From: LaRochePac
In separate actions, investigations
were announced in recent days against Bank of America, Bank of New York
Mellon and Deutsche Bank, for violations in the mortgage securitization
fraud. In what could be a significant development, the Attorneys General
of New York, Eric Schneiderman, has teamed up with his counterpart in
Delaware, Joseph "Beau" Biden III. Between the two states, they account
for 100% of the "trust law" (New York 80%) applicable to banks, who
acted as "trustees" in the multibillion-dollar mortgage securitization
theft. The two, acting together, have requested documents from Bank of
New York Mellon and Deutsche Bank. Separately, Schneiderman has expanded
his probe to include Bank of America.
These means a total of three states' Attorneys General, those of New
York, California and Delaware, are conducting parallel investigations
into mortgage fraud by Wall Street.
The two AGs are looking into the paper trail when the mortgages were
transferred under the "securitization" process. The rules for property
transfer under "trust" law are detailed and explicit; a failure under
any aspect of the transfer process would result in the invalidation of
the entire "collateralized" security, leaving the banks on the hook for
the billions they thought they "sold." As described by Georgetown
University bankruptcy expert Adam Levitin, in testimony to subcommittee
of the House Financial Services Committee, "If mortgages were not
properly transferred in the securitization process, then mortgage-backed
securities would in fact not be backed by any mortgages whatsoever,
[and] could cloud title to nearly every property in the United States."
It would also raise the question of the legality of the resulting
millions of foreclosures on American homeowners, since the banks cannot
prove "ownership" of the foreclosed property.
In reality, the entire process needs to be "frozen;" the derivatives
declared null and void; the mortgages are examined in their original
condition, to keep people in their houses, while we find out who owns
what. Glass-Steagall would help this process.
No comments:
Post a Comment