I was hard on here after she blew the election against Brown; however, as the old Taoist story says, it's all how you look at things.
Now I'm glad she lost because she turned out to be a real ballsy AG.
"State sues big US lenders; AG alleges banks skirted rules, sped foreclosures" December 02, 2011|By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is suing five major US banks for allegedly seizing properties unlawfully and failing to help struggling borrowers keep their homes by lowering mortgage payments.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Massachusetts Court Rejects Foreclosure Fraud
The civil lawsuit — filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court — targets Bank of America Corp.,Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and GMAC, a subsidiary of Ally Financial Inc. Also named are Mortgage Electronic Registration System Inc., a widely used mortgagerecording firm, and its parent company.
Those are the biggies.
‘‘Our suit alleges that the banks have charted a destructive path by cutting corners and rushing to foreclose on homeowners without following the rule of law,’’ said Coakley, citing what she called their illegal behavior.
It is the first major legal action taken against the nation’s biggest banks since they started foreclosure-settlement negotiations with the 50 state attorneys general in the spring. The talks began after the attorneys general launched an investigation into reports of fraudulent and sloppy foreclosure-related practices by the banks.
Most of the lenders named by Coakley said they were disappointed by the suit. They pledged to keep working toward a settlement with the attorneys general, and talked about their efforts to prevent foreclosures.
‘‘We continue to believe that the collaborative resolution rather than continued litigation will most quickly heal the housing market and help drive economic recovery,’’ said Lawrence Grayson, a Bank of America spokesman.
GMAC and other defendants vowed to fight the allegations in court.
‘‘GMAC Mortgage believes it has strong legal and factual defenses against these claims and will vigorously defend its position in court,’’ the company said in a statement.
The suit comes more than a year after the multi-state alliance of attorneys general began investigating lenders’ practices following admissions made by so-called robo-signers — bank employees who said they signed thousands of foreclosure documents without properly reviewing the paperwork.
It is called fraud here.
Major lenders, including Bank of America, temporarily halted foreclosure proceedings to review their practices. The banks later said any procedural problems had been resolved and resumed seizing properties from delinquent borrowers.
While Massachusetts has not been affected by foreclosures as much as some other parts of the country, including California and Nevada, the rate of seizures has picked up this fall. And over the last four years, more than 40,000 homes have been taken back by lenders.
Coakley said she was forced to sue because negotiations had stalled. The banks taking part have failed to offer any meaningful restitution, she said, but insist on broad immunity from liability for the nation’s foreclosure crisis.
What f***ing bastards after we bailed their asses out.
‘‘They have had more than a year to show they understood their role and their need to show accountability for this economic mess and they failed to do so,’’ she said. ‘‘Whether through the courts or negotiations, we will accept only one result, obtaining accountability from these banks and getting real relief for homeowners.’’
The suit includes allegations that lenders used false documents to foreclose upon homeowners, completed foreclosures without having the proper paperwork in place, and failed to assist homeowners in need....
Looks like fraud to me.
Gary Klein, a Boston attorney who has represented Massachusetts homeowners in challenging foreclosure practices, said Coakley has become a leader among public officials in fighting for borrowers.
‘‘She is addressing issues that have generated immense costs, credit damage, and emotional pain for families across the Commonwealth’’ Klein said. ‘‘Other attorneys general are trying to settle these issues without a proper investigation and the leverage that actual litigation provides.’’
Meanwhile, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the talks with banks, said he hopes to reach a settlement soon that Coakley will find acceptable.
‘‘We’re optimistic that we’ll settle on terms that will be in the interests of Massachusetts,’’ Miller said.
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"Mortgage firm pulls business from state; Apparent reaction to AG’s lawsuit" by Jenifer B. McKim Globe Staff / December 3, 2011
GMAC Mortgage, one of the nation’s leading lenders, said yesterday that it will end most of its mortgage business in Massachusetts, a day after Attorney General Martha Coakley sued the company and four other major financial firms over their role in the foreclosure crisis.
Fine, who cares, get out.
A spokeswoman for GMAC’s parent, Ally Financial Inc., said GMAC will no longer buy loans that originated with other lenders and mortgage brokers in Massachusetts, but will honor all commitments made through Monday.
Yeah, THEY WERE PART of the MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES FRAUD that DESTROYED the WORLD ECONOMY!!
If I recall correctly, they also got a huge chunk of change for bailout.
She said GMAC will also continue to loan money to individual homeowners in the state, but that accounts for a small percentage of its business.
“Recent developments have led mortgage lending in Massachusetts to no longer be viable when you add litigation costs,’’ Ally’s Gina Proia said in an apparent reference to Coakley’s legal action.
Typically, GMAC buys mortgage loans from other entities, such as community banks, and then collects payments from those borrowers.
On Thursday, Coakley filed a suit in Suffolk Superior Court against GMAC, Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., alleging that they committed mortgage fraud and failed to reduce loan payments for struggling homeowners.
It marked the first major legal step taken against the five banks, which for months have been in settlement talks with a multi-state alliance of attorneys general over how to make restitution for their part in the widespread mortgage fraud that led to a wave of foreclosures and depressed the housing market. Coakley said she decided to sue after the negotiations failed to yield significant progress.
Yesterday, she said GMAC’s pullback in Massachusetts amounts to an admission of wrongdoing.
“To do business in Massachusetts, GMAC has to follow the law before foreclosing on homeowners,’’ Coakley said. By deciding to halt most of its mortgage operations here, she said, “GMAC has acknowledged it has a problem following those laws and being held accountable for doing so.”
The company said Coakley is wrong to assert that it admits to improperly conducting foreclosures.
“GMAC Mortgage is currently operating in full compliance with the law,” Proia said. “Any suggestion related to past activity will be heard before the court, and we are confident in our ability to prevail.”
A Well Fargo official said yesterday that the bank will keep doing business in the state. The other three companies named in Coakley’s suit declined to comment on GMAC’s move.
But local mortgage lenders and brokers said they are worried that the others will follow GMAC and also stop purchasing mortgages that originate with other lenders. That could limit consumers’ borrrowing options, they said, and put upward pressure on mortgage rates, which have been at historic lows....
UNREAL!
A robust secondary loan market is considered important because it provides primary lenders -- such as community banks and mortgage companies -- with capital so they can keep loaning money....
PFFFFFFFTTT!
It makes money-changing middlemen rich is what it does.
Ally, GMAC’s parent, also said recently that it plans to limit its purchases of mortgages from lenders across the country. The firm received a taxpayer-funded bailout of about $17 billion during the 2008 financial crisis, and is now mostly owned by the US government.
That means YOU and I, taxpayers!!! I say NO BONUSES THIS YEAR!
GMAC officials on Thursday said they were disappointed by Coakley’s choice to pursue litigation rather than continue negotiations. They said the lender has been a leader in helping homeowners and that GMAC has not found any examples of borrowers being foreclosed on without being significantly behind on their mortgage payments....
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"Coakley blazes path as advocate for homeowners" December 19, 2011|By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff
Three years ago, a multistate alliance of attorneys general brokered an $8.4 billion settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp. over the lender’s role in the subprime mortgage meltdown. But Attorney General Martha Coakley of Massachusetts refused to sign off on the deal, saying it let Countrywide off too easy.
About 18 months later, under pressure from Coakley, Countrywide relented. It allocated $3 billion more in mortgage assistance and made a $22 million payment to the state. That success and others like it have so far netted Massachusetts hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution.
This month, Coakley became the first attorney general in the United States to scrap settlement negotiations with five major lenders over mortgage fraud and file a major lawsuit against the lenders. The action cemented her position as a national leader on behalf of homeowners caught up in the long-running housing crisis.
She should have done this before running for Senate, but then again, that would have meant even more Wall Street money flowing into Brown's coffers.
‘‘She has been one of the best [attorneys general] in the country on consumer protection issues,’’ said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates in Washington, D.C. ‘‘Her office has been very aggressive and thoughtful when it comes to going after the banks.’’
Coakley, 58, has gained that standing even though Massachusetts’s foreclosure problem is dwarfed by what is happening in states like Florida and Nevada.
‘‘Someone has to stop this craziness,’’ she said in a recent interview. ‘‘We have done the investigations, brought the claims, gotten the remedies.’’
Coakley said she decided to break with other attorneys general engaged in negotiations with the five large banks because the talks had dragged on too long without results, and time is running out for those clinging to home ownership.
‘‘Every day we don’t pursue litigation there are people being illegally and needlessly foreclosed upon,’’ she said.
Thanks, Marty.
But some economists and lenders fear the suit will not do much to curb foreclosures.
‘‘I don’t think suing lenders is constructive,’’ said Paul Willen, senior economist and adviser with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. According to a recent study Willen cowrote, government efforts to delay foreclosures ultimately do not stop homes from being seized. ‘‘All it does is prolong the crisis,’’ he said....
I would expect a Fed guy to say that.
In 2010, Coakley joined 50 state attorneys general in an investigation of big US lenders after bank employees admitted to signing thousands of foreclosure- related documents without reviewing them, a process now known as robosigning. As foreclosures mounted nationwide, so did allegations of sloppy and fraudulent lending practices.
This spring, five banks — Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc., and GMAC, a subsidiary of Ally Financial Inc. — began talks with the attorneys general over reparations for alleged fraud. The proposed payment package was estimated at between $20 billion and $25 billion. Attorney General Thomas Miller of Iowa, who is leading the negotiations, said an agreement is near, and he hopes it will meet with Coakley’s approval.
In her civil suit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court Dec. 1, Coakley alleges the banks illegally took back homes without proper documentation, filed fraudulent documents in county offices, and failed to help qualified homeowners save their properties by reducing their interest rates or principals. The five lenders named have pledged to fight. Some said they were disappointed Coakley chose to go to court in the middle of settlement talks.
They never meant to help because they needed to seize the hard assets to balance their books after the Fed had to buy back the trillions in fraudulent mortgage-backed securities.
Jon Skarin, director of Federal Regulatory and Legislative Policy for the Massachusetts Bankers Association, said he is concerned that the suit could cut state homeowners out of any immediate financial aid if other attorneys general strike a deal. ‘‘We could be in a position where other jurisdictions get some relief and Massachusetts could still be litigating this out,’’ Skarin said.
That's the chance she took, and I applaud her for it however it turns out.
Many housing advocates are cheering Coakley on, saying her actions could force banks to offer more significant aid to borrowers. Lewis Finfer, executive director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, said that through talks or litigation, Coakley will probably prevail.
‘‘People were really worried that the settlement [being negotiated] would ultimately not help enough people and not be stringently enforced,’’ Finfer said. ‘‘This raises the stakes.’’
Thanks again, Marty.
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Also see: Poor Martha Coakley
Wow, one of the few state officials who is like one of us.
