Overlawyered » mortgages

DoJ: Wells Fargo biased in maintenance of foreclosed properties

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:26:30 +0000

Kevin Funnell at Bank Lawyers Blog is a bit cynical about the Department of Justice’s headline-ready threats of enforcement action:

[The DOJ claims] appear to be based upon consumer advocates’ claims that the bank takes better care of foreclosed-upon real estate it owns in neighborhoods where white people live than it does in areas where minorities live. I suspect that the bank will assert that (a) any rational real estate owner is only going to invest money in a piece of real estate where the owner has a realistic chance of recouping that investment through a higher sales price, (b) that such recoupment decisions are made on a property-by-property basis based upon objective data like recent comparable sales prices and fair market valuations, (c) that the economic reality-driven facts of life are that many more such properties are located in majority-white neighborhoods than in minority neighborhoods, and (d) there has been no intent to discriminate, merely to minimize losses…. As we’ve previously noted, the DOJ is on a jihad against lenders based upon “disparate impact” theories that the DOJ knows, in its heart-of-hearts, are highly fragile when exposed to the light of logic, the kind of logic applied by the US Supreme Court. Justice will likely pursue Wells Fargo and try to squeeze some dough out of it before the highest court eventually shuts down this racket.

Tags: fair housing, mortgages

DoJ: Wells Fargo biased in maintenance of foreclosed properties is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Bank sues itself; nothing new there

Walter Olson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:40:16 +0000

A story about Bank of America suing itself in a foreclosure action got a bit of publicity recently, from sources like Credit Slips blogger and lawprof Alan White, but the snark was misplaced, says Kevin Funnell. Banks serve in various capacities in the real estate context and that makes such situations inevitable: “The bank is agent for the owner of the first lien loan and is also the owner, in its individual capacity, of the second lien loan. It has to name itself. This is ‘Foreclosure 101.’”

For instances of “auto-litigation” with a bit more to them, see this one from Illinois a few years back, as well as the ones collected at Lowering the Bar.

Tags: banks, mortgages

Bank sues itself; nothing new there is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 20 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:19:00 +0000

Lawsuit claim: MERS mortgage system is just a racket to deprive court clerks of recording fees [Baton Rouge Advocate]
More reporting on hospital and community drug shortages [Washington Post; my post last summer]
Roger Pilon: How the “judicial activism” debate changed [Cato at Liberty]
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, spoken of as a future national political figure, has rather a lot of ties to trial lawyers [Political Desk]
Problems with DOJ e-book antitrust suit targeting Apple [Declan McCullagh]
One bogus campaign feeds into another: “ALEC Unfairly Demonized Over ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws” [Bader, CEI "Open Market"]
New Point of Law discussion on class actions with Ted Frank and Brian Fitzpatrick;
Today’s best spam comment? “With all the thistledown floating almost on the net, it is rare to look over a locate like yours instead.”

Tags: antitrust, Apple, class actions, Louisiana, mortgages, politics, Ted Frank

April 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:05:17 +0000

“MPAA: you can infringe copyright just by embedding a video” [Timothy Lee, Ars Technica]
NYC: fee for court-appointed fire department race-bias monitor is rather steep [Reuters]
Larry Schonbron on VW class action [Washington Times] Watch out, world: “U.S. class action lawyers look abroad” [Reuters] Deborah LaFetra, “Non-injury class actions don’t belong in federal court” [PLF]
Will animal rights groups have to pay hefty legal bill after losing Ringling Bros. suit? [BLT]
You shouldn’t need a lobbyist to build a house [Mead, Yglesias]
“Astorino and Westchester Win Against Obama’s HUD” [Brennan, NRO] My two cents [City Journal] Why not abolish HUD? [Kaus]
“Community organized breaking and entering,” Chicago style [Kevin Funnell; earlier, NYC]

Tags: animal rights, bloggers and the law, Chicago, class action settlements, class actions, fair housing, land use and zoning, loser pays, mortgages, movies film and videos, NYC, real estate

April 18 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Canada: lender’s inspection may create liability to third parties

Walter Olson — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:50:55 +0000

A British Columbia court has allowed a suit to proceed arguing that a government lending program which included inspection of the property to be renovated could incur a duty to third persons who might later fall on a staircase whose faults allegedly would have been detected had inspection not been negligent. [Erik Magraken; Benoit v. Banfield]

Tags: Canada, mortgages, real estate, slip and fall

Canada: lender’s inspection may create liability to third parties is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 13 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:06:52 +0000

“Are Courts Dragging Out the Housing Crisis?” [Mark Calabria, Cato] “Boom-Era Property Speculators to Get Foreclosure Aid” [Bloomberg News via Bader, CEI] Community organizing groups expect to cash in on state AGs’ robosigning settlement [Neil Munro, Daily Caller, earlier] As does NAAG itself [Daniel Fisher] More: Kevin Funnell.
“Non-standard explanation offered for bugging wife’s bedroom” [Lowering the Bar]
Chris DeMuth on James Q. Wilson [Weekly Standard, earlier] I wrote about Wilson’s work on at least two occasions: the Baltimore Sun had me review a book of his on “abuse excuses” and other difficulties of psychiatric testimony in court, a good book if a mere foothill in the mountain range of his overall scholarship; on another occasion in Reason I challenged his uncharacteristic backing of a “family policy” proposal ripe with potential for unintended consequences;
Boston city councilor: make valet kid at restaurant responsible if patron drives off drunk [NPR via Alkon]
“Texas is being stiff armed by the EPA at every turn” [Munro/DC quoting Texas attorney general Greg Abbott] NYT’s “modest” offshore drilling restrictions: “I hate to think what immodest restrictions would look like” [John Steele Gordon]
“The Southern Poverty Law Center Is Now Writing About Pickup Artists as Hate Groups” [Mike Riggs]
SFO rental car garage offers a whiff of Prop 65 absurdity [Stoll]

Tags: attorneys general, Boston, dramshop statutes, Environmental Protection Agency, hate speech, mortgages, Prop 65, Texas

March 13 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Exploiting Maryland foreclosure law

Walter Olson — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:19:49 +0000

A couple spends five years in a million-dollar home without making a mortgage payment [Washington Post]

Tags: Maryland, mortgages

Exploiting Maryland foreclosure law is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 27 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:08:07 +0000

Department of Transportation cracks down on distraction from cars’ onboard information and entertainment systems; Mike Masnick suspects the measure won’t work as intended, as appears to have been the case with early texting bans [Techdirt; earlier here, etc.] “Feds Push New York Toward Full Ban On Electronic Devices In Cars” [Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit; Truth About Cars]
Oh no: Scott Greenfield says he’s ceasing to post at his exemplary criminal defense blog after five years [Simple Justice, Dave Hoffman]
California not entitled to pursue its own foreign policy, at least when in conflict with rest of nation’s: unanimous “blockbuster” decision by en banc 9th Circuit strikes down law enabling insurance suits by Armenian victims [AP, Alford/OJ, Recorder, related, Frank/PoL]
Playboy model’s $1.2M award against Gotham cops is a great day for the tabloids [NYDN]
To hear a pitch for fracking-royalty suits, visit the American Association for Justice convention, or just read the New York Times [Wood, PoL]
What the mortgage settlement did [John Cochrane, earlier]
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 blows up an adoption: “She’s a 2-year-old girl who got shoved in a truck and driven to Oklahoma with strangers.” [Reuters, SaveVeronica.org]

Tags: AAJ, adoption, autos, California, Indian tribes, insurance, legal blogs, mortgages, oil industry, reparations

February 27 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 17 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:38:53 +0000

Mortgage robo-signing settlement not actually as punitive toward the banks as you might think, succeeds in sticking costs onto various parties not at table [FT, more (US taxpayers could wind up covering much of write-down costs through HAMP program); Felix Salmon (write-downs of underwater mortgages should not be assessed at face value); Mark Calabria, Cato and more, Bloomberg (banks managing to offload much of the cramdown onto investors such as pension funds); Daniel Fisher/Forbes one, two, three (banks get covert benefits, politicos get social engineering and fees -- shades of the collusive tobacco settlement!); Above the Law (Schneiderman steers money to legal services programs); Linette Lopez, BI (banks still exposed on many issues). More: Hans Bader, John Steele Gordon.
"Burned at mediation by my own Facebook post" [Stuart Mauney, Abnormal Use]
As anti-discrimination law advances, religious liberty retreats [Roger Pilon, Cato] Two views on the birth control mandate [Cathy Young, David Henderson] More: Adler, Frum.
Caswell Motel case from Tewksbury, Mass. heads to court, could test forfeiture law [Balko] More: Washington Post editorial.
Which is more unreasonable, OSHA regulation or FAA’s? Open to dispute [John Cochrane, Grumpy Economist]
Indiana becomes a right to work state. On to Michigan next? [Shikha Dalmia, Reason]
Warning! Tale of trial psychologists in wizard garb comes from a sinister source, namely me ["In the News," forensic psychologist Karen Franklin, handsome illustration swiped from Cato site]

Tags: aviation, banks, discrimination law, Facebook, forfeiture, Indiana, labor unions, Michigan, mortgages, OSHA

February 17 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 28 roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:07:17 +0000

Voters unseat prosecutor in office during Luzerne County cash-for-kids scandal [Wendy N. Davis, ABA Journal]
Obama plan for mass refinance overriding terms of mortgages “could permanently drive housing finance costs higher” [James Pethokoukis]
In Sackett v. EPA case, SCOTUS will decide which EPA enforcement actions if any should escape judicial review [Ilya Shapiro/Cato, Adler, Root] Keystone XL episode gives reason to revisit NEPA [Conn Carroll] Ninth Circuit ruling on forest road runoff will test Obama position [David Freddoso]
Debate at Point of Law on President’s recess appointment power between Jason Mazzone and Andrew M. Grossman;
Lobbyists help get traffic-cams back on Connecticut legislative agenda [Chris Fountain]
Read it here first: “Courts push back on bribery prosecutions” [Reuters]
“In my little corner of the Blawgosphere, few things drive traffic like an Overlawyered link. Thank you, @walterolson.” [George Wallace]

Tags: accolades, Connecticut, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Luzerne County judicial scandal, mortgages, red light cameras, Supreme Court

January 28 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system