Stop the Foreclosure

It's another Tuesday afternoon, slightly overcast. A BMW 650I whizzes by a yellow cab in the financial district of a nondescript metropolitan city. A large man hops out of the cab and throws a Jackson at the cabbie. He heads up to the 16th floor of the high rise. The elevator opens and he heads to suite 316. As he walks in, the man sees pencil neck geeks furiously signing paperwork, flipping through pages and wildly signing more. The man who looks curiously like Arnold, but has the air of the famous lawman Robocop, raises his licensed firearm and yells in his strangely familiar Austrian accent, "STOP THE FOREEEEECLOSURRRRREEEEEE, ASSHOLE!"

No, this isn't the start of a huge action scene in the next blockbuster for Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's probably the day dream of millions of Americans who went through a quasi-legal foreclosure process.

In states all over the country, the investigations process is at different stages. Some are looking to assess penalties and fines, some are busy gathering facts, and, in some states, wrong doing hasn't yet been decided. For a quick rehash, thousands upon thousands of families in the last few years were unceremoniously kicked out of their homes. Many of these situations stemmed from buying more house than they could afford; others were from loans that had enticing teaser rates for a while that would be eventually unsustainable. These unfortunates were in some cases kicked out their homes without due process, or, in some more insidious cases, due process was executed with falsified loan documentation (aka the "Robo signings").

Currently, deals in some states are being negotiated to prevent prosecution and secure a financial settlement. Other states are being aggressive and actively pursuing the breach of public trust with the full force of the law.

In a majority of these situations, the homeowners – some naive and some not – were "shaken down" by the industry. The industry swindled the general public when they were buying homes, and again as they were kicked out of those same homes only to receive property back that was only worth pennies on the dollar and depressing the market further. Very productive indeed.

My hope is that the eyes of the public will be opened as a result of these investigations and possible prosecutions. When dealing with buying a home loan and the entire process associated with it, the people you are working with aren't your friends. They aren't " helping you"; they are business partners, hired hands. Like any good business partner, always keep an eye on them.

-The Inside Associate

P.S. The Inside Associate blog is now reaching over two hemispheres, a few major continents, and a few G-8 Countries. I would love to reach out to the readers in Europe and across the globe to provide feedback. Things you would like to see on the blog, questions you may have, or just general commentary. I'm always grateful for any insight. I'm exceedingly grateful for you giving us some run to your friends in the general public and the industry.

BMW, lending, Robo Signing, RoboCop, Schwarzenegger, zombie foreclosure