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A New Year: Looking Back and Looking Forward at Fraudclosure

Kathleen A. Scanlon — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:48:33 +0000

2011 was ushered in with the usual fanfare in my family – lots of tasty appetizers, hanging out with the kids until the stroke of midnight and off to bed. I spent the end of 2010 trying to push a few small sales, despite overwhelming resistance by ignorant negotiators and researching a new gun to hold to the bank’s head – the faulty securitization of the mortgages and the resulting lack of standing of these various Plaintiff trustees to bring foreclosure actions.

It is not light reading by a long stretch. Understanding the securitization process from the originator to the Trustee, locating and understanding the governing document, the Pooling & Servicing Agreement (PSA), is no simple matter. But we have done just that and analyzed numerous defective Assignments of Mortgage for New York City properties. These banks and their respective attorneys flagrantly ignore the rule of law, routinely perjury themselves, do documents without authority, and directly violate the terms of the PSA. These banks have also been paid over and over for the same loan because of the over-collateralization of these mortgage securities, but seek to enrich themselves further by availing themselves of the remedy of foreclosure. And yet, the tax payer pays them yet again, via the Obama Administration, instead of taking that same money to make jobs to bolster our sagging economy.

These banks are posting record profits for 2010 as our country fails to recover for lack of not only jobs but of credit. The purpose of the TARP funds was to give an incentive to the banks to extend credit but they failed to do so and really decreased lending. Congress, in their haste, failed to include any strings in that gift package. The Wall Street Journal indicated that such failure was the reason for the decreased lending:

The fact that loan portfolios are shrinking at many of the largest TARP recipients underscores how few strings Treasury Department officials attached to the infusions. That has made it hard to prevent banks from using the money to pay dividends, make acquisitions and fund bonuses for top executives.

Pioneers saw what the banks were doing – getting rich from tax payers’ monies and then enriching themselves further through foreclosure of these overcollateralized securities or peoples’ homes. They fought the banks in court by going back to the basics and not just blinding accepting the banks’ right to foreclose on their “security”. It started with “produce the note” because the whole mortgage industry had gotten sloppy and couldn’t locate their documents. But then it went further, questioning whether the bank really owned the Note and if you could foreclose on a mortgage once it had morphed into a security. MERS‘ role was being investigated and foreclosure defense lawyers questioned whether or not it could bring a foreclosure action as plaintiff, because it did not really own the Note as well as failed to maintain a proper chain of assignment.

These very foreclosure defense attorneys and judges, inundated with millions of foreclosure actions, started to see an hideous pattern and the same names over and over again, executing assignments, affidavits of merit etc. Brooklyn’s own Judge Schack has been on the forefront of demanding legal compliance from the banks and making them account for their failure to adhere to the law as well as outright committing fraud. Our courts have been on the forefront of insuring that homeowners’ rights are not trampled – that the banks act in excellent faith and when they don’t – holding them liable for it. The banks and their attorneys step very carefully into our courts these days for dread of the ultimate punishment – dismissal of their action with prejudice.

I reckon 2011 is the year we take back our country from Wall Street and the banks. The tide is turning.

Something for Everyone on the S&P Networking Site

Kathleen A. Scanlon — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:35:37 +0000

Its summer I've been out having fun with my family at the pool, beach, BBQs etc. and unfortunately, my blog posts have become few and far between. But, I wanted to alert everyone to some new posts over at our S&P Networking site:

Events:

In person networking is vital – online networking often starts the relationship but in-person cements it. I posted several events in the NY metro area that are not be missed including the NYC Business Networking Event – Luxury Series (7/27) and Queens Real Estate Group Summer Soiree (7/28) among others. Extend your knowledge by taking a class – Dealing with Banks: REOs and Small Sales or a webinar such as Understanding Titles & Closings for Real Estate Investors .

Small Sales

Small Sales are now the focus of the real estate loss mitigation community and the banks have finally realized that a small sale is the premier solution as the return, dollar for dollar, is far superior to foreclosure and REO. Check out the webinar, Understanding Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac HAFA Small Sale Rules to make sure you are abreast of the new rules. Watch some of the new videos, like Internal Bank Form Gives Insight Into Small Sales vs Foreclosure or Citimortgage Changes Small Sale Policy Again! as the banks are constantly changing how the game is played. Visit the forums as some of our own gurus post their tips and experiences.

Remember, the S&P Real Estate Networking Site is a "members-only" site so apply for membership now (it is free!) for exclusive access.

Delight in your summer!

Facebook’s New Home Page Redesign

Kathleen A. Scanlon — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:39:17 +0000

When I signed on to Facebook last night, I noticed a radical change – they had redesigned the homepage. My son, Matt signed on as well but his homepage was the ancient one. I came across this article from Mashable that indicated that Facebook was rolling out the new homepage to approximately 80 million users so apparently I am one of the chosen few. I took a screenshot of my homepage to share:

Facebook’s homepage redesign features an emphasis on search but you can read more on Mashable.

The Twitter Craze – How to Jump In and Start Tweeting!

Social Media for the Real Estate Professional: Virtual REBar Camp!

Kathleen A. Scanlon — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:18:46 +0000

On January 4th, VREBC is hosting its all-day, “FREE” 2nd Edition of the Virtual Real Estate Bar Camp. This is most certainly a “must attend” event for all real estate professionals who want to add social media skills to their repertoire.

Who Should Come?

RE BarCamp welcomes real estate industry related people, including real estate agents, real estate brokers, lenders, inspectors, home-stagers, title reps, attorneys, coaches, geeks, non-geeks, geek wannabes and anyone who is interested in learning and sharing knowledge in a freely collaborative environment.

The Calendar is most impressive – 28 webinars addressing each of the major social networks and how to incorporate them into your real estate business. Some of the topics include:

7 Secrets to Facebook Page Success
Twitter Essentials for 2010
Seven Serious Social Media Mistakes Agents Make
Mortgage Professionals: Learn Seven Strategies for Connecting With Agents
Blogging Tips for Beginners
Next Generation Brokerage
Social Media Heresies
and much more!!!

So click on the image to the right and I hope to “see” you all there!!!

‘Tis the Season to Give Back

Kathleen A. Scanlon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:35:45 +0000

It is that time of year, when the trees are stripped bare, there is a nip in the air and we are reminded that winter is nearly here. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and the plotting is already underway in most American homes for a turkey dinner with all the trimmings (well, for most, but not us as we are going to be in Turks & Caicos this Thanksgiving!). But, it is also a time to remember those who have lost their jobs, their homes – everything. With unemployment up to a staggering 10%, the ranks of those who are less fortunate are swelling with no end in sight.

Lets give them a hand this Thanksgiving: LITweetup is sponsoring 3 events beginning this weekend and they are asking for donations of cash, supermarket gift cards & non perishable items. Become a fan of their Facebook page, follow LITweetup on Twitter as @LITweetup and join in the Twitter conversation by using the hashtag, #LITweetup.

Many churches and schools, including my kids’ elementary school, Baldwin Meadow School, are collecting non-perishable items as well.

Lastly, please remember that those who need help need it all year long – not just winter.

The Twitter Craze – How to Jump In and Start Tweeting!

The Twitter Craze – How to Jump In and Start Tweeting!

Kathleen Scanlon — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:27:36 +0000

Most people have
heard of Twitter with the recent media blitz on news programs etc. but don’t
quite know what it is or how to jump into the fray. Twitter is a social networking tool that
allows the sharing of information on the micro-level. That information, which is passed along as
“tweets” is limited to 140 characters. Not used properly, one can easily be
overwhelmed by the information bombardment. But, with the proper tools, you can
sort your “Tweeples”, perform searches for pertinent information or
people to follow, and network efficiently.
Twitter is one of the tools that should be in your social networking
toolbox.

To
start, I recommend visiting Lucas Black‘s
The Quick Tweet Guide which gives a bulleted list of how to accomplish the
basics in Twitter. The two programs I
use to manage Tweets & Tweeples are Tweetdeck and Flock 2.5. Tweetdeck is an Adobe AIR program that allows you to stay in touch with what’s happening now,
connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more. TweetDeck
shows you everything you want to see at once, so you can stay organized and up
to date. It allows you to make
groups for your tweeples to make the information more manageable. I want to see the group feature become
shareable across computers. That is, if
you structure groups on one computer, that you could share it with the rest of
your computers. Flock is my favorite
internet browser and is a social-networking number one resource. The newest edition of Flock incorporates a
Twitter search engine feature that allows you to type in any word and pull up
all tweets that contain that word. As
such, you can easily find the topics and people you want to follow to grow your
business. Flock has many other fantastic features and incorporates numerous
social networks, blogging platforms, email etc.

Why Network
Socially? Today, networking is not just
about handing out cards and getting business, it is about making
relationships. We do that by sharing a
small bit of ourselves and becoming a person, not just a name or a brand, to
our customers. How much to share?
Josh Camson in his blog post, “Are
You Keeping the Social in Social Networking” provides the following
breakdown from Diane Danielson of Downtown Women’s Club:

30%
about your own business/career.

30%
about someone else’s business (promoting/retweeting/fan pages)

30%
about your personal interests (your dog, the real housewives …, etc.)

10%
of just plain amusing or thought-provoking thoughts

Reckon before you
write is probably the best advice I can give you. Try to step back and look at your possible
tweet and see how it would look from a customer’s point of view. The drunk fest you had with the office on
Friday night might not give the right impression to a prospective investor
looking to have you handle a multi-million dollar deal. Further, my personal pet peeve is quotes. There
are folks that all they do is post quote after quote. I have a hard enough time sifting through all
the fluff and garbage than to have my TweetDeck muddled with quotes from well-known
people. If I wanted a quote, I would
google search it.

I hope this post
gives you a small insight into the world of Twitter and I hope you jump in and
start tweeting! Don’t forget to follow
me KASesq94!

Some other fantastic
resources:

52
Links on Twitter for Business

Twitter Business Cards

Simple Twitter Apps

The Twitter Yellow Pages

Tweetlater ( Schedule Tweets)

Using Twitter: Tools for Productivity (Pt 1)

Using Twitter: Tools for Productivity (Pt 2)

Two Essential Services That You Needed YESTERDAY!!!!