TARP: Heads I Win! Tails the Taxpayer’s Pay For It!

Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General overseeing the TARP program.

Christine Spolar of the Huffington Post interviewed Neil Barofsky who is the man who tracks the historic bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. As Special Inspector General. Mr. Barofsky monitors a dozen separate bailout-related programs that now account for nearly $3 trillion in financial commitments. He has audited 364 Financial Institutions that received TARP Funds in an effort to determine just WHERE AND HOW THE MONEY WAS SPENT since December 2008. His efforts to audit the banks was considered a waste of time by the Treasury of the United States and has not been fully supported by the U.S. Treasury in his efforts. 

Despite the barriers he had to cross Mr. Barofsky has made progress in finding where the TARP Money was used. Unfortunately the TARP Money which was intended to give liquidity to the market and increase lending has not been realized. It appears according to Mr. Barofsky that the Banks that were TOO BIG TO FAIL have used their TARP money to:

1. Aquire other Financial Institutions
2. Buy Securities
3. Pay off Credit Lines
4. Hoard the money as a Capital Cushion 

Unfortunately for the American Citizen I don’t see any of the money going to save anybody’s home in foreclosure? Or to provide needed Capital to those that need business and commercial loans?

And Mr. Barofsky acknowledges that the original purpose of TARP has be re-stated to be  AVOID A SYSTEMIC COLLAPSE of the Financial System.

And the little guy gets?

Mr. Barofsky stated that some of the biggest banks and institutions, with the Governments encouragement, have gotten bigger, and he has heard the moral hazard “HEADS I WIN, TAILS THE TAXPAYER’S PAYS FOR IT” and admits that with TARP we have not moved away from this attitude. He states that when TARP was announced the whole purpose was a statement that we aren’t going to let our large financial institutions fail and with that “WE MAY BE IN A FAR MORE DANGEROUS PLACE THAN WE WERE A YEAR AGO!”

Uppitybanker

Barney Frank Promises Death Panels for Mortgage Brokers!

Here is Barney Frank (and Treas, Sect. Tim Geithner) SMUGGLY discussing the KILLING of thousands of jobs in the Mortgage Industry. He promises DEATH PANELS for Certain Financial Institutions. Namely NON-BANK Entities, who in his words are “NOT TO BIG TO DIE”.So he has WASHED HIS HANDS for his part in the HOUSING BUBBLE and is going to KILL those BAD Mortgage Brokers who in his opinion MUST be the culprits that caused the Housing Crash. How convienient for him to forget how he and the Democrats in 2005-2006 killed any legislation to reform of the lending policies of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Listen to a TOTALLY DIFFERENT BARNEY FRANK talking out of BOTH sides of his Mouth…2005 and 2009…

The REAL purpose of this NEW attack to put Mortgage Brokers and NON-BANK Entities out of Business is simple. Wells Fargo, Bank of America and CitiMortgage would love for the consumer to be driven to their front door through the elimination of the Mortgage Broker. Good luck at finding a competent loan officer or any service on the weekends! Yes there were abuses in the Mortgage business, but forcing the Non-Bank Entities and honest Mortgage Brokers out of business with onerous regulations is not going to help the consumer. As many of you know, there is pending legislation that would regulate the compensation of Mortgage Originators. See page 54 of the 195 pages of the New Federal Reserve TILA (Reg Z) changes being proposed 

As a Mortgage Broker for 18 years I saw what caused the demise of the Housing Market. It was unrealistic housing prices and unrealistic loan guidlines designed and funded by Wall Street and the Banks, while being protected by the House and Senate Banking Committees. It wasn’t the Mortgage Brokers. They had NOTHING to do with what products or guidelines Fannie or Freddie Mac would fund.

So it appears that Barney Frank and the Federal Reserve have found whom to punish for the Housing Crisis. And it doesn’t appear to be anybody who was overseeing the BANKS! Who’s next to Attack? Real Estate Agents? Escrow Officers…?

Uppitybanker

Capitalism Collapsing? No Problem…We’ll just PRINT some more Money!

Marc Faber predicts…

“The future will be a total disaster, with a collapse of our capitalistic system as we know it today, wars, massive government debt defaults and the impoverishment of large segments of Western society,” Marc Faber writes in the September issue of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report.

A statement like that pretty much speaks for itself, but it’s a bit more complicated than appears on first blush.

Faber has been bullish — especially on commodities and emerging market stocks — for some time now and believes the current global recovery trade will last another two-to-three years, as discussed in more detail in a forthcoming clip. But he has major long-term concerns about the dollar’s long-term viability given rising U.S. deficits, massive unfunded mandates and the fact “we have a money-printer at the Fed.”

This combination will eventually lead to runaway inflation, wholesale debasement of the dollar, and a major lowering of living standards for most Americans and many Europeans as well, says Faber, who is “highly confident” in this grim prediction.

Gee… creating TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICITS we can’t possibly pay for will cause a ECONOMIC COLLAPSE!

WHO KNEW?

Uppitybanker

TOP 10 States for FORECLOSURE!

Foreclosure filings, defined as a default notice, bank repossession or auction sale notice, were down 0.47 percent in August over the previous month but showed an 18-percent increase from August 2008, according to RealtyTrac‘s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. In August 2009, one in every 357 homes in the U.S. had received a foreclosure filing.

Here’s a look at the states with the ten highest foreclosure rates in August 2009.

1. Nevada: One in every 62 households are in Foreclosure

2. Florida: One in every 140 households are in Foreclosure

3. California: One in every 144 households are in Foreclosure

4. Arizona: One in every 150 households are in Foreclosure

5. Michigan: One in every 234 households are in Foreclosure

6. Idaho: One in every 241 households are in Foreclosure

7. Utah: One in every 282 households are in Foreclosure

8. Colorado: One in every 329 households are in Foreclosure

9. Georgia: One in every 332 households are in Foreclosure

10. Illinois: One in every 401 households are in Foreclosure

BANKS FORMULA’S PURPOSE: How to MAKE the “MOST” MONEY off a Particular Borrower.

NOT CITIMORTGAGE’S COMPUTER MODEL BUT CLOSE ENOUGH…

This Little Piggy Stayed in the Homes they FORECLOSED!

Flying Pig by Lola Age 6

Well today they FIRED Wells Fargo team member Cheronda Guyton, a Wells Fargo senior vice president responsible for foreclosed commercial properties.

“We deeply regret the activities that have taken place as they do not reflect the conduct we expect of our team members. We continue to place the highest value on honesty, trust and integrity to guide our team members in making business decisions each day.”

Full Story here: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-malibu-wells11-2009sep11,0,740504.story?track=rss

One has to WONDER just WHAT is guiding the decisions Wells Fargo makes everyday? Since they have one of the worst percentages, at 6 %, of their eligible troubled loans modified to date….

Well NOW the rest of the TEAM can go back to Foreclosing Homes in Hawaii….

California Foreclosure Prevention Act…UNLESS you’re SPECIAL?

On February 20, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed ABX2 7 and SBX2 7, which established the California Foreclosure Prevention Act.The California Foreclosure Prevention Act modifies the foreclosure process to provide additional time for borrowers to work out loan modifications while providing an exemption for mortgage loan servicers that have implemented a comprehensive loan modification program. Civil Code Section 2923.52 requires an additional 90 day period beyond the period already provided before a Notice of Sale can be given in order to allow all parties to pursue a loan modification to prevent foreclosure of loans meeting certain criteria identified in that section.

Well Isn’t THAT SPECIAL!

Top Lenders Recieve Exemption from 90 Day Extension

California’s Foreclosure Prevention Act, launched June 15th, required mortgage servicer’s to extend the foreclosure process for an additional 90 days (on top of the normal 90 day process) unless the servicer can prove to the state that they have a comprehensive loan-modification program that helps borrowers stay in their homes. Some of the States leading lenders including Well Fargo, GMAC, Bank of America, CitiMortgage and Jp Morgan Chase received immediate exemptions. State agencies currently report over 75 lending institutions have received temporary or permanent exemptions.

A mortgage loan servicer who has implemented a comprehensive loan modification program may file an application for exemption from the provisions of Civil Code Section 2923.52. Approval of this application provides the mortgage loan servicer an exemption from the additional 90-day period before filing the Notice of Sale when foreclosing on real property as designated by this Section.

In California, mortgage ‘ and lenders are regulated by one of these agencies, The Department of Fianacial Institutions, The Department of Corporations, or The Department of Real Estate. Complete lists of loan servicer’s who have granted an exemption may be found on their web sites.

Just thought you needed to know HE WHO HAS THE GOLD MAKES THE RULES!

Uppitybanker

All the Bankers Men…

In the process of building this Blog and the subsequently the publishing of Uppitybanker I have sensed a great deal of apprehension from the professionals, that I know, who still work within the Banking Industry, from sharing any inside information about their current Bank policies and procedures in processing their borrowers Loan Modifications and or Short Sales.

My insider contacts can all agree that the process that the Banks put the borrower through to do a Loan Modification or a Short Sale is HORRIFIC! But getting them to Blog about their first person experiences from INSIDE THE BEAST, is hard to extract!

And NOW I know why…..

It appears they have been receiving weekly emails and memos REMINDING THEM that it’s against “The COMPANY CODE OF CONDUCT” to Blog or Report to others just exactly what the Bank Policies are in the processing of Loan Modifications or Short Sales. And “IF” you BREAK that CODE OF CONDUCT you’ll be Fired! Well they CAN’T FIRE ME!

So the task of getting out the TRUTH to the borrowers is left to the Brave and the Bold. When the Brave ones step forward to give me insight I will share it with you…But I will protect thier Anonymity…

So I’ll be in the Garage getting and sharing with you what you need most….”THE TRUTH”

Uppitybanker