Appraiser Micro: (November 23, 2010 8:20am)

"Don't mess with Tex!" - Fraud is so commonplace, people think it's just the everyday thing. The reason the investigations are so exorbitantly expensive is because the lawyers get all the taxpayers money, they may be the only ones who will come out ahead in the end.

aheaney: (November 23, 2010 3:55am)

Dear TBWS, any plans for a video roundup in California anytime soon so I don't have to travel to Dallas? Thanks!

[email protected]: (November 22, 2010 6:00pm)

Brian/Frank, this is Ron with easymortgageanswers.com Delynn and I just wanted to thank you for all your inspiration for our new show. We would have never done this without watching you 2 over the last year or two. Brian I think you and I like the same music. I can't believe you knew Jimmy Cliff. We are actually filming our 2nd show in the am for a wed. email blast. I will try and forward it to you. Always appreciate any feedback. Thanks again for everything guys!!

[email protected]: (November 22, 2010 6:00pm)

Brian/Frank, this is Ron with easymortgageanswers.com Delynn and I just wanted to thank you for all your inspiration for our new show. We would have never done this without watching you 2 over the last year or two. Brian I think you and I like the same music. I can't believe you knew Jimmy Cliff. We are actually filming our 2nd show in the am for a wed. email blast. I will try and forward it to you. Always appreciate any feedback. Thanks again for everything guys!!

Debbie Lintao : (November 22, 2010 1:13pm)

Thank you Danielle. I did some research and there is a website that you can file a formal complaint. http://www.occ.treas.gov/ At least now I can direct the client to the appropriate department. Not sure if it will actually get a result, but one can hope.

pugsy77: (November 22, 2010 12:27pm)

Feds are half-brains and mopes! If they were to hire smart people like those viewing your videos they might actually make some progress in de-Rangling these bad actors!

blindristress: (November 22, 2010 11:32am)

These banks will never pay for the damage they have done to so many. I was writing to congress, state representatives and even the president 1 year ago and everyone passed the buck. No one wanted to help but they sure didnt mind asking me for a campaign contribution. They all want to sweep this under the carpet so no one has to take the blame for it. The state representatives, bank executives, congress, senate and the president and all the attorneys that want to defend the banks are to blame and should all be locked up. Tell them to all sell their homes so the people that really paid their mortgages and got screwed can go back to living a normal life. I am a victim of this bureaucratic mess. They made the mess but they dont want to clean it up. They all need to give up their hefty salaries that they do nothing for. They are all frauds and should suffer the same penalties any other common criminal does.

deblakeley: (November 22, 2010 10:56am)

Charlie "The Big Tuna" Rangel needs to have his passport confiscated, and have the IRS bust his coconuts. I look forward to my TBWS DAILYs. They brighten my day and make feel like I am part of a team effort and not in this #$%^ pile alone. Thanks for all you do and as a matter for congress, have each and every one of them receive your Daily report, make it a constitutional amendment.....repeal the 16th amendment and enact a good fair tax system. Eliminate the IRS, after they bust Charlie's coconuts and dismiss all agents. Maybe they could do loan mods in South Nevada, and actually work for a living! Can't wait for tomorrows message!

Danielle: (November 22, 2010 9:51am)

Debbie and JJ320: I've had to battle Countrywide after Katrina for a client of mine, and we won WITHOUT an attorney. You can report the info to the Federal Trade Commission, but they will NOT get involved with individual complaints. They will just acrue them on a particular company and pursue them when they feel it necessary, but you do want to add to that list of complaints. The route we took to get the results we needed was I took it to my local residential mortgage regulation department. In Louisiana, it was the Office of Financial Institutions. Each lender in a state typically has to get their company registered with that state department. Go to yours and have the consumer make a very detailed, written formal complaint and document everything and followup. You may get more consumer protection out of your local state department who is not in bed with the banks! ;-) Once OFI got involved, the president's office of Countrywide was calling me and giving me their direct line. Results!

Debbie Lintao : (November 22, 2010 9:37am)

I have a similar situation to report. Loan modification applied for and still not approved. Nothing ever in writing. Servicer (BofA) increased the payment to add impounds. All payments made on time, but "held" and not applied. Late charges have accrued. Again, who does one report this kind of abuse to? Borrower has cancelled checks for all payments and all have been made on time. Can the bank require and impound account be established?? All taxes and insurance have been paid already by the borrower. They are holding the payments in a reserve account and not applying the funds yet are cashing the checks. What will happen when it is time for this borrower to file their tax return? This is a big mess and I can't advise them other than to contact the lender.....and they are the problem. Any suggestions?

Danielle: (November 22, 2010 9:03am)

GaryP: Exactly my point last week. While we can get in a frenzy about what people on Capitol Hill are getting away with, it's more productive to the real estate and mortgage professionals to deal with the immediate compensation issue in our faces. Guys, please take some time to deal with it. Thanks!

Clulessdad: (November 22, 2010 8:15am)

The Fed is a private enterprise. I don't think you will EVER hear anything come of this. But i have a different question. Why is the Fed selling $100B of 2's, 5's and 7 year notes this week, only to buy $100B this month? Does it have anything to do with who owns the notes they will be buying? I read an interesting opinion on the matter that theorizes that the banks are holding on to so many bad assets, they need more tier 1 liquidity. The $600b is not to fuel inflation fears, as the FED has announced, but to bail out the banks again, without looking like we are again doing just that. Any other opinions on this?

MiamiSalesAndRentals: (November 22, 2010 8:13am)

Hello Gentlemen, Love the TBS Daily Show! What about Flagstar? They have made quite a mess down here in South Florida, yet I have not heard or seen anything referencing Flagstar.

JJ320: (November 22, 2010 7:41am)

OK guys, I have a good one for you. One of my customers has been trying to do a loan modification for the last 18 month. They approved the loan mod 7 months ago. But instead of the payment going down, it went up. They altered the loan payment to add in impounds, making the payment go from $3,000 per month to almost $5,000 per month. Now the bank says it can't approved the loan mod because the previous servicer (Wells Fargo) won't approve it. The bank (BOA) wont change it back to no impounds. The customer told BOA they have never had Wells Fargo as a servicer? Who should the customer file a complaint with? They asked me and I don't know who governs that type of abuse. The customer sent in their regular payment last month and BOA took the money, cashed the check and has not applied it to their account. Probably put it in a "contra account". The customer has now accrued a late fee.

rayprose: (November 22, 2010 7:30am)

DanSchweihs, I'm sorry, I must have missed the part in the US constitution that says there are individuals that are exempt from the law. WHERE DID THIS TOO BIG TO FAIL/JAIL PHILOSOPHY COME FROM??? Thats the philosophy that I am talking about. As a society we have ALWAYS kept that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. There are NO INDIVIDUALS that are too big to jail. If the US is to survive we MUST enforce our own laws and pursue those individuals that are responsible. Otherwise the people are the ones that suffer...the little guys, the moms that are now out of work, the little league dads that don't have anything else to do with their time but coach. While they close Detroit down there are those in the upper echelons of our society that have profited immensely. The top 1% of our society has increased their net worth by 3% in the last year alone while everyone else is eating porridge. Don't you wonder why??? Its simple really! UNEQUAL JUSTICE! TOO BIG TO PROSECUTE!

Mike8307: (November 22, 2010 7:11am)

Will the FED's investigation make a difference? YES. Just not in the way you think it should. It will make loans harder to get and more costly. As usual, in the end the consumers are never better off. As a former NY'er, loved the Rangel stuff. You forgot to mention that he was just re-elected for what seems like the 1000th time. A position for life. He was in charge of writing the tax code (Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee) and then claimed complete ignorance of it. This is nothing new, nor an isolated incident. Yet his constituents who vote for a living instead of work for a living keep sending good old Charlie back. He'll get a slap on the wrist and nothing more. Mostly for getting caught and not for breaking the rules.

JUSTFRANK101: (November 22, 2010 7:03am)

This may bring an end to the United States Financial problems. Quit spending money in other countries quit invading other countries. Defend the United States and quit allowing people in until the financial issues are balanced out. DEMAND payment of all outstanding debts from the countries the United States has loaned money to in GOLD and quit all programs where money is being paid out. The United States Government gives every United States Citizen $1,000,000 on the condition each pay off his or her home or buy a new home paid in full. The Housing Crisis ends. An additional condition is every Citizen scraps their old car and buys a new AMERICAN MADE CAR – the wide spread pollution factor is greatly reduced and the Automaker crisis ends. The immediate need for 40 billion new cars and 40 billion new homes will have a positive impact on reducing the unemployment level as long as the HIRE an AMERICAN CITIZEN is another condition. There is no chance the United States will ever recover unless the United States Government takes care of their own first.

DanSchweihs: (November 22, 2010 6:46am)

When a lion eats a deer, nobody says: “Why did the lion eat the deer?” But when a government regulator acts like a government employee many seem to say: “I cannot believe they have done this?” And when a too-big-to fail; too-big-to jail bank acts like a too-big-to fail; too-big-to jail bank many seem to say: “I cannot believe they have done this?” Everyone is playing their part according to the script that we, the voters, have handed them. The solution: smaller, local government and smaller, local banks. If they commit a crime, we can put them in jail.

rayprose: (November 22, 2010 6:44am)

I will believe that the Feds are seriously investigating ANYONE including MERS and Loan Processing services when I see some of the BANKERS that created this mess being investigated. There are several key individuals in banking and congress that have profited from this debacle HUGELY! HERE'S A TIP FOR THE FED......JUST FOLLOW THE MONEY!!! IF YOU LOOK AT WHO MADE THE MOST MONEY YOU WILL MOST LIKELY KNOW WHO TO INVESTIGATE!!! DUHHH! I am amazed when the FED, the FBI and State Attorneys can't figure out who to prosecute??? FOR GODS SAKE...THEY CAN TRACK ONE SICK COW THAT HAS MAD COWS DISEASE AMONG MILLIONS AND THEY CAN'T FIND OUT WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS??? Or...they know....and won't pursue them because they have too much power and they can't go after them. Do we live in Chile, Columbia or Mexico where there are those individuals that are TRULY ABOVE THE LAW??? Prosecute the bankers and congressman that are responsible and I will believe that they are doing their job!

GaryP: (November 22, 2010 6:17am)

Frank & Brian, I would like to echo a post that was made last week about foreclosuregate and the MERS/LPS situation. It's hard for me to get wrapped up in FC and servicing issues when my livelihood and professional future are being threatened. I'd much rather see you focusing on those issue then the "back of the house" issues like this. How about something focusing on Steven's comments at the MBA convention in Atlanta on how FHA investor overlays have become too tight. Likewise, NAR made similar comments at their convention in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago. These issues, as well as compensation have a much greater impact on the majority of us than MERS/LPS. Wells just came out with a statement to brokers saying that they would continue to support that channel, but wouldn't announce how compensation would be handled until February. How about covering that kind of topic for a change?

cjtaz: (November 22, 2010 6:16am)

Can anyone tell me which HUGE title company owns LPS?...Hint..FNT This is the same company that charges REALTORS managing REO homes free of charge for the vendor $5.00 per invoice processed to get them own money back that they front on behalf of the REO property for utilities and repairs.

GaryP: (November 22, 2010 6:05am)

No, the investigation of MERS will not make a difference. What are they going to do, scrap the MERS system? What is the alternative, going back to recording every tranfer at the county? If they can't manage to maintain mortgage files, do you really think that will work better? LPS, on the oher hand, is another matter. The question I have is why is Congress investigating them, and not the FBI and Justice Dept. If they are doing what you imply, then this is a criminal matter and not one for Congress. I think this is jut another matter of Congress playing to the media and saying, "we're going to do something." Of course, what you missed in all this is that good ole Maxine Waters is chairing the investigative committee. Do you think that Maxine might be trying to divert attention from other issues that she has? Of course, in the long run it will have the same impact as in Charlie's case. She'll get a slap on the wrist and her voters will just re-elect her again and again.

SpenceInAZ: (November 22, 2010 5:42am)

I know, I know. Not your problem but I'll be on a pre-planned cruise (life is rough) during the Video Marketing Round Up. But I really want to go! Got my new Kodak Zi8, my tripod, ordered my green screen, video editing software, etc. Please tell me that you will have another Video marketing Round Up (maybe in Phoenix, hint, hint) in January...PLEASE!

FredG: (November 22, 2010 5:42am)

Here are some articles Dodd: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91573913 Conrad: http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/07/ethics-committee-probes-countrywide-loans-for-senators.html From MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38836673/ns/business-us_business I would add that I doubt CW is the only one who played this game but they are the ones the government can beat up on now since it is a dead horse. How convenient!

barbara: (November 22, 2010 4:50am)

Can you guys name the members of Congress who received sweet heart loans from Countrywide?

pilotman48: (November 22, 2010 4:44am)

Funny and informative, Love you guys! Going back to HAMP and HAFA: A rep from Old Republic Title tells me more lenders are on board and the programs are finally starting to work. Of course it probably costs the tax payers a million dollars per loan. As a Realtor I think I'm going to jump back into the short sale business. I was avoiding taking short sale listings.

MICHAEL LITCHENBERG: (November 22, 2010 2:05am)

WOW you guys are FANTASTIC!!!

Swarm The Banks: (November 22, 2010 2:02am)

Good "catch" on the Charlie Rangel comment. I remember trying to figure it out when I first heard him say it.... The most telling aspect to Charlie's hearing was that neither his attorney nor his book keeper or accountant showed up. If he wanted to create any kind of wiggle room, he needed someone related to his books to show up. I would assume they did not show up because they did not want to lie on Charlie's behalf.