Monday, June 6, 2011
Thomas Jefferson's Keen Perception of Banks
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -Thomas Jefferson, 1802.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
What Recourse do the People Have When the Law is in Contempt of Itself?
Do the politicians that govern and make laws create such a circumstance, is violent revolution justified as it's happening in other countries, is it time to ask them to step down because big banks and businesses have bought off the law and the politicians?
According to one of our greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson, it is. Jefferson was the greatest champion of the common man and their relationship to government. To paraphrase one of his thoughts: Government exists for the governed, not for those who govern. Woe be to any government which seeks to preserve itself for its own sake. To Jefferson, elected officials were servants of the people, and when the people determine that the actions of those servants clearly defy their will, they have the right to overthrow them by whatever means they deem necessary, even to the point of violent revolution. So, don't think the U.S. government is safe from upheaval from within the country. It isn't! As long as there are people who adhere to the principles Jefferson espoused, the prospect for violent change in the United States will always exist.I personally believe that the American people have nearly reached their breaking point concerning the too cozy relationship which exists between our so-called "servants" and Corporate America. I am convinced that a champion of the people will emerge soon to help forge a more honest and accountable political system in America which will hold our politicos feet to the fire in their duty to do the will of the people first, and business last.
Here are a few websites you might find interesting:
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quot…
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quot…
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quot…
http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/2074
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog…
According to one of our greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson, it is. Jefferson was the greatest champion of the common man and their relationship to government. To paraphrase one of his thoughts: Government exists for the governed, not for those who govern. Woe be to any government which seeks to preserve itself for its own sake. To Jefferson, elected officials were servants of the people, and when the people determine that the actions of those servants clearly defy their will, they have the right to overthrow them by whatever means they deem necessary, even to the point of violent revolution. So, don't think the U.S. government is safe from upheaval from within the country. It isn't! As long as there are people who adhere to the principles Jefferson espoused, the prospect for violent change in the United States will always exist.I personally believe that the American people have nearly reached their breaking point concerning the too cozy relationship which exists between our so-called "servants" and Corporate America. I am convinced that a champion of the people will emerge soon to help forge a more honest and accountable political system in America which will hold our politicos feet to the fire in their duty to do the will of the people first, and business last.
Here are a few websites you might find interesting:
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quot…
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quot…
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quot…
http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/2074
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog…
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Bank of America's Lawyer Says "Homeowners Have No Rights"
Bank of America Asks Court to Throw Out Mortgage Modification Litigation
By David McLaughlin - Apr 8, 2011 12:01 AM ET inShare23More
Business Exchange Buzz up! Digg Print Email
Bank of America Corp. signage is displayed above the entrance to a branch in New York. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. (BAC), accused in a lawsuit of violating obligations to homeowners seeking to modify mortgage loans and avoid foreclosure, asked a federal judge to throw the case out.
Borrowers say the bank “systematically failed” to comply with a U.S. government program aimed at stemming foreclosures and violated contracts for modifying loans, according to a complaint in federal court in Boston that consolidates cases from across the country.
Bank of America, the biggest U.S. lender by assets, asked U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel at a hearing yesterday to dismiss the complaint. The bank argues that not all homeowners are eligible for inclusion in the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, and that it isn’t required to permanently modify all loans that are eligible.
“The bank is constantly working on the process, and the Treasury is breathing down its neck to make the process better,” said James McGarry, a lawyer for the bank.
The complaint consolidates 26 lawsuits from around the country with another 10 to be added, Gary Klein, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview. If Zobel dismisses the complaint, all the lawsuits would be thrown out, Klein said after the hearing.
Evaluating Borrowers
Bank of America isn’t complying with obligations for evaluating borrowers and modifying loans, the plaintiffs said in court papers. Citing unidentified former employees as for some of its allegations, the complaint accuses the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank of breaching HAMP requirements, misleading homeowners and putting processes in place to avoid modifying loans because it has financial incentives to do so.
“They have no rights?” Zobel asked Bank of America’s lawyer during the hearing, referring to homeowners. “How long can the bank decide whether or not to give it to them?” she said about loan modifications.
McGarry declined comment after the hearing about allegations in the complaint. Jumana Bauwens, a Bank of America spokesman, didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
“There’s more here than a simple breach of contract claim,” Klein told Zobel. “It goes to real malfeasance.”
A majority of the plaintiffs received trial modification plans, known as trial period plans, or TPPs, according to court papers the bank filed. Those are part of the application process and not enforceable contracts, the bank said. They also don’t guarantee a permanent modification unless many conditions are met.
Basic Eligibility Requirements
“Not one of the plaintiffs seeking to recover under the TPPs has alleged that he or she met the basic eligibility requirements and/or qualified for the offer of a permanent modification,” the bank said in court papers.
The plaintiffs say customer service workers regularly tell homeowners that modification documents weren’t received by the bank when in fact they were. The bank also encourages borrowers to default and fails to properly credit payments under trial modifications, treating homeowners as delinquent, according to the plaintiffs. One former employee who isn’t named recalled seeing homeowners’ financial records manipulated in the bank’s computer system, according to the complaint.
“BOA’s general practice and culture is to string homeowners along with no intention of providing actual and permanent modifications,” the complaint says. “Instead, BOA has put processes in place that are designed to foster delay, mislead homeowners and avoid modifying mortgage loans.”
The case is In re Bank of America Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) Contract Litigation, 10-md-02193, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).
To contact the reporter on this story: David McLaughlin in New York at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
By David McLaughlin - Apr 8, 2011 12:01 AM ET inShare23More
Business Exchange Buzz up! Digg Print Email
Bank of America Corp. signage is displayed above the entrance to a branch in New York. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. (BAC), accused in a lawsuit of violating obligations to homeowners seeking to modify mortgage loans and avoid foreclosure, asked a federal judge to throw the case out.
Borrowers say the bank “systematically failed” to comply with a U.S. government program aimed at stemming foreclosures and violated contracts for modifying loans, according to a complaint in federal court in Boston that consolidates cases from across the country.
Bank of America, the biggest U.S. lender by assets, asked U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel at a hearing yesterday to dismiss the complaint. The bank argues that not all homeowners are eligible for inclusion in the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, and that it isn’t required to permanently modify all loans that are eligible.
“The bank is constantly working on the process, and the Treasury is breathing down its neck to make the process better,” said James McGarry, a lawyer for the bank.
The complaint consolidates 26 lawsuits from around the country with another 10 to be added, Gary Klein, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview. If Zobel dismisses the complaint, all the lawsuits would be thrown out, Klein said after the hearing.
Evaluating Borrowers
Bank of America isn’t complying with obligations for evaluating borrowers and modifying loans, the plaintiffs said in court papers. Citing unidentified former employees as for some of its allegations, the complaint accuses the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank of breaching HAMP requirements, misleading homeowners and putting processes in place to avoid modifying loans because it has financial incentives to do so.
“They have no rights?” Zobel asked Bank of America’s lawyer during the hearing, referring to homeowners. “How long can the bank decide whether or not to give it to them?” she said about loan modifications.
McGarry declined comment after the hearing about allegations in the complaint. Jumana Bauwens, a Bank of America spokesman, didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
“There’s more here than a simple breach of contract claim,” Klein told Zobel. “It goes to real malfeasance.”
A majority of the plaintiffs received trial modification plans, known as trial period plans, or TPPs, according to court papers the bank filed. Those are part of the application process and not enforceable contracts, the bank said. They also don’t guarantee a permanent modification unless many conditions are met.
Basic Eligibility Requirements
“Not one of the plaintiffs seeking to recover under the TPPs has alleged that he or she met the basic eligibility requirements and/or qualified for the offer of a permanent modification,” the bank said in court papers.
The plaintiffs say customer service workers regularly tell homeowners that modification documents weren’t received by the bank when in fact they were. The bank also encourages borrowers to default and fails to properly credit payments under trial modifications, treating homeowners as delinquent, according to the plaintiffs. One former employee who isn’t named recalled seeing homeowners’ financial records manipulated in the bank’s computer system, according to the complaint.
“BOA’s general practice and culture is to string homeowners along with no intention of providing actual and permanent modifications,” the complaint says. “Instead, BOA has put processes in place that are designed to foster delay, mislead homeowners and avoid modifying mortgage loans.”
The case is In re Bank of America Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) Contract Litigation, 10-md-02193, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).
To contact the reporter on this story: David McLaughlin in New York at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
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