Compiled by Mark Carney
California has joined a multi-state coalition demanding that lenders attempting to foreclose on properties comply fully with all appropriate state laws.
The group was formed after several lenders and loan servicers admitted that lower-level officials, had vouched for the accuracy and completeness of foreclosure documents without ever reviewing them. As a result of these dubious procedures, state investigators intend to examine the foreclosure verifi cation process, on both the state and the national level.
California regulators are now examining the affadavits and foreclosure documents of mortgage servicers in order to ascertain whether legal procedures were followed, and a state law has been passed which prohibits properties whose mortgage originated between Jan. 1, 2002, and Dec. 31, 2007, from being foreclosed on, unless the lender has offered to modify the loan.
Ally Financial, Wells Fargo, J.P.Morgan Chase, One West, and Bank of America are all being investigated by the Attorney General’s office of California.
Despite these state-led investigations, Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank, announced on Monday, Oct. 16 that it had begun foreclosure proceedings in 23 states, and that proceedings would soon follow in the other 27 states.
Green Party gubernatorial candidate arrested at debate
Laura Wells, the California Green Party’s candidate for governor, was arrested in San Rafael for trespassing at the state’s third gubernatorial debate. Having been excluded from participating in or even attending the debate, Wells, 62, showed up with a ticket, which, according to campus security, had not been issued to her. After being told to surrender the ticket or be arrested, Wells was placed under citizen’s arrest by campus security.
“The real crime is what’s happening to California. Republicans and Democrats will go to any length… to keep the truth from California voters,” Wells said in a statement. “There are solutions, like a state bank for California, and fair taxes, but voters aren’t being allowed to hear from independent candidates.” Although, in 2002, she received more than 400,000 votes as a candidate for state controller, Wells was not invited to take part in any of the gubernatorial debates.
Her court date, by a curious irony, is Nov. 2—Election Day.
U.S. labor organization to receive human rights award
The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards, named after the two Chilean diplomats assassinated in 1976, in Washington DC, by agents of Gen. Pinochet, have been given to two Latin American groups and a U.S. labor group. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which received the award in the domestic category, was recognized for fi ghting to improve working conditions for day laborers throughout the country.
In accepting the award, Pablo Alvarado praised the workers’ fortitude, saying, “In the face of indignity, exploitation, humiliation, hatred and bigotry, stigma, fear, and in some places terror, like in Maricopa County, Arizona, there is courage, courage to peacefully resist, courage to defend and protect ourselves and, yes, even courage to love our detractors.”
