Opinion letter to NYT: Steps by Bank of America
For more: http://nyti.ms/bRj8xX
We initiated a nationwide suspension of foreclosures to clear the air of industrywide concerns that were raised about how mortgage servicers have managed the process. We made improvements that we believe will help ensure confidence that the underlying basis for foreclosure, and the associated paperwork, is appropriate.

Title Insurance No Longer an Issue in Foreclosure-Gate
For more: http://bit.ly/bpkRPb
Elizabeth Razzi of the Washington Post reports that three big title insurers, First American Financial, Old Republic International and Stewart Information Services, are no longer demanding indemnifications from banks and servicers on foreclosed properties. Those three firms make up more than half of the title insurance market.

Focus On The Foreclosure Mess: Title Insurance, Robo-Signing, & Ibanez
For more: http://bit.ly/apo6Tu
Initially, the press reported that some major title insurers had temporarily stopped insuring foreclosure titles from JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financial, and Bank of America. All title insurers have resumed insuring all foreclosure properties in the wake of several major agreements between national title insurance companies and lenders.

The Fed Bought Fraud
For more: http://bit.ly/dkjp2s
In the wake of the financial meltdown of 2008, the Federal Reserve announced it would buy mortgage-backed securities, or MBS. We now know the Fed definitely bought valueless MBS because it has joined other ripped-off investors to demand Bank of America buy back billions in sour home debt.

Louisville home sales plunge 29 percent as slump continues
For more: http://bit.ly/9qWTDa
Members of the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors sold 29 percent fewer houses and condos last month than last September as the local market continued to struggle following the expiration of federal housing tax credits.

Wells Fargo to Amend About 55,000 Foreclosures
For more: http://nyti.ms/bs89x7
Wells Fargo said that current reviews found that bank employees had failed to “strictly adhere” to its required procedures during a final step in its documentation processes. It also acknowledged that “some aspects of the notarization process” had not always been properly followed, creating the potential for paperwork errors.

Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Demand Recourse
For more: http://nyti.ms/bhqVGI
Thomas and Charlotte Sexton, of Kentucky, were successfully foreclosed upon by a mortgage trust that, according to court records, does not exist.

Treasury Sees Escalating Risk to Home Prices
For more: http://nyti.ms/aT59EF
The uncertainty over the legal status of foreclosed homes in the nation could further depress home prices and delay the recovery of the housing market, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.

Owners of foreclosed homes face risk due to banks' practices
For more: http://bit.ly/bTtYe0
Major banks are accused of mishandling foreclosure procedures in a hasty effort to reclaim thousands of homes. The latest mortgage crisis raises questions for people who bought foreclosed homes. Can someone who bought a bank-owned property be affected by mistakes in the foreclosure process? You might be OK, but it depends on a few variables.

Adviser to Consumer Agency Had Role in Lending
For more: http://nyti.ms/cRLYmU
A senior adviser to Elizabeth Warren, hired to help start the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is an investor in and, until recently, served as a director of a company that helps to arrange low-documentation loans for consumers with often-spotty credit histories.

Title Insurance Companies Initiate Move to Protect Industry
For more: http://bit.ly/aezeiz
Fidelity National Financial is reportedly leading the campaign launched by title insurance companies in the U.S. to demand that the industry be indemnified from any potential fallout that will be caused by the ongoing nationwide probe on lenders' foreclosure processing methods.

NYT Editorial: The Mortgage Morass
For more: http://nyti.ms/aPVup2
The mortgage mess just keeps getting messier. Last week, Bank of America announced that it had performed a “thorough review” of its processes, found nothing amiss and would soon restart 102,000 pending foreclosures. On Sunday, the bank acknowledged that it had in fact found errors in its filings, and would resume foreclosures only in a deliberate manner as new and corrected paperwork was submitted to the courts.

Foreclosures Had Errors, Bank Finds
For more: http://nyti.ms/ad8yR3
Even as Bank of America begins to restart foreclosure proceedings in 23 states on Monday, the bank confirmed that it had discovered errors, including incorrect data and misspelled names, in the paperwork it has reviewed.

Owners Seek Short Sales as Banks Push Foreclosure
For more: http://nyti.ms/bIvksf
“Banks are historically reluctant to do short sales, fearing that somehow the homeowner is getting an advantage on them,” said Diane E. Thompson, of counsel to the National Consumer Law Center. “There’s this irrational belief that if you foreclose and hold on to the property for six months, somehow prices will rebound.”

Foreclosures: A Paperwork Fiasco
For more: http://nyti.ms/bkZRYW
After months of horror stories, it seemed that the real estate mess could not get any worse. But now, the nation is in the middle of yet another foreclosure crisis.

One Mess That Can’t Be Papered Over
For more: http://nyti.ms/bEFVRv
Is the banks’ sloppy paperwork a matter of simple technicalities that are relatively easy to cure, as the banks contend? Or are there more far-reaching consequences for banks and the institutions that bought mortgage-backed securities during the mania? Oddly enough, the answer to both questions may be yes.