Saturday, April 23, 2016

Unsealed government documents may reveal truth about Fannie, Freddie fate

In the years since the federal government modified its conservatorship agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to sweep all the profits from the government-sponsored enterprises into the government’s coffers, many observers, including those with a serious financial interest, have questioned whether the so-called “Third Amendment sweep” was even necessary.

At the time, the government claimed that the GSEs were on the brink of collapse, and amended the terms of the GSEs’ conservatorship to ensure that the government had enough money to bail them out again if necessary.


READ MORE HERE

Why Is the Obama Administration Trying to Keep 11,000 Documents Sealed?

TOO BIG TO KEEP IT SECRET
The "most transparent administration in history" has spent years trying to hide embarrassing financial secrets from the public.

For years now, the federal government has been quietly fighting to keep a lid on an 11,000-document cache of government communications relating to financial policy. The sheer breadth of the effort to keep this material secret may not have a precedent in modern presidential times.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Monday, October 12, 2015

Assembly Member Miguel Santiago Sponsors Foreclosure Fair, Los Angeles

UPDATE
FORECLOSURE FAIR & MORTGAGE FRAUD PANEL 

Resource Tables
•  SoCal Gas
•  L.A. County District Attorney’s Office
•  US Bankruptcy Court
•  Public Council
•  Neighborhood Housing Services L.A. County
•  L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Office
•  Contractors State Licensing Board
•  Occupy Fights Foreclosure
•  Bureau of Real Estate
•  Dept. of Bussiness Oversight
•  State Bar of CA
•  Congressmember Xavier Becerra (Boyle Heights only)
•  Congressmember Lucille Roybal-Allard (Huntington Park only)
•  Los Angeles City Councilmember Huizar (Boyle Heights only)
•  Assemblymember Miguel Santiago
•  Montebello Housing and Development Corporation (Boyle Heights only)
•  Keep Your Home CA (Huntington Park only)
 
Speakers
•  Dept. of Bussiness Oversight – Antonia Villasenor (Moderator)
•  Occupy Fights Foreclosure – Carlos Marroquin
•  Bureau of Real Estate – Amelia Nunez
•  State Bar of CA – Carina Franck-Pantone
•  Keep Your Home CA – Denise Teora
•  U.S. Bankruptcy Court – Gabriela Huerta or Otoniel Gonsales
•  L.A. County District Attorney – Deve Lopez

Monday, September 28, 2015

Big banks are violating The National Mortgage Fraud Settlement Agreement

WEAK OVERSIGHT

The nation’s largest mortgage lenders are violating the terms of a punitive 2012 settlement that was meant to prevent unfair and unnecessary foreclosures that destroyed communities and pushed working families from their homes. 

Interviews by POLITICO with more than 20 housing counselors, Legal Aid lawyers and government prosecutors in states hard hit by the real estate crisis that followed the 2007 financial meltdown reveal that the nation’s top lenders are violating the settlement and rules put in place last year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In some cases, the problems — repeated requests for the same documents, for example — stem from ongoing disorganization deep inside the loan servicing departments of the banks, but some homeowners and their representatives claim the issues are a deliberate attempt to use foreclosure to resolve cases that have lingered for years.



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Saturday, September 26, 2015

PRESS RELEASE: Assemblymember Miguel Santiago Announces Two Foreclosure Resource Fairs

The Office of Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), in partnership with the State Bar of California, the California Departments of Business Oversight and Consumer Affairs, and Occupy Fights Foreclosures, will be conducting two free seminars to educate concerned residents about real estate fraud and the foreclosure process. Attendees will learn valuable tips about how to protect themselves in the housing market, and be provided with access to informational materials, and resources.

Read Press Release here

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Tricks Banks Use to Drive Homeowners Into Foreclosure

Banks have become just mortgage servicing agents and foreclosure of your home is their new business model. Protect your home by learning about the tricks they play.
Most homeowners are unaware that their mortgage banks make more money from foreclosure than actual payment.  Mortgage banks give as few modifications as possible and comply minimally with statutes put in place to protect borrowers, all while employing tricks to “cash in” on homeowners’ defaults, pushing them to foreclosure.  The banks take the risk of litigation because few people sue, but getting legal assistance as soon as possible can make the difference between homeowners asserting their rights or losing their homes while being bulldozed by the bank.

Read full article here...