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HomeBill Black: Regulators’ Latest Betrayal of Homeowners
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 1st, 2014 10:22 AM |
I sing the praises of former banking regulator Bill Black in my book, In Bed with Wall Street, for many reasons.
Black stands up, speaks out, and tells it like it is while all too many in our nation’s capital and regulatory offices prostrate themselves in service and homage to powerful financial elites. Major props to Black for bringing attention today to another in a long line of betrayals of American homeowners.
The WSJ and other periodicals recently made passing reference to an egregious travesty within the bank settlements of foreclosure abuse. Props to Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture for providing the forum for Black to expose real fraud in the system and the accompanying degradation of the rule of law in the process. Let’s navigate as Black provides the transparency that is truly the great disinfectant to a system that smells: (more…)
DOJ Lies, Lies, and Damn Lies re: Mortgage Fraud
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 14th, 2014 9:21 AM |
When people knowingly misrepresent critically important information to you and do so on a repeated basis, why would you ever trust them?
Human nature being what it is, you would not.
That is exactly the quandary the Department of Justice finds itself in currently. How so? Let’s navigate and review a recently released report from none other than the Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Justice which outlines how the DOJ repeatedly delivered grossly exaggerated information to the American public regarding mortgage fraud investigations. (more…)
Dennis Kelleher Calls Out President Obama on Mortgage Fraud
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 28th, 2014 10:59 AM |
Do you plan on watching President Obama’s State of the Union address this evening?
Why do I think I hear many people who might read this blog say, “Why would I want to do that?”
In the midst of leaving an event last evening in New York City, a very informed pollster told me that the overwhelming sense in the nation today is that people are totally fed up with Washington and Wall Street. No surprise there, but why is that? Well, because all too often our politicians from both sides of the aisle over-promise and then under-deliver.
As an example of just that practice, I commend Dennis Kelleher, President of Better Markets, for releasing the following statement regarding the Obama administration’s promise he made two years ago in his State of the Union to bring real accountability to Wall Street. (more…)
Mortgage Foreclosure Abuse: The Fight Continues
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 27th, 2014 8:28 AM |
I wish I had the silver bullet to address and fix the rampant abusive practices that have transpired within the mortgage servicing entities of many of our large banks and elsewhere.
I don’t.
That said, the ongoing problematic issues within mortgage servicing practices remain prevalent. How do I know? I hear from people entangled in this mess on an ongoing basis.
In my opinion, these issues go right to the core of what I believe is the problem with the structure of our banking industry in America today. That problem centers on the fact that we have a few banks (e.g., JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) that dominate the market, especially within the mortgage realm.
As many longtime readers of my blog are aware, this economic structure known as an oligopoly allows, if not promotes, the following abusive type practices: (more…)
My Thoughts on JP Morgan’s $13 Billion Fine
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 21st, 2013 10:12 AM |
Does a $13 billion fine such as that levied against JP Morgan represent justice?
I was asked by my friends at Global Economic Intersection to weigh in on the following questions regarding this penalty seemingly so large as to be hard to fathom.
Is the reported settlement appropriate? Sufficient? Insufficient?
How many criminal charges would be appropriate? None? Operational management? Executive management?
If you believe the action by DoJ is appropriate, has it been timely?
Should there be similar action against other banks? (more…)
Richard Bowen: The Corruption Extends to the Highest Levels of Government
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 23rd, 2013 10:02 AM |
I thank the many devoted readers of Sense on Cents who made sure I was aware of a riveting, must-read article in yesterday’s New York Times written by Bill Cohan, a Wall Street-Washington critic without peer.
Cohan writes of the travails of Richard Bowen, former whistleblower at Citigroup, who ran headlong into the fortress manned by Robert Rubin and friends. Bowen was a Citi employee who blew the whistle regarding the preponderance of defective mortgages running through the Citi pipeline.
He brought the knowledge of this activity to the highest perch within the bank including the attention of Robert Rubin. How was he treated? With what most would define as ‘the silent treatment.’ Once silenced, he was then subsequently shown the door.
While Bowen was pushed out of Citigroup back in 2009, he has not been silenced since then. (more…)
Mortgage Fraud Task Force Stats: Did You See This? WOW
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 12th, 2013 7:41 AM |
In what has to be one of the greatest indictments to date of the lack of meaningful integrity in Washington, news broke late last week regarding mortgage fraud investigation and enforcement statistics that totally blew me away.
Before we dive into the cesspool that defines this story, let’s set the proper backdrop.
One would think that a government initiative with the name Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force would have been incredibly busy over the last few years. For those unaware, President Obama established this initiative in November 2009. Its mission?
. . . to hold accountable those who helped bring about the last financial crisis as well as those who would attempt to take advantage of the efforts at economic recovery. (more…)
Readers Reflect on BofA Mortgage Racket/Lying
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 17th, 2013 8:45 AM |
Would you ever want to do business with an individual or an entity that lied to you? Probably not, right?
Should we add Bank of America to the list of those entities (financial institutions, regulators, our government) that have been less than forthright in engaging those with whom it was saying one thing but doing something entirely different?
A cursory review of the testimony I highlighted this past Friday, Bank America Mortgage Racket: We Were Told to Lie, might give many who read that commentary considerable reason to pause before engaging BofA. (more…)
Bank America Mortgage Racket: We Were Told To Lie
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 14th, 2013 9:02 AM |
Not that we needed any further evidence of the racketeering enterprises run within the mortgage operations on Wall Street, but with the recently delivered testimony of Simone Gordon, a senior collection officer within Bank of America’s mortgage ‘racket’ . . . we got it.
I first questioned whether the activities within the mortgage servicing enterprises on Wall Street rose to the level of racketeering in early 2011 after having becoming aware of Wall Street’s practice of robo-signing mortgage documents in order to engage in the fraudulent conveyance of countless mortgages. (more…)
PBS’ Frontline: Fraud Was . . . The F-Bomb”
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 22nd, 2013 7:29 PM |
I will be watching Frontline this evening on PBS as a documentary on fraud within the mortgage industry airs. This show, The Untouchables, will interview a number of mortgage due diligence underwriters.
What did they have to say? This 5-minute Frontline preview says a lot, including ….
“Fraud in the due diligence world, fraud was the F-word or the F-bomb,” said Tom Leonard. “You didn’t use that word,” (more…)
