(Reuters) – Four years after the banking system nearly collapsed from reckless mortgage lending, federal prosecutors have stayed on the sidelines, even as judges around the country are pointing fingers at possible wrongdoing.

via  Reuters.

To put things a bit more precisely, the mortgage securitization trust is the party that needs to be able to foreclose, but if the notes weren’t conveyed properly to it in the stipulated time frame, it does not have the legal standing to do so (presumably, a party earlier in the securitization chain can, but no one wants them to foreclose, since it would confirm that the MBS is in part if not in whole, not mortgage backed).

vianaked capitalism.

State attorneys general told five of the nation’s largest banks on Tuesday they face a potential liability of at least $17 billion in civil lawsuits if a settlement isn’t reached to address improper foreclosure practices, according to people familiar with the matter.

via WSJ.com.

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, saying that years of unscrupulous lending still haunts the state, is creating a 25-person task force to target mortgage fraud of any size — from small operations that preyed on troubled borrowers to corporations that sold risky loans as safe investments.

via latimes.com.

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today announced formal enforcement actions against eight national bank mortgage servicers and two third-party servicer providers for unsafe and unsound practices related to residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing.

The eight servicers are Bank of America, Citibank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, PNC, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The two service providers are Lender Processing Services (LPS) and its subsidiaries DocX, LLC, and LPD Default Solutions, Inc.; and MERSCORP and its wholly owned subsidiary, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS).

via OCC

The bank executives who committed fraud should be prosecuted. Any settlement needs to go beyond fixing paperwork, fully addressing ongoing abuse and ending the flood of unnecessary foreclosures.

via naked capitalism.

This chart documents where his mortgage note was supposed to go in accordance with the securitization documents and how it never got there based on his detailed examination and investigation of the the shoddy paperwork. You will notice the decidedly adversarial tone of this piece.

via Phil’s Stock World.

Lets Set the Record Straight on Bank of America: Open the Books! William K. Black and L. Randall Wray Posted: November 4, 2010 06:06 PM While we welcome Bank of Americas response to our two-part essay, “Foreclose on the Foreclosure Fraudsters,” it does not actually respond to any of the facts or analytical points we made. Indeed, it does not engage the issues we raised. Bank of Americas response contains some useful data on foreclosures that supports points we have made in prior articles, but overwhelmingly it is a plea for sympathy; Bank of America says it is beset by deadbeat borrowers and it is distressed that it is criticized when it forecloses on their homes. Bank of America portrays itself as the victim of an ungrateful public. Bank of America Should be Placed in Receivership NOW

via Your Economy

In an internal memo dated Sept. 17 and marked “urgent,” brokers and agents of the company’s GMAC mortgage unit were ordered to immediately halt evictions. Ally, the nation’s fourth-largest home loan originator, may “need to take corrective action in connection with some foreclosures”

via washingtonpost.

LOS ANGELES—A federal judge here largely rejected efforts by three former top executives of Countrywide Financial Corp. to have the Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil-fraud case against them dismissed.

via WSJ.com.