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)

MLS tells WELLS FARGO: "Stop Deceiving"

WELLS FARGO was caught lying to deceiving the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in order to help sell (unload) "Bank-Owned" stolen properties. However, after being exposed caught

WELLS FARGO has been told to immediately STOP this fraudulent listing practice.

(photo courtesy of Huffingtonpost)

You see, Wells REO properties, usually obtained by FRAUDclosure, needed to have a better sounding name, in order to unload them, from their Foreclosed Real Estate portfolio.

For Sale: WELLS FARGO BANK OWNED FORECLOSED REAL ESTATE (REO)
That just isn't sexy sounding. So Realtors, listing these blighted-empty-foreclosed properties, were being asked to LIE and disguise Wells Fargo fraudulently obtained title and ownership.

Who caught them...lying?  Was it the Florida Courts?...NO..
How about the great Florida Attorney General - Pam BLondiE?....NO..
Was it one of our Government Agencies?...NO..
Maybe the NEW Consumer Financial Protective Bureau (CFPB) ...well ...NO...again

Instead it was none other than the fine reporter Alexandra Clough who writes about real estate & the law for the Palm Beach Post. Her Sunday article (below) exposed the FRAUD

 Agents advised to keep 'bank-owned' quiet

We've excerpted a few salient quotes (lies) from the Wells spokesperson below:

(Wells Fargo "Bank Speak" Action Figure with Moving Mouth)

Tyler Smith- V. P. of REO Community Development for Wells Premier Asset Services:

"Obviously, at first blush it looks like we're trying to hide behind something and a game is being played, but we have the interest of the community (only the bank), to preserve the property and stabilize the neighborhood"

Translation: We're gaming the MLS system to cover our destruction of your neighborhoods

[T]here is a negative connotation about bank-owned property, especially the property's condition. We want to change the perception."

Translation: We don't want them to know we stole it...so we need to disguise it

"If a buyer wishes to put a contract on a bank-owned home, then it will become clear through paperwork the property is a foreclosure, and any defects or repairs can be corrected or reflected in the sales price."

Translation: Like Robo-signed paperwork, we can create, correct, or have it say...anything

[M]ost banks for some time have made it clear to agents {if they want the business} they {Wells Fargo}don't want the words "bank owned" {showing} in the MLS {listing}. [But] only recently has Wells Fargo begun to review the listings to ensure agents are complying with its preference {to deceive and hide the ownership}. Tyler Smith said he "understand the frustration that some agents have with the bank's preference for trying to hide its ownership on the MLS."

Translation: Listen up agents - Lie, deceive, whatever ...just get someone to buy the house.

BOMBSHELL - IMMEDIATE CHANGES DUE TO EXPOSURE OF THIS FRAUD

Starting today, MLS real estate MUST disclose bank ownership

Starting today, a service used by real estate agents to list homes for sale {MLS} will require that agents disclose whether a bank owns the property.The change comes two days after The Palm Beach Post reported that some banks, including Wells Fargo, tell real estate agents not to disclose the bank's ownership on the Multiple Listing Service. Some agents who sell bank-owned property privately said they feared losing business if they went against the wishes of the banks.

The {Florida} state Department of Business and Professional Regulation prohibits misrepresentation and concealment by real estate agents, but it does not specifically address bank-owned properties, said Sandi Copes Poreda, director of communications. {and Pam Bondi would never do anything that would make the Banks - follow the law) But Craig Fialkowski of Realty Elite of the Palm Beaches in Wellington {clearly stated what Bondi and the AG office cannot fathom}he called hiding the ownership on MLS "unconscionable {and}there is absolutely no reason a seller should authorize (an agent) not to disclose material facts pertinent to the buyer's interest in the property."

Nice job Alexandra - by shining the light on the FRAUD, you've brought about change

MORE of WELLS FARGO deceitful and un-trust worthy behaviour:

Martin Andelman:
Wells Fargo you've deceived, confused, and beaten....a senior citizen
Wells Fargo Insider: The independent Foreclosure review for OCC "IS A SHAM"

Abigail Field: Wells Fargo Servicer Driven Foreclosure
Is Stumpfs company Vicious & Incompetent OR vicious & Greedy ?

At a slightly deeper layer, the idea that Wells’s word can’t be trusted because it’s not in writing is offensive because Wells has executed all kinds of writings can’t be trusted. For example, Wells files documents that say: hey, look, we know we said in earlier filings that this mortgage was paid off, but psyche! it wasn’t. (Examples here and here; to understand why these matter so much, consider the Reuters story I mentioned earlier.)

The servicer {Wells Fargo} brazenness can’t be overstated. Check out what fraudclosure fighter and activist LISA EPSTEIN documented: the servicer is charging investors in a mortgage backed security fees for loans that don’t exist any more; they’ve been paid off or the houses foreclosed and sold to third parties
Wells Fargo and Credit Bureaus SUED FOR DECEIT (story of 9-3-2011)

Enhanced Online News: Wells Fargo Sued over excessive mortgage default fees

Wells PAYS $ 85 Million to "settle" mortgage abuse lawsuit: (Huffingtonpost story)
Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $85 million to settle civil charges that it falsified loan documents and pushed borrowers toward subprime mortgages with higher interest rates during the housing boom. The fine is the largest ever imposed by the Federal Reserve in a consumer-enforcement case.