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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: TAIBBI: Bernie or no Bernie, 'Times' columnist Paul Krugman is wrong about the banks [View all]pat_k
(9,313 posts)22. "wide-ranging foreclosure abuses" -- there's more to the story
Companies like Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo and Chase ended up being stuck with an additional $25 billion settlement just for the tawdry document-fudging "robosigning" scheme that helped accelerate the foreclosure crisis.
I am glad Taibbi included this, but there is more to the story than the mortgage fraud and abuses that got so much press.
One aspect that we hear almost nothing about is that fact that the banks that served as securitization trustees for those giant investment trusts refused to engage in the most basic loss mitigation procedures -- procedures that were previously standard practice throughout the mortgage industry. Had they done so, I have no doubt that a countless number of the foreclosures would never had occurred.
I have learned this from personal experience. My partner and were pro se litigants in a case involving Citibank that stretched from 2008 to 2014. It's a long story, but suffice it to say, in the course of the case we became experts of sorts on the unlawful, negligent, and bad faith conduct that permeated the system. (Much of which continues.)
By failing to engage in the most basic loss mitigation steps, the banks displayed a mystifying level of negligence and bad faith. They exhibited absolutely no interest in protecting the interests of the investors. Because they were selling the bonds to each other, their failure is a truly bizarre display of acting against their own interests.
Another thing we learned is the extent to which the state courts enabled the unlawful conduct. From beginning to end in our case, the law was clearly on our side. Nevertheless, we lost in superior court and the appellate division. It was truly mystifying.
Ultimately, the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall took up the case and petitioned the Supreme Court of NJ on our behalf. Although we lost there too, the fact that the the center took up the case was vindication that we weren't "crazy."
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TAIBBI: Bernie or no Bernie, 'Times' columnist Paul Krugman is wrong about the banks [View all]
kpete
Apr 2016
OP
The mortgage fraud settlements, the LIBOR market rigging scandal, the drug cartel money laundering
think
Apr 2016
#2
What is it about the Clintons that makes people willing to sacrifice their reputations.
Cheese Sandwich
Apr 2016
#24
What I think Krugman is trying to get across is that simplistic thinking is not the answer ...
dawg
Apr 2016
#25
I'm going to take the word of the Nobel Prize winning economist over a Rolling Stone columnist
Freddie Stubbs
Apr 2016
#34