The Chart Heard Around the World

By Daniel Edstrom 

The following are excerpts from testimony submitted by the Honorable New York Supreme Court Justice F. Dana Winslow.  Submitted as an attachment is my Securitization Reverse Engineering diagram of my families loan / securitization.  It is now part of the Congressional Record.  

  

F. DANA WINSLOW
NYS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
Before the House of Representatives
DECEMBER 2, 2010

ON 

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE
FORECLOSURE
CRISIS
 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

 FORECLOSED JUSTICE:
CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE FORECLOSURE CRISIS 

Hon. F. Dana Winslow
December 2, 2010 

Excerpts:  

Difficulty arises in multiple unrecorded transfers of the legal
ownership of the Mortgage (with or without the transfer of the Note)
and with tracing and proving the chain of title. I refer the Committee
to the attached diagram [Attachment “A”] obtained on the internet,
which I believe to be both a nonsensical and accurate depiction of the
problems concerning mortgagee chain of title. 

Exhibit “A”:Securitization Reverse Engineering Attachment 

  

  

  

 

 

 

Professor Adam Levitin Shreds American Securitization Forum Defenses

Sunday, December 5, 2010

[From Naked Capitalism: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/12/adam-levitin-shreds-the-american-securitization-forum-defense-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29]

Adam Levitin Shreds American Securitization Forum Defenses

It isn’t clear why the American Securitization Forum decided to walk into a buzzsaw, but the carnage is proving to be an amusing spectacle.

For readers who have not followed this wee saga, mortgage securitization abuses are increasingly looking to be a mess of Titanic proportions. The securitization industry created complex and specific procedures for getting the loans into the securitization legal vehicle, a trust. (The loan, meaning the borrower IOU, is called the note; confusingly, the lien is separate and called a mortgage or in some states, a deed of trust).

These procedures were complex for very good legal reasons. These securitizations had to pick their way very carefully through a thicket of issues: state-based real estate law; the Uniform Commercial Code; the desire to create bankruptcy remoteness (so if the originator went bust, the investors would not be exposed to the risk of lenders to the originator trying to get the notes back out of the trust); securities regulations; tax law; trust law.

These provisions were adhered to for nearly two decades. But sometime in the early 2000s, it appears that the industry simply quit observing the requirements of its own contracts, called pooling and servicing agreements. And the worst is that there are no simple fixes for the resulting mess.

If the breakdown was as widespread as it appears to be, at a minimum, in the overwhelming majority of states, it will become more and more difficult to foreclose as consumer lawyers and judges wise up to these issues. And in a worst case scenario, it is entirely possible in some, perhaps many cases, no assets got the the trusts by closing, which would make them void under New York law, which governs virtually all mortgage securitization trusts (even if true, investors may choose not to pursue that theory in a lawsuit, but more evidence of pervasive problems may lead investors use related theories to press to have the deal unwound, which is still a pretty dire outcome).

The American Securitization Forum which represents originators (it also has investors as members, but investors and independent observers see the ASF as very much originator-oriented) has decided to come out guns-a-blazing against critics. The problem is, however, that it has neither the law or facts on its side. Its strident attacks are looking a wee bit desperate.

In recent Congressional hearings, the ASF executive director Tom Deutsch provided testimony that was truly astonishing (see here and here). It asserted, in effect, that extremely clear and easy to interpret language in the PSA about how the notes were to be conveyed to the securitization meant the opposite of what they said. The contracts call for a “complete” or “unbroken” chain of endorsements. The ASF testimony argued that that very same language meant the very opposite, that no such thing needed to happen. And the testimony peculiarly personalized the attack, fixating on Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin. Even though he has almost become a fixture on Congressional panels on this topic, he is far from the only expert to have argued for this interpretation.

Levitin deigned to address the ASF argument, and his post, “Fisking the American Securitization Forum’s Congressional Testimony,” is engaging. I suggest you read it in its entirely. Here are some of the key bits:

My first thought was “gosh, ASF’s awfully defensive. They sure seem spooked.” And on looking at the details of the ASF’s rebuttal, my sense is they’re on very shaky ground if these are the best arguments they have….

ASF takes me to task because the argument I make about PSAs is not supported by caselaw. Duh. Of course it isn’t. These issues have never been litigated. The whole point I’ve been making is that there are a bunch of unresolved legal issues. I’m not the one who decides what the outcome is. I can only offer my semi-learned opinion. But just as my argument lacks caselaw support, so too does that of the ASF. At least I’m not the one who built a $1.2 trillion dollar private label residential mortgage securitization industry hinging on uncertain law…..

ASF argues that the language in many PSAs requiring a “complete” or “unbroken” chain of endorsements only means that there must be a chain of endorsements legally sufficient to effectuate the transfer of the note to the trust…

There are a few problems with this argument. First, if the ASF is correct in its claim that the loans are transferred by sale under Article 9 of the UCC, the legal sufficiency of the endorsements should simply be irrelevant. In making this claim, ASF seems to be conceding that PSAs are the governing law for RMBS transactions.

Second, it’s worth looking at the entire language used in PSAs, not the selectively quoted language referred to by the ASF. For example, consider the PSA for Securities Asset Backed Receivables LLC Trust 2005-FR3, dated July 1, 2005, § 2.01(b), July 1, 2005. It provides that the depositor will deliver to the trust:

“the original Mortgage Note bearing all intervening endorsements showing a complete chain of endorsement from the originator to the last endorsee, endorsed ‘Pay to the order of _____________, without recourse’ and signed (which may be by facsimile signature) in the name of the last endorsee by an authorized officer.”

Note the bold language (my emphasis; the italics are original). There can be no question that this language is calling for every endorsement from the originator to the trust, and cannot be satisfied with a single endorsement in blank. For deals with this language, at least, ASF’s testimony is demonstrably wrong.

Now, it is important to note that not every PSA has such language…The incidence of various PSA language is unknown, but certainly there are a good number of PSAs where there has to be a complete chain of endorsements.

Another inconvenient fact is, contrary to the ASF assertions, that judges are also looking for the chain of endorsements to make sense, without reference to the PSA. By happenstance, April Charney sent a Florida decision today which illustrates how the lack of proper endorsements derailed a foreclosure (April has graciously included me in her frequent updates to various groups of lawyers involved in foreclosure defense).

Order for BAC Home Loans Servicing v. Stentz

This order is short and make for instructive reading. The note in question was indorsed (bankruptcy courts use “indorse” for “endorse”) in blank, something the ASF says is perfectly kosher. The Florida judge is not entirely comfortable with that, noting that Florida law requires that the party prosecuting a foreclosure both own and be the holder of the note. He dismissed the case without prejudice, but notice the requirements he stipulates for any amended complaint (boldface mine):

1. Allege additional facts, not conclusions of law, that specifically set forth the and identify the present owner of the note and mortgage and the present holder of the note and mortgage and in so doing deraign the chain of ownership/holdership since the loan’s inception.

2. Allege additional facts why the note is indorsed in blank and specifically deny, if that be the case, that it or an interest has been pledged to another….

5. Allege and identify all documents, by attachment, upon which Plaintiff relies to establish ownership of the note and mortgage.

Now look at the mess we have here. How, pray tell, are the plaintiffs going to prove how the note traveled from originator to its purported current owner in the absence of having the note endorsed with a full and unbroken chain of assignments? How are they going to prove a negative (as in 2, that it wasn’t pledged to another party? How will the plaintiffs prove the transfers? A basic feature of negotiable instruments like mortgage notes is that they are transferred by delivery, not by contract or assignment, AND that the party making the transfer must endorse the instrument so that it is payable to the recipient (or it can be endorsed in blank).

Oh, and if the borrower’s attorney is at all savvy, he will find the PSA for this loan. If the plaintiffs try to claim the conveyance chain was different than that stipulated in the PSA (something the ASF also tried to argue was fine), and the borrower’s counsel points out the discrepancy. This judge looks to be the sort that would find it troubling.

Here, again by virtue of synchronicity via April Charney yesterday, is another example of a judge, this time in Ohio, refusing to foreclose. One of the reasons is the chain of assignments is broken (see the part I boldfaced):

Case: CV-09-706959
Case Caption: PROVIDENT FUNDING ASSOCIATES, L.P. vs. TAMARA TURNER, ET AL
Judge: TIMOTHY MCCORMICK
Room: 20C JUSTICE CENTER
Docket Date: 11/09/2010
Notice Type: (JEPC) JOURNAL ENTRY NOTICE
Notice ID/Batch: 16552802 – 875214

To: JAMES R DOUGLASS

MOTION OF THE DEFENDANTS PHILLIP TURNER AND TAMARA TURNER TO DISMISS FOR PLAINTIFF’S LACK OF STANDING TO FILE THE FORECLOSURE IS GRANTED. PLAINTIFF DID NOT PRESENT EVIDENCE TO THE COURT THAT IT OWNED THE SUBJECT PROMISSORY NOTE AS OF THE DATE OF THE FILING OF ITS COMPLAINT IN THIS CASE AND COULD NOT, THEREFORE, PROVE THAT IT HAD STANDING TO FILE THIS CASE. SEE WELLS FARGO BANK V. JORDAN, 2009 OHIO 1092 (8TH DIST. CT. APP., MAR. 12, 2009). MERS COULD NOT ASSIGN THE NOTE AS IT NEVER HELD THE PROMISSORY NOTE. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE ALLONGE WAS EVER AFFIXED TO THE NOTE. VIRTUAL BANK PURPORTS TO INDORSE THE NOTE TO THE PLAINTIFF, BUT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT VIRTUAL BANK HELD THE NOTE AT THE TIME OF THE INDORSEMENT. VIRTUAL BANK IS ALSO NOT THE PAYEE ON THE NOTE. COMPLAINT DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. AS PLAINTIFF DID NOT HAVE STANDING TO FILE THIS CASE, THE COUNTERCLAIM IS ALSO DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. (FINAL)
COURT COST ASSESSED TO THE PLAINTIFF(S).

CLDLJ 11/09/2010
NOTICE ISSUED

Ohio and Florida require that the party foreclosing be the owner of the note. But even in states like California, which appear merely to require that the foreclosing party be a holder, “holder” signifies more than mere possession. In IndyMac Federal v. Hwang, the judge cites the California Commercial Code (3301 (a) and 1201 (20)) and UCC (3-301 (a) and 1-201 (20)):

For an instrument payable to an identified person (such as a note in this case), there are two requirements for a person to qualify as a holder: (a), the person must be in possession of the instrument and (b) the instrument must be payable to that person.

These examples prove a basic point. There is good reason why the PSAs stipulated a complete, unbroken chain of endorsements. The absence of them creates huge problems, independent of the requirements of the PSA, in enforcing the note.

As we said in our New York Times op-ed,

The people who so carefully designed the mortgage securitization process unwittingly devised a costly trap for people who ran roughshod over their handiwork. The trap has closed — and unless the mortgage finance industry agrees to a sensible way out of it, the entire economy will be the victim.

The ASF, perversely or perhaps predictably, is persisting in being part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

More on this topic (What’s this?)

Never Trust a CEO Who Does This… (Investment U, 11/4/10)

Set to Go Off (Financial Armageddon, 10/25/10)

Read more on Trust, Securitization at Wikinvest

Topics: Banana republic, Banking industry, Credit markets, Legal, Real estate

Email This Post Email This Post Posted by Yves Smith at 6:07 am

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Virginia resident gets foreclosure notice on Port St. Lucie home she sold in 1994

Virginia resident gets foreclosure notice on Port St. Lucie home she sold in 1994

December 5th, 2010 by TCPalm.com

By Nadia Vanderhoof

PORT ST. LUCIE — About 10 p.m. the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Cathy Hammers abruptly was woken up by a continuous loud banging on the front door of her Virginia home.

With two kids in college and a third touring the country in a rock band, she thought law enforcement was at her door with bad news of a possible car accident involving a family member.

Instead, Hammers was served foreclosure papers by Texas-based Nationstar Mortgage and the Fort Lauderdale law firm of Marshall Watson on a Port St. Lucie home Hammers and her parents sold in 1994 — a property she hasn’t owned or seen in 15 years.

“He was ringing the door bell, banging real hard on the door … the dogs were going crazy,” Hammer said. “When I asked him who he was. He asked me if I was Cathy and told me I was being served foreclosure papers. He said he was a process server with ASAP Legal Services and then just took off.”

According to court documents filed in St. Lucie County, a quit claim deed and satisfaction of mortgage were filed by Hammers and her parents on the home at 2291 S.W. Susset Lane in 1994.

Treasure Coast legal experts say Hammers’ case could be one of the most unusual to occur within the 19th Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.

“When I talked to Marshall Watson, Sonya in their litigation department, and asked why I was being served foreclosure papers on a mortgage I did not sign, on a property I haven’t lived in for almost 20 years, she got snippety with me and asked if I had an attorney. Why would I need an attorney when they’ve made the mistake?” Hammers said.

Marshall Watson is one of four practices under investigation by the Florida attorney general for questionable foreclosure paperwork. Attorneys Ida Moghimi-Kian and Ingrid Fadil, who are listed on Marshall Watson’s foreclosure documents, did not return calls.

Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers began its investigation and contacted the Florida Attorney General’s Office early Tuesday, but staff declined to comment on the state’s active investigation into Marshall Watson and Hammers’ specific situation.

“Our office is inquiring into the situation and will be contacting the company to discuss this issue directly,” said Sandi Copes, spokeswoman for the Florida Attorney General’s Office, late Tuesday afternoon.

By Thursday, Hammers said Marshall Watson had completely changed their tune.

“They apologized profusely and said they would prepare the documents for me to sign … and that they were going to file a motion with the courts to remove my name from the foreclosure completely,” an ecstatic Hammers said. “I don’t know who called who or what was said, but their treatment of this completely changed. I felt like I was being treated like scum before, like a nobody. No one wanted to listen to me at their office.”

Hammers said she still planned to file her complaint with Copes’ office to document Marshall Watson’s treatment of the situation.

Nationstar Mortgage’s attorney Matt Floyd said the problem stemmed from an error in the way the home’s quit claim deed was recorded in the ‘90s. He said Nationstar contracts with law firms, including Marshall Watson, to process and serve foreclosure notices.
Continue reading “Virginia resident gets foreclosure notice on Port St. Lucie home she sold in 1994”

Fed Attempts to Re-Align Rescission Rights

The Fed has announced it’s intention to change the 3 year right of rescission that all homeowners currently enjoy.

Fed Attempts to Re-Align Rescission Rights

Jim Macklin
Secure Document Research

The Fed has announced it’s intention to change the 3 year right of rescission that all homeowners currently enjoy. This rule was implemented as a foundational protection of rights for home buyers who have been the victims of any number of consumer lending violations. It’s pretty simple: if a homeowner finds a violation of certain laws as it relates to the loan process, i.e.; a lender fails to disclose material information that might sway a loan decision by a home buyer, then the consumer has an extended period of three years in which to cancel the transaction. Under this scenario, the lender must either bring an action in court for declaratory relief which proves they are innocent of the wrongdoing, or they must refund the consumers’ money and the consumer may re-purchase the property through a different source of financing, or give up the property as a matter of equity.

The Fed, in its’ infinite wisdom, has decided that what’s best for the American economy is to make foreclosures even more airtight by eliminating this fundamental right to cancel. Of course, it is for our own good and the Nations’ best interests…right? I mean, if you did receive a predatory or improperly disclosed loan, you probably shouldn’t have any rights anyway because you really weren’t going to be making the payment, at least that’s what the Fed is pushing on Congress.

This is not only a bad policy, it is the epitomy of the Feds’ brash, Holier Than Thou attitude toward the consuming American Public. Whenever something is touted as being good for policy, or a “necessary measure” for re-gaining economic balance in the housing market, you can rest assured that your rights are being dragged through the dirt by an out of control, under-fed horse named the “ABA” (American Bankers Association).

Call or write your Representatives in Congress and scream long and loud for your rights, lest they be trounced. That’s how you wanted it…right?

Jim Macklin
Secure Document Research

BofA Mortgage Morass Deepens on Promissory Notes Issues

BofA Mortgage Morass Deepens on Promissory Notes Issues

By Prashant Gopal and Jody Shenn – Nov 30, 2010

Testimony by a Bank of America Corp. employee in a New Jersey personal bankruptcy case may give more ammunition to homeowners and investors in their legal battles over defaulted mortgages.

Linda DeMartini, a team leader in the company’s mortgage- litigation management division, said during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing in Camden last year that it was routine for the lender to keep mortgage promissory notes even after loans were bundled by the thousands into bonds and sold to investors, according to a transcript. Contracts for such securitizations usually require the documents to be transferred to the trustee for mortgage bondholders.

In the case, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith H. Wizmur on Nov. 16 rejected a claim on the home of John T. Kemp, ruling his mortgage company, now owned by Bank of America, had failed to deliver the note to the trustee. That could leave the trustee with no standing to take the property, and raises the question of whether other foreclosures could similarly be blocked.

Following the decision, the bank disavowed the statements by DeMartini, whom it had flown in from California to testify. It was the policy of Countrywide Financial Corp., acquired by Bank of America in July 2008, to deliver notes as called for in its securitization contracts, according to Larry Platt, an attorney at K&L Gates LLP in Washington designated by the bank to answer questions about the case. Continue reading “BofA Mortgage Morass Deepens on Promissory Notes Issues”

Quantitative Easing Explained

What the Federal Reserve is up to, and how we got here.

Financial Control Fraud

Financial Control Fraud

By Jim Macklin
Secure Document Research

When a person or persons who own or oversee the operations of a seemingly legitimate business or Governmental Agency uses that business or agency as a “weapon”, it is known as a control fraud. The term was coined by UMKC Professor William Black (The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own One, Black, 2005). The “weapon of choice” in a financial control fraud is accounting. More losses occur in financial control frauds than any other form of property crimes …combined!

In the early stages of our most recent financial crisis, the FBI had correctly identified the presence of the type of fraud, yet, the Bush administration failed to effect any real consequences, and so the fraud was swept under the rugs of the administrations’ offices. De-regulation and the advent of hyper-bonuses helped to encourage the practices of the ratings agencies, hedge fund managers, and CEO’s of the Wall Street elite, while the AAA rated “junk bonds” went out for sale with a frenzied push for more paper. Never before, in the history of Wall Street, had a AAA rated bond gone into a default. Remember, these ratings agencies hadn’t even bothered to sample the veracity or viability of the loan files upon which these ratings were issued. This is a control fraud in its’ simplest and purest form, with all of the key players indemnified against losses through trust agreements. This is the smoking gun.

Continue reading “Financial Control Fraud”

A Shot at the Title

The Title Companies are scrambling right now to try to verify the ability to have issued title insurance. After all, they sent the Notes and Deeds (allegedly) to the “lender” with a stamp of approval and clear title…right?

A Shot at the Title

By James Macklin
Secure Document Research

The Title Companies are scrambling right now to try to verify the ability to have issued title insurance.  After all, they sent the Notes and Deeds (allegedly) to the “lender” with a stamp of approval and clear title…right?

Along with the original mortgage loan file, these critical documents may evidence the beginning of the lack of disclosure that occurred in most of the loans written between 1999 and 2009.

Borrowers may want to contact the original title Company that handled their transaction and request a copy of the wire transfer of funds as received by the Title Company. Continue reading “A Shot at the Title”

Split: The Note and the Deed of Trust (Redux)

The Note and Mortgage are split in judicial states the same as the Note and Deed of Trust in non-judicial states.

Split: The Note and the Deed of Trust (Redux)

by Daniel Edstrom

The Note and Mortgage are split in judicial states the same as the Note and Deed of Trust in non-judicial states.

The first issue is that the note was sold in 2005 but the Deed of Trust appears to have been left behind.  For the uninitiated, if the Note and Deed of Trust are split, this causes a nullity.  A nullity means the security interest is lost and the debt becomes unsecured.  In securitization this is standard operating procedure and is one of the issues that we are left to face.  Upwards of 60,000,000 homes may be unencumbered leaving those who own the notes on these houses with no power of sale.  And more considering MERS wasn’t the only party involved in splitting the note from the security instrument.

Who owns these loans if they are unsecured?  That was the whole purpose of creating the securitization diagram in the first place.

The result?  More questions, few answers. Continue reading “Split: The Note and the Deed of Trust (Redux)”