From Our Friend Neil Garfield - In this real live case, Ocwen is fulfilling its job that includes obfuscation as one of its paramount duties. After first "answering" the CFPB requests with obfuscation it then states "The ownership status of the account is based upon our review of our records as of the date of this letter." It doesn't say that the information is correct or even believed to be correct. It doesn't say they performed due diligence to determine whether a true chain of ownership exists, combing the various records of "predecessors."
Nor is there a statement that Ocwen is authorized to service the account. It simply says that it IS servicing the account. And of course then they do not assert the basis of their authority since they never asserted their authority. It is implied. It is assumed. In court, it might well be presumed by the court, the foreclosure mill attorney and even by the borrower and the borrower's attorney. This is one of the errors that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. An attack on what is missing instead of trying to dodge what is there would result in far more victories for homeowners.
The attorney's client is Ocwen. Ocwen is impliedly asserting authority to service but can't show it. In one recent case of mine, they came in with a Power of Attorney signed by someone who purportedly executed the instrument on behalf of Chase. The problem was that Chase was never mentioned before in any pleading, documents or testimony. The POA was false.
Back to ownership: "there is no single owner" implies that there are many owners. There are several problems with that assertion or implication that involve outright lying. Ocwen is saying that the loan is in a securitized investment trust which certainly would imply that the loan is not in transit nor is it owned by more than one trust.
Further if the reference (omitted) is to investors, that too is a lie in most cases. The certificate indenture usually contains the express statement that the holder of the certificate receives no right, title or interest to the debt, note or mortgage in "underlying" loans (which have never been acquired by the trust anyway).
So what are we left with? No single owner which means that the securitized investment trust doesn't own it because that is one single entity. Multiple owners does not refer to investors because the express provisions on their certificates say they have no ownership of the debt, note or mortgage in the alleged loan.
The counterintuitive answer is that the bank's are saying there is no owner. But there is an owner. It is a group of investors whose money was used to fund or acquire the loan. This was not done through any trust, as they intended and as was required by the "securitization" documents. If that was the case then the trust would have been named as lender or as holder in due course. That never happened.
But the holders of worthless securities can claim an equitable interest in the loan and perhaps even the collateral. In order to establish that interest the investors must go to a court of competent jurisdiction. But in order to do that the investors must know about the specific loan transaction(s), which they don't. The fact that they don't know about it and can't exercise their rights does not mean that legally, anyone can intervene and assert ownership rights.
Ten years ago I said get rid of the current servicers and stick a government agency in as intermediary so that investors, as real parties in interest and borrowers as real parties in interest could do what the lending industry normally does best --- work this out so that nobody loses everything and nobody gets a windfall. This could have all been over years ago and the impact on the economy would have been a powerful stimulus leaving no inherent weakness in our economy or our currency.
Unfortunately the courts strayed from making legal decisions and instead made a political decision to save the banking industry at the expense of homeowners.
Nor is there a statement that Ocwen is authorized to service the account. It simply says that it IS servicing the account. And of course then they do not assert the basis of their authority since they never asserted their authority. It is implied. It is assumed. In court, it might well be presumed by the court, the foreclosure mill attorney and even by the borrower and the borrower's attorney. This is one of the errors that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. An attack on what is missing instead of trying to dodge what is there would result in far more victories for homeowners.
The attorney's client is Ocwen. Ocwen is impliedly asserting authority to service but can't show it. In one recent case of mine, they came in with a Power of Attorney signed by someone who purportedly executed the instrument on behalf of Chase. The problem was that Chase was never mentioned before in any pleading, documents or testimony. The POA was false.
Back to ownership: "there is no single owner" implies that there are many owners. There are several problems with that assertion or implication that involve outright lying. Ocwen is saying that the loan is in a securitized investment trust which certainly would imply that the loan is not in transit nor is it owned by more than one trust.
Further if the reference (omitted) is to investors, that too is a lie in most cases. The certificate indenture usually contains the express statement that the holder of the certificate receives no right, title or interest to the debt, note or mortgage in "underlying" loans (which have never been acquired by the trust anyway).
So what are we left with? No single owner which means that the securitized investment trust doesn't own it because that is one single entity. Multiple owners does not refer to investors because the express provisions on their certificates say they have no ownership of the debt, note or mortgage in the alleged loan.
The counterintuitive answer is that the bank's are saying there is no owner. But there is an owner. It is a group of investors whose money was used to fund or acquire the loan. This was not done through any trust, as they intended and as was required by the "securitization" documents. If that was the case then the trust would have been named as lender or as holder in due course. That never happened.
But the holders of worthless securities can claim an equitable interest in the loan and perhaps even the collateral. In order to establish that interest the investors must go to a court of competent jurisdiction. But in order to do that the investors must know about the specific loan transaction(s), which they don't. The fact that they don't know about it and can't exercise their rights does not mean that legally, anyone can intervene and assert ownership rights.
Ten years ago I said get rid of the current servicers and stick a government agency in as intermediary so that investors, as real parties in interest and borrowers as real parties in interest could do what the lending industry normally does best --- work this out so that nobody loses everything and nobody gets a windfall. This could have all been over years ago and the impact on the economy would have been a powerful stimulus leaving no inherent weakness in our economy or our currency.
Unfortunately the courts strayed from making legal decisions and instead made a political decision to save the banking industry at the expense of homeowners.
Here is a really well written motion to dismiss, crafted by BAC, saying their name is misspeeled, they didn't do nothin', we didn't describe what they did correctly, they've repoed eighteen million houses, peasants always complain, we're just foam on the runway of prosperity in America, this is house #18,000,001, let's have a hearing. Actually...Let's Talk to the Jury. Be there or be square.
Actually you do have a few advantages if William Barr is on your side.