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On the Trail of Mortgage Fraud Queens has been harder hit by foreclosures than any other New York borough, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation believes it has found a culprit. Last July, the F.B.I. accused Edul Ahmad, a local broker, of a $50 million mortgage fraud, saying he lured fellow immigrants into subprime mortgages, inflated the values of their properties and concealed his involvement in deals that were ruinous for scores, if not hundreds, of borrowers. Mr. Ahmad pleaded not guilty, and posted $2.5 million bail. Now, according to court papers, as reported in The Times, he is plea-bargaining with federal prosecutors. Whatever Mr. Ahmad did or did not do, one thing is sure: he did not act alone. The attention Mr. Ahmad has drawn highlights the relative lack of scrutiny of the big banks and their senior executives. Big banks created demand and provided credit for dubious mortgage loans, which they bundled into securities and sold to investors. If not for reckless lending and heedless securitizing, there would have been no mortgage bubble and no mortgage bust — and, in all probability, no Edul Ahmad. There have been some prominent civil suits with settlements and fines, including the $550 million deal between Goldman Sachs and the Securities and Exchange Commission over the misleading of investors in a mortgage-backed investment. Bank of America, which bought Countrywide Financial in 2008, recently agreed to pay $335 million to settle a lawsuit by the Justice Department over Countrywide’s practice of steering black and Hispanic borrowers to subprime loans while similarly qualified white borrowers got better terms. But such cases have been narrowly focused and rarely name top executives. What is needed is leadership by President Obama on this issue. He should form an interagency task force to investigate and pursue potential civil and criminal wrongdoing by institutions and people whose conduct in the mortgage chain had the greatest economic impact. That would mean focusing on the large banks and their top echelons. The investigators would need to include the departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development, the S.E.C. and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as bank regulators, with the formal co-operation of the most aggressive state attorneys general. The task force would need a leader with the impulses of a crusading prosecutor. The investigations to date have not had this character. The Goldman Sachs settlement, for instance, was over one security and put the blame on a midlevel banker. When executives have been personally penalized, the fines have been a fraction of the wealth they amassed during the bubble. From 2000 to 2008, Angelo Mozilo, the chief executive of Countrywide, received total compensation estimated at $521.5 million; in 2010, without admitting or denying any wrongdoing, he paid $67.5 million to settle civil fraud charges brought by the S.E.C. The Justice Department, for its part, decided not to pursue a possible criminal case against Mr. Mozilo. Lawsuits by state attorneys general, notably in Massachusetts and Nevada, may ultimately prove more revealing and helpful to wronged homeowners, because they tend to focus on foreclosure abuses by banks. New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, is building a comprehensive investigation of the mortgage chain from the origination and securitization of loans to banks’ foreclosure practices. That may lead to more actors in the system being held accountable for creating the mortgage crisis. Mr. Ahmad is accused of swindling naïve borrowers in Queens. There is more to the mortgage mess than that. A version of this editorial appeared in print on January 16, 2012, on page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: On the Trail of Mortgage Fraud. COMMENTS ObserverArizona The theme of this editorial is good. All US citizens of average intelligence have been saying the same thing for the last three years while conversing with their friends in order to vent their anger, frustration and hopelessness. This editorial contains the following: -------------------------------------------- The Justice Department, for its part, decided not to pursue a possible criminal case against Mr. Mozilo. -------------------------------------------- If anybody from the news media had pressed the Justice Department to provide its reason(s) for the above 'decision', a spokesman for the Justice Department must surely have provided some 'convincing' reasons such as 'lack of adequate resources to to pursue a criminal case against Mr. Mozilo.' It is painful to surmise that in all likelihood the true reason was that through past massive campaign contributions, Mozilo had bought the current 'boss' of the Justice Department, just as he surely must have had bought the previous boss who 'reigned' during 2001 - 08, and also key folks in the legislative branch of the federal government. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND8 Sandy Reiburn Brooklyn, NY 'Without prosecutions, there’s nothing keeping fraud from becoming a standard business practice' Matt Stoller 11/28/11 A rather frightening expose on programming fraud into bank software by 'Lender Processing Services, the company that handles 80 percent of foreclosures on behalf of large banks' To read more: http://www.newdeal20.org/2011/11/28/mortgage-servicers-getting-away-with... Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND2 queenida1 Silicon Valley I volunteered for a community group a few years ago and was asked to help distressed homeowners in nearby communities analyze their choices. This was before the banks provided help and the feds created support organizations. Mr. Ahmad is typical of the type of scams Countrywide, World Savings and Wacovia et al were running. The branch manager would find a local who was a member of an affinity group such as a church, fraternal, or by ethnic community. In one example where I've handled far too many cases it was a local Filipino community group where, it seems, nearly every member was persuaded to take out a 1% teaser rate adjustable or pick-a-pay loan even those most of these hard working people would have qualified for a fixed rate. But I've seen the same pattern with legal Mexican immigrants, Russian immigrants, a baptist church and even a Mormon church. The incentive for the mortgage broker was a 3% bonus - that's correct, the person writing the loan was paid a 3% bounty above the usual rate. 6-12 months later the mortgage broker would call and offer a cash-out refi which generated another 3% commission. 6-12 months later another call.... Because of the trusted relationships within these affinity groups the members would see their mortgage broker donating to the church, paying for a party, driving a new car. Little did they realize... I see no evidence Fannie & Freddie were the cause of this mess as they came much later, that is merely a red herring. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND3 Migdia Chinea Glendale, CA In 2009, as I was just accepted into the UCLA Master's program in Film, I was interested in a lower interest refi. My candor turned into a nightmare covered in a lenghy article at another major publication. Out of frustration, I wrote, produced and directed a sci-fi film short 'anonymous (street meat)' which went to 26 film festivals world wide (including Cannes). The bank used the fact that I was a UCLA Film Master's candidate to declare me in hardship and circle like vultures around my beloved historic home of many years -- this, despite having significant equity, ignoring the fact that I had NEVER paid late or in reduced payments EVER and that my FICO score, which they ruined with their lies, was 850. Despite my modest economic situation -- I have never been in financial threat of foreclosure until the bank decided I was. The Bank presumed that because I am a UCLA Grad film student, that I couldn't afford to pay my mortgage. My signature was forged on a document. My numerous letters went unaswered. My account was impounded. My mortgage payments INCREASED, placed in an escrow account and applied to the principal, so they wouldn't count as mortgage payments. These banksters should pay for their crimes. While his name is on these 'home retention programs' the New York Times article treats Obama gingerly. Migdia Chinea, UCLA MFA School of Theater, Film, Television and Digital Media - class of 2012 (finishing with a Master's in film in 10 weeks). Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND3 DonovanMarion, Iowa I am embarassed to say that my wife and I were victims of mortgage fraud. The mortgage company gave us one set of papers to review and then had us sign another set. Six years later, as we were preparing to do a refi at today's lower rates, we discovered that the difference in one line on the paperwork made the conventional 30 year loan which we thought we had into an INTEREST ONLY loan with a balloon! I contacted our state's attorney general office, and the clueless lady who took my information sent me the paperwork to apply for a loan modification! When we sought legal assistance, we learned that the mortgage company had been shut down by another state's attorney general and we were just plain out of luck. To make matters worse, the decline in housing values combined with the fact that we have not paid down any principal probably means we will not qualify for a refi. The smartest thing we could do is walk away from our home, but that is not something we want to do. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND miriamac2001 New York Don't hold your breath. Remember this is the POTUS who admires successful business people. Who do you think is going to those 10K/plate fundraisers? Hint it's not Amad and it sure as heck isn't the poor souls who had the equity sucked out of their homes. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND1 Rich McConvilleFt Myers FL There can be little doubt abuses were present. But we cannot ignore some of the other contributing factors. Two of the most notable were the Fed's policy of artificially low interest rates, which allowed thousands of otherwise unqualified borrowers to qualify for loans, and the failure to regulate immigration, which provided the labor force for construction of a tremendous oversupply of housing in the Sunbelt. If interest rates had been allowed to moderate following 9/11 few of the lower income buyers would have been considered for loans. Housing and mortgages are tied to one another. Without housing there is no need for mortgages, without mortgages there are far fewer buyers for houses. If the labor force had not been ramped up by illegal immigration there would have been no way for the market to keep pace with the demand for mortgages tied to houses. We simply would not have been able to fill the orders. In some markets hundreds of illegal day laborers gathered at prominent locations before dawn waiting for work. Housing is not a product that can be outsourced to China. While the banks and mortgage lenders made some mistakes, to go after them without considering the rest of those who benefited from bending the rules is just as wrong. The system doesn't need a 'fall guy'. It needs to figure out what went wrong, for real. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND1 anneNew York City Calling Elliot Spitzer. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND2 Damien GrahamNew York The fact that there has not been a serious investigation into the mortgage fraud is as bad as the fraud itself. If a prosecutor were serious about following the trail, how hard would it be to uncover the fraud ? They are going to get away with it and there does not seem to be anything that we can do about it. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:42 p.m.RECOMMEND3 TruthtellerScarsdale, New York Stop and think for a moment: What did this Guyanese immigrant (the proverbial little guy) do that that big guys like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan did not? After all the man was a mortgage broker, a middleman not a moneyman, actually hired by big banks to find as many sure-to-default subprime mortgages they could find as Goldman and others had an unlimited appetite for them at the time. The demand for liar's loan at the highest inflated 'appraisal value' (otherwise known as Alt-A mortgages) was so high, because that's what made the most outrageous profits for the big guys, that a mortgage in the name of your dog could be sold! Now that the bottom has fallen out, many of the little guys are already sitting in jails where this man is surely heading for a long prison term. He will have a lot of company with many hapless borrowers who are sent to prison everyday for falsifying their income and appraisal value on the loan application. American version of Rule of Law dictates that everyone has a legal obligation to always tell the truth, unless specifically exempted --- yeah, like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan in my example. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND5 mosbenav Haifa, Israel What scares me about this editorial are the words 'plea and bargaining.' Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND lindabrooklyn obama had a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the policies and reinstate the regulations to prevent future looting of the treasury by these financial entities. instead he chose to side with the war criminals and economic terrorists -- not only protecting them, but actually employing their questionable tactics. there will be no accountability for those at the top. if anything, a few minions will be cast aside; but no one substantial. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND1 lindabrooklyn obama had a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the policies and reinstate the regulations to prevent future looting of the treasury by these financial entities. instead he chose to side with the war criminals and economic terrorists -- not only protecting them, but actually employing their questionable tactics. there will be no accountability for those at the top. if anything, a few minions will be cast aside; but no one substantial. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND3 Paul WertzEugene, Ore. Thanks to carefully worded phrases such as 'move forward, not look back,' the clear impression is that President Obama has influenced Holder's avoidance of needed investigations into Wall Street wrongdoing, just as Bush did with Gonzalez. The list of invertebrate cabinet appointees who serve the powerful--Geithner, Salazar, Panetta, et al--does not go unnoticed. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND3 Jon Atlanta All the games have been played and the players retired years ago. NYT is throwing a Hail Mary but the stadium is empty. Why didn't they follow-up on the vampire squid momentum a few years back? The best we can do now is put an asterisk next to Obama's name in the record books. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND1 StuartBoston A guy who wanted to bring together the country would appoint blue-ribbon panels of trusted Americans from the Left and Right, let them have free reign to investigate, think, interview, and write up their thoughts. And then ram the conclusions through Congress. Instead, these panels are used as political foils to give the cover of bipartisanship. It is hard to be led by a post-division executive who, in fact, has an incredibly shrewd and calculating political agenda of his own. This is the reason that those who voted for him from his hard Left and Moderate Right are so angry. All speeches and no leadership. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND1 NotblockedCA Countrywide suggested a liar's loan to me when I wanted to buy a property. Even though I knew we could swing the mortgage I felt queasy about signing up for such a scheme. The countrywide broker told me it was done all the time, but I could not bring myself to lie on an officlal document. The people who did not have my conscience should never work in a position of responsibility ever again--brokers and borrowers. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND1 Kathleen Boca Raton, FL We will soon have 2 moderate Republicans running against each other, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. If one candidate pledged to organize and put this Task Force in place, under the oversight of the new Consumer Protection Agency as well as the Justice Dept , voters could more easily distinguish them. A second helpful pledge would be the phasing out of bundling and selling securitized mortgage loans, and the reinstatement of Glass Steagall. Immovable property differs from movable property, our homes are not pork belly futures. This do-nothing policy of waiting for the property market to sort itself out cannot continue. Laissez faire will result in more moldy, vacant houses, even entire develpments, that will have to be razed in the end. Nobody benefits. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND2 Peter COttawa, Canada Housing is not and should nto be a free market. If someone buys a car on a loan that they cannot repay, and lose it, that is their problem. When they lose their home it is our problem. For this reason home loans should be regulated. I lived in the UK until 1985 when home loans were only available from carefully controlled and responsible lenders called Building Societies. Then the banks entered the market and prices went through the roof. The issue is not about punishing irresponsible lenders. After all, lending is their business. The issue is that homes should not be subject to free market enterprise forces. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND Mr.ThomasArizona Might start with DiTech of billboards across USA repute who touted EZ qualify loans with zero down and cash back, and Mr. Mozillo the Calabasas conniver who got a sweetheart of a settlement with money that really wasn't his. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND aPersonColorado Im guessing digging into the upper echelon would expose some powerful players. Poors schlubs like us 99.9 percenters dont deal with the powerful so it is safe to go after us. We cant afford the lawyers either. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND3 TheOwl New England Given the administration's willingness to ignore the law and ethics of the privileged few, is there any doubt that Attorney General Eric Holder will continue to sweep this under the rug? So far the Justice Department has turned their eye from the systematic...and extremely profitable...fraud committed on the The People. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND Robert CiceroTuckahoe, NY The Editors seem to have forgotten that Obama bailed out the very banks that he is now being asked to investigate and prosecute. Either way, it's a bit late in the game to start investigating. Any crimes which may have occured happened years ago. How would any investigation or subsequent convictions, even if possible, in any way boost the economy? This all seems like so much election year banter, to deflect attention away from the administration's failure to correct the economy by blaming it on the big, bad banks. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND1 Lary Waldman Qualicum Beach British Columbia Why not appoint, with great pomp and circumstance Rudy Guillianni as the person charged with the responsibility of cleaning up Wall Street. He could hire Spitzer and between the two of them put togeather a cast of mighty men and women to take on those who feel they are to big to fail. Now that would get great headlines. Lary Waldman Qualicum Beach Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND Jim DoyleHonolulu While it would be satisfying to see some of these people put behind bars, and their wealth taken away from them, it should be remembered that much, if not most of what they did was perfectly legal. They got the little guys to do the dirty work for them, but it wasn't illegal to bundle mortgages into derivatives and to make a profit. What needs to be changed are the laws. The Republicans made it legal, by eliminating Glass-Stegall, and systematically passing other deregulation that cleared the way for this type of behavior. While they were at it, the eviscerated the Bankruptcy laws, making it much more difficult for the Average Joe to get out from under crushing debt. What really needs to change are the laws that allowed this to take place, and I believe that the best shot we have at doing this is to not only re-elect Obama, but give him filibuster-proof majorities in both the house and senate. Call it the lesser of two evils if you will, but it sure ain't gonna happen if we give control back to the Republicans. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND4 awinkMassachusetts President Obama and the New York Times should have started and or advocated for this on 01.20.09. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND CharlesGA Our so called representatives saw this crisis as an oppurtunity to grab more power by creating a new Bureacracy (The Consumer Protection Agency). I'd say the NYTimes is about three years late on calling for the president to investigate these crimes but it's still a good idea! Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND Mike Persaud Queens, New York Thank you New York Times for editorializing on this point, namely, that Edul Ahmad is being turned into a poster boy for the mortgage mess that led to the financial meltdown of 2007-2008. Ahmad may have participated in only $250 million of 'Liars Loans'. There were about $1 trillion of such loans. Where are the thousands of brokers who did exactly the same thing that Ahmad did all across the United States? And, yes, your editorial focused on the banks who made it all happen? Who approved these Liars Loans? I shall clip this quote out and place it on my refrigerator door: 'If not for reckless lending and heedless securitizing, there would have been no mortgage bubble and no mortgage bust — and, in all probability, no Edul Ahmad'. Equal Justice demands that the Feds immediately arrest the tens of thousands of brokers all across the United States who did exactly the same thing Ahmad is accused of doing. As well as the bankers and underwriters who approved these loans. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND1 HGLtraveling USA One factor consistenly ignored when talking about discriminatory policies towards hispanics, is the fact that many undocumented immigrants used fake T.I.N. numbers to obtain these 'toxic' loans, and while the bank exec's surely should be prosecuted, so should those who violated our immigration laws and then defrauded our banks and our country. Why is the NY Times so soft on illegal immigrants who thumb their noses at our laws? Surely Obama must recognize that the banks went along with these scams, but so did the illegals who are now benefiting from the back end of their scheme by pooling their ill-gotten gains to buy back the homes at-bargain basement-prices-which they lost through their own fraudulent acts. And we stand by as they take over our country and irresponsibly procreate to create a generation [or two] of anchor babies. And then they complain that if deported for their criminal acts, their families will suffer. Don't the families of all criminals suffer from the bad choices of their parents? Why should undocumented immigrants and their families be treated differently than our own citizens? Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND Farang GhadialiDallas, Tex. 'He should form an interagency task force to...... The task force would need a leader with the impulses of a crusading prosecutor. ' There was one, his name was Elliot Spitzer. We all know what happened to him when he started making a lot of people nervous. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND3 Joe GLong Island NY Correct, so right...Investigate. but, Start with this Administration who, for the last three years has increased the debt by 6 trillion and Obama could care less. That is enough to pay up every mortgage in America TWICE and have left overs. The awful behavior of the Obama Gang and the complete silence of the Media, (Yes you), has caused this outrage. If Bush was President you headlines would scream everyday,,,yet you remain silent and print stories that deflect from Obama. In the past I have sent in comments yet you do not print them or place them on you site. Censorship is alive and well at the NYTimes. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND KTNYC It is clear that the administration has no intention of pursuing the real culprits in the mortgage scandal, the big banks and their top executives, who did not merely approve the lending policies of those in the field, but actively encouraged such policies. Why won't the administration investigate these people? It seems as though the fear is that to do so would unsettle the financial industry and, in doing so, impede economic recovery. It think that such thinking is full of fallacies about what the industry does and how the public might react to a scandal. We want these people prosecuted. That is the way to punish the guilty, expose the lies, and prevent another bubble in the future. Note that the people who were victimized by such immoral and illegal practices include many minority Americans, and that public wrath often has been directed at those victims, who are being depicted as dumb and greedy. Too often, the blame falls on the victims, particularly if those victims are non-white or immigrant. On MLK day in particular, we should ponder why, when faced with corruption of a huge magnitude on the part of rich white men, we cast blame on the poor non-whites who have been their prey. It is always the poor who are the first target of con men -- they are often naive, and have no power to retaliate -- and in America, it is often non-whites who are poor. We should get our priorities straight, and the Administration should not be afraid to cast blame where blame belongs. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND TropicalgardenerCalifornia This should have been done years ago, but Obama said he did not want to look backwards; a mistake in personal character as well as national character; since the few individuals who perpetuated the ruin of tens of millions of American's dreams (job, homes, retirement funds, college funds, savings, the list goes on) by fraud, greed, and mismanagement have been allowed to ooze by. Americans no longer trust government, and certainly not businesses--especially the banks and financial sectors. Americans are very, very angry, and they have a right to be; nobody has been punished, investigated, or even mentioned, as possible culprits for one of the largest mass frauds in U.S. history. Why? People have stopped asking why since they know the Democrats are to wimpy to find out why and the Republicans are protecting those who committed all the crimes. The banks own both parties. The whole affair has left a bad taste in the mouths of millions, for generations to come. Even if a few greedy fools are caught, it will be too little too late; Wall Street is still rolling in ill-gotten cash and the middle class has been gored, perhaps for more than one generation. Obama may be re-elected, but he does not really deserver to be. He, his attorney general, and the Democratic Party, refused to fight, to do the right thing, to act like heros. instead, they acted like sissies, cowards. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND4 everlast007 Michigan Immediately launch an investigation for the sole purpose of putting in prison all those involved in the massive fraud, starting with the initiator of the original bogus mortgage, to those reasonable for packaging and peddling junk as investment grade directivities. I’m talking about hard time, no fine, if they’re found guilty they go to prison and all their assets are seized. This is the only message the Wall Street moneychangers will understand. Launching an investigation, is a misnomer, you can smell the audit trail from Washington, DC, to Wall Street from anywhere in the country. The political cover for saving these criminals from prison: they were essential to unravel the nightmare they created. Here’s a novel idea, put them in prison, supply them with computers, with an incentive program, fix the mess, and have their sentences cut in half, plus a bus ticket and $50.00 in what they used to call chump change. See how fast that job gets done. This country is only going in one direction: down, if these criminals aren’t held accountable right now. Forget all the political rhetoric from both parties, both parties share responsibility for this nightmare. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.RECOMMEND1 VUpstate New YorkNYT Pick The reason these loans weren't given scrutiny is that the US taxpayers were basically unwitting 'cosigners' on all the debt. Too big to fail = the US treasury is your cosigner. You can borrow as if you personally own all the tax money. The same thing happened in Greece -- the banks didn't care that the Greeks were irresponsible because they knew the rest of Europe would bail them out. Germany was Greece's cosigner. And now the whole Euro might collapse. As long as there are these implicit cosigners, the banks have an incentive to keep on loaning and loaning and loaning. Which, of course, encourages overspending. The problem is that sometimes these institutions really are too big to fail. In that case, the only way to stop the loaning is going to be regulation. The bankers' behavior was immoral, but probably not illegal, unfortunately. I'd personally like to see the bankers in jail, but writing loans you know a lender can't pay isn't illegal, as far as I know. Too bad. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:30 p.m.RECOMMEND RonNYCNew York, New YorkNYT Pick April 3, 2011 60 Minutes ran a segment on robo-signers, several admitted on camera to signing 100s (or more) documents a day. Each one is a RICO violation. Has anyone at that company been prosecuted? Why not? And yet the Justice Department has no problem going after individuals who lie on mortgage applications. On a few days ago an attorney in Florida was convicted of just that in federal court. Is there anyone in the country besides the principles, who believes the top executives at these companies involved in this are innocent? Why does the SEC bend over backwards to cut deal with them? I feel like it's never been clearer in recent memory that there is one standard of law for the 99% and another for the 1%. Jan. 16, 2012 at 3:28 p.m.RECOMMEND3 Taz Delaney New York CityNYT Pick while dullard rightwingers denounce obama as a 'socialist' he went to no less than JP morgan on wall street and did a fundraiser raised $9 million in a single dinner where each plate cost $38,500. some socialist. just the usual bribed, owned corporatist shill. Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:49 p.m.RECOMMEND3 JForest Hills Of course, we should investigate the role of big banks in the mortgage crisis and prosecute wrongdoers from the point of origination through securitization and foreclosure, BUT we should not let people like Edul Ahmad off the hook with a plea bargain. He must be fully prosecuted if we have any hope of deterring unscrupulous predators operating below the radar in immigrant communities. Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND4 SteveNM Crimes while wearing the esteemed 'White Collar' are of the best sort of crimes, for they are crimes of which no-one person can be charged for. Even if charged, the institution merely has to sign a paper indemnifying them and any persons, stating very specifically that they will never again attempt such a fraud, and that the fraud they are paying the fine for was merely a simple mistake. Factually B of A and Wells Fargo have been caught on multiple occasions placing Blacks and Hispanics in subprime loans which is all based on profitability. Profit for the bank of course as these borrowers as numerous studies have proven, should have in fact been placed into regular loans at regular rates of interest. In real life, when we are fooled once by a friend we may, or may not grant them a second opportunity to maintain trust. In this matter, 2 of the largest banks in the nation have literally preyed on the gullibility of certain groups, and not been held accountable for their actions. Accountability is centrally lacking in the manner in which the United States conducts its affairs. The fact that companies are allowed to continue operations even when they have been caught on several occasions very obviously stealing peoples money is a certain indicator how the United States is a Plutocracy. If the United States ever was a Republic Democracy, it has been many a decade since that was so. . . Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND JamesLong island First the President has to stop taking campaign contributions from the institutions and people whose conduct in the mortgage chain had the greatest economic impact. Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND4 Fred ZimnochNorthampton, MA Hi I’m over seventy and still have many memories left. For me this human failure of the mortgage industry is a double tragedy since I still can recall the events when petro dollars were flooding the US banks in the middle and late 1970s. It was then that the banks lent out mortgages by issuing low doc (documentation) mortgages and then finally no doc mortgages. When the economy swooned as it periodically does all these mortgages started to fail. I can’t help but conclude that the banks, mortgage industry, government regulators, our citizens and now Wall Street simply can’t handle mortgages. Something needs to be done to address this simple issue and I suspect that Dodd-Frank and CFPA are really not addressing the issue. Cheers. Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND3 ZSmithSewickley, PA We need to look AHEAD. A task force? Yeah, I'm sure that would be a cost-free endeavor. Most of the people that perpetrated fraud in lending/borrowing have NO MONEY at this point. Hence the economic lull. So what would be the practical significance or gain of such an investigation? Most of these transactions occured 5 years ago. NYT, these editorials are daily snores. Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND1 oneyeUSA This swindle has been going on for at least 30 years, with our government's complicity. SEC fines have typically been 10% of the fraud, no admission of guilt, no trial, and no prison. And that's the frauds investigated, a fraction of the real crimes. Do you think the racketeers miss the message? Reagan opened the floodgates, and for 30 years we have had an escalation of fraud. I've written letters and attempted to engage lawyers, all to no avail. Lawyers today work for the corporations, I cannot find a single lawyer who represents people bankrupted by fraud. Most Americans are still asleep to it, and our government is as complicit as ever. We have not started to turn around this mess, because the racketeers are still in business and the government is still complicit. The prevalent attitude is - if fraud makes money, give me a piece of that! It's been tried before. Mighty Rome which owned 1/6 of the Earth folded in one surprise summer. The largest city on Earth impossibly became a ghost town in a few weeks. And the millions who had been defrauded said, good riddance! Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND4 Scott Cincinnati While it appears Mr. Ahmad committed some crimes don't forget that banks cannot create demand. The government's cheap money policy and Fannie/Freddie buying any loan that was written by Mr. Ahmad and his peers enabled all this activity. Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND2 Juris B.Marlton, N.J. Ahmad should be thrown into a high security prison for life along with Greenspan, Clinton, Barney Frank, Blankfein and all of the other liars and cheats who willfully created this disaster for their own finacial and politicol benefit. Obama is the biggest crook of them all because he has done NOTHING to pursue these criminals. I can't stomach the thought of voting again for Obama but the alternative is worse. Obama has become a wolf in sheeps clothing. Money and power have totally corrupted him. The pox on all of them! Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND6 Woody Smith Arlington, Virginia President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder need not only to identify the culprits and fully describe their schemes, but need to recover from these criminals' personal funds (and those they have hidden among their families) the proceeds of their frauds. This would include their bonuses, golden parachutes and other compensation they 'earned' as a result of their schemes. Also, strong steps still must be taken to curtail these activities, and other technically legal but still clearly larcenous activities, still ongoing in the financial world. A good place to start would be to replace Timothy Geithner with Robert Reich at Treasury. Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND3 AlfredMassatuck, NY Right on...but just waking up now? Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND1 lou4747AClarkston, MI That's all we need is one more administration-appointed committee, full of his hand-picked politicos, many of whom have proved to be less than competent in their highly paid positions . Each State has an attorney general, who collectively, are doing a fine job of investigating these issues. Leave it alone, Washington! Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND1 james9073Brookings, OR Total agreement on this; bring justice and you bring hope This would be a major step, among several, to address and fix this housing crisis. In reality any stimulus program, in bringing the economy around, will have little durable effect without attacking the mortgage debalacle. Foreclosures are the millstone around any economic recovery.i.e. jobs,,infrastructure, taxes,cutting taxes -whatever., Jan. 16, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.RECOMMEND2 GabrielleVirginia I anticipated the impending debacle in Chicago as condo prices were skyrocketing and I sold out in 2006, pocketed the profit, and moved away. Missing the urban life, in 2011 went to Chicago and looked at dozens of properties that should never have been gutted for refitting with marble baths, granite and stainless steel kitchens. They were all in short sales. I saw apartments that sold in 2006 for $250,000 or more and were now on the market in short sales, for around $75,000. I met some of the dazed owners who had been the unsophisticated borrowers, still unaware that their defaults would end up as taxable income to them while the banks will write off their loses against profits. And yes, I found an apartment in short sale, signed a contract, and after many months of waiting, still received no approval from the lenders, while the numbers of of defaults, foreclosures and short sales continues to increase. Surely the frauds perpetrated by the lenders and appraisers, that have resulted in this debacle, can be prosecuted. |
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NY Times EDITORIAL
Published: January 15, 2012 |
| The text being discussed is available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/opinion/on-the-trail-of-mortgage-fraud.html?_r=2&ref=opinion?hp |