the banks that will suffer.

Look:


"A ruling like this will slow down the foreclosure process" for banks, said Marty Mosby, an analyst at Guggenheim Securities. "They're going to have to be really precise and get everything in order. It doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room."

Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp lacked authority to foreclose after having "failed to make the required showing that they were the holders of the mortgages at the time of foreclosure," Justice Ralph Gants wrote for the Massachusetts court.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Robert Cordy lambasted "the utter carelessness" that the banks demonstrated in documenting their right to own the properties.

Courts in other U.S. states are considering similar cases, and all 50 state attorneys general are examining whether lenders are forcing people out of their homes improperly."

The whole story can be found here.

This is a victory for the little guy. Banks have thrown good people out of their homes and they have subsequently been unable to prove that they even have the right paperwork to support their actions.

Our banks are no different. They operate in the same way and it is highly likely that they would be unable to prove that they still owned the "debt" on your home. Remember this if you are ever threatened with eviction. Demand proof. Demand that they can demonstrate a loss because you stopped paying your monthly amount. Demand also to see all the paperwork leading up to the granting of the mortgage and the paperwork generated after it was granted. People have found that their signatures have been "lifted" from one page and inserted on additional pages. This is one of the reasons you are told to "sign in the box, and don't go outside the lines". Your signature is worth millions. Keep an eye on every piece of paper you sign. Get a copy of agreements on the day you sign them just in case they decide to play silly buggers with your moniker.

Banks are not above a little fraud here and there.

So it's really satisfying when they get caught out.

CR.