Drowning in Debt - Underwater Mortgages - Next Crisis

The next wave of foreclosures will be a TSUNAMI!

The defaults will come from 16 Million Americans paying on "underwater" home mortgages.
These mortgages represent about 1.2 TRILLION DOLLARS of negative home value.

No problems......No worries....no threat of Moral Hazard ("walk-away")

On average, U.S. homeowners owe $75,644 more than what their house is worth, or 44.5% more than current value. Almost 5% of U.S. homeowners, with a mortgage, owe more than twice what their house is worth (full report HERE)

According to a MSNBC report (Here) using data from Zillow:
Despite the temptation to just walk away and mail back the keys also know as "Jingle mail"
90% of the underwater borrowers are making their mortgage & home loan payments on time, and ONLY 10% are more than 90 days delinquent. Here ..look at the chart... see for yourself

"Negative equity will continue to weigh on the housing market, it also puts millions of owners at greater risk of losing their home if the economic recovery stalls,"
said Zillow chief economist - Stan Humphrie.

Hey Stan....what economic recovery are you referencing?

To prove he is the Master of the Obvious... Stan added this earth-shattering comment:
"If economic growth slows and unemployment rises, more homeowners will be unable to make timely mortgage payments, increasing delinquency rates and eventually foreclosures,"

Way to go Stan....thanks for that information. You say your an Economist...wow...that is way cool...you really have a handle on this underwater issue. Again no worries Stan, I see the chart and it assures us people will certainly keep paying on their underwater mortgage and obviously have no problem remaining a mortgage debt slave..... lets say....oh maybe.... for another 20 or 30 years. By the way - that chart comes with a Zillow Guarantee right? I mean we can rely on that data going forward ...right? How many years can we count on that chart Stan? Regardless, it must be 'good stuff' cause your an economist (expert?) and your kinda telling us - this is still good news. And Stan - Don't forget the tag lines
Mortgage rates are at an all time low!!! and now is a great time to buy!!! and lets see what else...what other bank/realtor speak can we tell the news readers at faux(Fox) and CNN.

OHIO FRAUDclosure asks......How much longer will American homeowners continue to pay on underwater mortgages that were based on falsely inflated (bogus appraisals) values? What useless bank loan mods or phony "life preserver" government programs will be offered? You know - the programs designed to trick and trap (Hamp, Hope, Harp etc.)
When will American Homeowners STRATEGICALLY DEFAULT?

Lets ask the Mortgage Bankers Association for an answer on this underwater crisis.
They saw this crisis coming 2 years ago and faced an underwater loan on their headquarters.
They have to know what is best -  go ahead - ask em:
What would the Mortgage Bankers Do?

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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The CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, John Courson said underwater borrowers should keep paying their mortgages and "should not walk away from lawful debts"
In an interview on this topic (in 2010!) Courson appeared genuinely concerned adding:
"What about the message they'll send to their family, their kids and their friends?"
Obviously, Mr. Courson was not just speaking as a defender of financial institutions. Clearly, he was showing how much he cares for people and their personal relationships.  He believes the children are our future.  He thinks we should teach them well and let them lead the way.  That we should show them all the beauty they posses inside.  Give them a sense of pride.  To make it easier, let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Read Mandelman Matters: How to Strategic Default? Ask the MBA (HERE)

FORECLOSURE DIARIES - Documentary Film

FORECLOSURE DIARIES - Documentary Film Trailer

FORECLOSURE DIARIES focuses on the relationship between homeowners, mortgage servicers & Wall Street, using the experiences of families who have been evicted or who are currently facing foreclosure. Six years after they began production on the documentary, the foreclosure crisis is still running at full tilt. But it is important to emphasize that the film will show how people, around the country, are refusing to become victims; they are organizing, and taking activist roles in pursuing justice for themselves and their families.

And, .....near Cleveland, Ohio, (an epicenter of the foreclosure crisis) there’s a blue-collar mother, Ann Holden, whose daughter, wrote a compelling letter, addressed to the judge overseeing the family’s Litton-Loan initiated foreclosure. Her on-camera reading still captures the emotional trauma of being forced from their home.


Devastated and incensed over what she believed were Litton's fraudulent practices - Ann - turned crusader, and in Erin Brockovish style, joined up with Jack Wright, to co-found, MSFRAUD.ORG. The site is an outstanding and long-running forum and Internet meeting place for others facing mortgage related problems.

Related: Foreclosure affects 8 Million Children (Here)

Have we heard the seen the worst of the scandal? I doubt it, but the mortgage industry - like a piece of plate glass - has already been scored. It continues to destroy people and families.

Related: Wells Fargo Servicing drives family man to commit suicide (Here) & (Here)

In Ohio - recently an ignorant judge allowed an improper foreclosure and subsequent terrifying eviction of The Brian Bayless family


Now, it's up to a fed-up constituency - the 99 per centers, politicians, prosecutors, or some combination of all three - to shatter the glass and reveal the smoking guns. Hopefully, it will come soon enough to provide an ending for "Foreclosure Diaries."

See Related Stories and Information:
Pacific Street Films (HERE)
American Banker: Joel Sucher "A foreclosure Film awaits final Scene (HERE)
Ohio FRAUDclosure: Bayless Family Eviction (HERE)
4closurefraud: Litton allowed to unload servicing platform on Ocwen (HERE)
Goldman Sachs sold Litton Loan Servicing (to Ocwen Financial) Ocwen was mandated to hire a "third party auditor," (selected by Goldman and approved by the Fed) to address a pattern of misconduct and negligence relating to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing involving ALL 2009 and 2010 FRAUDclosures handled by Litton. The review was INTENDED to provide "remediation" to borrowers who suffered financial injury. Although Goldman has submitted a name to the Fed, as of yet, the Fed has yet to announce the name nor give the proposed auditor a green light to begin the foreclosure reviews.

Foreclosures slowing....thanks to legal scrutiny

FRAUDclosures slow ...due to scrutiny & spot-light in Judicial States

Photo courtesy of Oakland Press Blog
Foreclosures "appear to be slowing" ...how exciting is that?...especially for "news readers" at faux (Fox) news and CNN. That has to be good....right???....  WRONG!
Rather than competing against "propaganda" cranked out daily by Criminal Mortgage Servicers....let me simply introduce..... Abigail Field.

Abigail is a N.Y. based attorney. She is also an outstanding journalist with a knack of understanding the really complicated language of Mortgage Bank Speak  ...and translating it (dissecting the lies) and making it simple for us plain folk (homeowners).

She has a wonderful blog REALITY CHECK (HERE)

Abigail states the following: The Foreclosure Crisis Is Nowhere Near Over Yet
The decreased delinquencies, is a misleading fact. Sure, it’s true, but what does it mean? Does it mean that the foreclosure crisis is ending or winding down? No, it doesn’t, because the crisis isn’t. But when your brain picks up on the bolded language, that’s the (Banks & Servicers) implicit message: delinquencies are down, so the foreclosure crisis is easing....and then Abigail goes to shows how the headlines attempt to

Targeting the Courts...Due Process is the Solution, Not the Problem......
Well, the banks are doing just that: they are using their self-created foreclosure crisis to build pressure to dismantle judicial foreclosures. The bankers want it to be much cheaper and easier to take collateral with fraudulent documents. Which it is, in non-judicial foreclosure states.

Read: SPOTTING THE BANKERS LATEST PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN (here)

 Illustration by Victor Juhasz-Rolling Stone
Related: Invasion of the Home Snatchers (here)
Matt Taibbi Rolling Stone shocker showing how Courts in a Judicial Foreclosure State (Florida) are helping Big Banks screw over homeowners.

Jamie Dimon - To big to fail?

UPDATE & BOMBSHELL: (Business Insider)

Wall Street Journal Report: Jamie Dimon Personally Approved The Concept Of The Disastrous Trade, Losses Could Total $5 BILLION! .....The reporter's sources appear to be very close to Dimon. The story includes an exchange between Dimon and his wife and also references an evening fueled by vodka.

(WSJ - Here)

JP MORGAN CHASE & CO - We’re Number ONE !!!! (1)

What!: "it's ok to lose 2 billion...we've made billions this quarter"...

Liar: JPM Didn't "hedge" (4) 2 Billion dollar loss - JPM Chase placed a huge bet that went bad, a bet that cannot be described as a “hedge” in any policy relevant way. JPM Chase was simply gambling for profit (HERE)

FBI & DOJ announce investigations of 2 billion "trading loss" (HERE)

How?:   Foreclosure as a Business Model (HERE)(1)

When:  Tuesday May 15^th - 2012

Where: Tampa, Florida "Back-office Complex"

Event:   Jamie Dimon vs. Shareholders & CALPERS

Jamie Dimon - I'm to big to fail..let me count the reasons......

CHASE – NUMBER ONE - in AMERICA - for FORECLOSURES(1) **

(1) SNL Finacial report 6-10-10 - JP Morgan Chase had the highest dollar value, 19.5 Billion, of 1-4 family homes in foreclosure. JP Morgan Chase had an additional 54.5 BILLION in foreclosure properties which it serviced for others

Scharf stated that most of the paper problems were simple "affidavit issues" but confirmed it could cost the company a few million dollars for every month that foreclosure proceedings were delayed. However, Schaff quelled investors’ worries by stating that re-filings with fraudulent new paperwork would begin in a few weeks and would only take three to four months to complete.

Moreover, Scharf stated ALL the company’s foreclosure decisions were "based on materially accurate information" and Chase had multiple controls in place to assure that all property records had been properly assigned and transferred.

Finally, Scharf's presentation showed that JPMorgan’s default employees (currently numbering around 17,000) had independent "operational processes" in place - to assure - all foreclosures were proper. That process was checking a loan status - twice.  First before a loan was  referred to a Mill Firm attorney for foreclosure and then again, before the final foreclosure sale.

Below are excerpts from the 41 page report (full report linked at bottom): 

….The ability to continue to foreclose is critical to continued economic and real estate recovery (translation we have 375+ billion dollars worth of exposure, and we need to unload this crxx - as soon as possible – we’ll simply call it Economic Real Estate Recovery) Will $56 Million help? for Chase overcharging 6,000 active military

….We strongly believe foreclosures should not be delayed any longer than necessary (translation: Judges…go back to sleep…and get back to Rubber-Stamping our foreclosures as we have profit margins and analysts’ projections to meet. Our stockholders & investors can’t be delayed by any legalities or Rules of Law.)  JP Morgan will foreclose - even if your an Ohio Judge  

….{Any} further foreclosure delays will damage communities and the economy(what? - silly me - of course any delays to the emptying of occupied houses and further blighting cities will damage the economy! Our drug-dealers need safe-houses to store and sell drugs in order to quickly stimulate the economy) 
…..{F}acts and circumstances supported {our} decisions to foreclose but if we become aware of any fraud exceptions, we will fix them (translation: hopefully this Robo-Signing thing will blown over quickly….and we can FRAUDulently create needed transfers and bogus assignments)

 

......Pg 29....{All} the following are ...…Misconceptions of Chase:

{that} liens were not properly transferred

{that} defects in title transfer - compromise title insurance

{that} foreclosures are pursued too aggressively and completed without sufficient review

{that} borrowers current (on loans) have been foreclosed upon;

{that} foreclosure decisions are not supported by underlying facts and circumstances

{that} servicers were not willing or able to staff up to cope with volumes....Inspector General to ask Chase to testify - only has modified 67,000 of the 204,000 eligible. + 2011 Class Action

 

.....Pg 6….by the way... JP MORGAN CHASE & CO has a Nationwide footprint (over 5,000 branches & 16,000 ATMs in 23 states) and “We operate from a position of strength” and “We will be appropriately paid for the services we provide

**Presentation of November 4, 2010

 

Bank of America - Let us distract you - from the Truth

            Bank of America - Latest attempt to distract - from the truth

5/9/12 Update: Thousands OUTRAGED at shareholder meeting (HERE)
5/9/12: The Nation: photos & updates from North Carolina (HERE)
5/9/12: Top 5 Reasons why Bank of America is being Occupied (HERE)
5/9/12: Outrage - B of A forecloses on cerebral palsy child (HERE)
5/9/12: Shareholder comments:
Roger Davis of Ohio: "I'm an underwater borrower, and I want to keep my home. I’m a responsible homeowner, I’m a responsible American and I’m trying to do the right thing."
Shareholder:  "What is it going to take for Bank of America to start abiding by the law and treating customers fairly?...Bank of America is among the worst."
Shareholder: "If you were a better corporate neighbor, you wouldn’t need to be so scared"

TONE DEAF CEO Brian Moynihan: "I don’t feel threatened at all. We’re here to answer questions and we’ll do it for the rest of the afternoon if that’s what it takes.”

Moynihan suddenly wrapped up the meeting barley past noon, only two hours after it began, thus frustrating many of the shareholders that had comments to make...NY Times coverage... (HERE)

illustration by Victor Juhasz/Rolling Stone

Bank of America's latest effort to announce through traditional media TelePrompter readers "good news"  reeks of bad timing as much as the FRAUDulent news itself. First and foremost is the embarrassing PR effort to sell "good news" and somehow call it a "principal reduction" offer (for underwater homeowners). This "Bank Speak" news release was, I'm sure, sheerly coincidental to the date of the Annual Shareholder meeting (Wednesday May 9th). The news comes just before a shareholder event that is already marred by the police state atmosphere surrounding the meeting and recent warnings from the Charlotte North Carolina police. They have asked their police officers to unconstitutionally harass and arrest protesters, to protect Bank of America from any inconvenience

(Read Abigail Field HERE)

courtesy of AP

Wow - what timing for the previously mentioned principal reduction mailer!....and just in time to share this news with the stockholders! Are you kidding me?...don't your PR people try to create this bullshixx more than a couple days in advance?...so it's less transparent! ohh yeah, I forgot, they're already working 24/7 trying to cover up all the other FRAUD the Bank deals up.

From David Dayen....of FireDogLake:

Bank of America ....{As}you may recall  inked a side deal from the {national foreclosure}settlement that would allow them to extinguish an additional $850 million of the cash penalties, by reducing loan balances more deeply than called for in the settlement. At the time it was announced, the thinking was that BofA could avoid that $850 million by reducing balances on loans it didn’t actually own......So who did BofA reach out to today?

The bank said it planned to contact more than 200,000 homeowners who could be candidates for the offers, sending letters to a majority of them by the third quarter of this year. (that means a letter sent...by September 2012!)

To be eligible for the principal reductions, however, homeowners will have to meet certain criteria, including: having a loan owned or serviced by Bank of America; owing more on the mortgage than their property is worth; and being at least 60 days behind on payments as of the end of January.

Owned OR serviced. In other words, this is exactly as we suspected; BofA will try to extinguish cash penalties by modifying principal on loans they don’t own!!!.
Read the rest of David's accurate take on this phony news and offer (HERE)

RELATED: Bank of America - Not just another foreclosure (HERE)

In other recent Bank of America news.....from Rolling Stone Magazine:

It's been four years since the government, in the name of preventing a depression, saved this mega bank from ruin by pumping $45 billion of taxpayer money into its arm. Since then.... Bank of America has systematically ripped off almost everyone with whom it has a significant business relationship, cheating investors, insurers, depositors, homeowners, shareholders, pensioners and taxpayers.

It brought tens of thousands of Americans to foreclosure court using bogus, "robo-signed" evidence – a type of mass perjury that it helped pioneer. It hawked worthless mortgages to dozens of unions and state pension funds, draining them of hundreds of millions in value.....Bank of America unleashed {on our entire U.S. Court system and in every state} a practice called robo-signing, which essentially involved drawing up fake documents for court procedures. Two years ago, a Bank of America robo-signer named Renee Hertzler gave a deposition in which she admitted...to creating as many as 8,000 legal affidavits a month, {and} to signing documents with a fake title.

Robo-signing is not the disease - it's a symptom of Bank of America's entire attitude toward the law. A bank that's willing to commit whole departments to inventing legal affidavits might also, for instance, intentionally ding depositors with bogus overdraft fees. (A class action suit accused Bank of America of heisting some $4.5 billion from its customers and the bank settled the suit for a mere 10 cents on the dollar.)

Read more of MattTaibbi:  BANK of AMERICA: "Too Crooked To Fail"
.

Ohio AG - $75 Million for Demolition of Blighted Homes

OHIO Mortgage Fraud Settlement Funds

$75 Million to be be used for demolition of Fraudclosed & Blighted homes

Homeowners and citizens of Ohio were terribly disappointed by the small amount of money allocated to the state ($335 Million) as part of a multi-state $25 billion mortgage foreclosure settlement for foreclosure abuse, FRAUDulent servicing, and other "unacceptable" mortgage practices by Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo and GMAC/Ally. The financial settlement was part of a penalty payment negotiated to purportedly "resolve" past criminal behavior and improper foreclosures by the nations five largest mortgage servicers. The national FRUADclosure settlement was negotiated by 49 State Attorneys General and announced on February 9th 2012 (HERE)

On February 12th, 2012, Youngstown Ohio was the first city visited by Attorney General Mike DeWine, to announce his intention to use $75 million (of AG office $97 million) for demolition. DeWine stood in front of an empty house on a street full of abandoned homes to explain his plan for helping Ohio communities pay for demolition of the thousands of empty and blighted homes. (HERE)

Marco (Ohiofraudclosureblog) Ty Beatty (MVOC) Jim Rokakis, Adam Keck(MVOC)

City leaders, community organizations, and advocates (including this blogger) wanted to make sure that some of the funds, under direct control of the Attorney general's office would be allocated to remove (demolish) bank abandoned and blighted homes which are a cancer on the housing infrastructure in every Ohio county.

"These are abandoned homes. They're never going to come back. That are a blight on the neighborhoods, that take property values down and make it difficult for people who live in the neighborhood, that are trying to raise their kids to get by," DeWine said

February 12th 2012 - Mike DeWine (Ohio AG) - visit to Youngstown

After the announcement, Mike Dewine's office agreed to a future meeting with leaders of the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) and this blogger. The MVOC has been instrumental in identifying and registering vacant properties and working towards establishing a county land bank to deal with them.

Attorney General Mike DeWine greets OhioFraudclosure blogger



As promised, the Ohio Attorney General office granted a meeting with MVOC leaders and OhioFRAUDclosure (pictured above) to hear "input and ideas" as to allocation of money and the matching funds component of the state's $75 million ear-marked for demolition of blighted properties.

Additionally, I made an impassioned plea (above) to one of the longest serving and most respected Chief Counsel and asked the office open or continue investigations into the Foreclosure Mill law firms operating in Ohio. I further requested the office use all their legal power and authority to examine MERS for possible fraudulent activities and/or failed recordings which may have cost Ohio's 88 counties millions in lost revenue.

(see MERS complaint filed Geauga County Prosecutor using a New York law firm)

MAY 4th 2012: Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Program

Ohio AG announces guidelines for Demolition Program

 "One of the biggest things holding this state back from moving forward is the vast number of abandoned and vacant homes littering Ohio.  They are blight on our communities, rotting them from the inside out.  Our new grant program will help free our neighborhoods -- urban and rural, alike – from the blight that is paralyzing them."

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced guidelines for local communities interested in applying for the $75 million in demolition grants to help stabilize and improve communities by removing blighted and abandoned homes. The funds are from the national mortgage settlement reached earlier this year by the attorneys general with five of the nation's largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses, fraud and deceptive mortgage practices.

The Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Program will require that a lead entity, such as a land bank or local government, apply for the funds on behalf of each county in Ohio.  The first round of grant applications, which can be downloaded from the Attorney General's website at www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/foreclosure, will be accepted between May 4-June 30, 2012.  After grant agreements are executed, demolitions must be completed by 12-31-13.

A goal of the Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Program is to maximize the number of demolitions of blighted and abandoned residential properties. Recognizing that many local governments are experiencing economic hardships, the program will not require a match for the first $500,000 allocated to each county.  Counties will be required to provide a dollar-for-dollar match to receive any reimbursement request over their $500,000 allocation. Conservative estimates place the number of vacant and abandoned properties in Ohio in need of immediate demolition at 100,000

Local communities with questions regarding this program should contact:
Ohio Attorney General Office, Mortgage Foreclosure Unit,
30 E. Broad St., 15th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215, or email at MovingOhioForward@ohioattorneygeneral.gov.

The top 13 counties and funds eligible for Demolition

Cuyahoga	$11,850,744
Franklin	$8,203,091
Hamilton	$5,838,920
Montgomery	$4,178,732
Summit	$3,780,560
Lucas	$3,674,822
Butler	$2,679,701
Stark	$2,343,607
Lorain	$2,081,001
Mahoning	$1,531,680
Lake	$1,496,117
Trumbull	$1,275,797
Warren	$1,244,356

All 88 Ohio counties - excel spread sheet of funds available - download (HERE)

USA - FORECLOSED and BLIGHTED

It's what's coming...and what it really looks like...when you "pull back the covers."
Yeah...we know....this is Florida....it's not about our state (Ohio?, Illinois,? Michigan? Nevada?)

Think Again !!!

The FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL has a powerful 3-part series which closely examines the outcome of the bank run foreclosure system. The series reveals the aftermath of what happens when our ignorant judges empty our cities on behalf of the banks. Worse - when banks leave cities, communities and neighborhoods blighted ...they point fingers ...and have everyone wondering....who will clean up the mess? Who will pay the taxes?

Stunning 3-part report shows what happens when Big Banks own our Courts and Judges!!!

Part 1: Thousands of Homes Neglected (HERE)

David vs. Goliath

In Ohio, the nonprofit Cleveland Housing Renewal Project filed suit against Wells Fargo in 2010, dropping the case only after the bank agreed to donate distressed properties to the county "land bank," along with $7,500 per home to offset demolition costs. Land banks hold properties until they can be sold, developed or bulldozed into green space.

Another suit filed by the nonprofit group, against Deutsche Bank and eight other mortgage servicers, is still active. The Ohio group has persisted in its court actions despite being outmatched financially by the banks. It has relied on the donated services of a law professor at Cleveland State University and a local attorney who offered a discounted rate. They were up against a platoon of bank lawyers likely making $500 an hour, said Frank Ford, Cleveland Housing Renewal Project president."Not every city has a nonprofit that would take on a David and Goliath situation," he said.

Also see related: Cancelled Foreclosures 'saddle neighbors'
Reporter: Mark Puente spent more than five years with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland where he won several journalism awards for his investigative work. The newspaper nominated him twice for the Pulitzer Prize

Part 2: Crumbling Homes in Legal Limbo (HERE)

Bank-owned homes are concentrated in predominantly minority and less well-to-do neighborhoods, where household incomes fall below the countywide medians...In a report released earlier this month, the National Fair Housing Alliance, a Washington advocacy group, charged that banks are violating the federal Fair Housing Act by neglecting the upkeep on homes in minority neighborhoods and steering real estate agents to the banks' better-preserved homes elsewhere. (Read HERE)

Also see related: The Foreclosure Crisis affects 8 Million Children

The organization has called on federal regulators and law enforcement to investigate the banks for housing discrimination practices. Wells Fargo, one of the banks identified, denied the allegations. The bank "conducts all lending-related activities in a fair and consistent manner without regard to race; this includes maintenance and marketing standards for all foreclosed properties for which we are responsible," said {bank-paid script reading & robotic} company spokeswoman Vickee Adams.

Also see related: Foreclose, Evict & Abandon

"When the servicer … discovers that the house isn't worth much they'll call up whoever is doing the work ... and say 'You're done. Stop cutting the grass. Don't go look every week to see if it's still boarded up. We're done,'" said retired law professor Kermit Lind, a consultant for the Municipal Housing Court in Cleveland, Ohio. "If it's a low-value house, the service is lousy. And usually doesn't last very long," Lind has found.

Typically, the banks contract out property maintenance and preservation work to large national firms, such as Safeguard Properties, based in Cleveland; Field Asset Services in Austin, Texas, or Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS), headquartered in Tampa. They, in turn, subcontract the work to smaller local companies, which then find people to actually mow the lawn or perform other chores.But who exactly the companies are, and how extensive their obligations, are often as cloudy as the algae-covered pools they are sent to clean. Neighbors and city officials often struggle to identify which company to call about a problem place. The firms come and go, depending on when a home enters foreclosure, whether it can be determined to be vacant, and whether a company servicing a loan decides to proceed with a foreclosure action or drop it and walk away.

Part 3: Cities Fight Back (HERE)

Hey judges- now that the mill/drone attorneys have left your courtroom - who owns the house?

"Largest slumlords"

Across Florida, many local officials have looked to Cleveland for innovative solutions. The Ohio city was hit early and hard by the foreclosure crisis. There, Judge Raymond L. Pianka won national prominence for using its Municipal Housing Court in novel ways to address code enforcement violations involving absentee owners, including banks. When owners failed to show up for hearings, he conducted trials in absentia. When the {Bank owned} Ohio Supreme Court shot down that practice, Pianka issued summons for the missing lenders. Those who didn't appear were found in contempt and fined. The names of banks, and others who ignored the court's calls, were added to what's called a "warrant capias" list.Banks on that list are denied court-ordered actions in other matters, such as evictions, until they respond to the code violations.

Also see related: MLS tells Wells Fargo Bank: Stop Deceiving

SunSentinel Graphic (HERE)

Shocking PHOTO gallery (Linked Here)