Wells Fargo caught with "how to defraud homeowners" manual.

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54. dixiegrrrrl, I greatly value your contribution to DU, you are well informed and

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve nodded in agreement with your posts.

I won’t be rude or argumentative with you or any fellow DU member but I will point to what I view as something not well phrased.

You wrote: “Did they foreclose for a valid reason? that is, you could not make payments?”

As a homeowner, Defendant & Plaintiff, and member of two nationwide private networks of homeowners and attorneys fighting the banksters, I’ve had my hand in the legal end of this since 2009. Whether a homeowner has made payments or not, does not determine if a foreclosure was lawful or for a valid reason.

If a mortgage loan is truly in default, that does not allow any old party to waltz into court with “dodgy” documents pretending they own the loan and that they have the right to foreclose. They must have standing and capacity to foreclose on the property. They also must not commit fraud upon the court. There is no statute of limitations on fraud upon the court and a judgment can be challenged at any time because of such fraud.

Suppose you owed me money, say $100. I certainly have the right to ring you up or knock on your door and ask that you pay me the $100. I certainly don’t have the right though to wait until you go on vacation, break down your front door and ransack your house until I locate $100 in cash or property. And I certainly don’t have the right to send my brother to do the same. You understand securitized mortgages so you understand how a wrongful foreclosure fits my simple example.

Even if the valid true owner and holder in due course with a valid lien upon property forecloses upon a homeowner, they must do so legally.

Remember, with a traditional mortgage the homeowner is the only party obligated by contract to pay against the loan which isn’t true of securitized mortgages where numerous parties are so obligated. So if the homeowner ceased making payments, you need to identify the other obligated parties and determine if they are making the payments or not before you can conclude that the loan is in default. Of course you also have to examine conveyances and other factors to determine the proper party, if any, that has the legal right to foreclose.

So let’s imagine a homeowner who ceased making payments and their home was foreclosed. An equitable action took place.

Now let’s imagine a homeowner who ceased making payments and their home was wrongfully foreclosed. An inequitable action took place. I don’t care what amount of money the homeowner supposedly owed because the wrongdoing translates into multiples of the value of the property. Wrongful foreclosure does more harm and creates more in legal damages than whatever was owed on the mortgage.

Remember that front door I broke down and the damage from the ransacking? I would owe you multiples of $100, wouldn’t I?

I may have misunderstood your comment but I wouldn’t want homeowners, even homeowners who ceased making mortgage payments, to think they had no recourse. While the lower courts sometimes rubber stamp foreclosure actions, the higher courts are sharp and homeowners are able to hold the banksters accountable. Believe me, homeowners beat the banksters on a daily basis but the settlement agreements usually include non-disclosure clauses so we don’t often hear about the wins for homeowners. I don’t think the banksters want ordinary homeowners to know they can make successful use of our courts.