What isn’t being said is that, if LPS’s purpose is to create fraudulent documents for the banks — and Dylan Rattigan points out that if the banks had the necessary documents, they wouldn’t need to forge new ones — that makes them a corrupt criminal organization under RICO. It could be very interesting to see what unravels as a result of this case.

There are catches of course. First, your loan must be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That’s a lot of loans but far from all of them. The Obama Administration is working on a program to “force” other institutions to help with negative equity refinancing, but there will be push-back from the banks. You must be current on the mortgage, and you can only apply if you got your mortgage before May 2009. You’ll still owe the entire original balance, so you’ll still owe more than the home is worth — possibly much more as compound interest racks up!

And one more detail courtesy of CNN: “And perhaps, most significantly, it will ease banks’ liability to repurchase the loans if the borrower defaults. This should increase competition among banks to refinance more homeowners in good standing, administration officials said.” So we have another half-measure to “help” homeowners that really helps the banks that got us into this mess in the first place.

The California Attorney General has pulled out of the settlement talks and plans to run her own investigation! I wouldn’t be surprised if the New York Attorney General followed, since he‘s already talked about investigating on his own, and says he’s looking forward to talking with her.

For that matter, since Nevada‘s Attorney General has taken Bank of America to court for (allegedly) not abiding by a 2009 agreement on foreclosures and foreclosure fraud, it would make sense for her to join the party as well.

On an unrelated note, since we normal humans have to follow the law, remember that Nevada has 141 new laws today.

Since the credit downgrade within the US, there have been endless rumors that the mortgage rates and the personal loan rates will raise to an unnatural level and the prospective homebuyers and the debtors may go through sudden credit crunch. But things didn’t turn up as per the predictions of the financial analysts. The mortgage rates have fallen to their record low level and this change has kept phone bells ringing in the banks and other financial institutions that specialize in dealing with mortgage loans. If you’re looking for ahome refinance loan, this is the best time to make use of the opportunity of rock-bottom interest rates. Should you jump in to the refi bandwagon and save your home from a foreclosure? Have a look at some considerations.

• Check the present mortgage rates: You must consider the current mortgage interest rate so that you get to know what you’re being charged. You must stay sure about the rates so that there are no misconceptions in the future and your mortgage lender does not deceive you into accepting mortgage rates that are higher than your expectation. If you find any company that is offering higher mortgage rates, try not to stick with them as you may fall in danger.
• Shop around: If you want to take out a home refinance loan at a lower rate, you have to shop around extensively so that you can compare and contrast the rates and pick the best ones in the market. Get mortgage quotes from at least 5-6 companies so that you can choose the one with the most favorable terms and conditions and with the lowest interest rate.
• Improve your credit: Your credit score is something that is checked by your lender in order to make sure whether or not you can make timely payments on the mortgage loan. Your credit score implies how worthy you are while making the payments on time and if you have a good credit score, this will certainly mean that you have a record of paying the monthly debt obligations on time. You will certainly be given a mortgage at a low rate if you have a good credit score.
• Enough equity: Equity also plays an important role in getting you a reasonable refinance deal. You need to have a good amount of equity in your home so as to get a new home refinance loan at an affordable rate. You must have at least 5% equity in your home so as to grab a refinance loan at an affordable rate.

Therefore, if you want to make sure that you get a home refinance loan at a reasonable rate, you must follow the tips mentioned above. Make repayments with ease so that you can save your home from a foreclosure.
I am waiting for your reply soon.

But much more important is a case that hit the Nevada Supreme Court last week, one of three major rulings about foreclosures and foreclosure mediation. First, the rule of law was upheld and the claims of some mortgage servicers demolished when they ruled that to foreclose, they must prove that they have the right to do so through something called “chain of title.” That’s a fancy way of saying they have to show where the loan came from and where it’s been in addition to showing they have it now.

That’s important enough, but it turns out there’s more! The court ruled — not once, but three times — that when it comes to our mediation program, banks must send someone with every page of the documents, that they must be able to sign off on an agreement, that they can’t say “oh but I have to run this past investors/managers!”, and they can’t pass off a Broker Price Opinion as an “appraisal.”

The moral of this story is simple. If you get a Notice of Default, go ahead and sign up for the foreclosure mediation program. It is your best bet for saving your home.

I’ve got a few little news items to add for now. First off, today’s big news is that nationwide, 28.4% of homes with mortgages are “underwater.” Needless to say, that percentage is much higher in Nevada!

Fannie Mae wants another $8,500,000,000 from Uncle Sam, bringing their bailout to near $100,000,000,000. Amazing!

And finally, for those of you considering a mortgage modification, you must read the fine print! You may be signing away important rights, such as the right to sue the bank for any fraud they may have committed regarding your mortgage! While at least one bank promises that was a “mistake” and things are “under review,” you should still make sure that you review documents very carefully and seriously consider having them reviewed by a licensed attorney.

Get out the popcorn on this one, because there has been awesome if acrimonious discussion between two economics bloggers: one, two, three, four. Good points made on both sides, but as far as I am concerned, nothing will change until Joe Banker can and does tell his manager “Are you nuts?? Bob Banker went to jail for that!”

In an interesting move, Bank of America has moved half of it’s mortgages into a “bad bank,” that they seemingly expect to fail. They still claim their home loan business is in a “recovery mode.” In the meantime, they are selling commercial real estate as fast as they can. Taken together, it looks like they are trying to keep from sinking.

For those of you who missed yesterdays Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas, we talked about investing in rent homes in Vegas and avoiding foreclosure-rescue scams.

Granted, this is a speedbump rather than a roadblock in the long run; B of A can theoretically do foreclosures without ReconTrust. It does at least indicate that the courts are willing to enforce the law against banks!

In an unrelated case that is still well worth watching, a Vegas lawyer is suing B of A for misleading him about the possibility of a loan modification. It’s probably a bad idea to break the law when dealing with a lawyer.

CNBC is just getting wise to the idea that “robo-signing” and its variants may be at play in non-judicial states too. Way to tell us what most people have already figured out.