Overlawyered » mortgages http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 January 28 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-28-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-28-roundup-2/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:07:17 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27195
  • 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: , , , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-28-roundup-2/feed/ 0     Schneiderman tapped for mortgage probe http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/schneiderman-tapped-for-mortgage-probe/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/schneiderman-tapped-for-mortgage-probe/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:53:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27129 In a move likely to be welcome to his Left base, the president is naming New York’s business-bashing attorney general to head up a probe into banks’ mortgage misconduct. Capital New York’s headline says it all: “Obama elevates Eric Schneiderman, Who Was Too Liberal for Andrew Cuomo.” Another view: Felix Salmon (& Roger Donway, Atlas Business Rights Center).

    Tags: ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/schneiderman-tapped-for-mortgage-probe/feed/ 0     Feds challenge Chicago lender-maintenance law http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/feds-challenge-chicago-lender-maintenance-law/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/feds-challenge-chicago-lender-maintenance-law/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:24:58 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26429 The federal government is suing to overturn Chicago’s law requiring lenders to maintain properties they don’t own [WSJ editorial]:

    Earlier this month the federal agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sued Chicago for its vacant-buildings ordinance, which requires that a “mortgagee” register vacant properties, pay a $500 fee to the city, comply with onerous maintenance requirements and face a $1,000 daily fine for noncompliance. Any entity with a financial interest in the home—a bank, mortgage trust, mortgage servicer or Fan and Fred—is subject to the law, whether or not it has foreclosed on the home and owns the title….

    The [Chicago enactment] came at the expense of small banks and mortgage servicers that can’t afford, for instance, to install “commercial-quality metal security panels” on windows or clean snow “from the walkway leading to the main entry door, and any public sidewalk adjoining the lot.” It’s legally dubious to impose these requirements on private owners of private property, and by doing so Chicago will raise the cost of mortgage loans to future homeowners.

    More: Kevin Funnell, Bank Lawyer’s Blog; earlier here and here.

    Tags:

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/feds-challenge-chicago-lender-maintenance-law/feed/ 2     November 26 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-26-roundup-4/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-26-roundup-4/#comments Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:21:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25340
  • “Ohio Attorney Sues Over Misleading Emails, Even Though He Wasn’t Misled” [Chris Danzig, Above the Law]
  • Feds say new EPA-ordered fuel economy standards could add $2000 to price of new car [C.J. Ciamarella, Daily Caller] More: WSJ.
  • Las Vegas considers following Chicago’s lenders-must-cut-grass folly [Kevin Funnell, earlier] “The Fed actually does impose, via legal risk, a de facto ceiling on mortgage rates.” [Mark Calabria, Cato]
  • 2nd Circuit: Prison Litigation Reform Act curbs attorney fee shift at 150% of cash won, and yes, that applies to a $1 award [PoL] Panel on attorneys’ fees in class actions at Federalist Society convention [video, PoL]
  • John McClaughry reviews Reckless Endangerment, Morgenson/Rosner book on financial crisis [Reason]
  • Daniel Hannan on John Fonte’s new book on transnational law, Sovereignty or Submission [Telegraph, and see chapters 11-12 of Schools for Misrule] International human rights activism pushes into “economic rights” [James P. Kelly III, Federalist Society "Engage"] NGOs exercise oft-envied combination of power without responsibility [Anderson] UK attorney general Dominic Grieve takes on the European court of human rights [Joshua Rozenberg, Guardian] UN battle plan on non-communicable diseases aims to save us from ourselves;
  • Sans statutory authority, EPA wanders into “environmental justice” [PowerLine]
    • Tags: , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-26-roundup-4/feed/ 0     November 16 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-16-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-16-roundup-3/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:19:06 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25597
  • Sure, let’s subvert sound mortgage accounting in the name of energy efficiency. What could go wrong? [Mark Calabria, Kevin Funnell]
  • California: fireworks shows are “development” and coastal commission can ban ‘em [Laer Pearce, Daily Caller]
  • Trial lawyers’ lobbyist: I got Cuomo to bash Chevron in Ecuador case [John Schwartz, NYT]
  • Politics of intimidation: “jobs bill” advocates occupy office of Sen. Minority Leader McConnell (R-Ky.) [ABC News] Union protesters invade Sotheby’s during big auction [NYObserver] “Occupy Denver protesters try to storm conference of conservative bloggers” [Denver Post] “What’s the matter with Oakland?” [Megan McArdle] Post-’08 downturn, not wealth of the few, at root of economic woes [Steve Chapman] “Bohm-Bawerk forget to include [Ms. Katchpole] in his commentaries on sundry theories of interest.” [Tyler Cowen]
  • New breakthroughs in abundant energy aren’t welcome to some [NYT "Room for Debate"] Is GOP wrong to make EPA an issue? [Michael Barone]
  • After extracting $450,000 settlement, employee admits falsifying whistleblower evidence in oil filter antitrust case; class action suits continue [Bloomberg, Abby Schachter/NYPost via PoL]
  • Least surprising Washington-DC-datelined story of year: “Medical malpractice reform efforts stalled” [Politico]
    • Tags: , , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-16-roundup-3/feed/ 1     Wall Street protests roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/wall-street-protests-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/wall-street-protests-roundup/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:04:00 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25356 With some help from Cato colleagues:

    Tags: , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/wall-street-protests-roundup/feed/ 0     September 9 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-9-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-9-roundup-3/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:29:13 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24308
  • Not a parody: economics professor sets off debate on “ugly rights” with suggestion of making unattractiveness of appearance a protected discrimination-law category [Daniel Hamermesh/NYT, PoL, Eric Crampton, Jon Hyman] Apparently Niall Ferguson needn’t worry [Telegraph]
  • Feds sue banks and more than 130 executives, demanding billions over their role in the mortgage crisis; new “tobacco/asbestos” predicted [Biz Insider, more, yet more] Takes some cheek to cast Fannie and Freddie as victims [John Berlau, CEI]
  • Also on mortgages: Rahm Emanuel’s unsound new “lender must cut the grass” ordinance [Funnell] California AG sues lawyers, telemarketers over class action loan modification scheme; lawyer fires back with civil rights suit [AP, ABA Journal] New York chief judge wants state to fund more lawyers to resist enforcement of mortgages [PoL]
  • Related to last, on Civil Gideon’s “‘impossible dream’ of giving every civil litigant a lawyer” [Benjamin Barton & Stephanos Bibos, SSRN via Instapundit]
  • Fallen tree damage from all these storms? Think twice before taking your neighbor to court [Ilya Somin]
  • Stories you read here first: wider coverage for EEOC suit against trucking company for not letting alcoholic drive [Fox, earlier]
  • Illinois advocates plan push for punitive civil suits against johns, strip club owners, sex-ad websites [NYT]
    • Tags: , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-9-roundup-3/feed/ 3     “Foreclosure relief” and its temptations http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/foreclosure-relief-and-its-temptations/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/foreclosure-relief-and-its-temptations/#comments Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:58:54 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24171 The St. Petersburg Times explores the ethical issues raised by the practice of a Florida lawyer who “flies his six-seat Piper Malibu around Florida championing the cause of the little guy. His target: the big, bad banks.” The plan: charging upfront fees of up to $5,000, plus a contingency, for the privilege of enrolling in “mass joinder” suits demanding foreclosure relief.

    Tags: , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/foreclosure-relief-and-its-temptations/feed/ 3     July 18 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-18-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-18-roundup/#comments Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:13:46 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23889
  • Per New Jersey court, overly sedentary home office job can result in valid worker’s comp claim [Courier-Post, NJLRA]
  • Trial bar’s AAJ denies it played “direct” role in backing “Hot Coffee” [WaPo, some background]
  • “Cop repeatedly harasses waitresses, never disciplined. Feds defend their civil rights by . . . suing the restaurant.” [Palm Beach Post via Radley Balko]
  • On “unauthorized practice of law” as protective moat around profession’s interests, Britain does things differently [Gillian Hadfield via Andrew Sullivan; related, Larry Ribstein] Forthcoming book by Robert Crandall et al urges lawyer deregulation [Brookings]
  • “The Treaty Clause Doesn’t Give Congress Unlimited Power” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato on Golan v. Holder case headed to Supreme Court]
  • The small bank regulatory shakedown blues [Kevin Funnell] Why is the Department of Justice including gag orders as part of its enforcement decrees against banks on race and lending? [Investors Business Daily via PoL] “Emigrant fights back against mortgage-discrimination suits” [Fisher, Forbes] Dodd-Frank squeezing out community banks [Funnell]
  • “North Carolina to Seize Speeding Cars That Fail to Pull Over” [The Newspaper] “With what, a tractor beam?” [James Taranto]
    • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-18-roundup/feed/ 3     Great moments in housing finance law http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/great-moments-in-housing-finance-law/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/great-moments-in-housing-finance-law/#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 05:08:51 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23525 “Wells Fargo & Co. decided to exit reverse mortgages after federal officials insisted it foreclose on elderly customers who were behind on property tax and insurance payments, a Wells executive wrote in an email to business contacts Friday.” [American Banker]

    Tags:

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/great-moments-in-housing-finance-law/feed/ 2