Fred and Sophia Patterson have a mortgage that was bought from Bank of America by Freddie Mac. When Mr. Patterson had his identity stolen, he lost everything, and asked for some assistance. The Pattersons accepted a temporary loan modification and continued to pay the adjusted monthly amount, Continue reading
A term that apparently means nothing to the banks of Colorado and the Alliance affiliate, Colorado Progressive Coalition is set to make the banks understand just what that phrase means. But for homeowners: it means a lot more.
A chain of title is the sequence of historical transfers of title to a property. The “chain” runs from the present owner back to the original owner of the property. In situations where documentation of ownership is important, it is often necessary to reconstruct the chain of title.
This is part eight in a series of posts that will explore some of the leading organizations from around the country that are engaged in unearthing and combating the influence of money in the political process.
MapLight.org tracks the influence of money in the U.S. Congress as well as in California and Wisconsin. Their research team and free online tools shed light on the connections between political inputs (such as campaign contributions) and political outputs (such as legislation). Their data partners include the Center for Responsive Politics, GovTrack, National Institute on Money in State Politics, and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Continue reading
The big banks live in a parallel universe.
In their universe, the financial meltdown was beyond their power to stop. The recession that left more than 1/10th of the American workforce unemployed is a shame they had little to do with. The massive government bailout of the financial system was an opportunity to make a tidy profit so that you could give your executive hefty bonuses. And the budget deficit that was catapulted to its current highs because of the recession proves that the government has gotten too big. Continue reading
On Tuesday, October 26th, at 11:30 a.m., more than two dozen homeowners, friends, and community members marched into Chase Bank in downtown Burien, Washington and demanded an end to foreclosures in the state.
These homeowners represented just a handful of the 225,000 underwater homeowners in the state of Washington. The action, organized by Washington CAN!, was part of a national campaign to end foreclosures and to call for a write-down of principle for people at risk of losing their homes. Continue reading
Over the past several weeks Bank of America, Ally, and GMAC have announced that they have will be halting foreclosures in the 23 states that require a judge to sign off on foreclosures before eviction. Did this decision come from enlightened bank management who understand what is needed to stabilize the housing market and pull our economy out of the cellar? Of course not. Instead, it was done in response to the damning evidence that recently came to light that banks weren’t reading documents, were forging notarizations, foreclosing on homes that they didn’t own, and outright fabrication of loan documents. As usual the media is missing the real story during this ongoing foreclosure mess. Continue reading
Recent reports show the bankers in charge of approving the foreclosure paperwork weren’t even reading what they were signing. Wall Street has bought and sold our mortgages so many times, they’ve lost track of who owns what. And now they’re getting caught red-handed. In one state, two banks tried to foreclose on the same home. In another state, Bank of America tried to take a house away from a man who’d never even had a mortgage. Continue reading
In late May, seventy-five people from twelve different states gathered in Seattle for the inaugural two-day symposium of the Institute for Pragmatic Practice (IPP): “Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Building State Budgets that Reflect Our Values.” Continue reading
