From the NY Times:
GMAC Halts Foreclosures in 23 States for Review
GMAC Mortgage, one of the country’s largest and most troubled home lenders, said on Monday that it was imposing a moratorium on many of its foreclosures as it tried to ensure they were done correctly.
The lender, which specialized in subprime loans during the boom, when it was owned by General Motors, declined in an e-mail to specify how many loans would be affected or the “potential issue” it had identified with them.
GMAC said the suspension might be a few weeks or might last until the end of the year.
States where the moratorium is being carried out include New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and 18 others, mostly on the East Coast and in the Midwest. All of the affected states are so-called judicial foreclosure states, where courts control the interactions of defaulting homeowners and their lenders.
Since the real estate collapse began, lawyers for homeowners have sparred with lenders in those states. The lawyers say that in many cases, the lenders are not in possession of the original promissory note, which is necessary for a foreclosure.
…
Matthew Weidner, a real estate lawyer in St. Petersburg, Fla., said he interpreted the lender’s actions as saying, “We have real liability here.”Mr. Weidner said he recently received notices from the opposing counsel in two GMAC foreclosure cases that it was withdrawing an affidavit. In both cases, the document was signed by a GMAC executive who said in a deposition last year that he had routinely signed thousands of affidavits without verifying the mortgage holder.
…
Nerissa Spannos, a Fort Lauderdale agent, said GMAC represents about half of her business — 15 houses at the moment in various stages of foreclosure.“It’s all coming to a halt,” she said. “I have so many nice listings and now I can’t sell them.”
The lender’s action, she said, was unprecedented in her experience. “Every once in a while you get a message saying, ‘Take this house off the market. We have to re-foreclose.’ But this is so much bigger,” she said.
From the Palm Beach Post:
GMAC suspends foreclosure evictions and sales of seized property
Foreclosure defense attorneys say the affidavits withdrawn by the Florida Default Law Group center on foreclosure documents signed by a GMAC employee. The employee, in deposition questioning by West Palm Beach-based law firm Ice Legal, said he did not have personal knowledge of the accuracy of each of the 10,000 foreclosure-related affidavits he signed each month, they say. Some of the documents include assignments of mortgages on which the GMAC employee signed as vice president of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems. MERS is a company created by the nation’s leading banks to ease the process of transferring and selling of home loans.
The legality of whether the nationwide electronic system can determine the owner of a mortgage and then assign it to a bank or investor is being questioned by some attorneys. It’s become especially complicated by the real estate boom-time practice of bundling home loans and selling them as securities.
…
Ice Legal attorney Christopher Immel, who deposed the GMAC employee, said after he posted the deposition online, legal teams from other states picked up on it and did their own depositions.Immel said GMAC isn’t the only company that has a single employee signing off on thousands of foreclosure documents each month that he or she is supposed to have personally verified.
“To keep up with the foreclosure volume they need certain documents executed and they don’t have time to review them because it’s just an assembly line,” Immel said. “They’ve set this up as just part of their business practice.”
Fristanista!!!!
From CNBC:
Homebuilder Confidence Remains Low
Sentiment among U.S. homebuilders remained unchanged in September as high unemployment continues to deter consumers from considering buying homes, a survey by the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, a monthly survey of that measures builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months, was at 13 in September, the same as the previous month. Any number below 50 means sentiment is poor.
“In general, builders haven’t seen any reason for improved optimism in market conditions over the past month,” said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Bob Jones in a statement. “If anything, consumer uncertainty has increased, and builders feel their hands are tied until potential home buyers feel more secure about the job market and economy.”
The index was at its highest this year in May, when the number was 22. Since then the number has steadily fallen, reaching it’s lowest point this year in August, when the index first hit 13.
Part of the reason for the low sentiment is the hesitancy builders see among potential home buyers, said National Association of Home Builder’s Chief Economist David Crowe in a statement.
“It also reflects the frustration that builders are feeling regarding the effects that foreclosed property sales are having on the new-homes market, with 87 percent of respondents reporting that their market has been negatively impacted by foreclosures,” Crowe said.
From Bloomberg:
Ally Finds Defect in GMAC Foreclosure Filings, Says Courts Weren’t Misled
Ally Financial Inc., whose GMAC Mortgage unit halted evictions in 23 states amid allegations of mishandled affidavits, said its filings contained no false claims about home loans.
The “defect” in affidavits used to support evictions was “technical” and was discovered by the company, Gina Proia, an Ally spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. Employees submitted affidavits containing information they didn’t personally know was true and sometimes signed without a notary present, according to the statement. Most cases will be resolved in the next few weeks and those that can’t be fixed will “require court intervention,” Proia said.
“The entire situation is unfortunate and regrettable and GMAC Mortgage is diligently working to resolve the situation,” Proia said. “There was never any intent on the part of GMAC Mortgage to bypass court rules or procedures. Nor do these failures reflect any disrespect for our courts or the judicial processes.”
…
“All the banks are the same, GMAC is the only one who’s gotten caught,” said Patricia Parker, an attorney at Jacksonville, Florida-based law firm, Parker & DuFresne. “This could be huge.”
Produce the note, mf’er.
“From Barclays’ Jasraj Vaidya, who states: “At this stage, we are unable to ascertain what that exact issue might be. What is certain is that foreclosure timelines in those states for GMAC loans will be extend further, potentially adversely affecting their eventual severity” which echoes verbatim what Zero Hedge suggested a week ago on the Florida Judge news: “The implications for the REO and foreclosures track for banks could be dire as a result of this ruling, as this could severely impact the ongoing attempt by banks to hide as much excess inventory in their books in the quietest way possible.” Jasraj also notes: “Using publicly available data from HUD and RealtyTrac, we have created a list of judicial foreclosure states. These are states where judicial foreclosures are most common and in which the lender has to appear before a judge and obtain a court order before initiating foreclosure proceedings against the delinquent borrower. Such states tend to have much longer foreclosure timelines than non-judicial states. What is striking about the list of states in the GMAC announcement is that all but one (North Carolina) are judicial states. Also, all judicial states in the country but one (Delaware) are in the GMAC list. This would hint at some potential issues with judicial states that is driving the GMAC directive.” In the meantime, class actions lawyers across the country will not be sleeping for days.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/barclays-view-gmac-scandal-underscores-fall-out-severity-judicial-states
Nom
from last thread:
Suppose it would be worthwhile if (a) I could get the parts cheaply and (2) it was legal to possess one in NJ.
NJ legal and cheaper then the equivilent preassembled.
Talking to a freind last night, i learned that they took some initiative and had a RE attorney demand that the servicer of their home mortgage prove that they hold the note (note i may be using some incorrect terms here). The servicer (BOA) has been unable to prove that they hold the note but claim that this person must still pay them. They have used their attorney to tell BOA to F off and have been placing their mortgage payments in escrow for about 1 year now. They attorney has made it clear to BOA that if they attempt to foreclose they will promptly be sued since they have already been made aware of their deficiency in being able to prove they own the note.
Its good to hear that someone is F’ing the banks.
Quote from yesterday Poltroon says:
September 20, 2010 at 8:41 pm
What’s hockey without fighting?
Soccer? ; )
Hey Stu hope you feel alright you won’t be in skates for six months, colleague just ruptured his playing softball 4 months post surgery and he is still at 50%
Keep em comin boys, housing starts jump!
Housing start through the roof (no pun intended!)
We’re back!!! Buy now before the market passes you by…..
How Large a Debt Level Is “Worrisome?”
Tuesday, 21 September 2010 04:44
Most newspapers make an effort to separate their news reporting from their editorial pages: not the Washington Post. It routinely uses its news pages to push the economic agenda favored by its editors.
Today it told readers that “the national debt is soaring to worrisome levels.” It is not clear why anyone who understands economics would find current debt levels “worrisome.” Since the debt is being incurred in a context where the economy has vast amounts of idle resources, current deficits pose no real burden on the economy. If the deficit were smaller, the economy would be smaller and the unemployment rate would be higher.
In contrast to the Washington Post, financial markets do not find the government debt the least bit worrisome. They are willing to buy long-term government debt at interest rates below 3.0 percent.
The debt also need pose no burden in future years. There is no reason why the Federal Reserve Board cannot simply buy and hold the bonds issued to finance the debt. In this situation, the debt accrued in these years will impose no additional future tax burden. The interest on the debt will be paid to the Fed, which will then rebate it to the Treasury.
In ordinary times, this approach would lead to inflation, however this is not a problem in the current situation. In fact, most economists agree that a somewhat higher inflation rate would be desirable at the moment. (The Fed is currently buying large amounts of government debt, although it is expected to resell these bonds at some future point.) If the Fed were to continue to hold the bonds it would eliminate most of the deficit problem discussed in this article.
This article relies on no sources who disagree with the Post’s editorial position. In fact, the first “expert” cited is Robert Bixby, the executive director of the Peter Peterson funded Concord Coalition.
Dean Baker
Keep em comin boys, housing starts jump!
Haha. We have 12+ months of existing housing inventory 2+ years of shadow inventory. What the hell do we need more new construction for anyway. These new houses will rot and never get sold.
Rally on!
#7 – Hyde – We saw the exact same issue you’re describing pop up in Ohio in `08 in regards to Deutsche mortgages. I’m surprised mortgage servicers did try to rectify where they stood then.
hyde (7)-
Produce the note, mf’er!
Will it be,more people are choosing to buy brand new homes.Developers don’t build homes without a down payment and a signed contract.If the price of a brand new home is the same as a 60 year old house,which do you choose,if convenience is the same?
If that is the case,car resale can be applied.Where a brand new car will cost alot more and a used car will loose value due to depriciation.
grim (10)-
Lemmings off a cliff.
Stu – re hockey –
friend of mine just broke his Tibia in Minute 7 of Game 1 in his hockey league (a no hitting senior league mind you), plates and screws in his future.
yo (16)-
Were this true, the homebuilding industry would be in a lot better shape now than it is. If all HBs operated this way, they’d have generated enough of a cash cushion to get them through some fallow years. Unfortunately, most HBs (both independent and publicly-traded) act on the insane impulse that you can ignore slackened demand, bad demographic trends and a dicey economy and just build like crazy. They equate activity with profitability and generally show no ability whatsoever to comprehend the relationships between time and money.
Any industry that can consider an oil-slicked rube like Ara “Hair Ranch” Hovnanian as a leader is an industry in deep, deep trouble.
The only positive most HBs can point to is that they are not in commercial RE development, in which you can actually lose other people’s money even faster.
Sports are for the young. The rest of us should sit in a chair and wait to die.
Stu,
Sorry about the injury, hope you come around quickly!
Poltroon
Maybe its time for me to buy new construction! How quickly will the builder get the loan dumped off into some securitization pool so that i can follow my friends lead and challenge them to Produce the Note M’fer.
[6] hyde
Not sure on NJ legal. There is a list of banned guns in the law, and there is also a catch-all provision that would exclude any gun similar to an excluded gun.
All real estate is local. I am seeing quite a few in-fill house projects going up near my ‘hood in Brigadoon.
Won’t speculate on what that means.
plume (24)-
I’d speculate that it’s the last hurrah for the wannabe investors and the greater fools.
Nom
if you take a closer look at the regulations involved it is possible to build a legal AR in NJ. There is a list of features that must be avoided such as flash supressors, magazne capacity, and certain types of stocks but it doesn’t compromise the performance overall. You can also buy preassebled NJ legal AR style rifles.
Leave it to NJ to make all the fun stuff illegal.
FedCo, lying through its collective, rotting teeth to an angry citizen who sent a letter about the POMO/stock market ramp job:
Dear Mr. (removed to maintain privacy):
Thank you for your recent correspondence in which you expressed your concerns about the Federal Reserve’s influence on the stock market.
The Federal Reserve monitors all sectors of the economy, so that we can be prepared when crises arise. It is within this context that the Chairman is often called by Congress to offer his views on many issues that may or may not be directly related to monetary policy. I want to assure you that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy actions are not aimed at correcting or influencing any particular market. As you know, the goal of monetary policy is to foster conditions conducive to sustaining sound, noninflationary economic growth over time and policymakers must make decisions that provide the greatest benefit overall.
Again, thank you for writing.
Sincerely,
JPD
Board Staff
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-responds-allegations-pomo-based-stock-market-manipulation
Pain (9): Thanks for the clarity. (I think)
re: GMAC and MERS
Considering the Affidavit scam they are running the Attorney Generals for all the states and the FBI should round them all up.
Not sure what the significance of this is but just typed defaulting into a search box in google. The first thing autofill comes up with is defaulting on student loans. Must be a lot of folks out there weighing their options.
Defaulting on a mortgage is fourth. Behind credit cards and loans.
Nom,
You have mail
10
Housing starts jump?
Looks like mostly apartments and condos led the charge.
Some anecdata.
I’m seeing mostly the uptick is due to restarting stalled projects. Builders that had planned on building say 300 condo’s pulled the plug when the first hundred didn’t sell. Now they are restarting the projects slowly, building 25 at a time, or turning them into apartments.
A few companies are also “vulturing” dead projects, taking them over and starting them back up. Must be nice to have the site work and underground done for you. Does that count as a new “start”, I know new permits have to be filed.
I wouldn’t call any new construction activity in Central / South Jersey or PA significant though. Competition for new work is vicious. One of the biggest mechanical contractors in the area has no projects to bid next week, unheard of. By and large the only entities spending significant money are hospitals and colleges, and those are staring to slack off.
Nom you might like this:
it appears the UK is well ahead of the US at wiping out its middle class. They have decided to cut to the chase and declare all out war.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313511/Clegg-tax-war-middle-class-Families-face-lie-detector-tests.html
What is POMO?
Lib just saying it can be a long process to heal, get out of the hospital as fast as you can don’t want MRSA or a Staph infection either. Good luck guess your drving the Xterra for a while
“placing their mortgage payments in escrow for about 1 year now”
If they can make the payments, why destroy their own credit score? What’s the point?
Do they hope to get the house for free?
re: #36 – POMO is more unicorns and pixie dust but this time it is sprinkled on your portfolio.
Good place to keep track of current government strategy for Bankrupting America.
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/
Orion
Permanent Open Market Operations
http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/pomo/display/index.cfm
35.Mr Hyde says:
September 21, 2010 at 11:14 am
Nom you might like this:
it appears the UK is well ahead of the US at wiping out its middle class. They have decided to cut to the chase and declare all out war.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313511/Clegg-tax-war-middle-class-Families-face-lie-detector-tests.html
Not to worry, “O” will exempt Public Employees & other Criminals from that type of Legislation.
Double Down.
I believe its more principle,a big F U to the banks. The intention according to them is to play by the same rules the banks use. He hired an attorney to guide him through the process to ensure he follows the rules and doesn’t just “default”. His current servicer has apparently been unable/unwilling to prove that they hold the note to the house.
My understanding is that if his credit report is hit for this he can legitimately challenge it since the current servicer has failed to prove they has legal claim to the payments. I asked and to date his credit has not been hit.
Note: Dont try this at home unless you have a big brass set and a good attorney.
Yes Pain…old reliable goes into dry dock for a while now. I will have to start it periodically though. Good thing I have a newer battery in it I suppose.
Unfair – I agree. It should be 22 weeks.
“Federal workers reacted with anger as news spreads of a Colorado Congressman’s proposal for a 2-week furlough for the nation’s federal employees. “I think it’s unfair,” said Linda Pultz, a worker at the Department of Education. “Why should we all have to take two weeks off unpaid and not get anything out of it because I don’t think it’s going to solve anything.” “
Chairman
I don’t think it’s going to solve anything.” “
She’s right. We should disband the Dept of Ed. That would solve something.
Here is for Grand Ma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xycnv87N_BU&feature=channel
confused (40)-
More like cat urine.
POMO is permanent open market operations, for whoever wanted to know.
“POMO is more unicorns and pixie dust but this time it is sprinkled on your portfolio.”
All this new building activity is gret news. Extra inventory will just make the price correction lower than it would otherwise be.
I don’t know that I want a house built after 1980 (with some exceptions) but, I will take whatever extra downward pressure I can get on prices.
hyde (46)-
It’s not enough to disband them. At least 1/2 of them should be selected for summary execution so they can’t re-organize.
Shore (49)-
All a buyer is guaranteed to get when buying a new home now is a giant load of mold and possibly some burst pipes.
Ket,
I suspect we would geta far-greater bang for the buck, and greater kick-starting of the economy, by doubling or trippling NASA’s budget than with all the pothole filling BO has been doing — President Pothole, to me from now on.
Getting priced out of the hooker bubble?
Shore maybe Il Duce and the politburo should institute 5 year plans like Stalinist Russia and Maoist China. those have got to work, right?
Man BO has to know he is fcuked when a black female democrat finger wags at him that this isn’t the change she voted for.
Shore
I think there are significant barriers to growth through innovation at this point. Even if we pump money into innovation centers, any real innovation is going to be a disruptive technology. What established Corp giant is going to welcome the potential of a disruptive tech that could put them out of business. Any real innovation would be stopped in the beginning and/or legislation would be bought that would shut down the threatening innovation. Worst case scenario is that the innovation is co-opted by Corp giant and neutered. I expect wifi white space to be neutered in that exact manner.
Pumping money into NASA wont go anywhere until we get over a few astronauts dieing. How long was NASA at a stand still after challenger? There is no way we would have made it to the moon if the death of a few astronauts who were highly intelligent professionals and fully aware and accepting of the risks involved froze the entire organization in its tracks.
NASA would also need a clear mission that it is allowed to pursue to the best of its ability and not the political boondoggles such as the space shuttle.
Thanks for the additional details Hyde. Still sounds foolish, and expensive, to me.
Seriously? I think my 5 year old could have made better investment decisions…
AP Investigation: Calif. pension bonuses examined
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As its investment portfolio was losing nearly a quarter of its value, the country’s largest public pension fund doled out six-figure bonuses and substantial raises to its top employees, an analysis by The Associated Press has found.
Board member Tony Olivera said the California Public Employees’ Retirement System tried to reduce the bonuses but was under contractual obligations to pay them.
CalPERS’ plunging value came as stock values tumbled around the world, the state’s economy suffered its worst decline in decades and basic state services faced severe budget cuts.
Virtually all of CalPERS’ investment managers were awarded bonuses of more than $10,000 each, with several earning bonuses of more than $100,000 during the 2008-09 fiscal year. The cash awards were distributed as the fund lost $59 billion.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100921/ap_on_bi_ge/us_california_pensions_pay_hikes
Double down
Denniger seens to be answering your question today
The net effect here is that the buyers of said homes have a signature loan for the entire mortgage balance. If they do not pay, the holders of those notes (whoever can prove they actually are holding the note) can attempt to collect it. The buyer can in turn declare bankruptcy, discharging the note. In states where there is a 100% homestead exemption for a primary residence (Florida among others) this has the effect of the buyer getting a “free” house.
Note that the house isn’t really “free”. Yes, it’s free of debt, but the buyer, in order to avoid being hounded for the debt, still has to go through bankruptcy. He still has his credit trashed, and justly so.
But he doesn’t lose the house. It doesn’t fall into disrepair. It isn’t trashed on the way out, nor by vandals after the fact.
This is justice folks. It is not “unjust enrichment.”
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=167106
GORDON GEKKO : If there’s one thing I learned in prison it’s that money is not the prime commodity in our lives… time is.
Oh Shore don’t forget NASA is currently engaging the muslim world on amission of understanding. Since the adherents of islam seem to be on another planet so I can see Barry’s plan there. That whole technolgy thing they have typically been responsible for, that is going to have to be put on the backburner.
Democrats just as bad for science as the republicans. Repubs denounce it when it shines a poor light on business and national interests. Democrats only support it when it separates you from your liberties.
Pain 37 – Suregry is being done in an outpatient center for exactly that reason.
We’ll see how he feels afterwards. He might need to go live with his mom for a while post-op. That might be even worse than the whole injury/surgery/rehab thing.
Check out the depositions from the mortgage mess
Full Deposition of Beth Cottrell Chase Home Finance
http://tiny.cc/ll9oy
Some fun excerpts
.11 A. Amongst all the management we sign about
12 18,000 a month.
13 Q. And that would include affidavits and
14 assignments and the other documents you listed?
15 A. Everything.
16 Q. And how many folks are on what you call
17 the management?
18 A. Let’s see, eight.
2 Q. Well, just I’ll ask you in regards to the
3 entire affidavit. This was an introductory paragraph
4 I believe referring to the entire affidavit. It
5 stated you deposed on personal knowledge. As to
6 everything in the affidavit, did you have personal
7 knowledge?
8 A. My own personal knowledge, no.
So this lovely lady signed on average 2,200 affidavits per month or about 100 per day… Of course all state she has personal knowledge of all facts in all 100 per day.
Keep it up Gator and I’ll make you and Gator JR. come down to Jackson to live with me. I’ve already been told that there is no bluffing in the weekly poker game.
Bell officials doing the perp walk today.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/former-city-administrator-robert-rizzo-among-8-bell-officials-arrested.html
Dow Volume: 69.42M
Avg Vol: 189.60M
Waiting for 2:30P
Problem solved.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg864.htm
Beth Cottrell’s testimony means that assuming she worked 10 hours per day, she had about 6 minutes per affidavit to verify all the facts.
For the legal beagles on the blog, is this as ugly as it sounds? She was signing sworn affidavits at a rate of about 10o per day that would appear to all be perjured.
[69] hyde
Perjured? No. But clearly rubber-stamped.
BTW, this is not unusual.
Pain (54)-
That lady expected Bojangles to whore for her before whoring for his fascist bankster masters. He is the classic organ grinder’s monkey.
“Man BO has to know he is fcuked when a black female democrat finger wags at him that this isn’t the change she voted for.”
State unemployment: Jobs picture gets worse in 27 states
Annalyn Censky, staff reporter, On Tuesday September 21, 2010, 12:07 pm EDT
The national unemployment rate may have only ticked up slightly in August, but on a state-by-state basis, the jobs picture continues to look a lot more grim in places like Nevada, Michigan and California.
A total of 27 states reported higher unemployment rates in August, nearly double the 14 that saw increases in July, the Labor Department said in its monthly report on state unemployment Tuesday.
While the rate remained at 9.6% for the country as a whole, Nevada, Michigan and California have consistently racked up rates above 12%.
Nevada had the worst rate for the fourth month in a row, at a record high of 14.4%, up from 14.3% in July. Michigan followed with 13.1% unemployment, unchanged from the prior rate, and California was third with a 12.4% rate, an increase from 12.3% in July.
After Kentucky and Georgia joined the list, 13 states had unemployment rates above 10% in August, as opposed to 11 the previous month.
The jobless rates fell in 13 states, as opposed to 18 that saw decreases in July. Ten states and the District of Columbia had no rate change.
North Dakota remained the state with the lowest unemployment, posting a 3.7% rate, followed by South Dakota with 4.5% and Nebraska with 4.6%
Anyone who thinks #71 is racist can kiss my ass.
Gator you can also put Lib in the shed, give him a bedpan, and the hose for water. Call it punishment for being so cheap as to make you live in Montklair.
then again 4 weeks recovery with mom would drive any grown man insane enough to appreciate his wife.
good move on outpatient.
Nom,
In the deposition, it is stated that the affidavit states that the signatory is personally aware of of the facts within, it is then stated by the signatory that they are not personally aware of the facts.
From a legal stand point, what is the consequence of that if any? Her testimony contradicts the document that she signed. Isnt that generally a violation, whether fraud or something else?
hyde (55)-
NASA’s current mandate is to make kissy-face with the Muslim world.
As such, I believe this department should be starved of funding, then shuttered.
Unless we were to take up punishing capital crimes by giving these animals who commit them a one-way ticket to outer space.
[42] confused
“The detail of the tax crackdown was announced by the Lib Dem Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, who himself used a legal dodge to avoid paying thousands in capital gains tax on his second home.
He said that both legal tax avoidance and illegal tax evasion were unacceptable and ‘morally indefensible’. . . .
When tax avoidance is equated with tax evasion, that creates an incredible amount of uncertainty. That results in a bump in work for attorneys and accountants, but affects the competitive position of the businesses. I expect ads for Irish business development to run in the U.K. papers.
Confused what to N Dakota, S Dakota and Nebraska all have in common. Low taxes, low government burden on the populace, and little to no government debt.
most idiot politicians do not understand the connection.
Poltroon,
Perhaps NASA has actually been tasked with “Rods from God”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment
hyde (75)-
I don’t see what the problem is with all this MERS stuff is…since we are no longer a nation of laws, anyway.
This lady FELT like everything she signed off on was accurate. That’s good enough for most courts now.
pain (78)-
Women who can lift tractors?
“Confused what to N Dakota, S Dakota and Nebraska all have in common.”
Okay, a little music in celebration, uh, not so much, of our own Dear Leader. Njescapee, get to fingerpicking brother. Kettle, let me hear the cow bell. NJC, we need some food over here.
One, two, one, two, three four…
To the Tune of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Copyright 2010, poster known here as Shore Guy, ASCAP)
Ba-rack got run over by reality
On his way to create a socialist state
You might think its a setback for progressiveness
But the realists here amongst us think its great.
Barack thought he’d be a hero
Taking money from the “rich.”
Screwing those who made some money
And giving it to guys to dig ditch
Ba-rack got run over by reality
On his way to create a socialist state
You might think its a setback for progressiveness
But the realists here amongst us think its great.
Now he’s looking at a congress
Likely to go from blue to red
Now the lowercase “m” Messiah
Finds his once powerful mystique is all but dead
Ba-rack got run over by reality
On his way to create a socialist state
You might think its a setback for progressiveness
But the realists here amongst us think its great.
hyde (79)-
I want no less than gamma ray death lasers.
Hyde- The GMAC VP Jeffrey Stephan takes the cake he was signing 10k affidavits per month.
http://4closurefraud.org/2010/09/17/foreclosure-fraud-titles-used-by-jeffrey-stephan-of-gmac/
The foreclosure mill attorneys in Florida are being looked into by the Attorney general, don’t know about the other states.
Poltroon,
Hey, its not all bad
http://www.tftj.com/zhaopian/event/Teen/2006/9T15NDakota.jpg
[75] hyde
Perjury is tough to make stick. I believe it requires intent. If she, at the time, believed she knew enough, then it isn’t perjury, even if she later says she did not know everything. Personal knowledge doesn’t mean that she cannot rely on others for the knowledge. If the facts are in papers that she believed to be accurate, and scans them, then she can say she has personal knowledge. In fact, even if she didn’t, such knowledge could be imputed to her in certain circumstances.
In her depo, however, that knowledge could be tested. I would not have said what she said. Rather, I would have said that, “at the time, I thought I knew. In hindsight, however, it is clear that I did not.”
Study: Teacher bonuses don’t affect student tests
By DORIE TURNER, Associated Press Writer Dorie Turner, Associated Press Writer – 8 mins ago
ATLANTA – A new study shows that giving performance bonuses to teachers does not raise student test scores.
Vanderbilt University researchers found that students in classrooms where teachers received merit pay did not outperform the classes where educators got no bonus.
The report comes as the Obama administration pushes states to adopt merit pay for teachers as a way to overhaul public education and raise student achievement.
The study by Vanderbilt’s National Center on Performance Incentives looked at fifth- through eighth-grade math teachers in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools from 2007 to 2009.
It was billed as the first-ever scientific look at teacher merit pay in the United States
Seems like any judicial foreclosure state might me taking a look into the MERS fun and games.
Any attorney’s office that does foreclosures is a foreclosure mill. There’s no other way to do them than in massive volume.
I hope some of the lowlife shysters I’ve battled with over the past few years are having to reach for the Ambi<n now.
NJC,
Have you ever stayed/been to the Ritz Carlton on St. Thomas? I need to be on the island for a few days in October and it seemed to be the only place I would consider business class.
Juice 84
that works out to him signing 500 affidavits per day or about 1 affidavit per minute. If we are conservative and say he works 80hrs/week then he is still signing 1 affidavit every 2 minutes.
If those affidavits are allowed to stand in any shape or form then our legal system is beyond corrupt.
Nom,
then what is the end result? the affidavits are clearly inaccurate at best and fraudulent at worst. Per the linked affidavit, under questioning the witness answered that she did not know how actually held the note, just assumed.
It appears in lay terms that the affidavits should all be void at the minimum.
re #90 – Hyde – There still is a ticking time bomb and it is not resetting mortgage rates. The real problem is the contractual ability of investors in mortgage bonds Pension Funds etc to require banks to buy back the loans at face value if there was fraud in the origination process. Fannie and Freddie are trying to do just that right now and are hitting a Brick Wall. The Banks would need to buy all the fraudulent paper back, and the money needed dwarfs the capital available at the largest U.S. banks combined, in addition investor lawsuits could expose the banks to untold liabilities which will cause it all to collapse.
Nom,
I have signed a few affidavits before and they all had a statement that the affidavit was a swore statement under penalty of perjury. If the situation with the rubber stamping of these documents doesnt meet the perjury statement then said statement seems to be mostly toothless. In the case of the affidavits they are filled out by other people in the department then brought to this woman for signature.
Perhaps i am being thick, but in my field i deal with documents with similar requirements and people are expected to actually personally verify, not just rely on someone else. Companies tend to get into substantial trouble such as major recalls when it is found that they didnt follow procedure
Juice,
It would seem that one of the few ways around this mess would be for the federal government to step in with some sort of bought and paid for law for the banks. But that would also seem to run roughshod over established state laws. Perhaps that would be the impetus for Nom’s succession movement to begin.
At this point the MBS’s seem to hold nothing but naked loans in many cases if we assume that all involved were held to the letter of the law. of course the law only matters to the little people, so there shouldn’t be a problem here.
45.
We should shut the whole f_ckin dept of education down. F_ck the 2 week furlough for that useless bag of sh_t. Hand those pieces of garbage a shovel and have them dredge the intracoastal waterway starting at the dismal swamp. That will teach those self entitled, worthless, scumbags.
WOW
look what FOMC just did to FX
Mortgage guys in my building are handling a home re-fi for the owner of a real estate company who has three offices (20+ years in business). Many guffaws coming from their side right now.
He just called, as he has no idea what an IRS Form K-1 is.
New Jersey is among the the top states in the nation when it comes to percentage of adults with college degrees, according to a study released today.
According to the Lumina Foundation for Education, 44.6 percent of New Jerseyans hold a two- or four-year college degree, compared to the national average of 38 percent.
Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and North Dakota are the only states with higher rates than New Jersey, according to the report.
In 2008, more than 800,000, 18.2 percent, of New Jersey residents had some college, but no degree.
Somerset tops the list by county, with 60 percent of Somerset County residents holding a two or four-year degree, followed by Morris (58.3) and Bergen (55.1).
The counties with the lowest percentages of degree-holders are Cumberland (19.7), Salem (28.9) and Passaic (31.5).
Essex County has 39.3 percent of residents who hold degrees.
The report is based on 2008 Census data.
Lumina Foundation for Education is an Indiana-based group that works to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality, two- or four-year college degrees and credentials from 39 percent to 60 percent by 2025, according to its website.
hyde (96)-
Feh. Typical race-to-the-bottom stuff.
Guess Mrs. Watanabe is back in a tough spot now.
Interesting: (It also included a quirky finding, a study that calculated nearly 1 billion additional gallons of gasoline are used every year because of increases in car passengers’ weight since 1960).
WASHINGTON – Obesity puts a drag on the wallet as well as health, especially for women.
Doctors have long known that medical bills are higher for the obese, but that’s only a portion of the real-life costs.
George Washington University researchers added in things like employee sick days, lost productivity, even the need for extra gasoline — and found the annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman and $2,646 for a man.
That’s far more than the cost of being merely overweight — $524 for women and $432 for men, concluded the report being released Tuesday, which analyzed previously published studies to come up with a total.
Why the difference between the sexes? Studies suggest larger women earn less than skinnier women, while wages don’t differ when men pack on the pounds. That was a big surprise, said study co-author and health policy professor Christine Ferguson.
Researchers had expected everybody’s wages to suffer with obesity, but “this indicates you’re not that disadvantaged as a guy, from a wage perspective,” said Ferguson, who plans to study why.
Then consider that obesity is linked to earlier death. While that’s not something people usually consider a pocketbook issue, the report did average in the economic value of lost life. That brought women’s annual obesity costs up to $8,365, and men’s to $6,518.
The report was financed by one of the manufacturers of gastric banding, a type of obesity surgery.
The numbers are in line with other research and aren’t surprising, said Dr. Kevin Schulman, a professor of medicine and health economist at Duke University who wasn’t involved in the new report.
Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, and childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Nearly 18 percent of adolescents now are obese, facing a future of diabetes, heart disease and other ailments.
Looking at the price tag may help policymakers weigh the value of spending to prevent and fight obesity, said Schulman, pointing to factors like dietary changes over the past 30 years and physical environments that discourage physical activity.
“We’re paying a very high price as a society for obesity, and why don’t we think about it as a problem of enormous magnitude to our economy?” he asks. “We’re creating obesity and we need to do a man-on-the-moon effort to solve this before those poor kids in elementary school become diabetic middle-aged people.”
A major study published last year found medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for the obese than normal-weight people. Tuesday’s report added mostly work-related costs — things like sick days and disability claims — related to those health problems.
It also included a quirky finding, a study that calculated nearly 1 billion additional gallons of gasoline are used every year because of increases in car passengers’ weight since 1960.
It never fails to amaze me that the media types will regurgitate numbers like this without asking how they were arrived at:
” ….and found the annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman and $2,646 for a man.
That’s far more than the cost of being merely overweight — $524 for women and $432 for men, concluded the report being released Tuesday …”
More totally absurd junk science, and they’ll try to use it to justify some sort of “obesity” tax, like the soda tax.
Juice,
My understanding of the MERS issue is that the method used to transfer the mortgages through MERS separated the note from the title. If that stands then all the MBS processed through MERS are toast. They are nothing but unsecured loans. It would also appear that the home owner would then hold the title. of course who ever legally holds the note at that point could peruse the homeowner for the naked note. But in places like florida primary residence is protected from any bankruptcy, so worst case the homeowner has the home free and clear
102.scribe says:
September 21, 2010 at 3:34 pm
It never fails to amaze me that the media types will regurgitate numbers like this without asking how they were arrived at:
” ….and found the annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman and $2,646 for a man.
That’s far more than the cost of being merely overweight — $524 for women and $432 for men, concluded the report being released Tuesday …”
More totally absurd junk science, and they’ll try to use it to justify some sort of “obesity” tax, like the soda tax
True enough, although I did go from 130lb in 1960, to 156lb in 2010. My 4 cylinder 2008 Subaru Legacy gets better gas milage though, then my 6 cylinder 1960 Ford Fairlane 500, so hopefully that compensates for my weight gain..
Nom
I was beginning to recite to the lawyer what I had typically recited, that there was no affidavit in opposition. And the lawyer said, “Well, I thought you might want to see this,” and handed me some documents which were from another file in our circuit, and it turned out, it was the same note and mortgage that was in a separate and independent file.
There was a different plaintiff pursuing a foreclosure proceeding on the same note and mortgage as the one that was being proceeded on. Both of the cases contained allegations in the original complaints that the separate plaintiffs were owners and holders of the note. Both of them had gone so far to have affidavits filed in support of a summary judgment whereby an individual represented to the court in the affidavit that the separate plaintiffs had possessed the note and had lost the note while it was in their possession.
Interestedly, both affidavits, although they were different plaintiffs, purported the same facts and they were executed by the same individual in alleged capacity as a director of two separate corporations, one of which was ultimately found to me to be an assignee of the original note
Come on now, this rises above “oops”. The same person sworn to the same set of facts on 2 different affidavits.
http://4closurefraud.org/2010/09/21/gmac-v-visicaro-judge-rondolino-i-really-honestly-dont-have-any-confidence-that-any-of-the-documents-the-courts-are-receiving-on-these-mass-foreclosures-are-valid/
The cost of being overweight is reflected in the new clothes you have to buy as you get fatter. I’ve seen credible studies that showed that the long term cost of being overweight and out of shape is actually cheaper than the long term cost of your long living healthy individual. That’s because, you have a heart attack and die fast. Those healthy individuals are the ones that hold on for decades with health complications. In that case, death becomes pretty expensive.
Nom,
Take a look at page 15, line 20 of the transcript int he link at 105. The judge suggests that perjury may well be an issue.
re: #103 – Hyde – my take it was a transfer of debt but not title. The shell game here is exposed in the full light of day as well as anyone could ever hope, yet Congress did nothing to reform it, the FBI is not touching it and the courts so far are waffling. In other words lawyer up and hope for the best, however it is still a numbers game and how many people actually facing foreclosure on debt they did rightfully sign on the dotted line for take on the banks with the deep pockets and hope to win?
Bloomberg reporting that Larry Summers will leave after mid-terms.
First Orzag out, Goolsbee in. Then Warren promoted while the Three Amigas languish. Now Summers out.
Anyone sense another lurch to the left coming after the midterms?
(oh, and administration continues to suppress expatriate report)
Apparently, WH is trashing Summers behind the scenes. Suggests that he isn’t leaving for a new opportunity.
[105] hyde
Doesn’t surprise me that “facts” in general would be identically described. They often are, except for minutae like dates and names.
I assume only white people are allowed to kiss your ass……
73.Poltroon says:
September 21, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Anyone who thinks #71 is racist can kiss my ass.
61. Oedipus Stu?
106. A .38 taken orally will solve that Benjamin.
Lovely afternoon btw. Watch the kiddo and her mom decorate a sukkot.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Interview Excerpt
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/63073394/
(115) It’s a sukkah Equus. Sukkot is plural.
juice (108)-
I think it best that we pause here a moment to remember that banks own America. They also own Congress, the courts and the president.
Nothing will happen regarding fraudulent conveyance of mortgage notes.
Plume (109)-
Fired is too good for Summers. He should be charged with treason, tried, convicted and executed.
Now, we just need Shalom and the Tax Cheat 86’d, and we can go from hurtling toward oblivion to numbly hopeless.
Before he’s executed, Summers should be crucified, and all the women in the math department at Harvard should be allowed to shoot him in the testicles with acid-dipped darts.
122. 3 people — the same tedious three people show for the Sukkoh thingee….I gotta find a new congregation. Stat!
Gotta get away from Livingston. The Jews there are mean.
Come out by me. Our congregation is really nice.
It may be because they’re way outnumbered by large, fat goyim.
large, fat goyim.
I blame bacon.
I can’t help but notice the similarities:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/21/california.bell.arrests/index.html?hpt=T1
to
http://www.ripten.com/2008/10/06/blizzcon-08-approaches-make-love-not-warcraft/
Obama to Summers: “You told me you understood economics.”
123. Mean, dumb, and manic. A lethal triumvirate.
127/ Summers to Obama….Economics is an art not a science.
124. I like my Jews infused with a healthy sense of realism….
like this: http://www.theocracywatch.org/christian_zionism.htm
129
Obama back to Summers: “Is that why you always paint trend lines onto those graphs of GDP you keep showing me?”
131. trend lines? those were skid marks from my fat ass overhang.
Carl Paladino on WOR radio this morning. Incredible. The guy was so on the money that it was stunning. After he was done subtlely filleting Cuomo with a razor blade, he talked about how the ONLY thing that mattered was family. He was dripping with sincerity as he talked about family. He said he’s in for one four year term and then done! He said he doesn’t need the money, friends or a pat on the back. He truly wants to fulfill the will of the people and will hold daily press conferences. No long term planning bullsh1t with shelved projects. He said as soon as he gets in, demolition begins… big time. This guy needs to get elected. Also said he loves what Christie is doing.
#133 gary
Small problem in that, he is totally unelectable. A Tea Party candidate throwing Sister Sarah under the bus takes a special type of Bat Sh1t crazy!
“I suspect we would geta far-greater bang for the buck, and greater kick-starting of the economy, by doubling or trippling NASA’s budget ”
What about Star Wars 2.0. The defence secitor needs the work now the wars are ending.
Seeing a dream world world through activist eyes…
“Long before America was even an idea, this land of plenty was home to many peoples. The British and French, the Dutch and Spanish, to Mexicans, to countless Indian tribes. We all shared the same land,” President Obama told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Mexico declared its independence on September 16, 1810. It was recognized on September 27, 1821.
The United States of America declared its independence in 1776.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/09/21/obama_mexicans_were_here_long_before_america_was_even_an_idea.html
Qwerty
The British and French, the Dutch and Spanish, to Mexicans, to countless Indian tribes. We all shared the same land
yes, and most of those groups were busy killing each other for control of territory
#136 Qwerty
As Mexico City was founded in 1524, technically someone from there could have been called that before independence. Am I being too pedantic?
Fabius
yes you are. At that point Mexico city was a monument to the fall of one empire and the dominance of the europeans. Mexico as a cohesive nation was still far from existance at that point.
The Mexico of 1821 was an amalgam of European and native cultures. Mexico city of the 1500’s was still very much an outpost of European colonialism
Fab, let’s just give it all away. My family deserves a special credit since my wife is part Native American. Maybe 10% off our annual tax bill and free college for our grandchildren, oh and how about free medicare parts a, b, c, d, and whatever will come after that.
Life imitates Simpsons:
A few years ago, officials in Brooklyn, New York came up with a seemingly brilliant idea to deal with the rat-infestation problem in their borough: release opossums into the neighborhood to eat the rats. Once the rat population disappeared, officials surmised, the opossums would have nothing to eat and would disappear as well.
Like most ham-handed government efforts at social engineering, this one backfired: the opossums showed no interest in the rats, taking instead to rummaging through trash for food. Meanwhile, they procreated like mad. Result: Brooklyn is now overrun with rats and opossums.
“Mouse-eating opossums run amok in Brooklyn”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/rat_bastards_f5onjzgcqxm0fu3RFz3ySL
# 140 nj escapee,
IF you want to move the topic to discuss Native American rights, I’ll have the debate.
The most annoying point here is the use of the term “activist”. Anytime I see words like that and “community organiser”, used it usually shows there is no serious intent to debate the issues and all you will get will be Ad Hominen agruements.
142, Fabius, your point is well taken. I was actually referring to the President’s message in the video to the “Hispanic Caucus.” Don’t we all have dreams? I want a break for my children as much as those members in the “Hispanic Caucus.”
Hi guys,
Long time lurker here and I know we have some math whizzes here homework is due tommorrow :)
anyone? thanks
7a-3a=a
a-5=1.5a-6
need to find a for both and the variable has to be the same #
Would love to see a breakdown of where those degrees are located. I’d venture a large portion are in the bedroom communities of North Jersey.
Confused In NJ says:
September 21, 2010 at 2:54 pm
New Jersey is among the the top states in the nation when it comes to percentage of adults with college degrees, according to a study released today.
According to the Lumina Foundation for Education, 44.6 percent of New Jerseyans hold a two- or four-year college degree, compared to the national average of 38 percent.
Re: ridiculously tiny bathtubs… has anyone replaced? #4
Anonymous Not standard for someone/op who’s got some spare tires around his waistline fighting for space with the manboobs hanging down from above.
http://www.hobokenx.com/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=28798&forum=7
#143 nj escapee
I didn’t hear the word dream used in that video. I did hear references back to the founding fathers who did have a dream.
As for congressional caucuses, I would be more worried about the likes of the Congressional Western Caucus. They’ll try and secede from the union at the drop of a ten gallon hat
http://www.kannekt.com/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=28810&forum=6&post_id=215510#forumpost215510
hi. im still in college and im curious how do any of you can afford this? This has always been my dream and i’ve been told it is impossible to own an apartment in this area with a view of manhatten, so please any suggestions? thanks
http://www.kannekt.com/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=28805&forum=9&post_id=215477#forumpost215477
Dick Lazio seems to have a Monty Pythonish come-back-here-I’ll bite your kneecaps feel about him:
http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo?site=newsday&view=breaking_news_item&feed:a=newsday_1min&feed:c=breakingnews&feed:i=1.2307947
149. Uh huh. So mom and dad loaned you money for your first place. I knew there was a reason I thought you were a punk.
Great post, I’m waiting for another!
hi. im still in college and im curious how do any of you can afford this? This has always been my dream and i’ve been told it is impossible to own an apartment in this area with a view of manhatten, so please any suggestions? thanks
thompson44