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Mortgage Crisis Watch Business and legal issues affecting: loan repurchases | mortgage-backed securities | mortgage insurance

Tag Archives: settlement

Bank of America Settles Class Action Brought By Mortgage Investors

By Philip R. Stein and Sacha Boegem on Posted in Legislation/Regulation, Too Big to Fail

$40 Billion Settlement Bank of America  has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by investors who claimed they were misled by its Countrywide unit into buying risky mortgage securities. Bank of America acquired Countrywide Financial, a California-based lender, in July 2008 for $2.5 billion, but analysts have put the effective cost at more than… Continue Reading

New Precedent that Holds Banks Responsible?

By Philip R. Stein on Posted in Legislation/Regulation, Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS)

Judge Rakoff awards $90.1 million judgment to Assured Guaranty Corp The legal press is abuzz with reports of a New York federal judge’s award of a $90.1 million judgment to mortgage insurer Assured Guaranty Corp. after a lengthy trial in its suit against Flagstar Bank FSB. The lawsuit arose from Assured’s claims that Flagstar had… Continue Reading

Judge Rakoff v. SEC and Citigroup

By Russell Koonin and Robert Siegel on Posted in Legislation/Regulation, Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS)

Judge Rakoff Not Going Out Quietly In a story we’ve been following since the outset, on Monday, Judge Rakoff filed his brief before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. It is not every day that you see a federal judge litigating against two parties who were theoretically adverse before him. But that is precisely the… Continue Reading

Bank of America Won’t Quit While It’s Ahead

By Robert Siegel and Philip R. Stein on Posted in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Too Big to Fail

BofA’s About Face on Global Resolutions In previous posts, we highlighted our concerns related to Bank of America’s “repurchase” demands asserted against residential mortgage loan originators. We knew that for years, BofA steadfastly refused to entertain global resolutions of its repurchase claims. Then, beginning in early 2012 and continuing to this day, BofA became hell… Continue Reading

New York Attorney General: Foreclosure Fraud and “Robosigning”

By Sacha Boegem and Philip R. Stein on Posted in Legislation/Regulation, Too Big to Fail

New York Attorney General Takes On Foreclosure Fraud, Including “Robosigning” New York Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman,  has announced the introduction of a bill that would protect New Yorkers from fraudulent business practices in the foreclosure process, including “robosigning.” The Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act of 2012  imposes new criminal penalties for those who intentionally engage… Continue Reading

Lehman: “You Gotta Know When”

By Robert Siegel and Russell Koonin on Posted in Too Big to Fail

On May 3, 2012, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan refused to allow insurers for former officers and directors of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to settle a fraud lawsuit for $90 million. The lawsuit had been brought as a class action by shareholders of Lehman Brothers. Judge Kaplan was not satisfied with the independent… Continue Reading

For Investors There May Be a Brighter Side to the “Robo Settlement”

By Robert Siegel on Posted in Mortgage Repurchase, Too Big to Fail

Further to Phil Stein’s post on Friday, as we continue to parse through the political rhetoric, the fine print of the settlement agreement, and the hoards of misinformation promulgated by the press, we do not believe that investors in securitizations and/or their trustees are entirely left hanging in the wind. While apparently the settlement with… Continue Reading

What a Settlement – Banks and Government Think They Can Work off Debt by Hurting Investors!

By Philip R. Stein on Posted in Mortgage Repurchase, Too Big to Fail, Uncategorized

Servicers to Receive Credits for Principal Writedowns of Loans American Banker’s Kate Berry reports that mortgage bondholders are now threatening legal action over the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, which provides the five largest servicers with “credits” for principal writedowns. The settlement’s final terms, released last week, offer banks incentives to write down the principal… Continue Reading