Friday, February 08, 2008
The Arizona AG Addresses Foreclosures
Citing a new national report on subprime mortgages, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said today that the mortgage industry needs to reach out to more homeowners at risk of foreclosure if the nation’s housing crisis is to be brought under control.
While mortgage servicing companies have increased outreach efforts and shown more willingness to modify home loans, Goddard said, the report shows most seriously delinquent borrowers were not undertaking any mitigation option.
The housing report was released by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, a multi-state task force whose members include Goddard and 10 other state Attorneys General. The task force was formed last summer to work with subprime mortgage loan servicers to reduce the number of foreclosures by encouraging loan modifications and other sustainable solutions.
“The report found a very large gap between the number of homeowners needing assistance and the number who are getting any,” Goddard. “The report shows that home delinquencies have been growing at a faster rate than loss mitigation efforts. I’m particularly concerned about getting help to homeowners who are doing all they can to avoid foreclosure.”
The report summarizes mortgage data from October 2007. Key findings include:
◝ Seven out of 10 seriously delinquent borrowers are not on track for any loss mitigation option. The lack of interaction between mortgage servicers and homeowners remains a major problem. Data suggests that loan delinquencies are outpacing the increase in loss mitigation efforts.
◝ Servicers have increased their use of loan modifications and other home retention options. For those delinquent homeowners in contact with servicers, almost half (45%) are working toward a loan modification. Servicers are increasing their use of longer-term changes to the mortgage loan versus their earlier reliance on short-term repayment or forbearance agreements.
◝ Payment resets on hybrid adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) have not yet been a driving force in foreclosures. A significant percentage of subprime adjustable rate loans are delinquent before they experience payment shock from their first adjustment, reflecting weak underwriting or fraud in the origination of the loan. With so many homeowners struggling to stay afloat prior to rate resets, we need to act quickly to address these hybrid ARM loans before the payment shock due to the rate reset triggers further foreclosures.
◝ Homeowners are helping themselves. Most delinquent loans resolved in October 2007 occurred due to the homeowner catching up on back payments. As of October, actions by homeowners, not servicers, have prevented the most foreclosures. This, however, may be a temporary development.
◝ The refinance option has nearly evaporated. Historically, serial refinancing was the primary way that the mortgage industry and homeowners managed delinquencies in subprime loans. Despite recent interest rate cuts, the mortgage industry will not be able to refinance its way out of this crisis absent dramatic changes in available loan products or a reversal in home price declines.
“The information in this report is invaluable,” Goddard said. “As the residential mortgage crisis has worsened, state and federal officials have been frustrated by the lack of reliable data on loss mitigation efforts by mortgage servicers. This report offers our first glimpse of reliable data on what is actually being done by servicers to provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure.”
The task force collaborated with industry and federal regulators to develop a uniform data reporting format to collect comparative data to measure the extent of the foreclosure problem and the servicers’ response to it. Thirteen of the nation’s 20 largest servicers provided the requested data for the month of October 2007. These servicers represent approximately 58 percent of the total subprime servicing market. Reporting companies serviced 5,110,678 subprime and Alt-A loans.
Overall, over 150,000 delinquent loans were in the process of receiving a loan modification or other home retention accommodation at the end of October.
The State Working Group anticipates future reporting on the data collected from servicers. The Group will continue to collect monthly data from reporting servicers to provide public information on trends. A preliminary review of the November 2007 data suggests that subprime delinquency rates continued to rise in that month.
mortgage fraud
I am James D Kunkle, a 73 year old Korean and Vietnam war veteran, retired from the Air Force after 25 years military and 14 years civil service. I believe predatory lending and a loan to own scam has been perpetrated on me I have described what occurred in AG complaint CIC 07_16083 and Arizona Department of Financial Institutions complaint 4013157. The AZ DFI stated that they shared the case information with Arizona Corporation Commission. I have also informed the FBI and local newspapers. I hope these agencies will share the files containing details of my case with any interested parties that can assist in determining the best way to proceed.
The easy resolution is to walk away and allow the perpetrators unchallenged access to the fruits of 40 years of labor and dreams; however I am left with no assets and little time to start over. I am broke physically and mentally with no place to live, savings depleted, credit destroyed, and dignity seriously diminished. I cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent me and save my life’s work. I am not seeking outrageous damages, I only want to save my dream home if possible and salvage some dignity in the process.
I have heard little regarding my complaints and knew nothing of the Arizona Attorney General’s task force formed to investigate why the results of sub-prime loans, predatory lending, and loan to own scams are continuing.
I cannot walk away without doing something to prevent those organizations and persons from continuing their predatory practices motivated by greed. James D Kunkle MSGT/USAF/RET 1744 N Sea Pines--Mesa, AZ--85205 Phone 480 388 6296 FAX 480 807 6179.
Posted by on 07/21 at 11:04 AM
Give me a call and I will do a Forensic Loan Audit for you at no cost provided we submit all suspicious activities to ALL related Govt. and Regulatory agencies. 6618604978
Robert
Posted by on 12/28 at 08:52 PM
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Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.
F. Jeffrey Miller Update - October 20, 2009
A hearing was held in Topeka, Kansas in front of Judge Julie Robinson. Miller is currently being held pending his sentencing which is set for December 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.. Steve Vanatta and Hallie Irvin, Miller's codefendants, will be sentenced at that time also.
Several motions were heard this week. One was a motion for Miller to be released pending his sentencing. Miller's attorney, Jeff Morris, argued that the court had dismmissed with predjudice the matter involving Miller's purchase of a commercial lawnmower, violating the court ordered monitoring agreement. He also argued that Miller was not a flight risk and should be released. This motion was denied.
Another motion heard by Judge Robinson was that of an escrow account containing proceeds from the sale of Miller's forfeited assets. This account has a balance of $143,000. Attorney Morris argued that his firm was due $100,000 for work done in the Miller matter, to date. The government argued that his 'un-itemized fees' were 'exhorbitant'. The balance of the funds, Morris argued, should be released to the Miller family to help pay for mounting household expenses.
The government argued that the 'Asset Forfeiture Provision' applies down to 'the last penny' and that 'the rights of the victims to made whole are of paramount immportance' and that no routine household expenses like Visa bills, are allowed.
Attorney Morris argues that there is more than enough assets to satisfy the jury's judgement of $2.65 million dollars. The government argues that the estimated value of his assets are only $1.4 million.
The government also stated that Miller has been paid dividends from a company Miller has an ownership interest in; Boreflex. From July, 2008 to present, Miller has been paid $330,509.30 from Boreflex, unbeknownst to the court appointed monitor.
Present in the courtroom was Todd Earnshaw. Earnshaw was indicted along with Miller and others in what is commonly referred to as 'Miller I'. That trial is scheduled to begin on January 11, 2010 in Topeka, Kansas.
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Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of 
