Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Recession-Related Dreams (Nightmares) on the Upswing; Some Personal Experiences
Ex-Swiss banker to give Wikileaks 2,000 "celebrities, business leaders and lawmakers from US, UK who secreted away money for tax-evasion purposes"
Comments Regarding "Quiet Title" and Banking Fraud; MERS a Symptom, Fed is the Real Problem
Utah's "Quiet Title Law" Bypasses MERS, Awards Homes Free and Clear; One Homeowner Had $417,000 Debt Erased

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 05:18 PM PST

The LA Times says that worries about financial security have begun to manifest themselves in dreams. Please consider Recession-related dreams on the upswing

House foundations are crumbling in our dreams. Instead of the proverbial sheep guiding our sleep journey, dangerous thugs lurk in the shadows of our minds, and barriers block escape.

Some people, laid off or fearing job loss, dream they're suddenly clueless about familiar work tasks or tortured by competitive co-workers who have morphed into monsters.

It's inevitable, says Deirdre Barrett, a clinical psychologist who teaches at Harvard Medical School and is the editor of Dreaming, the leading professional journal in the field. "We dream about what concerns us when we're awake. In bad times, that is likely to be about financial security."

Recession-related dreams feature cracked foundations and walls in homes, and interlopers moving in. Los Angeles psychiatrist Judith Orloff describes a patient who panicked after her husband — breadwinner for her and their three young children — was laid off in 2009. The couple got far behind in mortgage payments and other bills. The woman dreamed she found strangers living in her house, and she couldn't get in. "Then the strangers turned into aliens.

Walter Berry, who leads a weekly dream group in West Los Angeles, says he's seen these leaps occur overnight. A member of the group, a middle-aged secretary who'd been laid off, described a recurring dream in 2009 about former co-workers deriding and torturing her. Her tormenters turned into monsters, and in one dream she asked them, "Why are you here?" They said, "We just want to show you where to go."

The monsters led her into a long corridor that ended in a desert with beautiful cacti and a nice house for her to live in. She began to think of leaving L.A. for the first time. After greatly expanding her online job search, she landed a job in Phoenix that was better than the one she'd lost. "The dream expanded her horizons," Berry says.

Despite the lack of hard scientific evidence, dream researchers think dreams could hold a trove of insights for people battered by the economy. Wakeful attention and overnight dreaming "are collaborative and interdependent," says Rosalind Cartwright, professor emeritus at the Rush University Medical Center's graduate program in neuroscience.

Recurring Dreams

Please see the article for more dream stories.

My most frequent recurring dream for decades after I graduated from college was that my engineering degree was invalid because I was one credit-hour short.

I had that dream hundreds of times in spite of the fact that at no point ever in either my brief 2-year stint as an engineer or in a lengthy 20-year programming career was I ever in danger of losing my job as a company employee.

I did change careers a second time in the wake of 911 and Y2K after computer consulting jobs dried up.

It's been a while since I have had that dream, but it does still happen on rare occasions still, even though I cannot recall for certain the last time.

The origin of the dream is most certainly the fact that I was 1 hour short heading into the last semester. An engineering professor offered an extra hour credit for anyone willing to complete an extra-credit assignment. I jumped at it given the alternative was another 3-hour engineering course.

The assignment was a computer project that helped land my first programming job. It also helped that my free elective was not archery, but an advanced programming class.

My first job after graduation was engineering job. I landed that job based on one class: computer methods in civil engineering. However, I lasted all of two years as an engineer.

Ever wake up in the middle of your senior year in college realizing you got your degree in the wrong thing? I did.

I hated engineering all along but when I graduated high school, programming was still in its infancy. Guidance counselors at high school did not know anything about programming other than 2 year associates degrees for data entry. Those good in math and science were herded into engineering.

In 1973, the university of Illinois had one of the largest computers in the world, an IBM 360-75. The cheapest laptop today can beat it.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Ex-Swiss banker to give Wikileaks 2,000 "celebrities, business leaders and lawmakers from US, UK who secreted away money for tax-evasion purposes"

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 12:25 PM PST

Yahoo!Finance reports Ex-Swiss banker to hand account files to WikiLeaks.

A former Swiss banker was on Monday due to hand over files to WikiLeaks which he alleges detail attempts by wealthy business leaders and lawmakers to evade tax payments.

Rudolf Elmer, a former employee of Swiss-based Bank Julius Baer, told Britain's Observer newspaper on Sunday that the documents include details of about 2,000 accounts held in offshore financial centers. He says the account holders include "high net worth" celebrities, business leaders and lawmakers from the U.S., Britain and Asia.

Elmer's press conference comes two days before he is due to appear before a Zurich regional court to answer charges of coercion and violating Switzerland's strict banking secrecy laws.

He told the Observer newspaper he planned to disclose the new set of files to expose activities in offshore financial centers. "The one thing on which I am absolutely clear is that the banks know, and the big boys know, that money is being secreted away for tax-evasion purposes," he was quoted as telling the newspaper.

Fox News has a few additional quotes in Ex-banker says he's giving Wikileaks files on rich

Rudolf Elmer, an ex-employee of Swiss-based Bank Julius Baer, said there were 2,000 account holders named in the documents, but refused to give details of the companies or individuals involved.

He has previously offered files to WikiLeaks on financial activities in the Cayman Islands and faces a court hearing in Zurich on Wednesday to answer charges of coercion and violating Switzerland's strict banking secrecy laws.

"I do think as a banker I have the right to stand up if something is wrong," said Elmer, who addressed reporters at London's Frontline Club alongside WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

"I am against the system. I know how the system works and I know the day-to-day business. From that point of view, I wanted to let society know what I know. It is damaging our society," Elmer said.

Britain's tax authority declined to comment when asked about Assange's plan to supply details of alleged wrongdoing.

Under the terms of his release on bail, Assange must live at the mansion home of Vaughan Smith, the owner of the Frontline Club. He has compared the regime to "high-tech house arrest," but has recently promised that the flow of leaked documents published by his organization would increase.

If true, and depending who is on the list, this could get interesting in a hurry. So far however, we have seen very little from Wikileaks since the house arrest of Assange.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Comments Regarding "Quiet Title" and Banking Fraud; MERS a Symptom, Fed is the Real Problem

Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:48 AM PST

In response to Utah's "Quiet Title Law" Bypasses MERS, Awards Homes Free and Clear; One Homeowner Had $417,000 Debt Erased, as story about a Utah judge who has launched a direct attack on MERS resulting in several people being awarded homes free and clear in spite of debts up to $417,000 - I received several comments I would like to share ...

"Dr. Evil" (the Dr. Evil who frequently comments on this blog, NOT the Dr. Evil European Bond trader) writes ...

Mish - I have mixed feeling on this. The bottom line is that justice should be done at every level. No one who owes on a house should get it free and clear but at the same time the lenders know damn well how to legally transfer interest in a property and chose not to follow the proper procedure. Beyond that you have an entire financial/political system that is controlled by a few who are apparently above the law or they would be doing life sentences by now - so justice on a far grander scale is not being done and until it is I have a hard time getting too upset about this sort of thing. It may involve a few million vs trillions in theft by the bankers. Plus the proper transfer of property is vital to upholding property rights. If the lenders decided to disrespect it then they should be punished in some way.

Similarly "Southernmost" writes ...

People have to get over the free house thing, and deadbeat borrower. YES, investors and OUR pension funds invested in the notes. However, it was the banks, servicers, and MERS that INTENTIONALLY destroyed the title chain so that they could perpetuate the fraudulent ponzi scheme. ANY mortgage with a MERS clause on it casts doubt on the fact of your mortgage payment getting credited to the correct investor. Whether you are making your payment or not, if you have a MERS clause you probably are not paying the correct party, or "at best" you are paying into a twisted algorithm to satisfy some tranch of MBS temporarily. This is as a DIRECT result of the banks intentional destruction of the title history. WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHO JUSTLY OWNS THE NOTE. Again as a direct result of the banks, not the borrower. Sorry, but I got tired of paying into a criminal enterprise that has destroyed our Country and land records and they had the audacity to come up with a fraudulent doctored note as the original. Should I get a free house, NO. I am proposing to auction it to charity, but BoA certainly shouldn't get title to it so they can sell it and perpetuate THEIR ponzi scheme and pay bankers bonuses.

"Greyzone" writes ....

Baloney, Mish. The big banks violated clear law regarding transfer of titles. They did so WITH PURPOSE. That purpose was to resell toxic bad mortgages as AAA securities. The clear title was deliberately obfuscated to make the investor unaware that he was deliberately being ripped off.

That comment immediately above might make some sense if it was the banks getting hurt. In general, they passed the trash, something Greyzone even stated.

"Setmefree" writes ...

I am current on my mortgage, not upside down. I "own" my residence and rent my residence prior to this with positive cash flow and good equity. I have a fear that I will make my payments to Chase over a long period of years, then not be able to clear my title at the end because of all the MBS snafu. Is that an unreasonable fear? Would it make sense to do a quiet title action now just to assure that doesn't happen?

What part of William Black's and the FBI's results that, "80% of mortgage fraud is lender fraud" don't you get? In what universe is fixing less than 20% of a problem a solution for the entire problem?

Hell Czar,

What part of you does not understand that homeowners bought houses they could not afford, willingly lied on application, overstated incomes, etc, etc, etc, and those are the 20% who are in default?

What part of you does not understand the potential implications raised by "Setmefree"?

What part of you does not understand that two wrongs do not make a right?

Mixed Feelings

In general, I share the "mixed feelings" of Dr. Evil. Unless Congress botches things up (always a distinct possibility), we will likely get a better system out of this than before.

That is one way, perhaps the only way to legitimately have "mixed feelings" about this.

Certainly there has been no justice served in regards to bank fraud. Not a single person has gone to jail or even been significantly fined as a result of all the various mortgage fraud committed.

More Putbacks Coming

Banks willingly took loan applications from people they knew would default, because they were able to pass the trash. They even lied to investors while doing so.

I wrote about this in More Bank of America Putbacks Coming; Fraud Exposed

Were investors purposely screwed by Countrywide Financial (now Bank of America)? You bet.

Will the banks suffer much from this fraud? It seems unlikely.

I see little justice here.

For all the rightful bitching about MERS (I do not like it either), most of the proposed "solutions" harm innocent parties while rewarding deadbeats, many of whom purposely lied about income or other things on their mortgage applications.

Many others who did not lie, managed to take out home loans for cars, boats, vacations, etc, etc, etc, knowing full well they did not have enough income to support the debt.

MERS a Symptom of the Real Problem

What is the real root cause of this mess and who can we blame for that cavalier attitude of lenders and borrowers alike? Why the Fed of course.

Thus, MERS is just a symptom of the problem. The real problem, once you backtrack it to the source, is loosey-goosey policies of the Fed in conjunction with fractional reserve lending.

In that sense, the problem cannot be fixed by fixing MERS. It can only be fixed by getting rid of the Fed and fractional reserve lending. Even if MERS is fixed to the complete satisfaction of people like Yves at Naked Capitalism, Fed-caused problems will just turn up somewhere else.

In the final analysis, banks just did what the Fed allowed. Actually, "encouraged" is a far better word than "allowed", and no amount of regulation can possibly stay ahead of that.

Those who really want to fix the problem should get off their High MERS Horses (blaming MERS for this mess) and look at the real problem.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Utah's "Quiet Title Law" Bypasses MERS, Awards Homes Free and Clear; One Homeowner Had $417,000 Debt Erased

Posted: 16 Jan 2011 11:33 PM PST

The Salt Lake Tribune has an interesting article on Utah's "Quiet Title Laws", MERS, clouded titles, and record keeping. Several people won titles free and clear to their houses or condos when debts as great as $417,000 were dismissed in court. Here are a few snips.

A Utah court case in which the owner of a Draper townhouse got clear title to the property, even though he still owed $132,000 on it, raises new legal and financial questions about a property-records database created by mortgage bankers.

The award of a title free of liens means that whoever owns the promissory note on the Draper property — likely a group of faraway investors — no longer has the right to foreclose to collect on a delinquent loan. Indeed, the townhouse owner has sold the property and kept the money. Those who own the promissory note probably don't even know what occurred.

Last year, the owner of the Draper property contacted attorney Walter T. Keane to help him deal with lenders, though Keane won't say what the problem was and the owner declined an interview request.

The lawsuit over the title to the townhouse named Garbett Mortgage and Citibank FSB as the holders of promissory notes as recorded on trust deeds filed with the recorder's office. Integrated Title Services was listed as trustee of the Garbett Mortgage trust deed, while First American Title was the trustee of the CitiBank trust deed.

But there also was another entity listed on the trust deeds called the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS). The Mortgage Bankers Association, the Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents major mortgage lenders, created MERS in the mid-1990s.

Under the state's quiet title laws, Keane said he did not have to name MERS or serve it legal papers in the lawsuit because it was not the legal owner of title to the property. Those were title companies. In addition, attorneys contend, MERS cannot be the "beneficiary" or holder of the promissory note because it readily has admitted it has no financial interest in any notes or mortgages.

What happened next is easy to explain. First American did not know who could collect payments. Nor did Garbett Mortgage who told the court it had no interest in the property. Integrated Title withdrew as a trustee.

After four months of waiting, 3rd District Judge Glen Iwasaki awared the title free and clear to Keane's client. According to the article, Keane has two other successes.

Moreover, another attorney, Abraham Bates got a "Quiet Title" on a home where a whopping $417,000 was owed. In that case, Bates named the original lender and trustee. Like attorney Keane, Bates said it was not necessary to serve MERS legal papers.

Please see the article for other interesting details.

Over 100 Lawsuits In Progress

Bates said he has more than 100 lawsuits pending over MERS-related questions and has hired more attorneys for his firm to handle the increasing load.

Rulings have gone different ways in different courts. But Bates said he and Peterson are teaming up to appeal a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell that dismissed a lawsuit claiming MERS did not have the legal right to initiate foreclosure proceedings.

The attorneys are appealing Campell's ruling as it relates to Utah law to the Utah Supreme Court. A decision will help sort out the issues with MERS over whether it actually can initiate foreclosures even if it does not have any financial interest in the promissory note, Bates said.

A ruling favorable to the homeowner "would be an absolute tsunami in terms of foreclosure in the state of Utah," he said.

If MERS is not able to start a foreclosure action, "then there will be a brick wall put up over all nonjudicial foreclosures prosecuted in this state," Bates said.

Implications

So far, this is not every judge in Utah. I expect an appeal in the cases in the article.

I also expect to see someone ask for an injunction on these cases until the State Supreme Court settles the issue.

Travesty of Justice

Assuming these "quiet title" lawsuits are public, someone is going to quickly start watching every filing in Utah. That will add to the expense of doing business in Utah. Is that justice? In what way?

Should these decisions be overturned (and I hope they are), someone will be going after the assets of the winning parties.

In the meantime, every MERS related title in Utah seems to be suspect. Why would title insurance companies want to do business in such an environment? Is that justice? For who? In what way?

Some investor just lost $417,000 through no fault of his own. Another person who deserved to lose his house because of default just got one free and clear. Is that justice? In what way?

Certain people will be cheering these developments. Unfortunately, there is nothing to cheer about here. No justice was served by these rulings.

Addendum:

Here are a couple comments of note...

"Dr. Evil" (the Dr. Evil who frequently comments on this blog, NOT the Dr. Evil European Bond trader) writes ...

Mish - I have mixed feeling on this. The bottom line is that justice should be done at every level. No one who owes on a house should get it free and clear but at the same time the lenders know damn well how to legally transfer interest in a property and chose not to follow the proper procedure. Beyond that you have an entire financial/political system that is controlled by a few who are apparently above the law or they would be doing life sentences by now - so justice on a far grander scale is not being done and until it is I have a hard time getting too upset about this sort of thing. It may involve a few million vs trillions in theft by the bankers. Plus the proper transfer of property is vital to upholding property rights. If the lenders decided to disrespect it then they should be punished in some way.

Similarly "Southernmost" writes ...

People have to get over the free house thing, and deadbeat borrower. YES, investors and OUR pension funds invested in the notes. However, it was the banks, servicers, and MERS that INTENTIONALLY destroyed the title chain so that they could perpetuate the fraudulent ponzi scheme. ANY mortgage with a MERS clause on it casts doubt on the fact of your mortgage payment getting credited to the correct investor. Whether you are making your payment or not, if you have a MERS clause you probably are not paying the correct party, or "at best" you are paying into a twisted algorithm to satisfy some tranch of MBS temporarily. This is as a DIRECT result of the banks intentional destruction of the title history. WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHO JUSTLY OWNS THE NOTE. Again as a direct result of the banks, not the borrower. Sorry, but I got tired of paying into a criminal enterprise that has destroyed our Country and land records and they had the audacity to come up with a fraudulent doctored note as the original. Should I get a free house, NO. I am proposing to auction it to charity, but BoA certainly shouldn't get title to it so they can sell it and perpetuate THEIR ponzi scheme and pay bankers bonuses.

Greyzone writes ....

Baloney, Mish. The big banks violated clear law regarding transfer of titles. They did so WITH PURPOSE. That purpose was to resell toxic bad mortgages as AAA securities. The clear title was deliberately obfuscated to make the investor unaware that he was deliberately being ripped off.

That comment immediately above might make some sense if it was the banks getting hurt. In general, they passed the trash, something Greyzone even stated.

"Setmefree" writes ...

I am current on my mortgage, not upside down. I "own" my residence and rent my residence prior to this with positive cash flow and good equity. I have a fear that I will make my payments to Chase over a long period of years, then not be able to clear my title at the end because of all the MBS snafu. Is that an unreasonable fear? Would it make sense to do a quiet title action now just to assure that doesn't happen?

That is exactly the problem this has unleashed. Every title in MERS is potentially clouded. How do you prove you paid the correct party. How do you prove you bought a house from someone that could legally discharge the liens on it? If you didn't, some genius lawyer, bank, or title company might find "legal" cause to come after you. That in turn may cause Congress to get into the act. This is a theoretical exercise so far, but not without concern.

In general, I share the "mixed feelings" of Dr. Evil. Unless Congress botches things up (always a distinct possibility), we will likely get a better system out of this than before. That is one way, the only way to legitimately have "mixed feelings" about this. Certainly there has been no justice served in regards to bank fraud. Not a single person has gone to jail or even been significantly fined.

Addendum 2:

For still more comments and the underlying root cause of this mess, please see Comments Regarding "Quiet Title" and Banking Fraud; MERS a Symptom, Fed is the Real Problem

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Home Refinance Calculator

Monday, January 17, 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

No comments:

Post a Comment