

A Mortgage Tornado Warning, Unheeded - felipemnoa
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/business/mortgage-tornado-warning-unheeded.html

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clavalle
People like Nye Lavalle (no relation that I know of) are the unsung heroes of
our time. While his efforts did not seem to change the course of these
institutions, it offers a poignant counter to the constant refrain of "no one
could have foreseen this!" that we seem to be fed.

I have a friend that is currently perusing a similar path; He discovered a
billing discrepancy on some medical tests. He was refunded promptly (as was
his insurance) but the circumstances did not sit well with him so he
investigated. He has spent a year and a half and a lot of favors from lawyer
friends chasing down that rabbit hole with no expectation of any kind of
personal gain. At last report there are active investigations by DAs in at
least three different states, a complete dismantling of a case that the
company was in danger of winning but has since settled since information he
provided showed they committed perjury, an active investigation into kickbacks
from the company to doctors in our home state etc. etc. He was told by one
attorney "I have never had an unrelated third party do research on active
cases and step in with relevant evidence like this."

I hope if I am ever confronted with that uneasy tickle in the back of my mind
that I could find the fortitude to follow it to its conclusion.

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rbanffy
"Revolting" doesn't begin to describe it. Families losing their homes due to
institutionalized fraud? How can these people sleep at night?

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joshuaheard
The foreclosure system was designed for a neighborhood bank to go down with
its papers and foreclose. But now, the mortgage process is decentralized, so
the lenders are taking shortcuts to satisfy the paperwork requirements.

However, a homeowner does not enter the foreclosure process unless he is _not
paying his mortgage_. This is not due to any fraud by the bank.

On the other hand, this is exactly what happens when you have the government
take over an industry because government entities like Fannie Mae have very
little accountability or oversight. They should be abolished and the free
market allowed to compete for the business.

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gcb
> However, a homeowner does not enter the foreclosure process unless he is not
> paying his mortgage. This is not due to any fraud by the bank.

the article proves this wrong

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shareme
Same types of problems will be found in the Education Loans industry

The Bankers, MPAA, and RIAA bought our government..quite cheaply

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Estragon
The student loan industry is interesting. If it collapses, higher education is
going to get hammered. On the other hand, it's much harder to abandon a
student loan commitment than a mortgage, so such a collapse could be a long
time coming.

