Long Island couple sues Chase Bank after their $25K savings account disappears

justiceleague00's avatarJustice League

LONG ISLAND — For Long Island couple Anna and Salvatore Russo, when it came to keeping track of their savings account at Chase Bank, they relied on their signature card, paper withdrawal and deposit records.

That was in 2002.

But now, there’s a big problem.

“They lost it. They don’t know what happened to it – and they can’t explain it,” Salvatore Russo said. “And they feel they don’t have any obligation even though we have a book. I don’t see any right in that.”

The Russos are now suing J.P. Morgan Chase, one of the largest banks in the country.

After they opened the savings account 15 years ago, the couple acknowledges they left the money in the account for several years.

It was a long-term investment.

“So I told her the same thing. I said, ‘you must be kidding.’ And then I started laughing because I was friendly with them. I said there’s gotta be someone…

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Home Is Where the Fraud Is

Excellent story and book! Highly recommended.

Dana Snitzky's avatarLongreads

David Dayen | Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud | The New Press | May 2016 | 26 minutes (7,150 words)

Below is an excerpt from Chain of Title, by David Dayen, the true story of how a group of ordinary Americans took on the nation’s banks at the height of the housing crisis, calling into question fraudulent foreclosure practices. This story is recommended by Longreads contributing editor Dana Snitzky

* * *

How could you not know who I am if you’re suing me?

Lisa Epstein drove down Highway A1A, along the Intracoastal Waterway, back to her old apartment in Palm Beach. At her side was her daughter Jenna, in a car seat; atop the dashboard was an envelope containing the monthly payment on her unsold co-op. Though her house was in foreclosure, Lisa always paid the mortgage on the apartment, her fallback…

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Ocwen to pay $30 million in settlement over alleged FHA, HAMP violations

justiceleague00's avatarJustice League

Will pay $15 million to U.S., $15 million to consumers

Ocwen Financial disclosed Thursday morning that it will pay $30 million to settle a pair of lawsuits that accused the nonbank of falsely certifying that it was in compliance with Federal Housing Administration and Home Affordable Modification Program rules.

Ocwen revealed the settlement in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the filing, Ocwen stated that it reached an agreement in principle to settle two related cases, U.S. Ex rel. Fisher v. Homeward Residential, Inc., et al and U.S. Ex rel. Fisher v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, et al, which are referred to as the Fisher Cases.

Read on.

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U.S. Bank Force-Placed Insurance Class Action Lawsuit

justiceleague00's avatarJustice League

Hustler Money blog:

For all U.S borrowers who between April 8, 2009 and June 30, 2015, were charged by U.S. Bank under a hazard, flood, flood-gap or wind-only lender-placed insurance (LPI) policy for residential property, and who either paid to U.S. Bank the net premium for that LPI policy or who did not pay and still owe U.S. Bank the net premium for the LPI policy, you are eligible for a potential award from the U.S. Bank Force-Placed Insurance Class Action Lawsuit! According to the lawsuit, U.S. Bank placed the insurance on borrowers’ property in such a manner that the bank would receive an unauthorized benefit and get “kickbacks” in the form of commissions from the Assurant defendants. Although U.S. Bank denies all acts of wrongdoings, they have agreed to settle the class action lawsuit in order to avoid the further risk and cost of ongoing litigation. So if you are eligible…

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Mortgage Madness Reignites at Wells Fargo and BOA

Amen. And they won’t change until the computer software and patents have been seized and destroyed.

Unknown's avatarLivinglies's Weblog

Predatory Mortgage Mortgage Madness at Wells Fargo and Bank of America

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/26/wells-fargo-launches-3-down-payment-mortgage.html

http://www.dsnews.com/news/03-22-2016/is-bank-of-americas-new-mortgage-program-a-substitute-for-fha-lending

By William Hudson

Wells Fargo and Bank of America have announced that they will be offering 3% down loans that are proven to be as high risk as no-money-down mortgages. These loans will be offered to people with poor credit. If 3% is too much to put down, the banks are offering insane “incentives” to entice borrowers to reignite a stalling real estate market.


Wells Fargo claims that borrowers can qualify for an even lower interest rate if they agree to go to a ridiculous and ineffective “government-sponsored” class on finance (think “Mortgages for Dummies”). Wells Fargo offers a 3.75% interest rate if you put the 3% down or 40% down on the loan- it hardly matters to them since they are selling the paper. Attending the finance class reduces your rate by a mere .08% of the interest…

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Ocwen’s William Erbey deserves a Passport to Prison- not Malta

And don’t think the banks they service for shouldn’t be their roommates!

Millionaire facing US investment fraud suit is Malta’s newest citizen

MaltaToday – Matthew Vella  – 16 June 2016, 8:10am

william_erbeyWilliam Erbey was forced to resign chairmanship of US mortgage giant Ocwen over serious conflicts of interest related to foreclosures on homeowners

‘Citizen Bill’: William Erbey was forced to resign the chairmanship of mortgage giant Ocwen for using the company to funnel business to his companies

One of the multi-millionaires lining up for a Maltese passport has run into trouble back in the United States, having to face a securities fraud lawsuit.

William Charles Erbey was a billionaire worth $2.5 billion and a regular in Forbes’ list of the global rich, but his worth was drastically reduced to ‘just’ over $400 million when his mortgage giant Ocwen Financial was found responsible for serious conflicts in the way it carried out its business.

But far from the ‘talent’ that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat shills for in his international roadshows with Henley & Partners flogging off Malta’s golden €650,000 passport, William Erbey is accused by critics of having built an empire on mortgage misery, and who saves tax by sheltering his companies in the Virgin Islands, Luxembourg and the Caymans.

Earlier this month, US District Judge William Dimitrouleas said Erbey would have to face a securities fraud lawsuit, after the plaintiffs had successfully alleged that he and his company Home Loan Servicing Solutions had misrepresented to investors that the company had controls over Erbey’s conflicts of interest.

In 2011, Ocwen was investigated by New York’s Department for Financial Services for incomplete documentation and record-keeping, falsification of evidence through “robo-signing” and pursuit of foreclosures without legal standing.

Ocwen was found having pushed homeowners into foreclosure and profiting by funnelling default-related business to William Erbey’s associated companies. For example, one subsidiary hosted Ocwen’s online auctions; another handled post-foreclosure real estate transactions.

Mortgage servicers like Ocwen are essentially debt collectors, collecting monthly principal and interest from homeowners.

db-lawsky-game-of-thrones-master675Prosecutor Benjamin Lawsky accused Ocwen of making decisions intended to benefit Erbey’s affiliated companies and their share price, “resulting in harm to borrowers, mortgage investors or Ocwen shareholders as a result.”

In addition to Ocwen Financial – which collected monthly mortgage payments – Erbey was also the chairman and the largest shareholder of four other real estate companies that step in when a lender has his property loan foreclosed. Altisource Portfolio Solutions ran the auction site Hubzu.com for foreclosed properties to go for a quick sale; Altisource Residential Corporation re-purposed a home as a rental property after acquiring it through a foreclosure auction; Altisource Asset Management offered reinsurance; and Home Loan Servicing Solutions was a holding company that purchases assets from… Ocwen.

In 2014, the New York Department of Financial Services reached a $150 million settlement with Ocwen, that included the resignation of executive chairman William Erbey from Ocwen and its four publicly traded affiliates.

Investors who own 25% in Ocwen-serviced trusts have now accused the company of forcing them to pay the cost of the settlements, saying Ocwen’s practices enriched its corporate affiliates while harming the trusts and their investors.

Ocwen has countered that its own independent investigation proves that those accusations hold no water.

Also in 2013, some 9,500 homeowners complained about how their mortgages had been serviced. The Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) teamed up with authorities Ocwen consumer complaintsfrom 49 states to force Ocwen into a $2 billion settlement [a mere pittance] for use in loan reductions to homeowners struggling to stay afloat and $127.3 million in refunds for 185,000 people whose properties had already been foreclosed upon.

According to Richard Cordray, head of the CFPB, “Ocwen took advantage of borrowers at every stage of the process.”

In an interview with The New Republic in 2014, the former prosecutor Benjamin Lawsky said: “When a corporation does wrong, it has to be that individuals who work at the corporation have done wrong.”

Hey, somebody tell the foreclosure judges, would ya?! You know none of this is going to change until law enforcement confiscates the computer servicer software programs and the judiciary deems the software patents unlawful, invalid and dissolves or bans the use of this “seamless automation” of corruption.

Unknown's avatarLivinglies's Weblog

Erbey William Charles Erby- Ocwen’s Finest

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/66489/millionaire_facing_us_investment_fraud_suit_is_maltas_newest_citizen#.V2MBeeYzZb0

Mortgage Titan and U.S. Citizen William Charles Erbey, who built Ocwen Financial into one of the country’s largest non-bank mortgage servicers, is having problems qualifying for a Maltese passport. Although there has been no reason provided for the holdup on William’s passport application, it could have something to do with the numerous securities violations Williams is accused of.   William Erbey is accused by critics of having built an empire on foreclosure misery, and who saves tax by sheltering his companies in the Virgin Islands, Luxembourg and the Caymans. In 2012 he relocated to the U.S. Virgin Islands.


Erbey applied for Malta’s €650,000 “Golden Passport” program. Malta has become a gateway for wealthy investors — mainly from politically unstable parts of the world — to secure a base in London. While expensive, it promises a straightforward citizenship program that allows participants to operate throughout the…

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Consumer Foreclosure: Lawyers May Need to Tread Lightly

Ta da!

BankruptcyRealEstateInsights's avatarBankruptcy-RealEstate-Insights

Jackson v ING Bank, FSB (In re Jackson), 545 B.R. 62 (Bankr. D. Mass 1916)

A chapter 13 debtor sued a mortgagee’s law firm asserting various claims based on the firm’s attempts to exercise remedies in connection with a defaulted mortgage loan, including wrongful foreclosure, breach of contract, deceit and misrepresentation, and violation of a bankruptcy discharge injunction and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The debtor also objected to the mortgagee’s proof of claim.

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Discovery: Your BlackKnight in Shining Armor?

Unknown's avatarLivinglies's Weblog

http://www.bkfs.com/RealEC/DivisionInformation/SettlementAgents/ClosingInsightSettlementAgents/Pages/default.aspx

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS NOT A LEGAL OPINION UPON WHICH YOU CAN RELY IN ANY INDIVIDUAL CASE. HIRE A LAWYER.

Maybe it is time to drill down a little deeper into ways to obtain Discovery. The same company that brought us the DOCX line of “original” fabricated documents has created a software platform used by the mega banks to streamline closings. Closing Insight and its predecessors (I think Chase uses its own version of this platform) could provide information on the real facts of each “closing”. Discovery requests should be directed to access the information on the platform which is now owned and operated by LPS/BlackKnight.


Note that most loans over the mortgage meltdown period that are still in existence were refi’s and not original loans. Most lawyers and judges presume that the closing paid off the old loan. But this is often not the case. Since the party…

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David Dayen,”Housing crisis has led to breakdown of the Social Order”

Gallery

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Livinglies's Weblog http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-crisis-has-led-to-breakdown-of-the-social-order-author-says-2016-06-08?link=sfmw_tw By Andrea Riquier Imagine the immense stack of papers that accompanies a home purchase closing. Excited home buyers sign, sign, and sign some more. They sign even more now since the 2015 introduction of new regulations required … Continue reading

Bank of America Attorney: “Government should stop looking for Fraud where it doesn’t Exist”

Very well positioned. They think they are protecting the banks from failing by allowing the the foreclosures to keep them liquid and stopping the fines for bad behavior. Let’s face it – the crash will likely wipe them out of retirement investments. Karma is a bitch.

If they really wanted to clean up the banks and protect American citizens they’d confiscate the computer programs and software designed to default America…and regulate the industry.

Unknown's avatarLivinglies's Weblog

BREAK THE BANKS VAULT2

By William Hudson

http://www.wsj.com/articles/appeals-court-throws-out-1-27-billion-penalty-against-bank-of-america-1464018896

The big banks have demonstrated to the world that they own everything including the courts, law enforcement and government officials. They have demonstrated this fact by rigging currency and economies, obtaining bailouts when they had no losses, foreclosing on loans they can’t prove they own, playing both sides of the market and by purchasing government representatives with “deals” they just can’t turn down. Meanwhile 318 million Americans have had their lives impacted or decimated by illegal banking practices.


In late May,  a federal appeals court ruled it will not hold Bank of America accountable for the sale of worthless mortgages, overturning a paltry $1.27 billion penalty they had been ordered to pay. A panel of three judges ruled that federal prosecutors had failed to prove that Bank of American’s Countrywide Mortgage division had defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling them fatally flawed loans. Seriously…

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