Chain of Title (49 page)

232
asked that Bank of America take back $47 billion:
Jody Shenn, “Pimco, NY-Fed Said to Seek BofA Mortgage Repurchases,”
Bloomberg Business
, October 19, 2010.

232
Analysts put the ultimate cost to the banks:
Ruth Simon, “Mortgage Losses Build Team Spirit,”
Wall Street Journal
, October 27, 2010.

232
“were never properly transferred at each step of the securitization process”:
Josh Levin and Arjun Sharma, “Foreclosures Gone Wild: Takeaways from Our Conference Call,” Citigroup Global Markets research document, October 12, 2010.

232
He ended up losing by 18 points:
Mike Schneider and Bill Kaczor, “Alan Grayson Loses House Seat to Daniel Webster,” Associated Press, November 2, 2010.

232
the roster of attorneys general changed over:
Ballotpedia, “Attorney General Elections, 2010,”
http://ballotpedia.org/Attorney_General_elections,_2010
.

233
Jim Kowalski and Tom Cox testified:
“Foreclosed Justice: Causes and Effects of the Foreclosure Crisis,” hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, December 2 and 15, 2010,
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg62935/html/CHRG-111hhrg62935.htm
.

233
Foreclosure fraud was the last stop:
“Problems in Mortgage Servicing from Modification to Foreclosure,” hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, November 16, 2010,
www.banking.senate.gov//files/09/89/33/f098933/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=df8cb685-c1bf-4eea-941d-cf9d5173873a
; see also Yves Smith, “Servicer-Driven Foreclosures: The Perfect Crime?”
Naked Capitalism
, November 30, 2010.

233
“Five such requests will amount to more”:
David Dayen, “Damon Silvers Blasts Treasury, Tries to Get Them to Wake Up on Mortgage Fraud,” FDL News, October 28, 2010,
http://shadowproof.com/2010/10/28/damon-silvers-blasts-treasury-tries-to-get-them-to-wake-up-on-mortgage-fraud
.

233
“Just because a homeowner hasn't paid his mortgage”:
Testimony of Katherine Porter, Congressional Oversight Panel, hearing on the TARP Foreclosure Mitigation Program, October 27, 2010, available at
http://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/cop/20110402015351/http://cop.senate.gov/documents/testimony-102710-porter.pdf
. See also Joe Nocera, “Big Problem for Banks: Due Process,”
New York Times
, October 22, 2010.

233
“The federal regulators don't want to get information”:
David Dayen, “Levitin Addresses Elephant in the Room: Regulators Don't Want to Fix the Foreclosure Crisis,” FDL News, November 18, 2010,
http://shadowproof.com/2010/11/18/levitin-addresses-elephant-in-the-room-regulators-dont-want-to-fix-the-foreclosure-crisis
; video available at
http://www.cps-news.com/2010/11/22/treasury-directive-is-to-protect-the-banks
.

234
“I donated my last $10”:
Michael Redman, “4closureFraud and Foreclosure-Hamlet are Going to Washington DC and Could Use Your Help,”
4closurefraud.org
, November 11, 2010.

235
provided the legal opinions that created MERS:
Scot J. Paltrow, “Insight: Top Justice officials connected to mortgage banks,” Reuters, January 20, 2012.

235
That guaranteed timidity:
Matt Taibbi,
The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap
(New York: Spiegel and Grau, 2014), 31–38.

18. We Will Put People in Jail

236
Kemp v. Countrywide
:
John T. Kemp v. Countrywide Home Loans
, United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey, Case No. 08-18700-JHW, ruling filed November 16, 2010, available at
http://cdn.americanbanker.com/media/pdfs/kemp_v_countrywide.pdf
.

236
Hilariously, most of this came out on redirect:
“Word for Word: That Bank of America Exec's Testimony on Countrywide Mortgage Docs,”
American Banker
, November 29, 2010.

236
Tom Adams tracked down the pooling and servicing agreement:
Tom Adams, “Failure to Transfer Notes a Serious Issue for Countrywide and Its Trustee,”
Naked Capitalism
, November 22, 2010.

236
“We believe the loan was sold to the trust”:
Gretchen Morgenson, “Flawed Mortgage Papers May Pose Economic Risk, Panel Says,”
New York Times
, November 20, 2010.

237
Observing the rocket docket was the first step:
“Letters Regarding Open Access to Florida State Foreclosure Proceedings,” ACLU press release, November 17, 2010.

237
The reporter went to Stern's offices in Plantation:
Todd Ruger, “Shortcuts on the Foreclosure Paper Trail,” Sarasota
Herald-Tribune
, November 28, 2010.

237
The top foreclosure mill in Pennsylvania:
Abigail Field, “Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be on Shaky Ground,”
Daily Finance
, December 2, 2010.

237
Brian Bly, Crystal Moore, and Dhurata Dako:
Susan Martin, “On Video, Alleged ‘Robo-Signers' Describe Assembly Line Work,”
Tampa Bay Times
, November 12, 2010; William Alden and Ryan McCarthy, “The Most Shocking Statements from Alleged Foreclosure ‘Robo-Signers,'”
Huffington Post
, November 13, 2010.

237
Michael thought Bly resembled cubicle drone Milton:
Michael Redman, “Notorious Robo-signers, Bryan Bly and Crystal Moore, Still ‘Working' for Nationwide Title Clearing,”
4closurefraud.org
, July 19, 2011.

238
You don't mess with the Scientologists:
Susan Martin, “Nationwide Title Goes on Attack Against Vocal Critics,”
Tampa Bay Times
, December 10, 2010; Michael Redman, “And So It Begins . . . Nationwide Title Clearing Sues Foreclosure Fraud Defense Attorney Matt Weidner,”
4closurefraud.org
, December 12, 2010.

238
the Massachusetts Supreme Court delivered a lightning bolt:
Yves Smith, “Mass Supreme Court Rules Against Wells Fargo, Deutsche Case on Validity of Mortgage Transfers in Securitizations,”
Naked Capitalism
, January 7, 2011; Tracy Alloway, “A Court Case to Challenge Securitisation Standards [Updated],”
Financial Times Alphaville
, January 7, 2011.

238
bank stocks plummeted anyway:
Thom Weidlich, “Massachusetts Top Court Hands Foreclosure Loss to U.S. Bancorp,”
Bloomberg Business
, January 8, 2011.

238
In Simi Valley, California, a couple broke into their foreclosed house:
Emily Peck, “Evicted Family Breaks into Their Former House,”
Wall Street Journal
, October 13, 2010.

238
the homeowners would move into the bank:
“Families Arrested at Bank in Foreclosure Protest,” People's World, December 17, 2010,
http://peoplesworld.org/families-arrested-at-bank-in-foreclosure-protest
; David Dayen, “22 Foreclosure Activists Arrested at Chase Bank in Downtown Los Angeles,” FDL News, December 17, 2010,
http://shadowproof.com/2010/12/17/22-foreclosure-activists-arrested-at-chase-bank-in-downtown-los-angeles
.

238
PICO, a national faith coalition, rallied:
David Dayen, “Geithner Meets with Homeowners Burned by HAMP,” FDL News, November 4, 2010,
http://shadowproof.com/2010/11/04/geithner-meets-with-homeowners-burned-by-hamp
.

238
formed anti-foreclosure coalitions:
Sean-Thomas Breitfeld and Marnie Brady, “The New Bottom Line,” Building Movement Project,
www.buildingmovement.org/pdf/The_New_Bottom_Line.pdf
; Home Defenders League,
www.homedefendersleague.org
.

238
Homeless for the Holidays:
Michael Redman, “Homeless for the Holidays Rally Protesting Foreclosure Fraud, West Palm Beach Courthouse | Be There or Be Homeless,”
4closurefraud.org
, December 8, 2010.

239
anonymous reports hyped an imminent settlement:
Ariana Eunjung Cha and Brady Dennis, “States, Mortgage Lenders in Talks over Fund for Borrowers in Foreclosure Mess,”
Washington Post
, November 17, 2010.

239
“Don't sit down with the banks”:
Michael Redman, “Action Alert—Foreclosure Fraud—Tell Your Attorney General ‘Don't Sit Down with the Banks! Stand up Against Fraud!'”
4closurefraud.org
, October 29, 2010.

239
“If the public gains the impression”:
Congressional Oversight Panel, “Examining the Consequences of Mortgage Irregularities for Financial Stability and Foreclosure Mitigation,” November 16, 2010,
http://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/cop/20110401233819/http://cop.senate.gov/reports/library/report-111610-cop.cfm
.

239
“It's both”:
Brady Dennis, “Q and A: Head of Probe Says Victims of Wrongful Foreclosure Should Get Compensation,”
Washington Post
, November 16, 2010.

239
Miller received $261,000 from banking interests:
Jon Prior, “Report Spotlights Iowa AG's Campaign Contributions from Banking Industry,” Housing Wire, April 22, 2011.

239
Miller acknowledged asking bank lawyers for contributions:
Massimo Calabresi, “Foreclosure-Probe Chief Asked Bank Lawyers for Money,”
Time
, May 9, 2011.
http://swampland.time.com/2011/05/09/foreclosure-probe-chief-asked-bank-lawyers-for-money/

239
Miller told the Senate Banking Committee:
“Problems in Mortgage Servicing from Modification to Foreclosure,” Senate Banking Committee, November 16, 2010, transcript accessed at
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111shrg65258/pdf/CHRG-111shrg65258.pdf
, p.8

240
“we will put people in jail”:
Arthur Delaney, “Tom Miller: ‘We Will Put People in Jail' for Foreclosure Fraud,”
Huffington Post
, December 14, 2010.

240
Miller kept a low profile after that:
Yves Smith, “Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, Head of 50 State Investigation, Retreats from ‘Tough With Banks' Stance,”
Naked Capitalism
, January 26, 2011; David Dayen, “The Mystery of Tom Miller's Shifting Comments on Criminal Sanctions for Foreclosure Fraud,” FDL News, January 6, 2011,
http://shadowproof.com/2011/01/06/the-mystery-of-tom-millers-shifting-comments-on-criminal-sanctions-for-foreclosure-fraud
.

240
“hundreds of investigators crawling all over the banks”:
Felix Salmon, “Treasury's Plan to Fix the Mortgage Mess,” Reuters, November 23, 2010.

240
“global solution”:
David Dayen, “Bair's ‘Global Solution' Doesn't Address Criminal Prosecution,” FDL News Desk, October 25, 2010,
http://shadowproof.com/2010/10/25/bairs-global-solution-doesnt-address-criminal-prosecution
.

241
Hawaii transformed from a state with fairly lenient hurdles:
Martin Andelman, “Governor Abercrombie Signs SB 651—Toughest Foreclosure Bill in Nation Now Law!”
Mandelman Matters
(blog), May 6, 2011,
http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2011/05/governor-abercrombie-signs-sb-651-toughest-foreclosure-bill-in-nation-now-law
.

242
Banks restarted the Great Foreclosure Machine:
David Dayen, “Banks Resume Foreclosure Sales,” FDL News, December 13, 2010,
http://shadowproof.com/2010/12/13/banks-resume-foreclosure-sales
.

242
“We have not discovered a single instance”:
Testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, November 18, 2010, video at C-SPAN,
www.c-span.org/video/?296661-2/mortgage-services-foreclosure-practices-bankers-panel
.

243
“Unfair, Deceptive and Unconscionable Acts in Foreclosure Cases”:
June Clarkson, Theresa Edwards, and Rene Harrod, “Unfair, Deceptive and Unconscionable Acts in Foreclosure Cases,” Office of the Attorney General, Economic Crimes Division, 2010, available at
www.scribd.com/doc/46278738/Florida-Attorney-General-Fraudclosure-Report-Unfair-Deceptive-and-Unconscionable-Acts-in-Foreclosure-Cases
.

243–244
That got the presentation leaked:
Kimberly Miller, “State Report on Foreclosure Crisis Slams Banks, Mortgage Industry, Lawyers,”
Palm Beach Post
, January 5, 2011.

244
“We object to the Florida Attorney General's characterization”:
Stefan Kamph, “June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards Were Fired After Revealing Widespread Foreclosure Fraud,”
Broward/Palm Beach New Times
, June 21, 2012.

244
Pam Bondi . . . received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions:
Michael Redman, “Pam Bondi, Lender Processing Services, Provest and Campaign Contributions from Companies Under Investigation from AG's Office,” 4closurefraud, July 28, 2011.

244
Bob Julian, their supervisor, expressed frustration:
Kamph, “June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards Were Fired.”

246
Moratorium Monday continued and expanded:
Lisa Epstein, “Announcing Moratorium Mondays: Monday Morning Protests at Courts, Offices of Elected Officials, and Government Buildings Across the State and the Country,”
Foreclosure Hamlet
, February 9, 2011.

246
Dozens of protestors marched:
Lisa Epstein, “Jan 13th Protest March Against Criminal Foreclosure Fraud: Goal Met!”
Foreclosure Hamlet
, January 14, 2011.

246
Lisa and Michael held Torch the Fraud:
Michael Redman, “Torch the Fraud |
4closureFraud.org
and
ForeclosureHamlet.org
Host a Bonfire on the Beach,”
4closurefraud.org
, February 28, 2011.

247
The sheriff ordered deputies to remove money:
Michael Redman, “Deadbeat Bank | Raw Video of Sheriff Serving Writ of Possession on Bank to Seize All Property Including All Cash,” 4closurefraud, February 9, 2011.