Free Republic

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Thursday as investors retreated from financials because of concerns over banks' foreclosure practices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.51 points, or 0.01%, to 11094.6, snapping a four-session winning streak in a day of choppy trading. Financials led the Dow's declines. Bank of America dropped 69 cents, or 5.2%, to 12.60 and J.P. Morgan Chase fell $1.12, or 2.8%, to $38.72. Both are among the wave of banks reviewing their foreclosures after temporarily suspending evictions due to concerns over "robo signers," who approve hundreds of foreclosure documents a day. Among other banks...

The new, 49-state investigation into foreclosure frauds comes as no surprise to people who follow the mortgage service business. Shoddy, deceptive paperwork has plagued homewowners for years. In the industry’s slimy underside, firms push borrowers into default and foreclosure, even when they’ve been making payments on time. Their business model makes defaults profitable, says Marie McConnell who has been auditing mortgages for 24 years. The ugly chain of deception starts with the way the servicers handle your escrow account. A mortgage service company collects your monthly payments, deducts a fee, and passes the remainder to the investors who own the...

As former counsel and trainer in political tactics for ACORN, President Obama used a well-known ACORN tactic, the shakedown, in getting BP to create the $20 billion escrow (slush!) fund without any law, legal controls, or binding rules to guide it on how, to whom, and how much those injured materially by the oil spill will be paid. Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, well-respected and well-known for heading the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, was appointed by the President to administer the escrow fund. BP will pay $5 billion into the fund for four years, starting in 2010. BP announced early after...

President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that BP officials have agreed to set up a $20 billion escrow account to pay claims for losses resulting from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama, speaking in the White House State Dining Room after an exhaustive meeting with the company's officials, said the company also volunteered to establish a $100 million fund to compensate workers' lost wages from Obama's moratorium on offshore drilling. Obama said he has seen the frustration and concerns of Gulf Coast citizens, and the escrow account "will provide substantial assurance the claims people and businesses have will...