http://www.nytimes.com/...
It's bad enough that some people got sold insane mortgages, but it seems that in the haste to sell off those mortgages in order to make more mortgages, some lenders screwed up the legal paperwork to the extent that there's a question as to who actually owns the loan, which is a problem, when the supposed owner wants to foreclose on the house that's backed by a late loan. Ranting after the break
Citibank, Countrywide, DeustscheBank (messing up paperwork and calling yourself German?, FOR SHAME, MEIN HERR, FOR SHAME, (was ist den das? das einfach gibts nicht ! hast du so was gesehen? es is einfach nicht recht! and further German grumbling))
These aren't mom and pop places, these are huge organizations with tons of clerks and lawyers paid pretty decent money (the lawyers at least), and it's not like an extra day spent making sure everything was right would have hurt anyone,
So a judge in Ohio has issued a ruling in 14 foreclosures which says 'Dude, no proof, no foreclosure, all these homes are NOT belong to you'
"Judge Christopher A. Boyko of Federal District Court in Cleveland dismissed 14 foreclosure cases brought on behalf of mortgage investors, ruling that they had failed to prove that they owned the properties they were trying to seize."
'But Duuuude' says DeustcheBank (the court is pretty informal in Ohio) 'this is the way we have always done it'
Da Judge is having none of that, instead, he pwns them
"Saying that Deutsche Bank’s arguments of legal standing fell woefully short, the judge wrote: "The institutions seem to adopt the attitude that since they have been doing this for so long, unchallenged, this practice equates with legal compliance. Finally put to the test, their weak legal arguments compel the court to stop them at the gate.""
Good to say that the law still applies in some areas.
Lesson for the day: If you are making millions do your paperwork, if you are engaged in huge quasi Ponzi scheme which could make you millions or bankrupt you if done wrong, DEFINITELY do your paperwork!.