(
Once again, another h/t to Naked Capitalism Publisher Yves Smith for bringing this to our attention, early this [Saturday] morning.)
Yves continues to expand upon her no-holds-barred, fact-based takedown of the status quo in her ongoing expose of the foreclosure fraud crisis: "...banks are still gamely sticking with the pitch that the failings are technical and procedural even as the breadth of their response and the official reaction says otherwise."
It looks like the U.S. foreclosure fraud crisis is officially going national...
This has been running on Bloomberg, over the past few hours: "Attorneys General In 40 States Said To Join On Foreclosures."
Attorneys General In 40 States Said To Join On Foreclosures
Bloomberg Media
By Dakin Campbell and Prashant Gopal - Sat Oct 09 04:01:00 GMT 2010
Attorneys general in about 40 states may announce by next week a joint investigation into potentially faulty foreclosures at the largest banks and mortgage firms, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
State attorneys general led by Iowa's Tom Miller are in talks that may lead to the announcement of a coordinated probe as soon as Oct. 12, said the person, who asked not to be named because an agreement wasn't completed. The number of states may change because several are deciding whether to join, the person said. New Mexico Attorney General Gary King said yesterday in a statement that his state will join a multi-state effort.
Lawyers representing the banks expect a widening investigation...
--SNIP--
"We are aware of or involved in a large number of investigations that lead us to believe there are in the neighborhood of 40 state attorneys general who have initiated investigations or expressed an interest," McManemin said in a telephone interview. [Reference is to: Patrick McManemin, a partner at Patton Boggs LLP, a Washington-based law firm that represents banks, loan servicers and financial institutions]
Officials in at least seven states have already announced probes into claims that employees at home lenders and loan servicers signed court documents without ensuring the information was accurate. On Oct. 7, Miller said in a statement that he was working with state officials, banking regulators and the U.S. Justice Department to launch a coordinated review...
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(Diarist's Note: Naked Capitalism Publisher Yves Smith has provided written authorization to the diarist to republish her blog's posts in their entirety for the benefit of the Daily Kos community.)
Debunking Banks' "Procedural Problems" Defense on the Foreclosure Crisis"
Yves Smith
Naked Capitalism
Saturday, October 9, 2010 1:21 AM
As more and more problems with foreclosures and borrower horror stories are coming to light, it isn't hard to notice that banks are still gamely sticking with the pitch that the failings are technical and procedural even as the breadth of their response and the official reaction says otherwise. Suspending all foreclosures in the US, as Bank of America did today, is a very significant move. And the pressure appears to be escalating, as a multi-state effort is close to going live. Per Bloomberg:
Attorneys general in about 40 states may announce by next week a joint investigation into potentially faulty foreclosures at the largest banks and mortgage firms, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
State attorneys general led by Iowa's Tom Miller are in talks that may lead to the announcement of a coordinated probe as soon as Oct. 12, said the person, who asked not to be named because an agreement wasn't completed. The number of states may change because several are deciding whether to join, the person said. New Mexico Attorney General Gary King said yesterday in a statement that his state will join a multi-state effort.
The Financial Times gives us Bank of America's gloss on this shoddy situation:
Banks have downplayed the problem by saying it is a mere technicality, adding that they are only foreclosing on homeowners who are months behind on their mortgage payments. BofA reiterated that position on Friday, saying: "Our ongoing assessment shows the basis for foreclosure decisions is accurate."
Yves here. Although we have chronicled the affidavit improprieties, we've kept our focus on the fact that these abuses are symptoms of much bigger, and we believe pervasive, problems with the securitizations. But in trying to give the big picture, we may have played into the bank narrative of minimizing the importance of the affidavit issue. Reader ella in comments provided a reminder:
An affidavit is a legal document which can substitute for live witness testimony in court. All testimony in court is governed by the rules of evidence or by statute. All testimony requires that the witness swears to tell the truth, is competent and has personal knowledge of the facts they are testifying about. An affidavit is no different, in most if not all jurisdictions; the affiant swears to tell the truth by being placed under oath by the notary, the affiant states in the affidavit that they were sworn, are competent and that they have personal knowledge of the facts in the affidavit. The notary attests to the oath of the affiant and that the affiant is who he claims to be.
If a witness lies in court or in an affidavit then they could be charged with perjury. Perjury is lying to the court.
The affidavit issue is being portrayed in the MSM at a paperwork problem. Lying to the court is not a paperwork problem. Attorneys are prohibited from making a material misrepresentation to the court of fact or law. Further, attorneys in most jurisdictions have an affirmative duty to report known perjury by their clients to the court.
The problem with the affidavits is perjury on behalf of the affiants and possibly the notaries depending on the notaries' knowledge that the affiants had not reviewed the files, the promissory notes, the mortgages, or the records of default.
Further, you can reasonably argue that the entities pursuing foreclosure (banks or servicers) have perpetrated a fraud on the court by submitting perjured affidavits. If the attorneys representing the entities have knowledge of the fraud or are preparing questionable documents then they may also be involved and subject to penalties.
At the heart of any trial or hearing is the determination of the truth of the matter. It is the very purpose of the rules of evidence and what law and fact is presented to the court. If the affiants lied, as it appears, then the truth of whether they owned the note and held the mortgage and the borrower was in default is at issue. Courts, Attorneys General, and bar associations need to serious consider actions that will assure compliance with the rule of law.
This country cannot stand as a democracy if there is one set of law for the banks, corps, elites and another set of law for the rest of us. Perjury and fraud on the court is very serious matter. It is not a mere paperwork problem.
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Diarist's Note: I wanted to extend my sincerest gratitude and kudos to Naked Capitalism Publisher Yves Smith, of whom the Columbia Journalism Review's Ryun Chittum had this to say, on Friday afternoon, concerning her outstanding coverage of the ongoing U.S. foreclosure fraud crisis...
The [Wall Street] Journal is getting its clock cleaned on this story. (For that matter, so has the Financial Times, although it has put the story on page one once, and has the excuse of being based in the UK). And not just by biggies like the Times and the Post. Go click the real estate keyword over at Yves Smith's Naked Capitalism and look how outclassed it has been by a single blogger.
And, it's by no means the first time I've pointed out that if you want to get the jump on the rest of the world as to the latest transgressions that the status quo's perpetrating upon us little folk, more often than many in the MSM will admit, the blogosphere's the best place to start. Here's just one of many "for instances," as I noted in my diary on March 15th, "Blogs Beat the Press on the Lehman Brothers Scandal."
And, thanks to folks like Yves, there's plenty more where that came from.
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If you haven't already read it, be sure to checkout Badabing's awesome coverage of this nightmare, currently atop the Rec List, as I post this.