I ran across a 3-part series of articles written By George W. Mantor, a nationally respected authority on all areas of real estate. In these articles he addresses the issues dealing with Predatory Mortgage Servicing Fraud which we are currently experiencing with in the mortgage industry with the new government HAMP program. In this articles series he discussed why banks would foreclose needlessly, unlawfully, and with sheer malice when that would appear to be bad business. The answer is simple…because it is INSANELY PROFITABLE!
Having an SFR endorsement from the National Association of Realtors (Short Sale Foreclosure Resource) I deal on a daily basis with properties and homeowners who have exhausted all their means of trying to protect their homes in either refinancing, loan modification, HAMP and every and all options that might become available. It is sad to see what is in reality happening to GOOD people who have had BAD things happen to them over the last few years with the very big problem of mortgage fraud and those companies who prey on innocent and unsuspecting consumers. I absolutely love the use of Mantor's use of his new word of BANKSTAS as in mortgage fraud = GANGSTERS as in criminal activity. Very unique and well thought out!
Read on, this is where Mantor’s article gets real interesting!
'Goldman Sachs couldn’t stay out of the limelight. First, came the SEC fraud charges, then two investor lawsuits, and then finally, the real truth became apparent in emails from the Goldman Sachs investigation. “Sounds like we will make some serious money.”
But, let’s not let that distract us from their use of predatory loans and predatory servicing fraud as the means by which to trigger the defaults.
You didn’t design your own loan—they did. And, if the payoff is failure, the loan would naturally be designed not to succeed, but to default. Isn’t that alone evidence of predatory lending? And, that leads to predatory servicing. If the borrower isn’t forced into default, why stop there; why not give them a little nudge?
Think of them as reverse strategic defaults. In the topsy-turvy world of phony finance, up is down, good is bad, and failure is success. Who has the most to gain by causing mortgage defaults? The holders of the credit default swaps.
Your foreclosure, or how it came about, is of no concern to them. You are but an obstacle to a payday. The lure of credit default swaps actually makes a strong case that the inherent conflict of interest is behind reverse strategic defaults.
More people should strategically default so they can let up on those who have honored their obligation, despite the underlying fraud.
And that is why bankstas love the Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP.
Most reports claim that HAMP is a fifty-billion dollar flop. But, that’s only a matter of perspective. From Wall Street’s perspective, this is the system working at its very best.
HAMP is the perfect vehicle to draw in unsuspecting homeowners and begin the process of stealing their homes. Disguised as a government assistance plan, it was really created to pacify borrowers while moving them into default and ultimately foreclosure.
The program couldn’t be more detrimental to homeowners if it had been designed by the bankstas themselves. Wait….you don’t suppose they had a hand in shaping the rules to benefit themselves?
Most loans are serviced by a handful of companies, owned by the bankstas themselves. In the case of Goldman Sachs, the servicer is Litton. Look them up in the ripoffreport.com for comments of their customers. All tell the same story of frustration, obfuscation, and deceit. The bankstas talk of modification while secretly moving toward foreclosure.
HAMP hasn’t even put a dent in the pace of foreclosures which have skyrocketed. And, it won’t. Just the opposite.
As a matter of fact, HAMP has been instrumental in increasing the number of unlawful foreclosures, enormously increasing the profitability of loan servicing companies, and allowing more credit default swaps to be cashed in by financial intermediaries such as Goldman Sachs. And, they get tax payer money to fund this scam.
It’s an evil little scenario that preys upon the most vulnerable and trusting individuals. Some people, even after all of this, believe that government has the best intentions for citizens, and believe they mean it when they offer help.
But, once they surrender to the bankstas, their fate is sealed. Borrowers who are current are told they must be in default; after they are in default, their credit score falls dramatically. The servicer uses this scenario to engineer the default. And, in non-judicial foreclosure states, there is no one to show your cancelled checks to when they simply file the notice of default and proceed toward sale.
And, what is with all of that missing paperwork? If banks were that bad at handling paper, there would be money lying in the street outside of every bank branch. The bankstas boldly blame the victims for not providing what they need to approve the modification.
Bankstas don’t lose paperwork….unless they want to. As courts across the country have discovered, if they don’t have it, they just make it up, unless they don’t want you to see it. They didn’t lose your loan modification paperwork. Right now, they are using all of the personal information you just provided them to story-board your default and ultimate foreclosure.
Once you are in their cross-hairs, a systematic assault on you will begin. They will slowly destroy your credit so that you have no other options. Because they know how much you have in savings and discretionary income, they know how to plan the attack.
HAMP is now expected to assist only 1 million of the potentially 15 million families expected to lose their homes if nothing is done to prevent predatory mortgage loan servicing fraud.
So far, 230,000 homeowners have received long-term mortgage modifications under the president’s plan, a small fraction of the 6 million borrowers who are more than 60 days behind on their loans.
Tax payers will foot the bill for the $50 billion in Troubled Assets Relief, or TARP program. Too bad they didn’t give it to FEMA. If this were a natural disaster instead of a man made disaster, we would be in the midst of the largest relief operation in history.
What our politicians and judges are allowing to happen to homeowners dwarfs Katrina. Instead of coming to the aid of those whose lives have been destroyed by a form of domestic terrorism, they continue to invent ways to help the bankstas.
Predatory mortgage servicing fraud is so prevalent that allowing foreclosures to proceed is willfully abetting organized crime. How will we ever unravel this?
George W. Mantor is known as “The Real Estate Professor” for his consumer education efforts including a long-running radio program, monthly workshop series, public appearances, and frequent articles.
During a career dating back to 1978, he has amassed experience in new home and resale residential real estate, resort marketing and commercial and investment property.
Prior to starting his own real estate and mortgage brokerage in 1992, he had been Director of Training and Customer Service for Great Western Real Estate. In addition, he has served on virtually every real estate committee, including a term as a Director of the California Association of REALTORS.
George is a nationally respected authority on all areas of real estate and is frequently quoted in a wide range of publications. He is an oft invited guest of Fox Business Network and for many years, he was the host of “Keepin’ It Real…Real talk about the real thing, real estate” on KCEO radio.
The Real Estate Professional includes him in “a directory of the Nation’s outstanding authors, columnists, and speakers. His articles have also recently appeared in Real Estate Finance, The Real Estate Professional, National Real Estate Investor, Broker Agent News, and Realty Times. His blog is http://www.realtown.com/gwmantor/blog.'
I'd really like to address another BIG AND PROFITABLE NASTY BUSINESS BETWEEN CREDIT CARD COMPANIES and the COLLECTION AGENCIES AND LAWYERS working in shaded gray area of a PROFITABLE business of racking up interest rates, payments and late fees then hiring not one, but multiple collection agencies and LAWYERS tacking on fees, then selling it to the highest bidder for around 2.7 cents on the dollar or less to big notorious companies like PORTFOLIO RECOVERY SERVICES who then get judgements and garnishments adding on astronomical fees and interest penalties and thousands of dollars to the already inflated balance on a past-due account, and add 10% accruable interest on a daily basis, TALK ABOUT BIG BUSINESS!
The CC companies call this reasonable means to collect a debt, but believe me it is a big business and the credit companies do not lose very much in the process and is no way reasonable regardless of what side of the fence you are looking from...and Collection Agencies are over-stepping their bounds not only morally and ethically but ignoring many basic consumer rights and laws currently in place and use many unethical, unorthodox and ruthless means to collect a debt by those consumers who have lost their jobs, facing foreclosure and financial ruin, leaving no alternative but bankruptcy or foreclosure...more to come!
