By L. Randall Wray – The Huffington Post

United States Bankruptcy Judge Robert Grossman has ruled that MERS’s business practices are unlawful. He explicitly acknowledged that this ruling sets a precedent that has far-reaching implications for half of the mortgages in this country. MERS is dead. The banks are in big trouble. And all foreclosures should be stopped immediately while the legislative branch comes up with a solution.

For some weeks I have been arguing that MERS is perpetrating foreclosure fraud all across the nation. Its business model makes it impossible to legally foreclose on any mortgaged property registered within its system — which includes half of the outstanding mortgages in the US. MERS was a fraud from day one, whose purpose was to evade property recording fees and to subvert five centuries of property law. Its chickens have come home to roost.

Wall Street wanted to transform America’s housing sector into the world’s biggest casino and needed to undermine property rights to make it easier to run the scam. The payoffs were bigger for lenders who could induce homeowners to take mortgages they could not possibly afford. The mortgages were packaged into securities sold-on to patsy investors who were defrauded by the “reps and warranties” falsely certifying the securities as backed by top grade loans. In fact the securities were not backed by mortgages, and in any case the mortgages were sure to go bad. Given that homeowners would default, the Wall Street banks that serviced the mortgages needed a foreclosure steamroller to quickly and cheaply throw families out of the homes so that they could be resold to serve as purported collateral for yet more gambling bets. MERS — the industry’s creation — stepped up to the plate to facilitate the fraud. The judge has ruled that its practices are illegal. MERS and the banks lose; investors and homeowners win. [read more]

By Brandon Smith – Alt-Market

Let’s be honest, quite a few Americans love a good war, especially those Americans who have never had to bear witness to one first hand. War is the ultimate tribally vicarious experience. Anyone, even pudgy armchair generals with deep-seated feelings of personal inadequacy, can revel in the victories and actions of armies a half a world away as if they themselves stood on the front lines risking possible annihilation at the hands of dastardly cartoon-land “evil doers”. They may have never done a single worthwhile thing in their lives, but at least they can bask in the perceived glory of their country’s military might.

This attitude of swollen ego through proxy is not limited to the “Right” side of the political spectrum as some might expect. In fact, if the terrifyingly demented presidency of Barack Obama has proven anything so far, it is that elements of the “Left” are just as bloodthirsty as any NeoCon, and just as ready to blindly support the political supremacy of their “side” regardless of any broken promises, abandoned principles, or openly flaunted hypocrisies. No matter how reasonable or irrefutable the arguments against a particular conflict are, there will ALWAYS be a certain percentage of the populace which ignores all logic and barrels forward to cheerlead violent actions which ultimately only benefit a select and elite few.

They do this, though they rarely openly admit it, because of unbalanced and irrational biases which drive their decision making processes. In the case of the wars in the Middle East, the common public argument boils down to one of “self defense”. “They are coming to get us!” At least, that is what we are constantly told. And I’m sure that some Americans out there truly believe this. However, in their heart of hearts, others instead relish the idea of imposing their world views and philosophical systems upon others, even if it means using cluster bombs and predator drones. [read more]

By Mary Wozniak – News Press

The state Senate version of the controversial Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, which proponents say protects homeowners and opponents claim is far from fair, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and appears to be on a fast track to the Legislature floor.

The bill to streamline foreclosures, introduced to the Legislature by Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has roused the passions of those who say it’s needed to revive the foundering real estate industry and those who say it’s just plain unconstitutional.

“I think it’s one of the most important pieces of legislation we have the potential to pass this year,” said Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, who sponsored Senate Bill 1890. The Senate measure is a combination of two House bills, the first sponsored by Passidomo and a second, companion bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Parrish.

He noted that the state courts administration office has put the backlog of foreclosures at 368,000. In Lee County, the backlog is 8,132.

The bill tromps on the homeowner’s right of due process and gives a pass to lenders who may have filed fraudulent paperwork or lack the documentation to prove they own the note and have a right to foreclose, claimed Woody Ryan of Naples, a homeowner in foreclosure who testified Monday before the committee. [read more]

By Jon Prior – Housing Wire

Legislation to accelerate the foreclosure process in Florida met protests last week but was not put on a committee agenda.

The state House of Representatives moved H.B. 213, or the Fair Foreclosure Act, to the judiciary committee on Feb. 8. When the committee met Thursday, the bill was not taken up, but outside the building, protesters gathered to demonstrate against it.

Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, introduced the bill in September.

Nearly 400,000 foreclosure filings clogged the court systems by 2009, up from 57,000 four years earlier. According to RealtyTrac, Florida foreclosure filings slowed to nearly 182,000 properties in 2011 as servicers and attorneys paused the process to correct affidavit problems in the robo-signing scandal.

The Florida foreclosures completed in the fourth quarter 2011 spent an average 804 days in the system, the third-longest timeline in the country, RealtyTrac said.

The Passidomo bill would allow any lienholder, not just the lender, to initiate an alternative foreclosure procedure. The court would then decide if a defense provides enough cause to preclude a final judgment or if another hearing is needed.

The bill also speeds up foreclosures for abandoned properties. A process server must make three attempts at least 72 hours apart to determine if the home is empty. Two neighbors must be interviewed, as well. The court then subpoenas the utility company to determine if water or electricity has been turned off. If the property is then considered abandoned, the alternative foreclosure procedure is then used. [read more]

By Abigail Caplovitz Field – Reality Check

U.S. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan is playing Julie the Cruise Director on the Titanic, telling everyone ‘Don’t worry, there’s no icebergs in these waters. Really, if you see any floating ice in front of us, it’s not the visible tenth of a catastrophe to come.’ Unfortunately ice is visible, it is an iceberg, and the leading edge of the submerged ice is already ripping into our democracy and our economy, leaving deep damage.

The happy talk to distract attention from the iceberg comes from two camps and has two synergistic messages.

Secretary Donovan is trying convince the American public that the what the Obama administration is doing is all that can be done to address our housing and foreclosure crisis. That’s farcically false. Other people are pushing the related message that fraud and forgery by foreclosing bankers isn’t important; the only thing that matters is whether homeowners are in default. Both groups want you to believe that the foreclosure fraud “settlement” is a good and just. Except the “settlement” isn’t. The “settlement” is just the latest in a long line of decisions not to enforce the law and further reinforces the idea that gold-collar criminals are above the law. (I put “settlement” in quotes because we’re now double digit days past the February 9 announcement, and still, there’s no deal submitted to a court for approval. And that means there’s no deal.)

So let’s take a good look at the foreclosure fraud iceberg. [read more]