Looks like the foreclosure fraud WAS as bad as we thought:

[dixiegrrrrl]

This was posted in LBN earlier, I think it is worth a 2nd look here:

California audit finds broad irregularities in foreclosures
Majority of S.F. cases scrutinized in review marred by violations
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19974381

Key points in the article:

1..transfers of many loans in the foreclosure files were made by entities that had no right to assign them, and institutions took back properties in auctions even though they had not proved ownership.

2..the same deed of trust to a property was assigned to two or more entities, raising questions about which of them actually had the right to foreclose

3..written transfers from the original owner to the entity currently claiming to own the deed of trust have disappeared.

4..58 percent of loans listed in the MERS database showed different owners than were reflected in other public documents like those filed with the county recorder's office.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Calling it fraud may be just little much...

since it all seems to go back to MERS.

When heard about this scheme my first thought was that some hotshot with absolutely no sense of history or common sense came up with it and pushed it to a group of equally ignorant nodding heads who saw the efficiency but not the danger of it running out of control. Most likely one older guy tried to raise a red flag and was roundly insulted and not invited to the next golf outing.

From the dawn of human history ownership and transfers of real estate have been thoroughly documented and still there have been disputes, but these assholes thought the new system was foolproof.

Arrogant assholes, not thieves. Thieves are easier to deal with and usually cause less trouble.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I consider illegally forclosing to be more than "arrogance"

The robo-signing lawsuits, still going on, are not about "arrogance" they are about fraud.
The nationwide bank settlement is, unfortunately, considered a civil rather than a criminal issue, but certainly is about more than
"arrogance" on the part of the banks.

[Fuddnik]

3. The original fraud was to cheat the counties out of transfer fees and recording fees.

It was an organized crime, pure and simple.

The larger question. If you pay off the mortgage, who gives you the note, when nobody seems to have it?

Think about it.

[fasttense]

4. Well of course it was fraud

They avoided hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and fees and foreclosed on homes that they did not own.

[girl gone mad]

7. This was fraud, pure and simple.

The banks wanted to avoid paying local taxes and registration fees and they needed to be able to repackage and securitize these loans into performance-based tranches. In order to collect the most money possible from the investors they were simultaneously defrauding, they had to delay establishing ownership until after a borrower defaulted. To achieve these goals, the banks willfully broke laws with respect to chain of title.

Professor William K. Black is the expert:

“MERS’ members, therefore, had overwhelming incentives to engage in foreclosure fraud. The loans they were seeking to foreclose on often lacked essential documentation and were induced by defrauding the borrower. They had no legal right to foreclose, but that result was unacceptable to the senior officers controlling the loan servicers. They insisted on results, and did not monitor compliance with the law. The result was tens of thousands of felonies – monthly – by some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Filing false affidavits became business as usual. No one senior in the Justice Department or administration appears to be seriously upset about this. These felonies were committed by, or at the direction of, MERS “officers” – and MERS does not appear to be seriously upset about fraudulently foreclosing on the homes of tens of thousands of Americans. I study fraud by elites, and even I am stunned by the frequency and nature of the frauds and felonies and the lack of prosecutions and the overall blasé attitude by CEOs to the fraud and felonies.”

[Loge23]

5. If only we could've caught them with drugs!

Massive fraud on a grand scale, where the perps walk away with billions? Fine, we'll make a "settlement".
Prisoners of the endless "drug war"? Lock 'em up and throw away the key!

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Hmmm..that does suggest an approach.

A for effort, there.

[Bigmack]

8. Pssshaw... that ain't no fraud. That's just a little biddy "misunderstanding"...

...including tax fraud, forgery, accounting fraud......

Just a series of misunderstandings.

Besides... the Pill is the News du Jour!