Mortgage Foreclosure

For the first time, a New York court in a residential foreclosure action has ruled that a mortgage loan made by a private individual must conform with the provisions of New York's predatory lending statute, Banking Law Section 6-1. 

In October, New York's courts instituted a new rule in mortgage foreclosure cases requiring that plaintiff’s counsel affirm that he or she communicated on a specific date with a named representative of the foreclosing plaintiff, who informed counsel that he or she: (a) has personally reviewed plaintiff’s documents and records relating to this case; (b) has reviewed the Summons and Complaint, and all other papers filed in support of foreclo

A new Federal Trade Commission rule bans providers of mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they decide is acceptable. 

A great deal has been written about the mortgage foreclosure problems, and the investigations, lawsuits and proposed legislative and regulatory reactions to those problems. It still is not yet clear, however, whether we are talking about merely technical issues that can be resolved with a bit of effort or a real, real systemic failure. 

There was interesting testimony at yesterday’s hearing on mortgage foreclosure issues before the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the House Committee on Financial Services.

The other day, Federal Reserve Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin spoke about problems in the mortgage servicing industry at the National Consumer Law Center's Consumer Rights Litigation Conference in Boston. We thought a lot of what she had to say was quite interesting. Here are edited excerpts of the highlights: 

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing later today on “Problems in Mortgage Servicing From Modification to Foreclosure.” The hearing is scheduled from 2:30 to 5 p.m. in Room 538 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. 

The Congressional Oversight Panel’s new oversight report, "Examining the Consequences of Mortgage Irregularities for Financial Stability and Foreclosure Mitigation," reviews allegations that companies servicing $6.4 trillion in American mortgages may in some cases have bypassed legally required steps to foreclose on a home.

Some additional questions and answers from an alleged robo-signer in mortgage foreclosure litigation: 

Crystal Moore, in a second video deposition, is asked the following and provides the following answers: