Bank of America Offers $20,000 Short-Sale Incentive to Homeowners, by Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post

Posted by Fred Stewart

Bank of America, the nation’s largest mortgage servicer, is offering Florida homeowners up to $20,000 to short sale their homes rather than letting them linger in foreclosure.

The limited-time offer has received little promotion from the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, which sent emails to select Florida Realtors earlier this week outlining basic details of the plan.

Only homeowners whose short sales are submitted for approval to Bank of America before Nov. 30 will qualify. The homes must have no offers on them already and the closing must occur before Aug. 31, 2012.

A short sale is when a bank agrees to accept a lower sales price on a home than what the borrower owes on the loan.

Realtors said the Bank of America plan, which has a minimum payout amount of $5,000, is a genuine incentive to struggling homeowners who may otherwise fall into Florida’s foreclosure abyss.

The current timeline to foreclosure in Florida is an average of 676 days — nearly two years — according to real estate analysis company RealtyTrac. The national average foreclosure timeline is 318 days.

“I think this is a positive sign that the bank is being creative to try and help homeowners and get things moving,” said Paul Baltrun, who works with real estate and mortgages at the Law Office of Paul A. Krasker in West Palm Beach. “With real estate attorneys handling these cases, you’re talking two, three, four years before there’s going to be a resolution in a foreclosure.”

Guy Cecala, chief executive officer and publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, called the short sale payout a “bribe.”

“You can call it a relocation fee, but it’s basically a bribe to make sure the borrower leaves the house in good condition and in an orderly fashion,” Cecala said. “It makes good business sense considering you may have to put $20,000 into a foreclosed home to fix it up.”

Homeowners, especially ones who feel cheated by the bank, have been known to steal appliances and other fixtures, or damage the home.

“This might be the banks finally waking up that they can have someone in there with an incentive not to damage the property,” said Realtor Shannon Brink, with Re/Max Prestige Realty in West Palm Beach. “Isn’t it better to have someone taking care of the pool and keeping the air conditioner on?”

A spokesman for Bank of America said the program is being tested in Florida, and if successful, could be expanded to other states.

Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase have similar short-sale programs, sometimes called “cash for keys.”

Wells Fargo spokesman Jason Menke said his company offers up to $20,000 on eligible short sales that are left in “broom swept” condition. Although the program is not advertised, deals are mostly made on homes in states with lengthy foreclosure timelines, he said.

And caveats exist. The Wells Fargo short-sale incentive is only good on first-lien loans that it owns, which is about 20 percent of its total portfolio.

Bank of America’s plan excludes Ginnie Mae, Federal Housing Administration and VA loans.

Similar to the federal Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, or HAFA, which offers $3,000 in relocation assistance, the Bank of America program may also waive a homeowner’s deficiency judgment at closing.

A deficiency judgment in a short sale is basically the difference between what the house sells for and what is still owed on the loan.

HAFA, which began in April 2010, has seen limited success with just 15,531 short sales completed nationwide through August.

But Realtors said cash for keys programs can work.

Joe Kendall, a broker associate at Sandals Realty in Fort Myers, said he recently closed on a short sale where the seller got $25,000 from Chase.

“They realize people are struggling and this is another way to get the homes off the books,” he said.

Bank of America: $20,000 short sale incentive to struggling homeowners (georgegmiller.wordpress.com)
Florida Enhanced Short Sale Relocation Assistance (floridalossmitigation.wordpress.com)
Davidson Realty’s Top 5 Things Homeowners Should Know about the New HAFA Regulations & Short Sales (prweb.com)

Court rulings complicate evictions for lenders in Oregon, by Brent Hunsberger, The Oregonian

Posted by Fred Stewart

Another Oregon woman successfully halted a post-foreclosure eviction after a judge in Hood River found the bank could not prove it held title to the home.

Sara Michelotti’s victory over Wells Fargo late last week carries no weight in other Oregon courts, attorneys say. But it illustrates a growing problem for banks — if the loans’s ownership history isn’t recorded properly, foreclosed homeowners might be able to fight even an eviction.

“There’s this real uncertainty from county to county about what that eviction process is going to look like for the lender,” said Brian Cox, a real estate attorney in Eugene who represented Wells Fargo.

Michelotti’s case revolved around a subprime mortgage lender, Option One Mortgage Corp., that went out of business during the housing crisis. Circuit Court Judge Paul Crowley ruled that it was not clear when or how Option One transferred Michelotti’s mortgage to American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., which foreclosed on her home and later sold it to Wells Fargo.

Since the loan’s ownership was not properly recorded in Hood River County records, as required by Oregon law, Crowley ruled that Wells Fargo could not prove it had valid title to the property to evict. Crowley presides over courts in Hood River, Gilliam, Sherman, Wasco and Wheeler counties.

In June, a Columbia County judge blocked U.S. Bank’s eviction of Martha Flynn after finding the loan’s ownership history wasn’t properly recorded. But unlike Flynn’s case, Michelotti’s loan did not involve the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems – a lightening rod for lawsuits over whether lenders properly foreclosed n homeowners.

“A lot of people get lost in ‘Oh it’s all MERS,'” said Michelotti’s attorney, Thomas Cutler of Harris Berne Christensen in Lake Oswego. “The problem runs broader than that.”

Crowley also rejected the bank’s argument that if Michelotti had paid her mortgage, the eviction would never have occurred.

“(Wells Fargo)’s counter argument to the effect that ‘if (Michelotti) had paid the mortgage we wouldn’t be here’ does not prevail at this junction because the question remains: are the right we here?'” Crowley wrote.

H&R Block Inc. sold Option One in 2008 to Wilbur Ross & Co., a distressed-asset investor, who merged it with American Home Mortgage Investment Corp.

But Crowley said he found no evidence of when the merger took place or why Option One’s name continued to be used on loan documents.

Cox said Wells Fargo had not yet decided how to respond to the ruling.

Court Rules Wells Fargo Cannot Sue Lac du Flambeau (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
Thousands show up for Wells Fargo mortgage workshop (ajc.com)
Homeowner’s Lawsuit Against Major Banks Progresses Slowly, Alleges Predatory Lending and Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices by Wells Fargo and Others (prweb.com)
New Program Helps Wachovia, Wells Fargo and World Savings Borrowers Get Relief from their Over-Mortgaged Homes (prweb.com)
Wells Fargo Weighs Bid for a Belgian Private Bank (online.wsj.com)

The Meat of the Matter – In Re: Veal Analyzed, by Phil Querin, Q-Law.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

“When a note is split from a deed of trust ‘the note becomes, as a practical matter, unsecured.’ *** Additionally, if the deed of trust was assigned without the note, then the assignee, ‘having no interest in the underlying debt or obligation, has a worthless piece of paper.’” [In re Veal – United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit (June 10, 2011)]

Introduction. This case is significant for two reasons: First, it was heard and decided by a three-judge Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit, which includes Oregon. Second, it represents the next battleground in the continuing foreclosure wars between Big Banks and Bantam Borrowers: The effect of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC”)on the transferability of the Promissory Note (or “Note”).

Remember, the Trust Deed follows the Note. If a lender is the owner of a Trust Deed, but cannot produce the actual Note which it secures, the Trust Deed is useless, since the lender is unable to prove it is owed the debt. Conversely, if the lender owns the Note, but not the Trust Deed, it cannot foreclose the secured property. [For a poetic perspective on the peripatetic lives of a Note and Trust Deed, connect here. – PCQ]

By now, most observers are aware that Oregon’s mandatory recording statute, ORS 86.735(1), has been a major impediment to lenders and servicers seeking trying to foreclose borrowers. Two major Oregon cases, the first in federal bankruptcy court, In re McCoy, and the other, in federal district trial court, Hooker v. Bank of America, et. al, based their decisions to halt the banks’ foreclosures, squarely on the lenders’ failure to record all Trust Deed Assignments. To date, however, scant mention has been made in these cases about ownership of the Promissory Note. [Presumably, this is because a clear violation of the Oregon’s recording statute is much easier to pitch to a judge, than having to explain the nuances – and there are many – of Articles 3 and 9 of the UCC. – PCQ]

Now we have In re: Veal, which was an appeal from the bankruptcy trial judge’s order granting Wells Fargo relief from the automatic stay provisions under federal bankruptcy law. Such a ruling meant that Wells Fargo would be permitted to foreclose the Veals’ property. But since this case arose in Arizona – not Oregon – our statutory law requiring the recording of all Assignments as a prerequisite to foreclosure, did not apply. Instead, the Veals’ lawyer relied upon the banks’ failure to establish that it had any right under the UCC to enforce the Promissory Note.

Legal Background. For reasons that do not need to be explained here, the Veals filed two contemporaneous appeals. One was against Wells Fargo Bank, which was acting as the Trustee for a REMIC, Option One Mortgage Loan Trust 2006–3, Asset–Backed Certificates Series 2006–3. In the second appeal, the Veals challenged the bankruptcy court’s order overruling their objection to a proof of claim filed by Wells Fargo’s servicing agent, American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (“AHMSI”).

Factual Background. In August 2006, the Veals executed a Promissory Note and Mortgage in favor of GSF Mortgage Corporation (“GSF”). On June 29, 2009, they filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. On July 18, 2009, AHMSI filed a proof of claim, on behalf of Wells Fargo as its servicing agent. AHMSI included with its proof of claim the following documents:

A copy of the Note, showing an indorsement[1] from GSF to “Option One”[2];
A copy of the GSF’s Mortgage with the Veals;
A copy of a recorded “Assignment of Mortgage” assigning the Mortgage from GSF to Option One; and,
A letter dated May 15, 2008, signed by Jordan D. Dorchuck as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of AHMSI, addressed to “To Whom it May Concern”, stating that AHMSI acquired Option One’s mortgage servicing business.[3]

The Veals argued that AHMSI [Wells’ servicing agent] lacked standing since neither AHMSI or Wells Fargo established that they were qualified holders of the Note under Arizona’s version of the UCC.

In a belated and last ditch effort to establish its standing, Wells Fargo filed a copy of another Assignment of Mortgage, dated after it had already filed for relief from bankruptcy stay. This Assignment purported to transfer to Wells Fargo the Mortgage held by “Sand Canyon Corporation formerly known as Option One Mortgage Corporation”.

The 3-judge panel noted that neither of the assignments (the one from GSF to Option One and the other from Sand Canyon, Option One’s successor, to Wells) were authenticated – meaning that there were no supporting affidavits or other admissible evidence vouching for the authenticity of the documents. In short, it again appears that none of the banks’ attorneys would swear that the copies were true and accurate reproductions of the original – or that they’d even seen the originals to compare them with. With continuing reports of bogus and forged assignments, and robo-signed documents of questionable legal authority, it is not surprising that the bankruptcy panel viewed this so-called “evidence” with suspicion, and did not regard it as persuasive evidence.

As to the Assignment of Mortgage from GSF (the originating bank) to Option One, the panel noted that it purported to assign not only the Mortgage, but the Promissory Note as well.[4]

As to the Assignment of Mortgage from Sand Canyon [FKA Option One] to Wells Fargo[created after Wells Fargo’s motion for relied from stay], the panel said that the document did not contain language purporting to assign the Veals’ Promissory Note. As a consequence[even had it been considered as evidence], it would not have provided any proof of the transfer of the Promissory Note to Wells Fargo. At most, it would only have been proof that the Mortgage had been assigned.

After considerable discussion about the principles of standing versus real party in interest, the 3-judge panel focused on the latter, generally defining it as a rule protecting a defendant from being sued multiple times for the same obligation by different parties.

Applicability of UCC Articles 3 and 9. The Veal opinion is well worth reading for a good discussion of the Uniform Commercial Code and its applicability to the transfer and enforcement of Promissory Notes. The panel wrote that there are three ways to transfer Notes. The most common method is for one to be the “holder” of the Note. A person may be a “holder” if they:

Have possession of the Note and it has been made payable to them; or,
The Note is payable to the bearer [e.g. the note is left blank or payable to the “holder”.]
The third way to enforce the Note is by attaining the status of a “nonholder in possession of the [note] who has the rights of a holder.” To do so, “…the possessor of the note must demonstrate both the fact of the delivery and the purpose of the delivery of the note to the transferee in order to qualify as the “person entitled to enforce.”

The panel concluded that none of Wells Fargo’s exhibits showed that it, or its agent, had actual possession of the Note. Thus, it could not establish that it was a holder of the Note, or a “person entitled to enforce” it. The judges noted that:

“In addition, even if admissible, the final purported assignment of the Mortgage was insufficient under Article 9 to support a conclusion that Wells Fargo holds any interest, ownership or otherwise, in the Note. Put another way, without any evidence tending to show it was a “person entitled to enforce” the Note, or that it has an interest in the Note, Wells Fargo has shown no right to enforce the Mortgage securing the Note. Without these rights, Wells Fargo cannot make the threshold showing of a colorable claim to the Property that would give it prudential standing to seek stay relief or to qualify as a real party in interest.”

As for Wells’ servicer, AHMSI, the panel reviewed the record and found nothing to establish that AHMSI was its lawful servicing agent. AHMSI had presented no evidence as to who possessed the original Note. It also presented no evidence showing indorsement of the Note either in its favor or in favor of Wells Fargo. Without establishing these elements, AHMSI could not establish that it was a “person entitled to enforce” the Note.

Quoting from the opinion:

“When debtors such as the Veals challenge an alleged servicer’s standing to file a proof of claim regarding a note governed by Article 3 of the UCC, that servicer must show it has an agency relationship with a “person entitled to enforce” the note that is the basis of the claim. If it does not, then the servicer has not shown that it has standing to file the proof of claim. ***”

Conclusion. Why is the Veal case important? Let’s start with recent history: First, we know that during the securitization heydays of 2005 – 2007, record keeping and document retention were exceedingly lax. Many in the lending and servicing industry seemed to think that somehow, MERS would reduce the paper chase. However, MERS was not mandatory, and in any event, it captured at best, perhaps 60% of the lending industry. Secondly, MERS tracked only Mortgages and Trust Deeds – not Promissory Notes. So even if a lender can establish its ownership of the Trust Deed, that alone is not enough, without the Note, to permit the foreclosure.

As recent litigation has revealed, some large lenders, such as Countrywide, made a habit of holding on to their Promissory Notes, rather than transferring them into the REMIC trusts that were supposed to be holding them. This cavalier attitude toward document delivery is now coming home to roost. While it may not have been a huge issue when loans were being paid off, it did become a huge issue when loans fell into default.

So should the Big Banks make good on their threat to start filing judicial foreclosures in Oregon, defense attorneys will likely shift their sights away from the unrecorded Trust Deed Assignments[5], and focus instead on whether the lenders and servicers actually have the legal right to enforce the underlying Promissory Notes.

[1] The word “indorsement” is UCC-speak for “endorsement” – as in “endorsing a check” in order to cash it.

[2] Although not perhaps as apparent in the opinion as it could have been, there were not successive indorsements of the Veals’ Promissory Note, i.e. from the originating bank to the foreclosing bank. There was only one, i.e. from GSF to Option One. There was no evidence that the Note, or the right to enforce it, had been transferred to Wells Fargo or AHMSI. Ultimately, there was no legal entitlement under the UCC giving either Wells or its servicer, AHMSI, the ability to enforce that Note. The principle here is that owning a borrower’s Trust Deed or Mortgage is insufficient without also owning, or have a right to enforce, the Promissory Note that it secures.

[3] Mr. Dorchuck did not appear to testify. His letter, on its face, is clearly hearsay and inadmissible. The failure to properly lay any foundation for the letter, or authenticate it “under penalty of perjury” is inexplicable – one that the bankruptcy panel criticized. This was not the only example of poor evidentiary protocol followed by the banks in this case. However, this may not be the fault of the banks’ lawyers. It is entirely possible these were the documents they had to work with, and they declined to certify under “penalty of perjury” the authenticity of them. If that is the case, one wonders how long good attorneys will continue to work for bad banks?

[4] This is a drafting sleight of hand. Mortgages and Trust Deeds are transferred by “assignment” from one entity to another. But Promissory Notes must be transferred under an entirely different set of rules – the UCC. Thus, to transfer both the Note and Mortgage by a simple “Assignment” document, is facially insufficient, by itself, to transfer ownership of – or a right to enforce – the Promissory Note.

[5] The successive recording requirement of ORS 86.735(1) only applies when the lender is seeking to foreclose non-judicially. Judicial foreclosures do not contain that statutory requirement. However, to judicially foreclose, lenders will still have to establish that they meet the standing and real party interest requirements of the law. In short, they will have to deal head-on with the requirements of Articles 3 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The Veal case is a good primer on these issues.

Phil Querin
Attorney at Law
http://www.q-law.com/
121 SW Salmon Street, Suite 1100 Portland, OR 97204
Tel: (503) 471- 1334

‘Robo-signing’ foreclosures haven’t gone away (msnbc.msn.com)
Banks Continuing Dubious ‘Robo-Signing’ Foreclosure Practices: Investigation (huffingtonpost.com)
Oregon Foreclosures: The Mess That MERS Made, by Phil Querin, Q-Law.com (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
assingmment please?? 2932.5 with a side of Veal (timothymccandless.wordpress.com)

Fannie Mae Homepath Review, by Thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

Government mortgage financier Fannie Mae offers special home loan financing via its “HomePath” program, so let’s take a closer look.

In short, a HomePath mortgage allows prospective homebuyers to get their hands on a Fannie Mae-owned property (foreclosure) for as little down as three percent down.

And that down payment can be in the form of a gift, a grant, or a loan from a nonprofit organization, state or local government, or an employer.

This compares to the minimum 3.5 percent down payment required with an FHA loan.

HomePath financing comes in the form of fixed mortgages, adjustable-rate mortgages, and even interest-only options!

Another big plus associated with HomePath financing is that there is no lender-required appraisal or mortgage insurance.

Typically, private mortgage insurance is required for mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio over 80 percent, so this is a pretty good deal.

HomePath® Buyer Incentive

Fannie Mae is also currently offering buyers up to 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance through June 30, 2011.

But only those who plan to use the property as their primary residence as eligible – second homes and investment properties are excluded.

Finally, many condominium projects don’t meet Fannie’s guidelines, but if the condo you’re interested in is owned by Fannie Mae, it may be available for financing via HomePath.

Note that most large mortgage lenders, such as Citi or Wells Fargo, are “HomePath Mortgage Lenders,” meaning they can offer you the loan program.

Additionally, some of these lenders work with mortgage brokers, so you can go that route as well.

Final Word

In summary, HomePath might be a good alternative to purchasing a foreclosure through the open market.

And with flexible down payment requirements and no mortgage insurance or lender-required appraisal, you could save some serious cash.

So HomePath properties and corresponding financing should certainly be considered alongside other options.

But similar to other foreclosures, these homes are sold as-is, meaning repairs may be needed, which you will be responsible for. So tread cautiously.

Purchase a Fannie Mae Owned Home (meatlessmortgage.com)
New Incentives To Buy A Fannie Mae Foreclosed Home By Bold Real Estate Group (boldrealestategroup.wordpress.com)
3 Simple Questions to Get the Right Mortgage (godfreyrealtygroup.wordpress.com)
Fannie Mae Offering More Relief for Military Families (vabenefitblog.com)
Fannie Mae Announces 3.5 Percent Buyer Assistance on HomePath(R) Properties Incentive Part of Continuous Effort to Stabilize Neighborhoods – CNBC (kentuckyfirsttimehomebuyer.com)
Fannie Offers Closing Cost Help for REOs (reowablog.wordpress.com)
Buyers Receive up to 3.5% Toward Closing Costs from Fannie Mae! (theraleighmortgageguy.com)
Fannie vs. Freddie Earnings; Loan Limit Reduction Ahead; Jumbo Market Chatter; Think Tank Opinion on GSEs, by Rob Chrisman. Mortgage News Daily (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)

Oregon Foreclosures: The Mess That MERS Made, by Phil Querin, Q-Law.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

For the past several years in Oregon, foreclosures have been processed fraudulently and in violation of Oregon’s trust deed law. Banks, servicers, title companies and licensed foreclosure trustees, were all aware of the problem for years, but no one did anything about it. This was not a minor error or simple oversight – it was a patent disregard for the laws of Oregon.

Oregon’s Trust Deed Foreclosure Law. It is widely known that during the credit/housing boom, lenders frequently sold their loans between one another. When the ownership of a loan is transferred, it is necessary to execute, in recordable form, an “Assignment of Trust Deed.” ORS 86.735(1) governs what must occur before a trust deed may be foreclosed in Oregon; all such assignments must be placed on the public record. This is not a new law and it is not significantly different from the laws of many other states. Oregon’s law has been on the books for decades.

ORS 86.735(1) is not complicated or confusing. It simply means that after the original lender makes a loan and takes back a trust deed (which is immediately recorded), all subsequent assignments of that loan must be recorded before the foreclosure is formally commenced. In this manner, one can see from the public record, the “chain of title” of the loan, and thereby know with certainty, that the lender filing the foreclosure actually has the legal right to do so. It protects the consumer and assures the reliability of Oregon land titles.

The MERS Solution. In the 1990s, MERS came into existence. Its avowed purpose was to replace the time honored system of public recording for mortgage and trust deed transfers, with an electronic registry which its members would voluntarily use when a loan was transferred. This registry is for use only by MERS members, all of whom are in the lending industry. The immediate effect of MERS was that lenders stopped publicly recording their mortgage and trust deed assignments. This deprived local governments of millions of dollars in recording fees, and took the business of the sale of loans “underground.” A more detailed discussion of MERS’ business model is posted here.

Although the numbers vary, it is believed that MERS comprises approximately 60% of the national lending industry. Until recently, it had no employees. MERS was not born from any state statute or national enabling legislation. It was the brainchild of its owners, Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, Nationwide, HSBC, American Land Title Association, and Wells Fargo, among others.

How MERS Has Contributed To Oregon’s Mortgage Mess. In an effort to give MERS the appearance of authority, its rules clarify that it will act solely as a “Nominee” for each of its members – doing only what its member instructs, but in its own name and not the name of the member. The “Nominee” is, as some Oregon federal judges have correctly observed, nothing more than “a strawman.”

When the foreclosure crisis hit, lenders realized that they needed some way to get the trust deed into current bank’s hands to initiate the process. Since MERS’ existence was virtual, and with no real employees, whenever it came time to assign a mortgage or trust deed, a MERS “Assistant Vice President” or “Assistant Secretary” would execute the assignment on behalf of MERS in their “official” capacity. But since MERS has no such officers, it simply created mass “Corporate Resolutions”, appointing one or more low level member bank employees to “robo-sign” thousands of bogus assignments.

It is important to note that these MERS “officers” only made one assignment – i.e. from the original lender whose name appeared on the public record when the loan was first made, to the foreclosing lender. In Oregon, this means that ORS 86.735(1) requiring the recording all of the intervening assignments, was intentionally ignored. Hence, there was never a “chain of title” on the public record disclosing the intervening assignments of the loan. As a result, in Oregon, no one – including the homeowner – knows if the bank foreclosing a loan even has a legal right to do so.

And there is reason to believe many of the banks did not have the legal right to foreclose. In every Oregon foreclosure I have witnessed during the last twelve months, where the loan was securitized into a REMIC, there is substantial doubt that the foreclosing bank, acting as the “trustee” of the securitized loan pool, actually had any right to foreclose. This is due to the strict tax, accounting, and trust laws governing the REMIC securitization process.

The short explanation is that if the paperwork was actually transferred into a loan pool between, say 2005 – 2008, there would be no need for an assignment to that trustee today – the loan would have already been in the pool and the trustee already had the right to foreclose; but if the loan was not transferred into the pool back then – when it should have been, it cannot be legally assigned out to that trustee today. Although it is not always easy to locate, the Pooling and Servicing Agreement, or “PSA,” governing the REMIC will contain a “Cut-Off Date.” That date is the deadline for the sponsor of the REMIC to identify the pool’s notes and trust deeds (or mortgages) in the trust. After that time [subject to limited exceptions – which do not include the transfer of nonperforming loans into the trust – PCQ], no new loans may be added. For example, if the REMIC was created in early 2006, the Cut-Off Date is likely to also be in 2006. This would mean that a bank, acting in the capacity of a trustee for a certain REMIC today, would not have the legal right to foreclose, if that trustee only recently received the trust deed assignment. The REMIC had been closed years earlier.

This is fraudulent. Yet it was so widespread, that foreclosures routinely adopted this “single assignment” model, and it became an assembly line business for MERS and its member banks. The assignment documents were typically prepared in advance by foreclosure mill attorneys and foreclosure trustee companies, uploaded into cyberspace to a servicer or foreclosure processing company, and signed, en masse, by robo-signers. Then the assignments were shipped over to notaries, who never actually witnessed the MERS “officer” sign an document. Once completed, the original assignment document was sent via overnight mail to the foreclosure trustee to record and begin the foreclosure. In many instances, the foreclosure trustee, (a) acting as a MERS “officer” would sign the assignment document transferring ownership of the loan to a lender, then (b) he or she would sign another document appointing their company as the Successor Trustee, then (c) that same person would also sign the Notice of Default, which commenced the foreclosure. No conflict of interest there…. It is this “need for speed” that epitomizes the MERS business model.

The result has been predictable – today there is evidence of fraudulent foreclosure paperwork on a massive scale. Forgeries are rampant. Notarization laws are flaunted. Until recently, the banks and MERS have gotten away with this scheme. The lending, servicing and title industries have simply taken a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to foreclosures in Oregon and elsewhere.

However, in 2010, Oregon and several other states said “enough.” In Oregon for example, there were at least three federal district court and bankruptcy court cases that struck down foreclosures due to the use of the MERS strawman model, and also based upon the flagrant violation of ORS 86.735(1). The most notable of these cases is the February 7, 2011 published opinion of Hon. Frank R. Alley III, Chief Bankruptcy Judge in Donald McCoy III v. BNC Mortgage, et al. Judge Alley held, in part, that: “…the powers accorded to MERS by the Lender [whose name appears in the Trust Deed] – with the Borrower’s consent – cannot exceed the powers of the beneficiary. The beneficiary’s right to require a non-judicial sale is limited by ORS 86.735. A non-judicial sale may take place only if any assignment by [the Lender whose name appears in the Trust Deed] has been recorded.” [Parentheticals mine. PCQ]

Judge Alley concluded that a failure to follow the successive recording requirement of ORS 86.735(1) meant that the foreclosure was void. It is important to note that in McCoy, as in most rulings against MERS lenders, the courts have not held that the banks may not prosecute their foreclosures – merely that before doing so, they must record all intervening assignments, so there is no question as to the foreclosing bank’s standing.

MERS is now engaged, through surrogates and one or more lobbyists, to introduce a bill in the Oregon legislature. It is a bold effort to legislatively overturn Judge Alley’s ruling, as well as similar adverse rulings by Oregon federal court judges, King, Hogan, and Perris.

MERS, its member banks, and the foreclosure industry, including its foreclosure mill attorneys, have never had justification for ignoring Oregon’s foreclosure law. Nor have they offered any justification. Instead, they have threatened that if ORS 86.735(1) and other homeowner protections in our foreclosure statutes are not amended to give MERS the right to continue acting as a strawman, and to avoid recording all successive assignments, the Oregon housing and foreclosure crisis will continue longer than necessary. Metaphorically speaking, having been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, MERS now asks the Oregon Legislature to legalize cookie theft.

Oregon Consumers Need To Be Protected. MERS’ proposed legislative solution does nothing to protect homeowners. Rather, it is aimed at legalizing patently fraudulent conduct, in the name of “helping” Oregon homeowners get through the foreclosure crisis faster. Thanks, but no thanks. The title and lending industry are concerned that if a law is not immediately passed giving MERS its way, foreclosures will come to a halt and commerce will suffer. The banks have even threatened to file judicial foreclosures against homeowners, to somehow avoid the recording of assignments law. This is a complete ruse. Here’s why:

Lenders cannot avoid their paperwork problems in Oregon by going into court. As we have seen in Oregon’s federal court cases, the banks are still unwilling to produce the necessary documents to prove they have standing to foreclose. If a bank does not have the legal documentation minimally necessary to establish its right to foreclose non-judicially, why would it go into court and shine a bright light on its own fraudulent paperwork? The outcome will be the same – as we have seen in judicial foreclosure states such as Florida, where they now require the banks’ attorneys to certify to the truthfulness of their pleadings and paperwork.
Lenders will not go into court for fear of further alienating an already alienated public. [Note the recent MERS Announcement to it’s members, tightening is rules due to concern over its “…reputation, legal and compliance risk….” – PCQ]
The banks know that with the high court filing fees and lawyers, it will be much more costly for them to foreclose judicially in court. While they do not seem concerned about their high executive bonuses, when it comes to the cost of foreclosures, they’ll pinch a penny ’til it screams.
In any event, there is little reason to fear judicial foreclosures clogging court dockets. With proper documentation, the process can be relatively fast (3+ months), since the cases could be disposed of on summary judgment. If judicial foreclosure cases became too numerous, the local courts can create expedited protocols and assign certain judges to speed them through – as done in other states. Lastly, many foreclosures are already being filed judicially, especially on commercial properties. To date, there has been no hue and cry that it is overwhelming the court systems.
The lenders’ complaints that foreclosures are slowing Oregon’s housing recovery are not necessarily verified by the stats. Oregon’s Regional Multiple Listing Service (“RMLS™”) shows that January 2009 housing inventory (i.e. dividing active listings by closed sales) was 19.2 months; January 2010 was 12.6 months; January 2011 was 11.3 months. February 2009 was 16.6 months, February 2010 was 12.9 months; and February 2011 was 10.9 months. March 2010 showed housing inventory at 7.8 months (down from 12.0 months in 2009), and there is no reason we cannot expect even better numbers when this month is over.

These numbers suggest that housing inventory is gradually being reduced year over year. Although it is true that housing prices continue to decline, that is more likely the result of lenders fire-selling their own REO inventory, than anything else. I say this because of many anecdotal reports of lenders refusing short sales at prices higher than they ultimately sold following foreclosure. Perhaps lender logic is different than human logic….

In an online article in Mortgage News Daily [a lender resource site – just look at their advertising – PCQ], it was reported:

The cost of a foreclosure, it turns out, is pretty staggering and we wonder why lenders and the investors they represent aren’t jumping at a solution, any solution, that would allow them to avoid going to foreclosure whenever possible.***According the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, the average foreclosure costs were $77,935 while preventing a foreclosure runs $3,300.

Overall, foreclosure is a lose-lose proposition for all concerned – except perhaps the companies servicing and foreclosing the loans [Point of Interest: Bank of America owns BAC Servicing and ReconTrust, and is making millions from the business of servicing and foreclosing the loans it made to its own borrowers. A sterling example of vertical integration in a down market… PCQ]

The only good solution is a non-foreclosure solution. Lenders already have ultimate control over the outcome for every loan in default. In those cases where modifications are viable, they should do so on an expedited basis. [Point of Interest: Go to the following CoreLogic site here , where in 2010 they touted their new analytics program that is designed to enhance lender decision making on modifications, short sales, and deeds-in-lieu. One has to believe that if such programs exist and banks stopped losing borrowers’ paperwork, they could actually have a decision back fairly quickly – rather than the 14-month horror stories we hear about. – PCQ]

Although it is doubtful that the industry can and will – anytime soon – create a fast and fair process to reduce principal balances, that is certainly a fair solution. It is fair to the homeowner in need, and actually fair to the bank, since the cost of foreclosure, including taxes, insurance, commissions, and other carrying costs, are significantly more than the short term pain of a write down. [If the banks need a little accounting sleight-of-hand from the FASB, there’s no reason they couldn’t put some pressure on, as they did with the mark-to-market rules. -PCQ]

Another, more likely and quicker solution, is to establish a fast-track short sale process. This should not be complicated if the banks stopped “losing paperwork” and focused on turning short sales into 45-60 day closings, consistent with the timing for equity sales. It has been lender delays that have stigmatized short sales, so only hungry investors, and buyers with the patience of Job, participate. This can change if banks begin expediting their short sale processing.

With both the modification and short sale alternatives, lenders do not receive the property back into their already bloated REO departments; and there is the added advantage that the banks do not have to risk a judicial slapdown, when using their fraudulently prepared Assignments of Trust Deed. In short, it is a “win-win” solution for lender and borrower.

Conclusion. The MERS business model was based upon the concept that “It is better to seek forgiveness than permission.” The problems they created were done with their eyes wide open in a brazen act of “might makes right” hubris. After having created these problems, they are now seeking to legislatively overturn the rulings of several of Oregon’s highly regarded federal judges. These decisions have affirmed the rule of law. To do otherwise – that is to sanctify MERS’ illegal conduct by eviscerating statues designed to protect homeowners, would be a travesty.

MERS, the banks, and the title industry own this problem, and they should own the solution. Whatever the outcome, it must be fair, and should not be borne on the backs of Oregon’s already struggling homeowners.

Hundreds of Oregon foreclosure sales stopped after judges’ rulings by Brent Hunsberger, The Oregonian (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
Freddie Mac Bars Foreclosure Actions in the Name of MERS, by Carrie Bay, DSNEWS.com (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
MERS Tells Banks To Stop Foreclosing in Their Names (axsmithlaw.wordpress.com)
MERS tells members not to foreclose in its name (ftalphaville.ft.com)
MERS Tells Servicers to Stop Foreclosing in Their Name (news.firedoglake.com)
Short Sale Optimism (markaalto.wordpress.com)
Oh My, Oh MERS! NY Bankruptcy Judge Rules That Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Lacks Right To Assign Mortgages (ritholtz.com)
Another Way Banks Make Everyone Pay: The MERS Mortgage Mess (dailyfinance.com)
Interagency Review of Foreclosure Policies and Practices (timothymccandless.wordpress.com)
Backgrounder: A Closer Look at MERS, the Industry’s Controversial Mortgage Clearinghouse (propublica.org)

Would-be buyers face even more hurdles on home front, by Mary Ellen Podmolik, Chicago Tribune

Posted by Fred Stewart

The drumbeat from the housing community was loud and clear in 2010: There was never a better time to buy a home.

For most of the past 12 months, home prices tumbled, mortgage rates ticked downward, and the inventory of available traditional and distressed homes was plentiful.

But would-be buyers, even if they were able to overcome job worries, found that the hurdles to obtain a loan were formidable. They remained on the sidelines, and housing analysts opined that if the broader economy improved and unemployment fell, pent-up demand would be unleashed, credit guidelines would ease and home sales would improve.

As the new year begins, that guarded optimism has turned into uncertainty, thanks to a combination of rising mortgage rates, tighter underwriting guidelines and sweeping government regulation. As a result, it’s unlikely to get any easier and may, in fact, get much more difficult to buy a home in 2011.

“From a credit standpoint, I tend to think we’re toward the bottom of that cycle,” said Bob Walters, chief economist for Quicken Loans Inc. “The bad news is, I don’t think it’s going to get a lot better in 2011. You’ll hear a lot more noise pressuring the industry to ease guidelines, and you’ll hear from the industry that we don’t want a redo of what’s happened.”

Risky practices

Looming large over the mortgage market are provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that have yet to be finalized. Among them is a requirement that mortgage lenders maintain some “skin” in the game on the mortgages they originate by holding at least 5 percent of the credit risk rather than bundling the loans and selling them off entirely.

The goal is to discourage a repeat of risky past practices, but the legislation makes an exception to the risk-retention standard for what is labeled a “qualified residential mortgage.” It is the still-unspecified definition of what’s become the industry’s latest acronym to digest, QRM, that has lenders in an uproar.

If a very strict definition is applied by regulators, and a final rule isn’t expected until the spring, it could become more difficult, and more costly, for homebuyers to secure mortgage financing.

“People have some very different ideas of how to define this,” said Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Some would say if it doesn’t have a 30 percent down payment, it’s not a QRM. For a first-time homebuyer, that would really be eye-opening. It definitely has the potential to turn the market upside down.

“This could dramatically tighten underwriting much more than what the lenders have already done. It’s going to make it even tougher to work through the (housing) overhang.”

Wells Fargo has told regulators it supports exempting mortgages with a 30 percent down payment. Community banks worry such a strict definition would curtail home mortgage lending.

“If you have to have 30 percent down, the American dream would become the American fantasy,” said Nick Parisi, a senior vice president at Standard Bank and Trust Co. in Hickory Hills, Ill.

Less competition

Additional regulation on mortgage bankers will mean a thinning of their ranks, weeding out the unscrupulous players. But it also will lessen consumers’ ability to comparison-shop widely for the best home mortgage product.

“That means less competition, and generally, less competition is not good for the consumer,” said Quicken’s Walters. “It might mean that your interest rate over time is a little higher. A less competitive industry has to work less hard.”

Tighter lending requirements already have steered 40 percent of buyers to secure Federal Housing Administration-backed loans, which carry their own set of fees. FHA-backed loans are exempt from the Dodd-Frank provision.

Another new wrinkle to the mortgage market is that beginning in March, Freddie Mac will raise fees for mortgages sold to Freddie that carry higher loan-to-value ratios.

Fannie Mae in late December announced its own series of considerable loan-level price adjustments, effective April 1, for mortgages with greater than a 60 percent loan-to-value that will apply even to consumers with credit scores above 700.

Loan fees aren’t the only item going up: So is the cost of money itself. The average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages has been below 5 percent since early May, but economists predict those days are nearing an end.

General guidance on mortgage rates for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage call for them to stay under 6 percent for the year, likely falling somewhere between 4.75 percent and 5.5 percent. Still, that could be a jolt to buyers on the sidelines who watched rates drop to as low as 4.2 percent in the fall.

Would-be homebuyers might encounter obstacles in 2011 (knoxnews.com)
Wells Fargo closed nearly 500,000 Loans in 3rd Quarter, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
Summary Box: Mortgage rates fall this week (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
How to Fix Mortgage Mess in Three Steps: Laurence Kotlikoff (businessweek.com)
Rate on 30-year fixed mortgage dips to 4.71 pct. (sfgate.com)
7 mortgage trends to expect in 2011 (msnbc.msn.com)
Total Mortgage Identifies Key Trends in the Mortgage Marketplace in 2011 (prweb.com)

Wells Fargo closed nearly 500,000 Loans in 3rd Quarter, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

I recently noted that Wells Fargo was the top residential mortgage lender based on volume for the fourth consecutive quarter, ending in the third quarter, according to data fromMortgagestats.com.

Well, as you may have suspected, the San Francisco-based bank and mortgage lender was also tops with respect to total number of loans closed.

During the third quarter, the company closed 469,914 home loans, up five percent from the 446,403 loans closed a year earlier.

In the second quarter, the bank closed less than 400,000 loans, but closed a staggering 581,961 in the second quarter of 2009, when the refinance boom got its legs, thanks to those record low mortgage rates.

That, along with the reduced staff, may explain why it took so long to get an underwritingdecision on your loan.

Gone are the days of same-day or 24-hour underwriting – now it’s a couple of weeks, if you’re lucky.

Of course, loan origination volume is expected to slow this year, so maybe it’ll be easier to get that decision from the bank a little quicker.

Check out the rest of the leaders in total residential home loans closed, along with their market share and year-over-year change.

Quicken Loans was the biggest gainer (+65%), while Bank of America saw a more than 25 percent decline, but still held on to the second spot.

Wells Fargo Top Mortgage Lender for the Fourth Consecutive Quarter, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
Jumbo Mortgages Easier to Come By, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
Shadow Inventory Raises 10 Percent, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
Wells Fargo to Forgive $772 Million in Risky Home Loans (dailyfinance.com)
Big Banks Are Hot for 2011: Buy BofA and Wells Fargo Stock, Analyst Says (blogs.wsj.com)

Wells Fargo Top Mortgage Lender for the Fourth Consecutive Quarter, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

Wells Fargo's corporate headquarters in San Fr...

Image via Wikipedia

Wells Fargo was the top residential mortgage lender for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to MortgageStats.com.

The San Francisco-based bank and mortgage lender grabbed nearly a quarter (23.13 percent) of total market share with $102.8 billion in loan origination volume during the third quarter.

The company bested its year-ago total of $97.9 billion and crushed the $83 billion originated in the second quarter, thanks in part to the record low mortgage rates on offer, which sparkedrefinance demand.

Bank of America came in a distant second with $74 billion and 16.66 percent market share – Chase originated about half of that, with $42.7 billion and 9.60 percent market share.

Their volume was nearly identical to the volume seen a quarter earlier, but 25 percent lower than that seen a year ago.

Rounding out the top five were CitiMortgage and Ally Bank/Residential Capital (GMAC) with $20.3 billion and $20.2 billion, respectively.

The pair saw market share of just over nine percent combined.

So the five largest mortgage lenders accounted for nearly 60 percent of all loan origination volume.

Quicken Loans was the biggest gainer in the top 10, with an 88 percent increase seen from the third quarter of 2009.

SunTrust Bank was the biggest loser year-over-year, chalking a 34 percent decline.

Take a look at the top 10 mortgage lenders in the third quarter of 2010:

Jumbo Mortgages Easier to Come By, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com (oregonrealestateroundtable.com)
Generation Mortgage Company Now Ranked Among Top Five Retail Reverse Mortgage Companies (prweb.com)
Wells Fargo opposes banks on mortgage-risk rule (sfgate.com)
Wells Fargo calls for higher mortgage retention -FT (reuters.com)

State AGs And Banks Prepare Fraudclosure Settlement, Bailout Number Two For BofA Imminent, Zerohedge.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

CNBC’s Diana Olick reports that the investigation into the biggest financial fraud in recent history is about to be shelved: the reason, state AGs are nearing a settlement with banks, which will slap a few wrists, will see banks put some lunch money in a settlement fund, will result in some principal reductions, and everything will be well again, as banker bonuses surpass 2009 levels (as noted previously). Retroactively in perpetuity. In other news, state sponsored fraud in America is alive and well.

Update: don’t spend that bonus money on the January edition Perfect 10s just yet. In what seems to be a day of relentless newsflow, we have just learned via Charlie Gasparino and Fox Biz, that Phil Angelides is launching his own probe into the mortgage market. Then again, all this means is that BofA will need to spend a few million extra dollars to bribe the key people in this latest development, and then everything shall be well again.

Add Phil Angelides to the growing list of regulators investigating whether banks committed fraud in the $6.4 trillion mortgage-bond market, the FOX Business Network has learned.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which Angelides chairs, has begun investigating whether mortgages packaged into bonds and now held by investors including government agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were done so improperly, thus calling into question the legality of trillions of dollars of debt, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The inner workings of the mortgage-backed securities market have come under intense scrutiny in recent months following revelations that big banks may have committed fraud by hiring so-called robo-signers to approve foreclosure applications on tens of thousands of mortgages. At issue: Whether the robo-signers properly approved foreclosures and whether people forced from their homes received due process.

The latest twist in the robo-signer controversy involves whether improper foreclosures and banks failing to follow proper legal procedures will call into question the mortgage bonds themselves. Many of the foreclosed mortgages aren’t held by banks, but have been placed in bonds held by investors. The money thus is returned to an investor holding the bond.

But if the foreclosure has been done by a robo-signer, or if the banks creating the bond did so improperly, as a recent congressional study suggested, then the bonds themselves could be declared illegal. That could pose big problems for the banks that created the mortgages and sold the bonds, like Bank of America (BAC: 11.94 ,-0.16 ,-1.32%) and JPMorgan (JPM: 39.58 ,-0.47 ,-1.17%) because it would allow investors to “put”, or force the banks to buy back, the underlying mortgages.

And here is Diana Olick’s disclosure:

While sources say there is no universal solution to shoddy foreclosure practices at some of the nation’s largest mortgage banks/servicers, the three largest, BofA, JPM and Wells Fargo, may be agreeing to the same solution.

First, banks would pay into a fund used to compensate borrowers who have claims after their home has been sold in foreclosure. The borrowers would have to prove they were wronged in the process, and the attorney’s general would allocate the funds. In other words, the AGs would be the administrators. The amount of said fund is still undetermined, and likely still in negotiation. Each bank could settle on its own amount, or there could be a joint agreement.

Secondly, the banks would do away with the dual track of modifications and foreclosures. That means that only after all options of modification are exhausted can a bank begin foreclosure proceedings. Many borrowers currently complain that they are in the midst of the modification process when they get a notice of foreclosure sale. The drawback to eliminating the dual track is even greater extended timelines to foreclosure for borrowers. As it is, borrowers on average can be in their homes for a year and a half without making mortgage payments before eviction.

Finally, there would be some kind of agreement to third party mediation for review of all the cases in the first part of the agreement where borrowers are seeking compensation from the AG fund.

There has also been talk of principal write down as part of settlements, perhaps with some banks and not others. “It’s been on the table,” says one source.

BofA CEO: Settling foreclosure probe best solution (reuters.com)
WRAPUP 3-US lawmakers hit banks, regulators on foreclosures (reuters.com)
UPDATE 1-Banks, state AGs near foreclosure settlement–CNBC (reuters.com)
Those Contrite Mortgage Servicers Have Plenty to Be Sorry for (dailyfinance.com)
FCIC Delays Report Despite Republican Opposition, Citing ‘Very Powerful Interests’ Seeking To Undermine Investigations (huffingtonpost.com)
Banks Are Nearing A Major Settlement On Foreclosure-Gate (businessinsider.com)
Robo-Signing Foreclosure Mess: Bank of America Vows to Do Better (dailyfinance.com)
Under Scrutiny in Foreclosure Mess: Banks’ Servicing Arms (blogs.wsj.com)
“Banks Getting Hammered Again (BAC; C; JPM; WFC; XLF; FAZ)” and related posts (climateerinvest.blogspot.com)
Bond Investors to Complain About Robo-Signing Costs (businessweek.com)
Fortune Defends Banks In Robo-Foreclosure Scandal (huffingtonpost.com)
Banks, state AGs near foreclosure settlement: report (reuters.com)
Bank of America Bracing for Layoffs: Report (observer.com)

Jumbo Mortgages Easier to Come By, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

Jumbo mortgages, which seemed to go the way of the buffalo once the mortgage crisis set in, are starting to make a comeback, per data parsed by the Wall Street Journal.
The publication said jumbo mortgage lenders originated $18 billion during the second quarter, up roughly 20 percent from the second quarter, using data from Inside Mortgage Finance.
That might explain all those recent OneWest Bank (formerly Indymac) billboards touting “jumbo loans without the mumbo jumbo.”
Chase Home Lending increased its jumbo loan lending by 146.2 percent in the first half of 2010, compared to last year.
Wells Fargo increased its jumbo fundings by 47.5 percent, and PHH Corp. saw jumbo loan origination volume soar 64.6 percent during the same period.
Of course, jumbo lending remains far below levels seen pre-boom and even early-crisis.
Jumbo mortgages accounted for just five percent of total mortgage originations in 2009 and so far in 2010, down from about 20 percent during 2004-2007.
Historically, jumbo loans capture about 18 percent of the market, according to Inside Mortgage Finance CEO Guy Cecala.
Jumbo loans are those that exceed the conforming loan limit, which is currently set at $417,000, though it’s temporarily as high as $729,750, thanks to fairly recent legislation changes that created so-called jumbo-conforming mortgages.
If you’re in the market for a jumbo loan, understand that underwriting guideline are still very tight, meaning full documentation is typically required, along with a hefty down payment.

On Jumbo Mortgages, Government Muscles Out Banks (blogs.wsj.com)
The Jumbo-Mortgage Market Thaws (online.wsj.com)
30-Year Fixed Jumbo Mortgage Rate Below 5% at Total Mortgage Services (prweb.com)
Generation Mortgage Offers New Jumbo Reverse Mortgage Loan for Homes up to $6 Million (prweb.com)
Jumbo no-money mortgages are back (mysanantonio.com)
Jumbo no-money mortgages are back (mysanantonio.com)

Foreclosure Crisis Triggers Debate on Role of Mortgage Registry, by Thom Weidlich, Bloomberg.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

On July 1, a federal judge took away Robert Bellistri’s house in Arnold, Missouri.

Bellistri, who bought the house as an investment after it was seized for non-payment of taxes, failed to notify Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. of his purchase, the judge said. A state appeals court last year had ruled otherwise, finding Bellistri didn’t need to tell MERS, a company that lets banks electronically register their sales of home loans so they can avoid trudging down to the county land-records office.

The case highlights a debate raging in courts on the role MERS has, if any, in home foreclosures. How it’s resolved will determine whether MERS’s involvement produced a defective process and clouded millions of property titles. A definitive ruling against MERS might slow any future bundling of mortgages into securities since the company played a role in that process.

“MERS is the central device by which the banks have tried to opt out of the legal system and the real-property record system,” U.S. Representative Alan Grayson of Florida said in an interview. “They have taken it upon themselves, with the supposed consent of the borrowers, to violate a system of property record-keeping that we’ve had going back centuries.”

Attorneys general of all 50 states opened a joint investigation into home foreclosures Oct. 13, saying they will seek an immediate halt to any improper practices at banks and mortgage companies. The announcement came after several banks, including Bank of America Corp., halted foreclosures in either all states or the 23 with judicial supervision of foreclosures.

More Rounds

MERS, whose parent company is Merscorp Inc., bills itself as a provider of “support services to the mortgage industry,” specifically tracking the servicing rights and ownership interests in mortgage loans on its electronic registry.

Merscorp, based in Reston, Virginia, was created by industry leaders in 1995 to improve servicing after county offices couldn’t deal with the flood of mortgage assignments, Karmela Lejarde, a spokeswoman for MERS, said in an interview.

“That bottleneck got mitigated,” she said. The company’s tagline is “Process Loans, Not Paperwork.”

According to its Website, MERS is owned by the largest lenders in the country including Bank of America, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., in addition to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee more than half of the $11 trillion U.S. mortgage market.

The company’s net operating revenue last year was $32 million, she said.

Nominee

Under the MERS system, a borrower who takes out a loan agrees to allow the company to act as the lender’s nominee, or agent, on the mortgage or deed of trust securing the property. That means MERS holds the lien, according to the company.

MERS continues to be the mortgagee of record as long as the note promising the borrower’s repayment is owned by a MERS member. If it’s sold to an outside entity, the assignment is recorded with the appropriate county.

About 60 percent of newly originated loans are on the MERS system, Lejarde said. Since its inception in 1995, it has carried 66 million loans and currently has between 23 million and 25 million active loans, she said.

“The problem with MERS is it takes a public function and puts it into a private entity that doesn’t seem to have any clear accountability,” said Alan White, a law professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana. “And it does it on legal grounds that seem tenuous.”

Securitization

MERS played a key role in the bundling of mortgages into securities that reached a frenzy before the economic decline of 2008, critics including Grayson of Florida said. It allowed banks to sell and resell home loans faster, easier and cheaper, he said.

“MERS was a facilitator of securitization,” said Grayson, a Democratic member of the House Financial Services Committee.

MERS disagrees. It was created to provide clarity and transparency and not “to enable faster securitization,” it said in an Oct. 9 statement.

“MERS probably served a necessary purpose given the volume of securitization that went on,”Talcott Franklin, a lawyer in Dallas who represents investors in mortgage-backed securities, said in a phone interview. “But for MERS, do you know how overwhelmed the county recorder offices would have been by the volume of assignments that had to go through there?”

Fees

A big selling point for the company is its cost savings. It charges $6.95 for every loan registered, Lejarde said. With an average cost of about $40 for filing a mortgage assignment with local counties, MERS has saved the industry about $2.4 billion, Merscorp Chief Executive Officer R.K. Arnold said in a September 2009 deposition in an Alabama suit.

The company is accused in two whistleblower suits filed this year of cheating California and Nevada counties out of millions of dollars in recording fees. In 2006, New York State’s highest court told one county it had to record MERS mortgages against its wishes. The county said MERS cost it $1 million a year.

Several courts have expressed confusion that MERS positions itself as both mortgage owner and representative of a mortgage owner. That stems from its use of mortgage language that typically states it is both the mortgagee and “acting solely as nominee for Lender and Lender’s successors and assigns.”

Agent and Principal

“It is axiomatic the same entity cannot simultaneously be both an agent and a principal with respect to the same property right,” Christopher Peterson, a law professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, wrote in a law-review article about MERS this year.

Peterson wrote that courts should look to the actual economics of the transaction, which some have done, finding that MERS has no standing in proceedings to seize delinquent borrowers’ homes.

In a March 2009 ruling, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Linda B. Riegle in Las Vegas decided MERS wasn’t a true beneficiary under a trust deed.

“If it doesn’t walk like a duck, talk like a duck and quack like a duck, then it’s not a duck,” she wrote.

Consumer advocates and bankruptcy attorneys who criticize MERS say it has no right to foreclose when it doesn’t hold both the promissory note and the security instrument — the mortgage or trust deed. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1872 that a mortgage has no separate existence from the note, Peterson wrote.

Legal Right

“It appears that on a widespread and probably pervasive basis, they did not take the steps necessary to own the note,” Grayson said in a Sept. 30 video he recorded about MERS, “which means that in 45 out of the 50 states they lack the legal right to foreclose.”

MERS says it has the right to foreclose because the borrower grants the company legal title to the mortgage and it forecloses as agent for the promissory-note holder. “Courts around the country have repeatedly upheld and recognized this right,” MERS said in an Oct. 4 e-mailed statement.

Since March 2009, supreme courts in Arkansas, Kansas and Maine have found that MERS had no standing in foreclosure proceedings under their states’ laws. The company lends no money and suffers no injury, the panels said.

MERS’s relationship to the bank that owned a loan in question was “more akin to that of a straw man than to a party possessing all the rights given a buyer,” the Kansas Supreme Court wrote. “What stake in the outcome of an independent action for foreclosure could MERS have?”

Minnesota Victory

MERS won a high-court victory last year when the Minnesota Supreme Court declared the company doesn’t have to record the sale of a promissory note, as opposed to a mortgage, at the county office before a foreclosure can begin.

Citing a 2004 state law it called “the MERS statute,” the Minnesota court said “the legislature appears to have given approval to MERS’s operating system for purposes of recording.” A MERS lawyer helped draft the law, Arnold, the company CEO, said in the deposition last year.

In response to the Kansas decision, the state legislature there changed court-procedure rules this year to require a “nominee of record” to be made part of such lawsuits.

Eventually high courts in states with judicial oversight of foreclosures will have to review MERS’s role, Patrick A. Randolph, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City specializing in real-estate law, said in an interview.

“It’s a question of state law,” Randolph said. “The problem is simply confusion about a word the courts are not used to seeing in this context — the word ‘nominee.’”

Lien Holder

Under its contracts, MERS is the mortgage owner’s agent and has the right to foreclose, said Randolph, who is also affiliated with a St. Louis law firm, Husch Blackwell LLP, which works for MERS, though he doesn’t handle those cases he said.

Complicating matters, MERS doesn’t handle foreclosures itself. Home-loan owners, including trustees of mortgage-backed entities, do so in its name. MERS Inc., which holds the liens, has no employees, and MERSCORP, the parent, has only about 50, Lejarde said.

MERS has also come under fire for allowing members to appoint their employees as MERS certifying officers — as assistant secretaries or vice presidents of MERS — to sign documents, including assignments. MERS has deputized “thousands” of such certifying officers, Arnold said.

Vexed

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur M. Schack, a trial- level judge in Brooklyn, is particularly vexed by the practice and has tossed foreclosure actions in part because of it.

He has pointed out what he sees as a potentially serious conflict: The same person, as an “employee” of MERS — with duties owed to the entity selling a mortgage — assigns that mortgage to a bank at presumably market value, and then the same person, as the bank’s employee, swears an affidavit in the foreclosure case.

Schack has demanded that two-hat-wearing signers provide him with their employment histories.

Lejarde, the MERS spokeswoman, said the certifying officers are employees of the lenders, not MERS, and must follow both companies’ policies.

MERS’s certifying officers represent for the company’s critics what they see as its role in muddying mortgage titles, to the point borrowers don’t know who owns their loans — a charge MERS strongly denies.

Previous Lender

In his case, Bellistri had notified BNC Mortgage Inc., the previous homeowner’s lender, that he bought the house in Arnold, about 18 miles southwest of St. Louis. He didn’t notify MERS, which was listed as BNC’s nominee on the trust deed.

By that time, BNC had conveyed the note to Deutsche Bank AG, as trustee of a mortgage-backed investment vehicle, though Bellistri had no way of knowing that. MERS continued to hold “legal title to the beneficial interests in the deed of trust on behalf of Deutsche Bank,” according to the federal judge’s ruling.

In the proceeding Bellistri initiated, a Missouri state court and the Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis named him the property’s rightful owner. Deutsche Bank had hired Ocwen Financial Corp. as servicer. MERS assigned the deed to Ocwen and said the note went with it.

The appeals court disagreed, saying MERS had no right to grant Ocwen the note because records showed it was still owned by BNC. So Ocwen lacked standing to contest Bellistri’s deed, it said. Under Missouri law, the note and deed go together, and therefore Bellistri keeps the house, the appeals court said.

Federal Suit

MERS filed a federal suit at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, where judgeCharles A. Shaw ruled the other way. Shaw said that Bellistri failed to properly notify MERS of its redemption rights and that the state-court decision threatened MERS’s “overall business model — at least in Missouri.”

Lawsuits elsewhere attack that business model. In Delaware federal court, homeowners accuse MERS of forcing them to pay inflated fees related to their foreclosures.

MERS and its members have been sued this year for racketeering in New York, Florida and Kentucky federal courts, accused of conspiring to falsely foreclose on loans and “to undermine and eventually eviscerate long-standing principles of real-property law.”

Dozens of lawsuits claiming MERS itself is a fraud have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings in federal court in Phoenix. The homeowners haven’t fared well there. In September 2009, U.S. District Judge James Teilborg threw out an earlier case with similar accusations. On Sept. 30, he tossed six proposed class-action, or group, lawsuits.

Defaulting Owners

Teilborg found the defaulting homeowners failed to sufficiently allege that MERS and its members conspired to commit fraud because it’s not a true beneficiary under the trust deed. They also fail to explain how MERS, as a “’sham’ beneficiary,” diminishes their need to pay back the money they borrowed, the judge said.

“At most, plaintiffs find the MERS system to be disagreeable and inconvenient to them as consumers,” Teilborg wrote.

The Bellistri case is Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. v. Bellistri, 09-cv-731, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis) and Bellistri v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, ED91369, Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District (St. Louis).

To contact the reporter on this story: Thom Weidlich in Brooklyn, New York, federal court attweidlich@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net.

MERS Mortgage Registry Comes Under Fire in Foreclosure Crisis (businessweek.com)
MERS Does Full-Court Press In Washington (news.firedoglake.com)
The Homeowner Wins, Without a Lawyer (norris.blogs.nytimes.com)
Law Expert: MERS Mess Could Have “a Massive Effect on the Economy” (news.firedoglake.com)
MERS-y, Mercy Me: The Sewer Drain at the Bottom of the Housing Market (news.firedoglake.com)

U.S. Justice Dept. probing foreclosure processes, Yahoo.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it was probing reports the nation’s top mortgage lenders improperly evicted struggling borrowers from their homes as part of the devastating wave of foreclosures unleashed by the financial crisis.

Amid mounting political outrage over the U.S. mortgage mess, key members of U.S. congressional banking committees joined calls for probes into the foreclosure activities of banks accused of tossing homeowners out without proper review.

At least three banks have already halted eviction proceedings, and various lawmakers have called for an industry-wide moratorium on home repossessions until the problems are fixed. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department would look into media reports that loan servicers improperly have used “robo-signers” to push through thousands of foreclosure orders.

Holder’s move, and the rising chorus of fury among lawmakers, comes ahead of November congressional elections and takes aim at one of the most visible signs of the U.S. economic crisis as hundreds of thousands of families have lost their homes as unemployment surged.

The moves on foreclosures risk further slowing the U.S. economic recovery, leaving banks unsure whether they will ever claw back losses and the housing market overshadowed by a mounting inventory of homes still likely to face foreclosure in future.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and fellow Democrats wrote to Holder earlier this week asking the Justice Department to look into banks’ actions after receiving reports from thousands of homeowners about their foreclosure woes.

On Wednesday, the lead Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Richard Shelby, called on federal regulators to review the foreclosure practices of JPMorgan Chase and Co (JPM.N), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and Ally Financial Inc, formerly known as GMAC, and said a congressional investigation should also be started.

Two senior Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee also said it was time to examine whether the banks broke the law based on their participation in the law that governed the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $700 billion bailout of financial firm.

“The American people helped out these companies and the least they deserve is a guarantee of due process and fairness,” Representatives Luis Gutierrez and Dennis Moore said.

Banks are expected to take over a record 1.2 million homes this year, up from about 1 million last year, according to real estate data company RealtyTrac Inc.

Federal and state officials have pushed to suspend foreclosures after reports that banks signed large numbers of foreclosure affidavits without conducting proper reviews.

Banks and loan servicers, companies that collect monthly mortgage payments, reportedly have used “robo-signers” — middle-ranking executives who signed thousands of affidavits a month claiming they were knowledgeable of the cases.

Separately on Wednesday, Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) agreed to pay eight states $24 million after allegations of deceptive marketing practices at its home loan unit. The firm said it would also alter its foreclosure prevention practices that could benefit struggling homeowners by more than $700 million.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage‘s chief financial officer, Franklin Codel, told Reuters that his unit did not cut corners to speed the foreclosure process. He said he was “confident that the paperwork is being properly produced.”

STATES TAKE ACTION

The issue on improper handling of foreclosures came to the fore last month when Ally Financial said officials had signed thousands of affidavits without having personal knowledge of borrowers’ situations.

Ally suspended evictions and post-foreclosure proceedings in 23 states last month, followed by similar moves by JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America.

The foreclosure issue and the battered state of the U.S. housing market have weighed on the Obama administration ahead of the November congressional elections in which the Democrats already face the possibility of big losses.

Any broader push to solve the foreclosure crisis, such as the wholesale forgiveness of principal debt of struggling homeowners, is unlikely to find support among lawmakers because of the cost and the potential for political backlash from any move seen as rewarding reckless behavior by banks or borrowers.

The focus on bank procedures has thrown a new twist into the saga.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper on Wednesday became the latest state official to ask lenders to suspend home repossessions as he probes foreclosure practices.

Democratic Senator Robert Menendez earlier this week raised the idea of a national foreclosure moratorium.

Ally Financial and its GMAC Mortgage unit also were targeted by Ohio’s attorney general, Richard Cordray, on Wednesday, who announced a lawsuit alleging fraud and violations of Ohio’s consumer law.

Cordray also said he has sought meetings with Citibank (C.N), Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo to try to ascertain whether their foreclosure processes include any of the “mass” signing of official papers that are the subject of the suit against GMAC Mortgage.

Gina Proia, a spokeswoman for Ally Financial, said there was nothing fraudulent or deceitful about GMAC Mortgage’s practices. She said the company will “vigorously defend” itself, and expects to be fully vindicated by the Ohio courts.

GMAC Mortgage said in a statement it “believes there was nothing fraudulent or deceitful about its foreclosure practices. If procedural mistakes were made in the completion of certain legal documents, GMAC Mortgage reacted proactively to the issue and immediately undertook steps to remedy the situation.”

(Writing by Corbett B. Daly and Andrew Quinn; Editing by Leslie Adler)

WRAPUP 4-U.S. Justice Dept. probing foreclosure processes (reuters.com)
U.S. Justice Dept. probing foreclosure processes (reuters.com)
Factbox: Foreclosure problems snowball (reuters.com)
Ohio Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against GMAC Mortgage (dailyfinance.com)
Ohio accuses Ally of ‘fraudulent’ foreclosures (money.cnn.com)
AG Holder says Justice looking into foreclosures (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Ohio AG sues GMAC, Ally over foreclosure fraud (marketwatch.com)
Ohio Attorney General Sues GMAC, Seeks $25,000 per False Affidavit (news.firedoglake.com)

Wells Fargo Curtailing Short Sale Extensions, by Kate Berry, Americanbanker.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

In a move that will expedite some foreclosures, Wells Fargo & Co. has stopped granting extensions for certain distressed homeowners to complete short sales.

The change last month preceded recent revelations of faulty documentation at two major mortgage servicers — JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Ally Financial Inc. — that suspended thousands of foreclosure actions to review their processes. Wells said it does not have the same problems as those servicers.

The company said it changed its policy on short sales at the behest of investors for whom it services mortgages, including the government-sponsored enterprises.

Early last month, Fannie Mae told its servicers to stop unnecessarily delaying foreclosures. The GSE said it would hold servicers responsible for unexplained delays to foreclosures with fines and on-site reviews.

In a memo e-mailed to short sale vendors last month and obtained by American Banker, Wells said it will no longer postpone foreclosure sales for those who do not close short sales by the date in their approval letter from the company. Only extension letters dated Sept. 14 or earlier would be honored, Wells said.

Mary Berg, a spokeswoman for Wells, confirmed that the memo was genuine. But she said it had “caused confusion,” and stressed that Wells still grants extensions on loans in its own portfolio (including those it acquired with Wachovia Corp.) and in cases where investors allow it. For those two categories, Berg said, Wells allows one foreclosure postponement, provided these conditions are met: a short sale has been approved by Wells, by junior lienholders and by mortgage insurers; the buyer has proof of funds or approved financing; and the short sale can close within 30 days of the scheduled foreclosure sale.

Berg would not say how often Wells’ investors allow extensions.

The new policy on short sales was put in place “over the past couple of months … in response to various investor changes,” Berg said. Those investors “would include the GSEs, HUD and those investing in private-label” mortgage-backed securities.

In a short sale, a home is sold for less than the amount owed on the mortgage and the lender accepts a discounted payoff. The transactions are often less costly to the lender than seizing and liquidating the home.

“As long as there is a short sale possibility, the loss will always be less,” said Rayman Mathoda, the president and chief executive of AssetPlan USA, a Long Beach, Calif., provider of short sale training and education. “Basically foreclosure sales should be delayed for any responsible homeowner that has a real buyer available.”

Wells’ decision also follows efforts by the Obama administration to encourage short sales for borrowers who do not qualify for loan modifications.

“It makes no business sense why they are doing this, since it’s wrong for the borrowers and for the government,” said Eli Tene, the CEO of IShortSale Inc., a Woodland Hills, Calif., firm that advises distressed borrowers.

But experts on short sales said that in recent months servicers have been reluctant to approve the transactions out of concern that they will fall through, further prolonging the process.

“There is also a growing issue with the new buyer and financing issues, either losing their jobs ahead of closing or the new lender not being ready to close, which then gives rise to the buyer running out of patience and walking,” said Jim Satterwhite, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Infusion Technologies LLC, a Jacksonville, Fla., provider of short sale services.

Satterwhite said many servicers have reached the point where they know which borrowers do not qualify for a modification and are moving those borrowers through to foreclosure to deal with the backlog of inventory. “A lot of servicers are just falling in line with Fannie,” he said.

Moreover, the expectation that housing prices will fall further is forcing servicers — and the GSEs — to push for a quicker resolution through foreclosure, since short sales can involve further delays. “Values are dropping faster and that also means the losses on short sales are going up,” Satterwhite said.

Of course, the recent reports of “robo-signing” at Ally Financial’s GMAC Mortgage and at JPMorgan Chase could gum up the foreclosure works again. For example, on Friday, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal asked state courts to freeze all home foreclosures for 60 days to “stop a foreclosure steamroller based on defective documents.” The day before, Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh said he had told seven major servicers, including Wells, to review their foreclosure processes.

Another Wells spokeswoman, Vickee J. Adams, said the company’s “policies, procedures and practices satisfy us that the affidavits we sign are accurate.”

Housing Finance Needs U.S. Backstop, Executives Tell Lawmakers, by Lorraine Woellert, Bloomberg.com

Posted by Fred Stewart

Congress must preserve some form of U.S. guarantee on mortgages to attract private capital to the housing-finance system and stabilize a market recovering from the credit crisis, industry executives told lawmakers.

Private capital must play a bigger role in housing finance as policy makers replace the current system, which is dependent on guarantees from government-backed Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac, the executives said today in testimony prepared for a House Financial Services Committee hearing. U.S. support will still be needed to keep loans flowing to borrowers and preserve products such as 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, they said.

Without a government backstop, there wouldn’t be enough private capital to support the $8 trillion in home loans that are funded by investors, said Michael Farrell, chief executive officer ofAnnaly Capital Management Inc., a New York real estate investment trust that owns or manages $90 billion of mortgage-backed securities.

The House panel called Farrell and other housing-industry executives to testify as they seek ways to overhaul a finance system that collapsed in 2008 amid losses on securities linked to subprime mortgages. Some economists and lawmakers have urged that any new system rely solely on private capital and be priced to reflect the risks.

“Recommendations to completely privatize miss the necessity of a government backstop to ensure consistent functioning of mortgage-backed securities markets under all economic conditions,” said Michael Heid, co-president of home mortgages for Wells Fargo & Co.

Fannie, Freddie

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee more than half of the $11 trillion U.S. mortgage market, relied on an implied government guarantee to pool and sell mortgage-backed securities, which generated cash that could be channeled back into additional loans. The federal government seized the two companies amid soaring losses in September 2008 and promised to stand by the debt.

Since then, Washington-based Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, based in McLean, Virginia, have survived on a promise of unlimited aid from the U.S. Treasury Department. The companies lost $166 billion on their guarantees of single-family mortgages from the end of 2007 and the second quarter of this year and have drawn almost $150 billion so far. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has promised to deliver a plan for overhauling the housing-finance system in January.

One challenge for policy makers is how to keep money flowing into the system without the kind of open-ended commitment that left taxpayers responsible for catastrophic losses at the government-sponsored enterprises.

“The GSEs clearly did not operate with enough capital to buffer the risks they assumed,” Christopher Papagianis, managing director of non-profit research group Economics21, told lawmakers. “Policy makers should recognize that bailouts in the housing sector are inevitable if the key institutions in the space do not hold sufficient capital,” said Papagianis, an adviser to former President George W. Bush.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lorraine Woellert in Washington atlwoellert@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lawrence Roberts at lroberts13@bloomberg.net.

MultnomahForeclosures.com Update: New Notice of Default Lists Posted

Posted by Fred Stewart

Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated today with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back over 2 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com documents the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st centry. The lists are of the raw data taken from county records.

It is not a bad idea for investors and people that are seeking a home of their own to keep an eye on the Notice of Default lists. Many of the homes listed are on the market or will be.

All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.

Multnomah County Foreclosures

http://multnomahforeclosures.com

Oregon Real Estate Round Table

Real Estate Talk for Real Estate People

Wells Fargo

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