The banks are simply not likely to self-correct. Their financial incentives run entirely the wrong way – servicers make money on foreclosures and don’t think they’ll be held to account for faking documents. I’m glad that this investigation, whatever it is, will share information with the 50 state AGs, but let’s keep in mind, Treasury has “held accountable” the servicers for clear violations of the guidelines in HAMP by not imposing one sanction or financial levy on them. And past history suggests that, if the problem is wide enough to present a systemic risk, the likelihood that Treasury moves heaven and earth to shovel the banks money instead of unwinding the largest firms goes way up. I don’t know how they can get that accomplished with a Congress which simply won’t go near bailouts anymore, but nothing in this review process makes me believe that Treasury’s prime directive has shifted away from “protect the banks.”
Salmon did get Barr to say “You should hold us to whether things get better or worse. If a year from now nothing has changed, that would be a reasonable criticism.” I’m sure I can find someone to make it. Yves Smith, for example.
Yves does a thorough smackdown on the departing Michael Barr’s description of all the things the government is going to get to the bottom of the foreclosure fraud problem, noting that the foreclosure task force simply isn’t investigating the problem in enough detail to understand, much less solve, the problem.
But I wanted to look just at Barr’s language, both in his interview with Felix Salmon and in his presentation to the Financial Stability Oversight Council yesterday. Here are the five things he described as the key focus of the Foreclosure Working Group:
- Determining the scope of problems
- Holding the banks accountable for fixing these problems
- Making sure individuals who have been harmed are given redress and that firms pay penalties where appropriate for their actions
- Getting the mortgage servicing industry to do a better job for households in financial difficulty by providing alternatives to foreclosure
- Acting in a coordinated and comprehensive way to hold the firms accountable, bring clarity and certainty, and help households
Note, already, the choice of language here. The working group will “hold the banks accountable … for fixing these problems.” The firms will “pay penalties where appropriate for their actions.”
Barr uses the language the federal government has been consistently using since the scope of this problem became widely clear, in which the government envisions “holding banks accountable” by forcing them to operate effectively going forward, while making right the crimes of the past. Nowhere, in his presentation to the FSOC at least, does Barr envision holding the people who committed fraud accountable. In fact, there’s a lovely detail at 7:54 where Barr describes that the process is designed to assess whether affidavits and claims “are accurate.” Now, the government learned sometime since May–six months ago now–that they are not. But they have not yet prosecuted anyone for fraud. Which leads me to believe that when Barr says “assess whether affidavits are accurate,” he means, “assess whether they accurately reflect the state of the loan,” and not whether “the claims made by robo-signers are in fact true.”
And besides, how in hell could the government give those who have been harmed redress if the government is only reviewing a select subset of the loan files? Is the government going to provide everyone who believes they were screwed some legal aid to prove their claim?
Now compare what the soon-to-be-gone Barr told the FSOC in its kabuki public session with what he told Salmon.
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Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
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Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
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bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
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bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
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Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
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bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
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Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
KQED Publishes at the Speed of <b>News</b> with WordPress « WordPress <b>...</b>
Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
Fox <b>News</b> Boss Ordered Staffers To Echo GOP Talking Point About <b>...</b>
Media Matters has obtained leaked emails that show how a top Washington editor at Fox News directed his journalists not to use the phrase "public option." Instead, Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington managing editor, told staffers to use ...
bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
KQED Publishes at the Speed of <b>News</b> with WordPress « WordPress <b>...</b>
Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
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bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
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Media Matters has obtained leaked emails that show how a top Washington editor at Fox News directed his journalists not to use the phrase "public option." Instead, Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington managing editor, told staffers to use ...
bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
KQED Publishes at the Speed of <b>News</b> with WordPress « WordPress <b>...</b>
Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
Fox <b>News</b> Boss Ordered Staffers To Echo GOP Talking Point About <b>...</b>
Media Matters has obtained leaked emails that show how a top Washington editor at Fox News directed his journalists not to use the phrase "public option." Instead, Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington managing editor, told staffers to use ...
bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
KQED Publishes at the Speed of <b>News</b> with WordPress « WordPress <b>...</b>
Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
Fox <b>News</b> Boss Ordered Staffers To Echo GOP Talking Point About <b>...</b>
Media Matters has obtained leaked emails that show how a top Washington editor at Fox News directed his journalists not to use the phrase "public option." Instead, Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington managing editor, told staffers to use ...
bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
KQED Publishes at the Speed of <b>News</b> with WordPress « WordPress <b>...</b>
Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
Fox <b>News</b> Boss Ordered Staffers To Echo GOP Talking Point About <b>...</b>
Media Matters has obtained leaked emails that show how a top Washington editor at Fox News directed his journalists not to use the phrase "public option." Instead, Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington managing editor, told staffers to use ...
bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
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bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
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Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
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bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
KQED Publishes at the Speed of <b>News</b> with WordPress « WordPress <b>...</b>
Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
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bench craft company scamBad <b>News</b> for College Students with Divorced Parents - MoneyBuilder <b>...</b>
Growing up with divorced parents presents plenty of challenges to children, many of which are well-documented. Time to add another one: college tuition. According to a study published this month by researchers from the University of ...
KQED Publishes at the Speed of <b>News</b> with WordPress « WordPress <b>...</b>
Three years later, KQED.org has more than 15 active WordPress sites, collaborates with other regional public media outlets on WordPress plugin development, and sees a future where WordPress helps them quickly deliver the news their ...
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