CreditSlips

Congress Has Its Own Limiting Principle

03/28/12

This is supposed to be a blog about credit and bankruptcy, but I can't help myself in making a short comment about one aspect of the oral argument and discussion from yesterday's challenge to the individual mandate. Credit Slips purists should note that many bankruptcy filers have lots of medical debt, so the topics are not completely unrelated.

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Marketing $25 Billion AG Settlement to Consumers is Key to Getting Money

03/27/12

Our local AG's office just held a meeting for people who serve homeowners in foreclosure, to explain what the settlement means to consumers.

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Principal Reduction and Strategic Default

03/26/12

Moral hazard, moral hazard, moral hazard....  How often have we heard that as a reason for why principal reductions can't be done.  As if it were the worst thing in the world.  

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Calling DeMarco's Bluff? Use the GSEs' Market Power to Force 2d Lien Write Downs

03/26/12

There's been mounting pressure on the acting head of the FHFA, Ed DeMarco to order Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to undertake principal reductions.

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FireDogLake Book Salon on BROKE

03/25/12

On Sunday, March 25, from 5-7pm Eastern/2-4pm Pacific, I am live-blogging about Broke: How Debt Bankrupts the Middle Class at FireDogLake's Book Salon. My host is Edwin Walker, a retired bankruptcy practitioner with over twenty five years of experience.

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A Must Read on the Financial Crisis

03/21/12

Bethany McLean has a must-read article on Reuters about the role of the SEC's 2004 change in broker-dealer leverage requirements in the financial crisis.  The article thoroughly debunks the argument that "the SEC did it" by loosening broker-dealer deregulation. 

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Promoting Integrity in the UCC Article 9 Recording System

03/16/12

On January 1, 2011, Larry files a UCC-1 financing statement against David indicating David's equipment as collateral. At this point, David doesn't even know Larry, has not given him a security interest, and has not authorized this filing. On February 1, 2012, David meets and borrows money from Larry and signs a security agreement listing equipment as collateral (which, under UCC 9-509, automatically authorizes the filing of a financing statement against equipment). What is the relevant date for determining Larry's priority? The language of Article 9

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The Real Question re Goldman

03/15/12

Why doesn't Goldman have its employees sign non-disclosure agreements?

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HUD Inspector General fills in some details on robo-signing and other abuses

03/14/12

For those without enough reading after the legal document dump on Monday in the national mortgage settlement (see http://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2012/03/national-mortgage-settlement-details-posted-on-the-web.html), there's more. Also released Monday were five audit reports about the robo-signing and other abuses in the foreclosure processes of the five financial institutions involved in the settlement.

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