The December report of the Congressional Oversight Panel comes as no surprise to consumers and their attorneys; TARP may have prevented a bigger financial crisis for the United States but it has failed to stem the foreclosure crisis

A recent ABI article promotes the use of anti-consumer attorney litigation to prevent homeowners from being able to obtain representation in foreclosure cases by threatening consumer attorneys with possible litigation for “deepening insolvency”.

The Treasury Department appears to have begun to notice that HAMP may not be working; in response, a directive that any trial loan modifications set to expire by January 31, 2010 must remain in place while servicers establish that the borrowers are eligible for modification. In another announcement, the Treasury Department has issued a conditional waiver for the requirement for escrow accounts under certain circumstances.

Washington Mutual’s history of reckless lending and predatory tactics doomed the 119 year institution to failure in 2008. WaMu specialized in subprime home loans and more than 1/3 of WaMu subprime loans failed.

The mainstream media continues to catch up on the crisis, reported months ago by the Congressional Oversight Panel, that only a tiny percentage of distressed homeowners are receiving assistance. The Treasury Department announced that it would be sending in SWAT teams to monitor the larger mortgage companies’ compliance with the modification program.

The mainstreem media is acknowledging what consumer attorneys have known for months–that mortgage modification is only happening in a tiny percentage of applications. Mortgage servicers are blaming the homeowners for failing to turn in paperwork; homeowners report multiple mailings of paperwork only to be told they are denied due to errors or incompleteness.

Where are the 100,000 homes with modified mortgages that Bank of America is boasting of helping? The homeowners aren’t in Florida, Texas, California, Oregon, Maryland, Kansas, Missouri….could it be that the 100,000 homes just don’t exist? That BOA is counting phone calls as a successful modification? Consumer attorneys across the country are speaking out and reproving the mortgage companies as one after another, modifications are denied for their clients.

Many of the mortgage companies are being scrutinized by bankruptcy court judges for the sloppy procedures displayed by the mortgage companies’ proofs of claims filed in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases. Critics charge that the banks/mortgage companies are covering up fraud with the assistance of our government as explained by my colleague Chip Parker, Florida consumer attorney.   [...]

In Brooklyn, justice may be small but it takes bites out of national bank’s errors in foreclosures one step at a time. Justice Schack is not afraid to throw out cases when faced with errors and outright untruthfuly affidavits from national mortgage companies.

The Senate voted today on Senate Bill 61 ( and not surprisingly to some, the Bill did not pass.    Apparently the Bill needed 60 votes to pass and the vote was 45 for/51 against.   President Obama, who had originally embraced the Bill, backed off on support, along with a dozen other Democrats who voted against the [...]