Money and Finance
- Hussman Weekly Market Comment: The Second Wave Begins
I should also note some features of the resets we are now beginning to observe. It is tempting to think that with Treasury yields fairly low, mortgage resets might be fairly benign in terms of their impact. The problem is that these Option ARM and Alt-A...
- Debt Is Almost Gone
Earlier this month I charged almost the rest of the balance of our high interest debt off. This month I charged a total of $9.766.39 to my credit cards to pay off our debt. I left a little bit on for next payment so they take the full amount with the...
- Recent Sell: Kmi & Esv; Recent Buy: Hasi
I sold all my share of KMI and ESV on December 7, 2015 (1 day before KMI dividend cut). On December 11, 2015, I bought 29 shares of Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI) at $16.58/share. What is HASI? It's a reit yieldco...
- Free At Last!
Hi Everyone, It's a big day for me today. I no longer have any student loans!! Way back in 2009 I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology and with my 8 X 11 piece of paper, I had roughly $25,000 in student loan debt....
- Buying Your First Hdb Flat In Singapore
I've decided to do some in-depth research into the steps needed and criterias a Singaporean like myself has to meet before we can purchase our first home. Therefore for this post, I would focus more for Singaporean couples that are planning to get...
Money and Finance
Wells Fargo and the Rousseau story
Found via Naked Capitalism.
In March 2000, Norman and Oriane Rousseau put 30 percent down to buy a house at 580 Wilshire Place, Newbury Park, CA. In the following years they were solicited to refinance their loan. In October 2007 they met with the loan officer and “stated that they were only interested in obtaining a conventional 30-year, fixed-rate loan, and explained their desire to have consistent payments over the life of the loan.”
They were “assured … that they could significantly reduce their monthly payments, by more than $600 per month, with a lower interest refinance loan.” The bank assured them that the Payment Option ARM was “the new industry standard” that had “historically low rates that were continuing to decrease” and in “the worst case scenario [they were] assured that historical data for the index indicated that changes in interest rate were slight, and if an increase should occur it would have a negligible effect on their monthly payments of no more than a few dollars.”
They should “expect to refinance within the next two years to take advantage of even more favorable interest rates and as the steadily rising housing values increased the amount their equity in the property.”
There were lots of assurances, smiles, don’t worry, we’re taking care of you, etc.
In May 2009 the bank claimed the couple had missed their April payment. They proved they had made a payment in person at the bank, using a cashier’s check and that the check had been cashed by the bank. The bank then claimed they had ordered a stop payment on the check, even though a cashier’s check payment cannot be stopped.
The runaround began. The bank began harassing them for payment, sometimes as many as six-eight calls per day, sometimes even late at night. On August 3, 2009 the bank claimed the Rousseaus hadn’t paid June or July’s payments either, demanding $3,406.50. But then on August 8 the bank assured them they were current on payments. Then the bank again claimed it had not been paid and that the bank had been trying to contact them without success, and that they now owed $3,478,25.
The Rousseaus hired a lawyer. From the lawyer the Rousseaus learned that the loan they received was not the loan they were promised, including, “the 7.2% interest rate for the … loan was actually higher than the 2006 loan and greater than the 6.8% quoted,” had enormous fees, and the bank had increased the income the Rousseau had stated, from $76,000 to $136,800.
In other words, the lender had scammed them to get those fees, which was a widespread practice at the time.
This continues, with the bank scamming, lying, obfuscating, ignoring, contradicting, even producing signatures it claimed were the Rousseau’s but were not, every step of the way. And, of course, adding late fees to the amount it claimed was due.
- Hussman Weekly Market Comment: The Second Wave Begins
I should also note some features of the resets we are now beginning to observe. It is tempting to think that with Treasury yields fairly low, mortgage resets might be fairly benign in terms of their impact. The problem is that these Option ARM and Alt-A...
- Debt Is Almost Gone
Earlier this month I charged almost the rest of the balance of our high interest debt off. This month I charged a total of $9.766.39 to my credit cards to pay off our debt. I left a little bit on for next payment so they take the full amount with the...
- Recent Sell: Kmi & Esv; Recent Buy: Hasi
I sold all my share of KMI and ESV on December 7, 2015 (1 day before KMI dividend cut). On December 11, 2015, I bought 29 shares of Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI) at $16.58/share. What is HASI? It's a reit yieldco...
- Free At Last!
Hi Everyone, It's a big day for me today. I no longer have any student loans!! Way back in 2009 I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology and with my 8 X 11 piece of paper, I had roughly $25,000 in student loan debt....
- Buying Your First Hdb Flat In Singapore
I've decided to do some in-depth research into the steps needed and criterias a Singaporean like myself has to meet before we can purchase our first home. Therefore for this post, I would focus more for Singaporean couples that are planning to get...