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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSurprise, Surprise: The Banks Win
Something for those who lost their homes in foreclosure (and those who care about them) to consider:
Surprise, Surprise: The Banks Win
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
The New York Times: January 5, 2013
IF you were hoping that things might be different in 2013 you know, that bankers would be held responsible for bad behavior or that the government might actually assist troubled homeowners you can forget it. A settlement reportedly in the works with big banks will soon end a review into foreclosure abuses, and it means more of the same: no accountability for financial institutions and little help for borrowers.
Last week, The New York Times reported that regulators were close to settling with 14 banks whose foreclosure practices had ridden roughshod over borrowers and the rule of law. Although the deal has not been made official and its terms are as yet unknown, the initial report said borrowers who had lost their homes because of improprieties would receive a total of $3.75 billion in cash. An additional $6.25 billion would be put toward principal reduction for homeowners in distress.
SNIP...
This is a far cry from the possible penalties outlined last year by the federal regulators requiring these reviews. For instance, regulators said that if a bank had foreclosed while a borrower was making payments under a loan modification, it might have to pay $15,000 and rescind the foreclosure. And if it couldnt be rescinded because the house had been sold, the bank could have had to pay the borrower $125,000 and any accrued equity.
SNIP...
The O.C.C.-Fed review is just another flawed outreach program designed to fail, said Ned Brown, a legislative strategist at the marketing consultant Prairie Strategies in Washington. The servicers rolled the regulators.
CONTINUED w/links...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/business/bank-settlement-may-leave-tiny-slices-of-a-smaller-pie.html?_r=0
Gee. I was wondering what happened to the banksters. Thank goodness they're safe from harm. Again.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)a Bank of America settlement announced this morning.
Bank of America to Pay $10 Billion in Settlement With Fannie Mae
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022147398
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Amazingly small, that is, for fraud perpetrated upon Fannie Mae. Same goes for the settlement with Freddie Mac.
leftstreet
(36,112 posts)The letters to borrowers were designed to confuse them, then the banksters can act surprised when less than 8% of the victims request reviews
Fucking banksters. Why aren't they in jail?
DURec
Octafish
(55,745 posts)A sizable percentage of people don't redeem the darn things. So, someone ends up with free money.
The reason the banksters aren't in jail:
Neil Barofsky Gave Us The Best Explanation For Washington's Dysfunction We've Ever Heard
Linette Lopez
Business Insider, Aug. 1, 2012, 2:57 PM
Neil Barofsky was the Inspector General for TARP, and just wrote a book about his time in D.C. called Bailout: An Insider Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street.
SNIP...
Bottom line: Barofsky said the incentive structure in our nation's capitol is all wrong. There's a revolving door between bureaucrats in Washington and Wall Street banks, and politicians just want to keep their jobs.
For regulators it's something like this:
"You can play ball and good things can happen to you get a big pot of gold at the end of the Wall Street rainbow or you can do your job be aggressive and face personal ruin...We really need to rethink how we govern and how regulate," Barofsky said.
CONTINUED... http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-barofsky-2012-8
So a pot of Goldman Sachs gold awaits (many if not most) public servants who played the game upon entry into the private sector.
Solly Mack
(90,780 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)USA fined British bank $1.9 billion for drug money laundering -- same year HSBC made $22 billion in profits.
A slap on the wrist.