While the issue of lien stripping in no discharge chapter 13’s continues to work its way through the appellate courts, two bankruptcy courts have recently weighed in and sided with the majority, which permits lien stripping even when a discharge is unavailable. The courts in In re Wapshare, 492 B.R. 211 (S.D. N.Y. 2013) and In re […]
Author Archives: NCBRC
Wells Fargo Financial Finally Moving to Claims Review and Compensation
June 27, 2013 – 5:59 pm
In 2011, the Federal Reserve Board issued a cease and desist order and assessed an $85 million civil money penalty against Wells Fargo & Company of San Francisco, a registered bank holding company, and Wells Fargo Financial, Inc., of Des Moines. (as distinguished from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage or by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) The order addresses allegations that […]
FHFA Turns to Industry Lobbyist for Advice on Force-placed Insurance
June 20, 2013 – 7:39 pm
Mortgage lenders routinely require homeowners to purchase property insurance to protect the lender’s interest in the home in the case of fire or other casualty. If the homeowner fails to purchase such insurance or fails to provide evidence of insurance, most loan documents will authorize the lender to purchase insurance to protect its interest. This […]
Are subprime loans making a comeback?
April 30, 2013 – 5:48 am
An article in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times suggests that lenders in markets with rising property values such as California are looking to increase their subprime lending. While current mortgage interest rates are around 3.5%, these subprime loans comes with interest rates starting at 7.95% and going up from there. As with the old subprime products, […]
Forgiving Our Debtors (Unless They Are Prisoners)
September 30, 2012 – 8:57 pm
Through various provisions in the Bankruptcy Code, Congress has identified debts that should not be forgiven. These include, for example, debts for certain taxes, debts for money obtain through fraud, debts for domestic support obligations, and debts incurred from drunk driving (think, personal injury or wrongful death judgments). Congress has also identified debtors that will […]
Life After Bankruptcy
September 15, 2012 – 10:33 pm
Vicki Elmer at the New York Times has written about getting a mortgage after filing for bankruptcy (here). The bottom line is that bankruptcy isn’t the end of the world. Indeed, for many, bankruptcy provides a much needed fresh start, putting people on sounder financial footing and allowing them to rebuild their credit. It is […]
Heritage Pacific’s Debt Collection Practices Garner More Attention
May 31, 2012 – 6:28 pm
Heritage Pacific Financial, a debt buyer of foreclosed second mortgages, first popped up on my radar screen nearly two years ago. At that time Heritage was filing multi-defendent complaints in state and federal courts against California home loan borrowers–mostly Latino–claiming that the borrowers fraudulently misstated their monthly income on their loan applications. I suspect that they […]
Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk
January 26, 2012 – 7:34 am
NCBRC Project Director, Tara Twomey, and co-author, Prof. Katie Porter, have written a chapter in the newly released book Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk: Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century (Jacob S. Hacker and Ann O’Leary eds., Oxford University Press 2012). The chapter, “Risk Allocation in Home Ownership,” focuses on how changes in […]
Supreme Court Denies Cert. in Baud v. Carroll
January 9, 2012 – 5:03 am
Today the Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case of Baud v. Carroll, which raised the issue of the appropriate applicable commitment period for an above-median income debtor with no “projected disposable income.” The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held below that above-median income debtors with no projected disposable income must propose five year plans […]
Seventh Circuit on Jurisdiction Post-Stern
January 8, 2012 – 1:16 am
The fallout from Stern v. Marshall, — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct. 2594, 180 L.Ed.2d 475 (2011) is really picking up. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals became the first circuit court to weigh in, ruling, in a case with facts similar to those of Stern, that the bankruptcy court lacked jurisdiction to issue a final […]
