Weekend Topic Suggestions
Please post topic ideas here!
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Uncle Sam, Amalgamated versus Megabank, Inc
U.S. Is Set to Sue a Dozen Big Banks Over Mortgages
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
Published: September 1, 2011
The federal agency that oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is set to file suits against more than a dozen big banks, accusing them of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities they assembled and sold at the height of the housing bubble, and seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
A foreclosed home in Arizona. The Federal Housing Finance Agency suits will argue that banks failed to perform due diligence and missed evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency suits, which are expected to be filed in the coming days in federal court, are aimed at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, among others, according to three individuals briefed on the matter.
The suits stem from subpoenas the finance agency issued to banks a year ago. If the case is not filed Friday, they said, it will come Tuesday, shortly before a deadline expires for the housing agency to file claims.
The suits will argue the banks, which assembled the mortgages and marketed them as securities to investors, failed to perform the due diligence required under securities law and missed evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified. When many borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages, the securities backed by the mortgages quickly lost value.
Fannie and Freddie lost more than $30 billion, in part as a result of the deals, losses that were borne mostly by taxpayers.
…
Bank of America Corporation
Citigroup Inc
Goldman Sachs Group Inc
JPMorgan Chase & Company
Deutsche Bank AG
American International Group Inc
UBS AG
I believe I said quite some time ago that government action agains the banks would come but the process was extremely complicated and it would take a while for it all to get everything put together and announced.
I told you so.
And I doubt this is the end of it.
So, if this whole thing were a book or a movie, we’re finally getting to the good part? (I sure hope so!)
This is just the set up for the good part. The good part is still quite a ways down the road.
Spoiler alert!
Polly — thanks as always for sharing your insights.
Sincerely,
Cantankerous ex-Professor who Didn’t Get Stucco
X2
Thanks, polly!
Let’s hope this is the beginning of a movement to break up the world’s outlaw international investment banks into non-systemically risky, small-enough-to-regulate pieces.
Last updated: September 3, 2011 12:08 am
Banks sued over mortgage deals
By Tom Braithwaite, Kara Scannell and Dan McCrum in New York
A US regulator sued 17 international financial groups, ranging from Bank of America to Barclays, alleging they mis-sold almost $200bn of mortgage-backed securities and demanding compensation for billions of dollars of losses.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency filed the suits in New York state Supreme Court on Friday accusing the banks of making “materially false” statements about the quality of mortgages that were bundled into securities and sold, before plunging in value in the financial crisis.
Bank stocks fell sharply on Friday in anticipation of the lawsuits – the latest salvo in a barrage of mortgage-related litigation that has rocked investor confidence in the sector.
Bank of America, the biggest seller of mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that buy and guarantee US home loans, fell 8 per cent. The FHFA is suing the banks in its capacity as regulator of Fannie and Freddie.
But the targets of the lawsuits include other US banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup as well as overseas institutions such as Nomura and Credit Suisse. Individual employees are also cited in the court filings for signing documents that the FHFA said were false.
Since Fannie and Freddie are in government conservatorship and Royal Bank of Scotland, another target of the action, is majority-owned by the UK government, the lawsuits have produced the unusual situation of Washington suing London over crisis-era losses on $30.4bn of securities.
Banks reacted angrily to the move. BofA said Fannie and Freddie “claimed to understand the risks inherent in investing in subprime securities” and yet were “now seeking to hold other market participants responsible for their losses”. Deutsche Bank said the institutions were “the epitome of a sophisticated investor” and the bank would “vigorously defend against the action”.
…
What next: Bankers in orange jump suits?
Got popcorn?
September 2, 2011, 4:42 PM ET
Fannie Mae Regulator Sues the World
By Shira Ovide
As expected, the regulator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac today sued many of the country’s biggest banks, claiming the government-owned entities were duped into buying tens of billions of dollars in mortgage securities that went south.
In a news release, the FHFA detailed the banks it is suing. And its filings also detail the amount of mortgage securities Fannie and/or Freddie purchased that these banks sold, underwritten or otherwise were involved in.
Ally Financial (ex-GMAC), $6 billion
Bank of America Corp., $6 billion
Barclays Bank, $4.9 billion
Citigroup, $3.5 billion
Countrywide, $26.6 billion
Credit Suisse Holdings USA, $14.1 billion
Deutsche Bank, $14.2 billion
First Horizon National, $883 million
General Electric, $549 million
Goldman Sachs, $11.1 billion
HSBC North America, $6.2 billion
J.P. Morgan Chase, $33 billion
Merrill Lynch/First Franklin Financial, $24.853 billion
Morgan Stanley, $10.58 billion
Nomura Holding America Inc., $2 billion
Royal Bank of Scotland Group, $30.4 billion
Societe Generale, $1.3 billion
Check out the FHFA’s handy link to all the lawsuits here.
Finally!
Let’s hope they do not simply settle. I want to see someone actually pay for what they did.
may have found the cure for the the “housing bubble” blues.
i have discovered start trek on netflix streaming.
i have always been a huge fan but never watched alot. starting off with “enterprise”.
i think i’m in love with T’pol.
meant to put this in “bits buckets”
Weekend topic suggestion:
What is your recommended cure for the “housing bubble” blues?
Blues are so 2004. It is frustration and anger.
I have an unwavering confidence that housing will be very affordable going forward, irrespective of the corrupt methods the Housing Crime Syndicate uses to interfere with that process. And it’s a process for sure.
Definitely frustration and anger. A bit of acceptance, unfortunately. A part of me thinks the era of the housing bubble will never truly end.
That’s okay, I’m sure you could get some lively discussion on Seven of Nine.
There’s plenty enough ‘Trek to discuss all weekend. Interesting that you referred to it as ’start trek.’ Anyone want to try a Freudian interpretation on that one?
Perhaps a discussion on the Tribble bubble
Uncle Sam got stucco with 248,000 repossessed homes and needs your suggestions by September 15 on what to do with them. I say quietly auction them off to the highest bidder, just like mineral rights are auctioned, and be done with the REO biz. What good does it do the U.S. taxpayer to hold on to vacant homes until they eventually fall down to the ground? You can’t store vacant homes in caves, the way government cheese is stored.
Politics & Policy
September 01, 2011, 5:25 PM EDT
Foreclosures: Uncle Sam and His 248,000 Homes
U.S. taxpayers are the biggest owners of repossessed homes. For now, they’re stuck with them
By Lorraine Woellert and Clea Benson
The number of homes listed for sale by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration on Aug. 29, 2011: 89,819
For sale or rent by distressed owner: 248,000 homes. That’s how many residential properties the U.S. government now has in its possession, the result of record numbers of people defaulting on government-backed mortgages. Washington is sitting on nearly a third of the nation’s 800,000 repossessed houses, making the U.S. taxpayer the largest owner of foreclosed properties. With even more homes moving toward default, Fannie Mae (FNMA), Freddie Mac (FMCC), and the Federal Housing Administration are looking for a way to unload them without swamping the already depressed real estate market.
Trouble is, they haven’t figured out how to do that. The government admitted as much in August, when Fannie, Freddie, and FHA issued a joint plea to the public for ideas about how to solve the problem. (Give it your best shot: You have until Sept. 15 to submit ideas to reo.rfi@fhfa.gov.) “They’re stuck,” says Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, a Washington-based consultant that advises banks and other clients on government policy. “They don’t know what to do.”
…
Thank you!!!
This is exactly what I was going to suggest!
We need to make our voices heard, fellow HBB’ers!!!
I think we need to form a group of renters/responsible owners who are willing to be more active in representing the interests of those of us who are neither irresponsible lenders or irresponsible borrowers. Anyone up for this? We can exchange e-mails and focus on letter writing campaigns and possible lobbying efforts, perhaps getting involved with some other groups who are interested in seeing justice done WRT housing.
Ca Renter
I like your idea, but it is time consuming, and can the ground swell meet the deadline?
Bruce Norris (The Norris Group) was part of the roundtable to have infestors get govt. funding to buy up the stock and rent it out.
Check out his online radio show.
Here’s what I sent them:
Um… how about we let housing fall back to market prices and quit trying to re-inflate a popped balloon? Prices are not going to “come back” until the last of the Baby Boomers sells the McMansion and dodders off to assisted living.
Quit lying to us and get real in your assessments. (Literally. Use the county tax records for appraisal values.) Seriously, I can buy tulip bulbs for less than a dollar apiece now. Mentally cut a zero off the price of housing and we’ll be back on track.
I applaud the DOJ’s announcement of intent to sue major lenders for mortgage fraud. Please hold their CEO’s (Anthony Mozillo, I’m talking to you,) personally accountable and put the bloody lot of them in prison after confiscating their ill-gotten assets. Then go after all the greedy citizens who lied on their mortgage applications, HELOC’ed out “their” equity, and bought multiple “investments” on the government dime.
Hey, a girl can dream….
FNMA/FRMC FHA– Let’s all pretend it’s 1980 again.
-Require 20% down-payment– from verified personal funds held more than six months.
-Mortgage can not be more than 1/3 of annual income (as documented on income tax statements over last three years.)
-Guarantee no loans over $175,000. Yes, in California and New York, too. There’s not a first-time buyer’s house in this country that’s worth that much.
-FHA loans for veterans and first-time buyers ONLY. (And by first-time buyers, I mean first-time buyers, not the first time in three years buyers.)
-Require mark-to-market accounting.
-Loans for primary owner-occupied single-family residences only.
-Subject the MLS to anti-trust prosecution. Make all listings available online on your website and at no charge. -
-Quit pandering to and partnering with the NAR. Employ salaried sales staff (FNMA employees,) to move govt inventory. AGAIN: Use the county tax assessors’ figures to ascertain fair market valuation– NOT some dubious “appraiser.”
-Require banks to hold back 10% of any mortgage loan they make.
-Eliminate the mortgage interest deduction
Eliminate Fannie Mae entirely over the next ten years. (By the time you get this passed, all the fifteen year loans will fall within its purview.) All loans must convert to private within that period.
-Convert unwanted inventory (especially tract housing,) to “green” Section 8 and Senior housing. Employ out-of-work and youth labor to do so, with preference to military veterans who are NO LONGER IN AFGHANISTAN or making war of dubious necessity. Pay them no more than the equivalent military pay grade.
Hope this post takes.
After visiting w/childhood friend who made real good as mtg broker in PHX, he said his 800k+ went to 1/4 of that. Asked me what was property doing in the desert here. I did notice that one house in the swanky portion of town went from over 2+mill a few yrs ago to 900k 2 yrs ago to REO now at 389k. When it gets to 200k then it will be back to 1994 prices.
Been gone awhile. Nice to see ya’ll still posting. HI Ben.
Very well done, ahansen!
I totally agree with every single thing you’ve written there!
Danged, lexdysia. 3X annual income, not 1/3. Glad I caught that one before I sent it.
“… submit your ideas …”
We are being played. The PTB do not care what we sheeple think, they only want to molify and shape our outrage.
I don’t know about that; I would not blindly assume that nobody’s comments will be heard. Collectively making such assumptions is the beginning of the end of any semblance of democratic governance, as with no feedback from the masses, the leaders are forced to fly blind.
This, by the way, is why I always make a point of voting in every election, even though I realize my vote is unlikely to directly determine the outcome; at least it presumably gets counted!
Uncle Sam got stucco with 248,000 repossessed homes and needs your suggestions by September 15 on what to do with them. I say quietly auction them off to the highest bidder, just like mineral rights are auctioned, and be done with the REO biz. What good does it do the U.S. taxpayer to hold on to vacant homes until they eventually fall down to the ground? You can’t store vacant homes in caves, the way government cheese is stored.
Now, that’s a bomb-toss I can believe in! And I’m feeling anything but cantankerous today.
Not sure how that 248,000 = 0.25 million squares with the figure discussed here yesterday and reported in the LPS power point presentation that Blue Sky posted of 6.5 million U.S. mortgages in some stage of delinquency or foreclosure. But I do know for a fact that 6.5 million = 26 X 0.25 million — i.e. the potential eventual size of the shadow inventory problem may be about 26 times as large as Uncle Sam’s REO problem.
US Is Set to Sue a Dozen Big Banks Over Mortgages
By: Nelson D. Schwartz - CNBC
The federal agency that oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is set to file suits against more than a dozen big banks, accusing them of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities they assembled and sold at the height of the housing bubble, and seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency suits, which are expected to be filed in the coming days in federal court, are aimed at Bank of America JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, among others, according to three individuals briefed on the matter.
The suits stem from subpoenas the finance agency issued to banks a year ago. If the case is not filed Friday, they said, it will come Tuesday, shortly before a deadline expires for the housing agency to file claims.
The suits will argue the banks, which assembled the mortgages and marketed them as securities to investors, failed to perform the due diligence required under securities law and missed evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified. When many borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages, the securities backed by the mortgages quickly lost value.
Fannie and Freddie lost more than $30 billion, in part as a result of the deals, losses that were borne mostly by taxpayers.
In July, the agency filed suit against UBS, another major mortgage securitizer, seeking to recover at least $900 million, and the individuals with knowledge of the case said the new litigation would be similar in scope.
Where is this trial balloon headed? Looks like it may be DOA due to various forces of political opposition, despite the ringing endorsements of a bandwagon of economists.
Aug. 31, 2011, 7:00 a.m. EDT
The regulator who could block mortgage refi plan
FHFA chief could derail effort, experts say
By Ronald D. Orol and Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A possible White House effort to kick-start the moribund housing market, and create a major backdoor stimulus to boost consumer spending, may be undercut by the regulator for government-seized housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
An idea that outsiders have said the White House is considering would allow for the refinancing of millions of underwater mortgages backed by the U.S. government.
…
Millions of homeowners who owe significantly more than their homes are worth currently can’t refinance, but could be permitted to use such a program to refinance to current low mortgage interest rates, which are currently just north of 4%.
…
However, for the White House to propose such an approach it would need the Federal Housing Finance Agency, an independent regulator which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to implement it.
That may be difficult, regulatory onlookers say, because FHFA’s acting chief Edward DeMarco has sought to limit costs of the two firms to taxpayers and that such a program would likely hike taxpayer expenditures. DeMarco became acting head of the agency in 2009 and has had worked at the agency and its predecessor since 2006 during the Bush administration. Fannie and Freddie own roughly $1.4 trillion in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, as of June, according to the agency.
…
Is Lehman 2.0, European edition, on the way this fall, or has the risk pretty much blown over without incident by now?
Europe Markets Archives
Sept. 2, 2011, 5:29 a.m. EDT
Deutsche Bank drops as Greek worries hit Europe
By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Shares fell sharply across Europe Friday ahead of key U.S. jobs data, with worries about Greece weighing on stocks across the region and Deutsche Bank AG leading the financial sector lower following a report that the U.S. will sue several banks.
…
Recovery talk seems to be gradually giving way to Federal Reserve easing talk.
U.S. adds zero jobs
Nonfarm payrolls come in unchanged in August, the weakest performance since September 2010 — a sufficiently grim report to serve as a potential catalyst for further Federal Reserve easing.
A topic about jobs in general would be very appropirate for labor Day weekend.
By the way, folks. I hosted a party recently. The company was great and the conversation lively. Just passing this along - a guest of one of my friends said that the patent office will be hiring, substnatially. I’m not sure if they are dealing with a wave of retirements or a surge of applications or what, but it could be worth looking into. I don’t know if patent office hiring is included in the general federal hiring site (USAjobs) or if you need to look for the listings elsewhere. I also don’t know if the hiring is local or widely distributed, but still, please check it out.
PEOPLE LIVING IN STORAGE FACILITIES
http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/581915.txt
I must believe that the HBB has covered this before; nonetheless, the story was an eye-opener for me.
WATERBURY — Self-storage has a whole new meaning at the United Storage building on Bank Street. The facility seemingly has become home to a number of local residents.
A Republican-American reporter recently spent a night watching the front entrance of United Storage from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next day. With the exception of about five minutes at roughly 2:30 a.m., the entrance was under surveillance.
Starting at about 9:30 p.m., people started to arrive at the building on foot. They walked up, punched in a numerical code for the front door and disappeared into the building. They did not reappear before morning.
On another night, a reporter watched as at least eight people, including men and women, walked into the building, but didn’t leave.
During the night when the building was under continuous watch, four men entered the building between 9:30 p.m. and a few minutes before 10 p.m., and spent the night inside the building. At about 6:30 the next morning, two men — different from the four who went inside the night before — emerged from the front entrance.
On Thursday, one of those men walked out of the front door into 6:40 a.m. sunshine wearing a faded Boston Red Sox cap and carrying a beat-up black bag that held a pack of Pall Mall cigarettes. He didn’t want to give his name, saying he was going to work and needed to catch a bus.
He doesn’t stay in the building all the time, he said; sometimes he stays with friends.
“I’ll be out of there in a few days,” he said.
When asked about other people living in the building, he said there had been some “troublemakers” there, but they had left. People have problems, he said, and a newspaper story would only get the people remaining there “in trouble.”
THE BUILDING IS IN THE CITY’S COMMERCIAL ARTERIAL ZONE, which isn’t zoned for housing. Dwellings in the city require a certificate of occupancy and must meet specific health and safety codes. Rooming houses, hotels, motels and group homes in the city also need a license from the health department.
The self-storage building is climate-controlled and all of the units are indoors.
The portion of the facility that contains administrative offices closes each day at 6 p.m., but customers can access their units until 10 p.m. through an automatic door in the front of the building that slides open after a code is entered on a keypad on an outside wall.
At 10 p.m., that door closes and the units can’t be accessed until the facility opens the next day. The only other entrances to the building are through fire doors, which are marked with signs saying an alarm will sound when they’re opened.
During the times when a Republican-American reporter watched the building after the office closed, a variety of folks arrived, several entering in the half-hour before access is cut off to the building.
None of the people arriving at the building drove a car or were dropped off by a vehicle. They either walked into the parking lot on foot or rode a bicycle that they then wheeled into the building. None had boxes or carts of belongings. In one case, a woman held little more than a set of keys as she strolled into the building before the doors closed for the night.
One of the apparent residents of the storage building, a man with short dreadlocks, exited the building at 7 a.m., fed what appeared to be stale bread scraps to a gaggle of Canada geese crowded near the edge of the building, then walked back inside.
In one case, a man left for 15 minutes before the 10 p.m. lockdown, but returned a short time later. He didn’t leave the building while a reporter watched the entrance during the night or into the next morning.
CONDITIONS INSIDE THE BUILDING MAY BE IDEAL FOR STORAGE, but not for living. Floors are made of concrete and a grid of metal chicken wire serves as a ceiling. There’s only one entrance to each unit, no running water inside the units and no bathroom.
The facility advertises 24-hour video recording, and signs inside say it’s being monitored. An employee said cameras record the building’s interior.
The units vary in size, but each has only one padlocked entrance. Some units are accessed through metal doors, while others have a rolling, garage-style plastic door.
The company does, however, advertise bathrooms inside.
Michael Wilmot said he rented a unit in the building, but moved his belongings out recently when he saw people repeatedly coming into the building on foot, carrying little more than book bags. Wilmot said the people came to his attention after his son saw a desk and chair inside a unit, joking that people were probably living inside the building.
Wilmot said he noticed the same man there time and again.
“People are walking in with just backpacks, but there’s no cars out front,” he said.
A sign on the counter inside the building warns people they can’t live or do business in the rented units. Wilmot said he told management about his observations.
“Management said, ‘Yes, it is a problem.’ We’ve talked with individuals, but we can’t enforce it,” he said. “The manager of the property said we’ve tried to tell people you can’t live in the boxes.”
Although the hard floors and lack of running water in the units may make living uncomfortable, using a storage unit as a dwelling makes a certain degree of economic sense.
A 5- by 10-foot unit can be rented for less than $100 a month. A smaller unit on the second floor of the building goes for about $62 a month.
The units don’t require a contract and can be rented on a month-to-month basis, according to an employee.
If a prospective tenant can gather $200 from either social security, disability payments, or other sources, a storage unit becomes an option. The city’s homeless have other options. A shelter is near the building, but it has rules and people have to share space.
Rooms in Waterbury can rent for $90 a week, and even inexpensive apartments in gritty sections of the city cost at least $450 a month.
Wilmot said he called the corporate offices for United Storage informing them of the issue, but he never got a call back.
The company is a significant contributor to the city tax base. It has paid about $640,000 to the city since 2007, according to city records. A website for United Storage states it has 67 locations throughout the country.
Steve Hartman, senior vice president of marketing for U-Store-It, which manages the site, said Thursday that employees at the facility were contacted and are “actively” looking into the findings of the Republican-American.
“This is obviously the first I’ve heard of this,” he said
It’s too bad the reporter didn’t have more time to do the story. He should have rented a storage unit himself so he could walk in at night and watch the coming and goings from inside, rather than from across the street.
I rented a storage unit when we moved last year. The management made it very clear that we couldn’t live in the unit (aw schucks). She said she had to evict a woman and her two young kids the previous day. She said it’s a constant problem.
They rig the door so it can’t be opened after hours, but you could clearly see that someone keeps breaking away the shields around the gate opening so they can reach in and open it from the inside.
Here is a doozy of a topic suggestion:
September 2, 2011 8:51 pm
Leaders of today: do crises demand craziness?
By Christopher Caldwell
Rick Perry, the Texas governor who became frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination days after entering the race, is “plainspoken” – an adjective Americans apply to anyone who has trouble making clear what he means to say. “What’s that age going to be that we’re going to make the transformation from?” said Mr Perry last weekend about reforming social security. This week the influential Capitol Hill newspaper Politico, alluding to the candidate’s garbled language, asked, “Is Rick Perry Dumb?” and quoted a Republican governor who called him “Bush without the brains”.
Whether intellect is the crucial attribute for a leader; whether less cerebral traits, such as courage or honesty or diligence, are more important; and whether brains can get in the way of these – these are ancient arguments all republics face. Richard Nixon had the best raw intellect of any president since Woodrow Wilson and look where it got him. The former editor of the Harvard Law Review who sits in the White House shows signs of being in over his head.
In the past month an American psychiatrist has taken the whole argument a step further. Nassir Ghaemi, a professor at Tufts Medical School, suggests in his new book A First-Rate Madness that, in certain contexts, we might be better served by leaders with psychiatric problems.
“The best crisis leaders are either mentally ill or mentally abnormal,” he writes. “The worst crisis leaders are mentally healthy.”
It is not delusional people who are at issue here. The mental abnormalities Dr Ghaemi has in mind are mood disorders, particularly manic depression. While such disorders can lead to suicide, despair and ruined lives, they also come with certain strengths, including creativity, realism, empathy and resilience. Since Aristotle, our culture has recognised that great artists are often “tortured”.
…
What’s it going to be: High unemployment or high inflation? Tough choice ahead for the Fed…
And if pundits say “Quantitative Easing” often enough, will the Fed be forced to enact QE3?
Poor Summer Jobs Report: Can the Fed Help?
Sept. 2, 2011
Omnis Senior Managing Director James Rickard looks at options the Federal Reserve might have to jump start the employment landscape in the U.S.
Or high unemployment AND high inflation?
That seems to be the status quo.
Weekend Topic: Palin, Bachmann, or Perry? Why or why not let them shoot themselves early -