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It's a crime!
See CBS's 60 Minutes' shocking expose of how banks are committing fraud to evict homeowners.
"I go to court and fight hard every single day. It doesn’t matter if I were to be successful every single case. It would be a drop in the bucket of the tens of thousands of people that are being foreclosed and thrown out of their communities.
"The only way this is going to be stopped is by collective action. By letting the banks know we’re not going to tolerate it any more.
"By letting the legal system know we’re not going to tolerate injustice, and by letting our legislators know we’re not going to take this any more."
— Lawyer for homeowners, Vanessa Fluker
Who is your commissioner?
Evidence that
Thousands of foreclosures
are illegal
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Michigan Appeals Court rules that MERS had no right to foreclose & evict homeowners
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What is MERS? New York Times article, 'MERS? It May Have Swallowed Your Loan,' says MERS claims to hold title to roughly half of all the home mortgages in the nation — an astonishing 60 million loans.
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U.S. Gov't orders 14 lenders and 2 servicers to reimburse homeowners
Who were incorrectly foreclosed upon -
U.S. investigation uncovers mortgage abuse by lenders in Detroit, reveals Sen. Levin
Michigan Appeals Court rules foreclosure evictions by MERS illegal
Channel 7's story highlighted People Before Banks attorneys
If your house was foreclosed, you may be able to stay in your home and pursue claims under this decision.
(WXYZ) - A ruling by the state Court of Appeals could mean relief for thousands of people facing foreclosure in Michigan.
The ruling applies to foreclosures started under the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS. ...
The court ruled that MERS was not entitled to initiate what is called foreclosure by advertisement. Local lawyers are telling people that if MERS carried out their foreclosures, they should go to court as soon as possible because any eviction involving MERS must be dismissed...
What is MERS? From the New York Times:
MERS? It May Have Swallowed Your Loan
"An obscure business, the MERS Corporation, claims to hold title to roughly half of all the home mortgages in the nation — an astonishing 60 million loans.
"Never heard of MERS? That’s fine with the mortgage banking industry—as MERS is starting to overheat and sputter. If its many detractors are correct, this private corporation, with a full-time staff of fewer than 50 employees, could turn out to be a very public problem for the mortgage industry.
"Judges, lawmakers, lawyers and housing experts are raising piercing questions about MERS, which stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, whose private mortgage registry has all but replaced the nation’s public land ownership records. Most questions boil down to this:
"How can MERS claim title to those mortgages, and foreclose on homeowners, when it has not invested a dollar in a single loan?
"And, more fundamentally: Given the evidence that many banks have cut corners and made colossal foreclosure mistakes, does anyone know who owns what or owes what to whom anymore?
"The answers have implications for all American homeowners, but particularly the millions struggling to save their homes from foreclosure...."
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| Inside and outside a foreclosure clinic in Detroit, people lined up on May 2 to find out about the MERS ruling. |
U.S. uncovers mortgage abuse by lenders in metro Detroit, says Sen. Levin.
A two-year investigation of mortgage lenders found that "the companies made thousands of loans to homeowners in Metro Detroit and nationwide they knew likely wouldn't be repaid.
"The practices detailed in a 639-page report by the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations, which Levin chairs, found nearly a third of mortgages made in Metro Detroit during the height of the real estate bubble from 2005-07 by the top 10 risky lenders fell into foreclosure by 2008. Investigators say the crisis has since worsened.
"One lender cited in the report — Long Beach Mortgage Co., a former subsidiary of Washington Mutual — sold more than 3,800 Metro Detroit homeowners on risky loans during the height of the market between 2005 and 2007. More than half — 51.3 percent — of those properties were in foreclosure within a year..."
— The Detroit News, April 14, 2011
Read full article
U.S. Gov't orders 14 lenders and 2 servicers to reimburse homeowners
Who were incorrectly foreclosed upon
"Citibank, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the nation's four largest banks, were among the financial firms cited in the joint report by the Federal Reserve, Office of Thrift Supervision and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency...
"The lenders and servicers have 45 days to hire an auditor and will 'remediate all financial injury to borrowers caused by any errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies.' There is no minimum or maximum dollar amount identified.
"In the four years since the housing bust, about 5 million homes have been foreclosed upon."
— Yahoo Financial News
Read full article
Oakland County sheriff halts foreclosures by MERS
"The Sheriff's Office will stop processing foreclosures that list MERS as the sole foreclosing party...
"There has also been some evidence of fraud in recent mortgage filings."
— Detroit Free Press May 3, 2011