CreditSlips

Occupy Wall Street, "Fringe Banking" and Public Options

10/07/11

I happened to walk by Zuccoti Park in Manhattan yesterday, where the Occupy Wall Street protest is centered. I picked up a few pieces of protester literature. I can't say that I was in any way comprehensive in my collection. Some of the literature was just nuts, e.g., a flier blathering about admiralty law usurping the common law and the Trading with the Enemies Act. This flier could just as easily have been found at a Tea Party gathering. It gave new meaning to the term "fringe banking." 

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SemCrude Again

10/05/11

The SDNY requires mutually too, according to Judge Peck.

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Do you feel the same?

10/05/11

Over at Dealbook, I look at the very different treatment awaiting unsecured creditors of Countrywide, depending on whether they are bondholders or tort litigants.

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OCC Servicing Settlement--Will Homeowners Get Screwed (Again)?

10/04/11

The WSJ reports on the latest development in the implementation of the OCC's mortgage servicing fraud consent orders.  It seems that the banks will have OCC approved "independent" foreclosure review consultants (chosen and paid by the banks) review foreclosure files from 2009-2010 and pay homeowners damages if there are any problems found.  

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Mortgage Documentation Issues Close to (My) Home

10/03/11

The Arizona Supreme Court currently has under review a mortgage documentation case, Vasquez v. Saxon Mortgage, Inc. Just by chance, the Court was on its annual visit to the University of Arizona law college, where I teach, for the oral argument on Sept. 22. So of course I was in the audience at the argument, along with my students from our new Mortgage Clinic and a related course, called the Mortgage Crisis. We’ve been analyzing and debating the opposing arguments since.

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The Slips Go to Capitol Hill

10/03/11

Tomorrow, Katie Porter and I will be testifying at a subcommittee hearing for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The title of the hearing is "Consumer Protection and Middle Class Wealth Building in an Age of Growing Household Debt." More information on the hearing is available here, which is also the same place the written witness statements and a link to streaming video eventually will appear.

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Bully for BofA: New Debit Card Fees!

10/01/11

Bully for you, Bank of America.  Bank of America's starting charging monthly fees for debit card usage to some customers. This is being taken as an "I told you so" by opponents of the Durbin Amendment, who argued that it would only result in higher costs for consumers. Actually, the BoA move is exactly what we might expect:  consumers are having to pay for their rewards. That's how it should be. They might be paying too much, but that's another matter.  So what does Bank of America's move tell us?

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Regulatory Bankruptcy

10/01/11

My Jotwell review of Sarah Woo's last article is here. 

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Some Wild Idea in a Big White Bed

09/28/11

Over at Dealbook, I take a look at the obvious solution to the Greek situation and the chatter regarding a sovereign bankruptcy procedure.

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