Forensic Loan Audits Save Homes

by: Anthony Hayes

Foreclosure statistics are still on the rise. Despite government intervention, people continue to churn and burn while desperately hoping for a Loan Mod. Reports abound of unfair disqualifications, lost paperwork, completed trial modifications followed by trustee auction dates, and “understaffed” loss mitigation departments. Nobody knows just how many homes have been lost to foreclosure due to lender ineptitude. Foreclosure departments seem to be adequately staffed however.

Lenders, bankers, news media – and even government officials warn you away from seeking professional services to help you save your financial life and your home. . . Why? Perhaps this July 2009 Boston Globe article sheds some light: “Lenders avoid redoing loans, Fed concludes, Study cites lack of profit in aiding the distressed” One of the key points discussed is the refusal of lenders to staff up.

Could it be that lenders would rather foreclose and short sell than save homes? There is a video about the sweet deal the FDIC has made with Indy Mac circulating around the web. It may shed some light on escalating short sales and foreclosures. Tila Solutions personnel hear from homeowners daily how they are being forced into foreclosure or short sale by their banks. This strongly suggests that the findings in this video have merit.

In summary, the video explains that IndyMac makes more money foreclosing, short selling, and collecting from the FDIC than they do modifying loans. There have also been reports alleging that the deal has been made with other banks who bought out failing loans, such as Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. From the newspaper reports and the calls received at Tila Solutions, it would seem that American Homeowners are victims of a scam by the banks.

Apparently money for the banks is in foreclosure and short sales. Loan Mods are not profitable and the professionals that could and do help are often maligned. (Sum it up to companies like Tila Solutions are cutting into the bank profits when they save homes). And that would make sense when you think about the one simple fact: Bankers are in the business of making money. Tila Solutions is in the business of providing forensic loan audits, and helping homeowners save their homes. Certainly this will not make the banks as much money as they’d like.

But, how did we end up as a nation in foreclosure? Who did it? More importantly, who scammed you originally, and who is still scamming you now? Just follow this trail.

Make your own decision: Should you continue to put your trust in banks and officials that have taken our nation down this road? Or should you consider the merits of a company like Tila Solutions who investigates loans, and uses those Forensic Loan Audits to help homeowners save their homes through successful loan modification or other negotiations?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is great that attorneys general have gotten some relief for homeowners – but how much solace is a $2,000 or $6,000 check when you were scammed into a loan by the bank which only left you homeless and penniless after a few short years?

Look at the date on this article from the Orlando Sentinel:

'Tough Rules In Works For Lenders Involved In Defaults By Kenneth R. Harney-- May 16, 1999 - In a move that could provide stronger consumer protections for more than 1 million new home buyers a year, the federal government plans to take a novel, get-tough approach with lenders: It's going to hold thousands of banks and mortgage companies directly responsible for the number of home buyers they finance who fall into default or foreclosure within the first 24 months after loan closing.

'For those lenders deemed to have too many seriously delinquent new customers on their books, the government plans to pull the plug - cutting off their rights to receive federal mortgage insurance to back additional home loans.'

Today, it is estimated that more than 79% of the loans issued over the past decade contain federal violations and are in fact predatory loans. It is also one of the major contributing factors to the astronomically escalating foreclosures and bankruptcies over the past five years. What happened to those “tough rules”? And how many banks issued predatory loans that they then collected that federal mortgage insurance on after they foreclosed on the homeowner? Often foreclosure came as a shock to the homeowner – he had continuously been told by the bank that they were going to give him a loan mod. Tila hears from and helps these homeowners every day.

And what do we see ten years later in this June 2009 Sentinel Article?

“…a set of national reforms called the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which took effect in May and was drafted to keep appraisers from altering property values to please lenders. The code was initiated after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo prosecuted the giant home-mortgage lender Washington Mutual in 2007 for working in collusion with a large appraisal firm.”

And where is WaMu today? Seattle Times reported in October of 2009, that the fallout from the 'biggest banking collapse in U.S. history shows no sign of ending soon.” What fallout are they referring to? It’s the lawsuits alleging securities fraud, the federal investigations on “whether fraud played a role in WaMu’s collapse,” and bankruptcy. Of course, WaMu was shut down by the FDIC, and Chase was forced to buy their failing loans. Of course, Tila Solutions gets hundreds of calls from homeowners, desperate to stop Chase from foreclosing on their WaMu loans.

Ah ok, now we see it: WaMu issued loans for more money than the properties were actually worth, and was involved in fraud and fraudulent practices. Today, Chase is servicing all those loans. How many of you have a loan with Chase where you have tried to get a principal balance reduction? How’d that go? Still burning and churning in the Loan Mod Department? Or are you one of the more recent statistics – a person who thought they were getting a loan mod, even made all your trial mod payments, and then received your auction date in the mail? Tila gets more complaints about Chase’s tactics than any other bank. Sadly, Chase tells people they will modify their loans for free and not to seek professional assistance. They’re also being sued by homeowners for foreclosing on them after Chase told the homeowner to miss payments, then they could do a loan mod --- seems Chase foreclosed instead. . . hmmm

But, at least we can take comfort in the knowledge that our government is after these vultures who scammed you into toxic loans and then preyed upon you with false hope and promises while they took your home away . . .

In a press release issued in July of 2009, The Montana Attorney General announced: “. . . consumers who lost their homes through the foreclosure of some Countrywide home loans are eligible for a settlement of about $2,000 each.” The press release also stated “lenders like Countrywide talked a lot of consumers into loans they had little hope of ever paying back.”

Then again we see a February 20l0 press release by Florida State Attorney General: “In July 2008, the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Countrywide, one of the nation’s largest mortgage companies, for allegedly engaging in deceptive and unfair trade practices.” The Attorney General’s lawsuit claimed Countrywide “put borrowers into mortgages they couldn’t afford or loans with rates and penalties that were misleading.” Florida borrowers will get $6,000 each.

Ok, folks, please take a moment and thank our government for taking action. We certainly did not see media coverage of these breakthroughs making the rounds, now did we? Nothing but feeble attempts and feeble notifications of the fact that banks, in essence, scammed people and got caught. Honestly, the hard work of the Attorneys General should have made a much more impressive splash across the media. Many homeowners still, to this day, appear to put their faith in the banks – but would they have if our government’s efforts to stop the bank scams had made a much bigger media splash?

Summing things up then:

• Banks ignored the federal laws that protect you, passing out millions of predatory loans,

• Now they’re failing.

• But we are seeing a couple of investigations . . . nothing that really makes the press for long it seems . . .

• Yet FDIC is rewarding them handsomely when they short sell and foreclose.

• Banks are getting sued . . . oh and suing each other too

• Despite their crimes, including fraud and deceptive practices, they got $75 billion dollars to help you save your home – which seems to be in or headed to foreclosure anyway.

• You may get a couple of grand for the crimes they committed (not even enough to pay new closing costs, or get a new rental in most cases).

Can we be so bold as to assume that under the pretense of “working” to modify loans, they are taking homes in record numbers? Tila sees the rising foreclosure statistics as a strong indication that this is the case.

Why is there no steady onslaught of media reports on this? How come the attention is again diverted off the bankers’ actions? How is bilking homeowners out of thousands of dollars in trial mod payments before their homes are foreclosed upon not a scam? Tila Solutions helps homeowners stop these actions daily.

In an article in the March 4th 2010, Orlando Sentinel, we see that Bank of America (who bought Countrywide failing loans) carries the lowest scores for loan mods: “The lender, one of the nation's biggest banks, holds more than a million mortgages that are months behind on their payments — twice as many defaulting home loans as any other lender in the country. But it has given permanent mortgage modifications to only about 1 percent of those borrowers — one of the lowest rates among lenders nationally.”

But that same article gives us a glowing report of how well Bank of America is doing on fixing/ramping up their Short Sale Dept. hmmm – so maybe there is truth to those FDIC claims . . . The reports continue to pour into Tila from homeowners that BofA is foreclosing on-- often after they completed their three trial mod payments.

Meanwhile, there have been various media reports stating that some of the other large banks are finally starting to report 2% on the success scale for permanent mods. Droves of homeowners continue to come forward reporting abusive practices on temporary or trial mods . . . And please, let’s not forget the thousands upon thousands of complaints that are posted all over the internet about the way the banks have treated their homeowners, processed their paperwork (well lost it actually) and took their homes often without the homeowner even knowing. Tila Solutions is not the only company that is receiving daily cries for help from anguished homeowners.

So where are we headed?

The Kansas City Business Journal in March of 20l0 has reported that many more bank failures are predicted: “140 banks failed in 2009. The FDIC recently said its problem loan list included 702 banks as of Dec. 31, up from 552 in September. So expect more bank failures and consolidations in 2010.”

Thus it seems that the cards are stacked against the American Homeowner. Yet, there is something very significant in this trail. Investigations have resulted in fraud and federal violations being found and addressed – albeit not adequately by our government, but even they cannot ignore them. Thus, one can surmise that when federal violations and fraud are found doors have opened – at any level. Tila Solutions finds these violations, and doors do open – no matter how the lenders may wish to deny it. TILA, RESPA, HOEPA, ECOA and Fraud violations when found in a loan open doors and save homes.

Are you still wondering if you should trust the bank’s promise to give you that loan mod? Are you still trying to decide if it is time you got a forensic loan audit? No matter what, the facts speak for themselves. What are the facts of your loan? How can those facts help save your home?

It is probably time you contacted Tila Solutions and took matters into your own hands. Just remember this: The bank wants your money and your home. Take action and give yourself a fighting chance. Get a Forensic Loan Review and let the people at Tila negotiate new terms for you with the bank.

Tila Solutions can be contacted at 1 307 459--0232. You can find out more about Tila and Forensic Loan Reviews at http://www.tilasolutions.com/