BREAKING: MA AG Files Suit Against BofA, Citi, JPMorgan, WellsFargo, MERS, for Illegal Foreclosures

[BradBlog]

Source: BRAD BLOG



BREAKING: MA Attorney General Files Suit Against Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial, MERS For Illegal Foreclosures

The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against five large U.S. banks accusing them of deceptive foreclosure practices, such as robo-signing.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Thursday the lawsuit was filed in state court in Boston against Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc, Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co and Ally Financial.

Coakley's office said the lawsuit was filed after more than a year of negotiations with the banks involving all 50 states...

FULL BREAKING STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8965


Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8965

[rurallib]

1. Way to go Coakley!

If I read this right then she joins Schneiderman in NY and Harris in California (And Biden in Del?) to dump the bullshit 'negotiations' and stand up for thwho were harmed by the felonious banksters!

[drm604]

2. K&R

This is big.

[Vincardog]

3. The only way to end the corrupt fiscal practices is to put the CEOs and CFOs in jail, then to fine

them 200% of their ill gotten gains

[cstanleytech]

6. First you gotta prove that the ceos and or cfos signed off on doing it but

ya I agree seizing all their assets including any they try to hide by selling to a spouse for a low bargain price should be done.
Furthermore the government needs to do far better oversight on the banks in future to prevent this from ever happening again though I doubt any of the above will occur, after all the banks and corporations it seems have their claws in all the branches of the government.

[Vincardog]

8. Since when do I have to prove that the financial parasites agreed to the things their corporations

did? Isn't it enough that they were in charge and their companies did the things?
When there is a pattern of illegal acts taken repeatedly by the corporations I would ASSUME that the ones responsible were the ones running the corporation.
May be I missed out on that "responsibility" class at GOPU

[cstanleytech]

18. Sadly these days I doubt that would be enough.

If it was then Cheney and Bush would not have been able to use a scapegoat to get out of revealing Plames name.

[rocktivity]

4. Negotiations? Why didn't you just indict them if you had the evidence?

More legislating, less negotiating?

:headbang:
rocktivity

[zalinda]

5. But Obama wants to look forward, not backword. n/t

[banned from Kos]

12. its a civil infraction n/t

[No Elephants]

13. If the foreclosures were "illegal," as the headline states, then it is both a crime and a civil

wrong. Very often, a wrong is both. However, the burden of proof is different in a civil case.

Think OJ. He got off in the criminal prosecution, but lost the civil lawsuit. Both cases were based on the exact same deeds.

ETA: Bear in mind, though, that this is an action against corporations. You can take money from them in a civil suit, and fine them in a criminal action (if the law provides for fines), but you cannot put a corporation in jail.

[No Elephants]

14. Self delete. Wrong spot.

[banned from Kos]

16. You make a good point (that it could be both civil and criminal) BUT

how often are lawsuits filed in criminal cases?

The OP states that lawsuits are the course of action Coakley is using.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. So, is this joining NY and DE or a different action?

[defendandprotect]

9. MA AG moving in the right direction -- !! Could it inspire others???

[wordpix]

10. let's hope so

[YvonneCa]

11. Reuters link, too...

... http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/01/us-banks-foreclosure-idUSTRE7B01UR20111201

Excerpt:

The complaint accuses them of using fraudulent documents when processing foreclosures; of foreclosing on properties without holding the actual mortgage; of corrupting the state's land recording system; and of failing to uphold promises to modify loans for the state's homeowners.



The part about 'corrupting the state's land recording system' is important, but often overlooked. I don't believe MA was the only state where this was done. Sadly.

[No Elephants]

15. Nothing makes up for the Brown turd being in Kennedy's seat. However, Coakley

is one hell of an AG and, IMO, has been even better as an AG since she lost to Brown.

I'd hate to lose her as AG, but I'd love to see her run for Governor.

Go, Martha!

[DeSwiss]

17. K&R n/t

[girl_interrupted]

19. There is no question they have broken laws. None

"Promises Made, and Remade, by Firms in S.E.C. Fraud Cases"

WASHINGTON — "When Citigroup agreed last month to pay $285 million to settle civil charges that it had defrauded customers during the housing bubble, the Securities and Exchange Commission wrested a typical pledge from the company: Citigroup would never violate one of the main antifraud provisions of the nation’s securities laws."

"To an outsider, the vow may seem unusual. Citigroup, after all, was merely promising not to do something that the law already forbids. But that is the way the commission usually does business. It also was not the first time the firm was making that promise."

"Citigroup’s main brokerage subsidiary, its predecessors or its parent company agreed not to violate the very same antifraud statute in July 2010. And in May 2006. Also as far as back as March 2005 and April 2000"

"Citigroup is far from the only such repeat offender — in the eyes of the S.E.C. — on Wall Street. Nearly all of the biggest financial companies, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America among them, have settled fraud cases by promising the S.E.C. that they would never again violate an antifraud law, only to do it again in another case a few years later."

"Since the financial crisis, the S.E.C. has been criticized for missing warning signs that could have softened the blow. The pattern of repeated accusations of securities law violations adds another layer of concerns about enforcing the law. Not only does the S.E.C. fail to catch many instances of wrongdoing, which may be unavoidable, given its resources, but when it is on the case, financial firms often pay a relatively small price. "



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/business/in-sec-fraud-cases-banks-make-and-break-promises.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1322780664-dms6BD4ZGNPcY1XE5U43xQ


Also: 'What happens when Wall Street breaks the law? Not much"
to investor lawsuits

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/30/opinion/etzioni-sec/index.html?hpt=hp_c2


I'm so glad Coakley is going after them, So is Harris of Ca & Schneiderman of NY. This is a big step & the right way to go, the current administration has been pressuring State Attorneys to back off and make deals, it's good to see that kind of pressure isn't working. Enough with the deals already.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/business/major-banks-face-new-foreclosure-suit.html

[DCKit]

20. Loves me some Martha C. nt

[wordpix]

25. unfortunately, MA voters preferred the handsome model with little brain

[DCKit]

26. Briefly. I think they're over it now. nt

[fasttense]

21. Well, it's about time.

So when is our lazy and blind (he must be because there are so many criminals running around free and he does NOTHING) Federal AG going to do something about this massive fraud by banksters?

[Enthusiast]

22. I think he has a secret agreement not to do anything.

Except for a relatively small fine that is a tiny fraction of the actual level of gains made through fraud. But no admission of guilt. It amounts to window dressing.

[bluesmail]

23. K&R

[Arkana]

24. If I ever hear that Martha Coakley is a "DINO" again I'm going to beat the person

who says it around the head with a bat that has this article taped to it.

[midnight]

27. Thanks.

[sarcasmo]

28. Any time I see a BOA, Wells Fargo, Citi or JP Morgan Chase sign

it makes my skin crawl.