-
The Independent Foreclosure Review Is Neither Independent Nor A Review
Over the course of this year, I have written about the Independent Foreclosure Review several times. In February, I wrote about the job postings for ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Deposition of A Former Countrywide Employee Reveals A Broken Loan Review Process
The deposition of Glenn Hubbard has been making the rounds this week. If you have ever watched the documentary, Inside Job, then you may be familiar ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
How Identity Theft Happens
Identity theft can be extremely harmful to your credit rating. It is very difficult to repair a credit report, and adding identity theft into the mix ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Short Sales Increase As Clock Ticks Down On Tax Exemption
As reported by David Dayden at Firedoglake, short sales have increased significantly in the third and fourth quarters of 2012. This is largely due to ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Correcting Your Credit Report Can Involve A Lot Of Work
Many consumers think that fixing errors on their credit reports is as simple as filing a dispute online. After all, Transunion, Equifax, and Experian ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Forgiven Mortgage Debt Tax Exemption Still Set To Expire
In 2007, President G.W. Bush signed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act into law. The Act exempts forgiven mortgage debt as the result of a ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
The CFPB and the FTC Team Up to Target Deceptive Mortgage Ads
The FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have announced that they are beginning a broad series of investigations into potentially ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Holiday Spending and Bankruptcy
As we head into the winter holiday season, many consumers increase their spending. For consumers waiting for the New Year to get a fresh start in ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Has There Been Significant HAMP Oversight?
It is pretty well-known that HAMP has not been the government's most successful program. Although it was expected to assist millions of homeowners, ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Non-Profit Seeking To Buy and Forgive Debts
An offshoot of Occupy Wall Street is organizing to purchase and forgive bundles of debts. The group, called Rolling Jubilee , will be raising funds in ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
1 in 98 Chicago-area Homes in Foreclosure
According to RealtyTrac , 1 in 98 homes in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitican Statistical Area are in foreclosure. To make matters worse, ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
The Independent Foreclosure Review Benefits Auditors More Than Homeowners
Those of you who have been following the foreclosure crisis since the beginning may recall that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency entered ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
One Man's Perfect Credit Score; Five Ways To Improve Yours; Ten Things You Didn't Know About It
I recently read this article about Tom Pavelka, an Ohio resident with a near-perfect credit score (848/850). Although Mr. Pavelka and his wife have a ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Five Considerations for Couples Considering Bankruptcy AND Divorce
It is an unfortunate truth that some couples facing financial hardship are also considering dissolving their marriage. Here are five things to ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
The CFPB Is Now Accepting Complaints About Credit Reporting
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now accepting complaints about credit reporting via its online tool. These complaints are actually ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Oversee Debt Collectors Beginning January 2, 2013
In the new year, the CFPB will be regulating the debt collection industry . This represents the first time that one federal agency will have the ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Just When You Thought A Debt Collector Couldn't Sink Any Lower. . .
One of the hazards of being an attorney is that, sooner or later, very little will shock you. I thought I'd heard the worst of the worst in debt ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Credit Reports and Household Debt -- An Infographic
I stumbled upon this infographic not too long ago. It has some interesting information regarding how credit scores are factored. It also includes some ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
The National Mortgage Settlement and Dual Tracking
On October 2, 2012, the National Mortgage Settlement's servicing regulations went into effect. One of the provisions that people often misunderstand ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Rich Dad, Poor Dad Author Files For Bankruptcy Protection -- For His Corporation
It's obvious that I don't pay enough attention to "wealth building" schemes. Prior to reading this article about Robert Kiyosaki, I had no idea that ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
October 2, 2012 -- The National Mortgage Settlement Servicing Standards Are In Effect
As of October 2, the servicing standards included in the National Mortgage Settlement went into effect. This means that the five largest banks in the ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan Sending Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Letters
A client recently notified me that the Illinois Attorney General is sending out notices to Illinois homeowners regarding the National Mortgage ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
The CFPB Pulls A Hat Trick, Announces Third Credit Card Settlement
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a highly effective regulator. It has obviously been spending some significant time investigating credit ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Is A Short Sale A Good Idea? Look At Days On The Market
If you've been paying attention to local news lately, you may have heard that Chicago's real estate market has finally hit bottom and rebounded -- ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Appellate Court of Illinois (Second District): No Commemorative Assignments in Foreclosures
It finally happened. After several disappointing decisions, the Appellate Court of Illinois has finally released a foreclosure-related opinion that I ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
FHFA Proposal Seeks To Penalize Illinois Home Buyers
The FHFA, which is the agency that oversees Fannie and Freddie, has proposed a mortgage surcharge for five states -- one of which is Illinois. Under ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
HAMP Study: Mortgage Servicers Could Have Done Better
A study recently conducted by economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Columbia Business School, the University of Chicago, the Office of ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Discover Settles With The CFPB -- Must Refund $200 Million to Customers
It wasn't too long ago that the CFPB forced Capital One to refund $210 million to its customers for misleading them about the cost of various optional ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Chicago Tribune: Mortgage Cops Are Coming For You
Last week, the Chicago Tribune ran this article. In the article, it is implied that homeowners who choose to strategically default on their mortgages ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Debt Collectors Using Local Prosecutors' Letterhead to Collect Debts
According to the New York Times, debt collectors in certain jurisdictions have been using the letterhead of the local prosecutor's office in order to ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
What Is Force-Placed Insurance?
If you have a mortgage, then odds are that the mortgage provides for force-placed insurance. Force-placed insurance is a common feature in mortgages. ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Strategic Default Increasingly Common Among Baby Boomers
According to YouWalkAway.com, Baby Boomers are increasingly likely to strategically default on their mortgages. YouWalkAway surveyed its customers and ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Chicago Foreclosure Auctions See Dramatic Increase in First Half of 2012
Through the first half of the year, foreclosure auctions in Chicago more than doubled. In fact, according numbers released by the Woodstock Institute ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
New Data on Underwater Borrowers
Dr. Stan Humphries, the Chief Economist at Zillow.com, recently released some data from the Zillow Negative Equity Report. Some of the data may be a ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
New FHFA Guidelines to Streamline Short Sale Process
On August 21, the FHFA announced new short sale guidelines for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The guidelines, which go into effect on ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Why a Strategic Foreclosure Does Not Mean "Just Walk Away"
I frequently receive calls from prospective clients who have friends in California that simply walked away from an underwater home. This may work in ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Woodstock Institute Reports A Spike in Completed Foreclosures
Although there are no accurate foreclosure numbers on a national scale, the Woodstock Institute does a good job of keeping track of foreclosure data ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Hope LoanPort(R) and Your Loan Modification
If you are seeking a loan modification from Bank of America, you will soon be required to submit your documents through an online portal called Hope ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
How Many Foreclosures Have Happened Since the Housing Market Crashed?
Frighteningly enough, nobody knows . I spend a lot of time absorbing data about the housing market. More often than not, when one news outlet reports, ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Sen. Jeff Merkley Has a Great Idea for Underwater Homeowners
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has drafted a modest proposal for creating a modern version of the Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC) to bail out ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
FHFA Director DeMarco Ignores Facts, Refuses To Permit Principal Reductions
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the entity that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, recently released a study demonstrating that principal ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
The CFPB's First Enforcement Action -- Capital One To Pay $210 Million
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced its first public enforcement action last week. The settlement involves Capital One and ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Did You Know That There Is An Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight?
If you answered, "No," to that question, you're among the vast majority. The Office was created to monitor the banks that are subject to the 49 state ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
DOJ Announces Subprime Mortgage Settlement with Wells Fargo
A multi-million dollar fair-lending settlement was recent announced by the Justice Department. Specifically, the settlement concludes a particular ...
Posted By
Atlas Consumer Law
Continue Reading
-
Independent Foreclosure Review Deadline Extended, Compensation Schedule Released
In the past, I have written about the Independent Foreclosure Review. I have not always been very enthusiastic about the chances of significant relief ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Following Mortgage Modification, Majority of Borrowers Fall Behind Again
A recently released study discovered that many borrowers that are behind on their mortgages and work with lenders to get mortgage modifications simply ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
POSSIBLE SCAM ALERT: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Does NOT Offer Debt Consolidation Services
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's blog, there is a new potential scam out in the wild -- people contacting consumers who pose as ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Releases Credit Card Complaint Database
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently made its credit card complaint database available to the public. The data is being refreshed ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Alabama Appellate Court Rejects a Ta-Da Allonge
One common practice that I've seen in foreclosure cases is the magically appearing or Ta-Da! allonge. These documents are supposed to be permanently ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Fair Housing Administration to Sell Distressed Mortgages
The Fair Housing Administration (FHA) has announced that it will begin selling bundles of distressed mortgages as early as September 2012. The FHA has ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Pending Bill Would Require Personal Service When Attempting To Collect Judgments
According to the Illinois Bar Journal , there is legislation pending in Springfield that would change how judgment creditors give notice to judgment ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Illinois Has Third Highest Foreclosure Rate in the Country
According to data recently released by the Mortgage Bankers Association, nearly 7.5 percent of Illinois residential properties secured by mortgages ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Wells Fargo Class Action Suit Survives Dismissal
In addition to Wigod v. Wells Fargo, it seems that more Plaintiffs are surviving motions to dismiss in their lawsuits against the mortgage lender and ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Have You Received A Letter from Bank of America? I Finally Saw One.
I recently had the opportunity to see one of the Bank of America offer letters. These are the offer letters being sent out as part of the foreclosure ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Bank of America To Begin First Round of Loan Modification Offers
According to Forbes , Bank of America is about to begin sending out its first round of loan modification offers. This first round of offers begins ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Practice Note: The Business Records Rule and Affidavits
Bob Lawless over at Credit Slips recently wrote about a recent ruling from the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The case hinges on two rules of evidence: ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
More Mortgage Rescue Scams in the News
According to this report from the Quad Cities, Illinois home owners are being targeted by mortgage rescue scams that appear as offers for loan ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
A Bright Side to the Foreclosure Fraud Settlement?
If nothing else, at least one family has been offered a principal reduction as a result of the foreclosure fraud settlement. Normally, this story ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
How Does Foreclosure Affect Children?
The national foreclosure crisis is often discussed in terms of property values, abandoned properties, and document fraud. However, there are other ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Can I Be Arrested For Failing To Pay My Debts?
The United States abolished debtor's prisons in the 1830s. Less-than-scrupulous debt collectors are using a loophole in Illinois state law to bring ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Illinois Attorney General Madigan Announces $20 Million In Legal Assistance Funding
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has announced that $20 million of the funds Illinois will receive from the foreclosure fraud settlement will be ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Beware of Mortgage Foreclosure Scams
This is probably one of my most frequent topics on the blog. Every time there is media attention devoted to a new development in the mortgage ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
The City of Chicago's Abandoned Property Pivot
When the City of Chicago first began addressing the challenge of abandoned properties, it was focusing the majority of its efforts on buying, ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
ProPublica: The Great American Foreclosure Story
ProPublica has released an eBook entitled, " The Great American Foreclosure Story. " It is available as a web page, and runs about 16 pages of text. ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau To Propose New Mortgage Servicing Rules
This summer, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will formally propose new rules for mortgage servicers. The rules will be finalized by January ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Data Shows Major Spike in Chicago Foreclosures
If you haven't had a brush with foreclosure yourself in recent years, you probably know someone who has. Although talk of economic recovery seems to ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Federal Regulators Considering Fines For Eight More Mortgage Servicers
Even though the much ballyhooed foreclosure fraud settlement has been a bit of a letdown, it has not stopped federal regulators from suggesting that ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Freddie and Fannie: Principal Reductions Make Sense
As first reported by Pro Publica and NPR News , Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have released statements in favor of granting principal reductions on loans ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Landmark Mortgage Settlement May Inadvertently Increase Mortgage Scams
The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in addition to 49 attorneys general, filed a $25 billion ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Does The Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Actually Punish The Banks?
If you ask the blogosphere the above question, it appears that the answer is a resounding "No." Abigail Caplovitz Field has described the settlement ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Are Lawsuits Based On HAMP Guidelines Viable?
The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has been the subject of many of my blog posts. This is because, love it or hate it, HAMP is the ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Why Should I Ask To See The Original Note?
The "show me the note" movement pops up in the news from time to time. This article inspired me to write yet another post about the importance of ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
How Many Chicago Homes Are Part of Fannie Mae's New Foreclosure to Rental Program?
The short answer to the above question: 99 properties. How many units are in those 99 properties? 120. How many of those units are vacant? 34. On ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
What Is The Big Deal About "Neither Admit Nor Deny" Settlements?
Last year, Judge Jed S. Rakoff blocked a settlement between the SEC and Citigroup. His reason? Citigroup was paying a fine but not admitting to any ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Is The OCC's Independent Foreclosure Review A Farce?
Late last year, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency announced that several banks had agreed to conduct an independent foreclosure review to ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Can I Use Making Home Affordable, The Foreclosure Settlement, and The OCC Settlement Together?
In the past six months, we have seen the expansion of Making Home Affordable, in particular in the refinance (HARP) and the loan modification (HAMP) ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
How Does The Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Affect Banks?
The foreclosure fraud settlement absolves the 5 major banks from liability for robosigning and other practices. The breadth of this waiver of ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
How Does The Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Affect Illinois Homeowners?
On February 9, 2012, the Attorneys General of 49 states and the United States announced a settlement with Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, Ltd.
Continue Reading
-
Can I Force My Lender To Respond To My Short Sale Offer?
Prior to January 13, 2012, the answer to that question would have been, "No." However, a new provision of the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Did Your Refinance Truly Extinguish Your Previous Mortgage?
According to Reuters , your previous mortgage may not have been extinguished by your refinance loan. In a normal world, when you refinance a mortgage ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Foreclosure Sales and Filings Drop in Chicago Area, but Problems Persist
According to a recently released report from RealtyTrac, there were 6,348 distressed homes - properties in foreclosure or already bank-owned - sold in ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
What Are The New Changes To HAMP?
On January 27, 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it is rolling out new enhancements to HAMP. HAMP loan modifications were set ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Why Is It So Hard To Get A Loan Modification?
Anyone who has attempted to get a loan modification from their mortgage servicer has probably asked, "Why is it so hard to get a loan modification?" ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
Guard Against Foreclosure Rescue, Loan Modification Scams in Chicago
Legitimate programs and professionals exist to help homeowners who face foreclosure. Unfortunately, some companies and individuals who appear to be ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading
-
How Does Foreclosure Impact Your Credit Score?
CNNMoney is reporting that Fair Isaac, the company that created the FICO credit-scoring system, has finally released some numbers to indicate how ...
Posted By
Sulaiman Law Group, LTD.
Continue Reading