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Countrywide Sued By Connecticut

by: Connecticut Man1

Wed Aug 06, 2008 at 14:41:47 PM EDT

( - promoted by ctblogger)

Via buzzflash and by Jonathan Stempel, at Reuters, a bit about predatory lending practices getting Countrywide in legal doodoo in Connecticut and across the nation:

Countrywide sued by Connecticut over loans, fees
Calling the lender's practices "oppressive, unethical, immoral and unscrupulous," Connecticut joined California, Florida and Illinois among U.S. states suing Countrywide, which last year made one in six U.S. mortgage loans.
...snip...
"Countrywide conned customers into loans that were clearly unaffordable and unsustainable, turning the American dream of homeownership into a nightmare," said Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general, in a statement on Wednesday. He also called Countrywide "an insolvency enabler."
Connecticut is demanding that Countrywide make restitution to affected borrowers, give up improper gains, and rescind, reform or modify all mortgages that broke state laws.

Popcorn time! I have my own personal reasons for enjoying this show...

Connecticut Man1 :: Countrywide Sued By Connecticut

Previously brewed in New Milford:

Many of you already knew that we were probably losing our home in the first wave of foreclosures hitting this state and the country. I have been sort of busy the last couple of weeks with this issue and (some of) you may have noticed that my Blog has been dormant because I have been so busy.
The bad news? We have given up trying to save our home.
The good news? Unlike the many American families that are, right now, living in tent cities (from the morgtage crisis, floods and also from hurricane Katrina) we have been fortunate enough to find a house to rent. And we will not have to move from New Milford, either. The kids are happy about that second part. They have made friends and like living here.
Finding a place to live has not been easy. Being in the first wave of foreclosures, many landlords refused to rent to us. This issue will likely resolve itself for others later on as more and more people with foreclosures and bankruptcies on their credit reports will flood the renters market. For now it is still an issue. An issue we that we kind of lucked our way around.
Lemons Meet Lemonade
The house we are renting? It is a little bit smaller than the home we loved but it does have some serious plusses that make this a better place for us. First, it has a nice little wood stove in the living room to curl up in front of on those chilly New England nights. It will also save us money on oil. Second, it has a nice, big and sunny room that I plan on turning into my media room that will look right out over the back yard. Third, it is not on a main street so the kids and the dog will be a little safer playing outside. Fourth, we will be saving hundreds compared to what our original mortgage payment started at, never mind how much our ARM was by the time it doubled.
As for the luck part? Well, we are renting the house from someone that was on the verge of losing it all, as well. She pretty much knows our situtation and, because of her own situtation, was a little more forgiving on our credit check. The lady who owns the house is where we were in the foreclosure process about 9 months ago. She did not have "ARM" or sub-prime issues, but employment/relocation issues. As the real estate agent that helped us find a place said, this is a win/win situation for everyone here. She won't be crushed financially like we were and we will have a roof over our heads.
I'll have more to write on this later but, for now, don't be surpised if my Blogging particiaption is a little bit irregular.

Tags: Mortgage Crisis, Countrywide, Richard Blumenthal, (All Tags)

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Countrywide Sued By Connecticut | 3 comments

Live and learn (0.00 / 0)

and hope Countrywide gets burned...

Drinking Liberally in New Milford
ePluribus Media

by: Connecticut Man1 @ Wed Aug 06, 2008 at 18:49:35 PM UTC

The real issue here. (0.00 / 0)

The one that America will be looking at across the nation soon, via wiki:

Los Angeles, California, USA
The BBC did a news story[1] about tent cities in Los Angeles which reportedly went unreported by the national American main stream press.[2] The story talked about how the causes of the crises in the U.S. economy has forced many people, who used to own their own homes, to now live in Hoovervilles. In the search for inexpensive labor, large multinational corporations have contributed to homelessness by exporting jobs in America to third world countries.[3]
[edit] St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
In late December 2006, homeless people formed an impromptu tent city on the St. Vincent de Paul property in the 1400 block of Fourth Avenue N. of St. Petersburg in Saint Petersburg, Florida when dozens of homeless moved off of public land across the street from the society. In early January 2007, city officials noted city codes that prohibit living in tents and gave the society one week to evict the occupants of the tent city. [4]
[edit] Seattle, Washington, USA
Homeless people have long resorted to seeking shelter in tents , but these communities are one of the first known to be organized by a sponsoring organization (a partnership between the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort and Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League, often referred to by the combined acronym SHARE/WHEEL), and, even more notably, are one of the first in a major U.S. city to be largely accepted by local governments. Contrary to some stereotypes regarding the homeless, many residents of Tent City are employed, mostly in temporary or day labor jobs, but have insufficient income to obtain more permanent housing [5].
The original Tent City and Tent City 2, both created in the late 1990s, were created illegally and opposed by the City of Seattle. After being tolerated for some time, they were eventually forced to shut down. In March of 2002, as a result of a legal battle, city attorney Tom Carr and SHARE/WHEEL attorney Ted Hunter signed a court ordered consent decree with SHARE, allowing Tent City only on private land (by invitation) and setting standards for its operation.
Based on the consent decree Tent City 3 was created and rotates around the Metro Seattle Core. Tent City 4 was created in May of 2004 as an attempt to expand beyond the consent decree and use public land and resources, something the consent decree does not allow. This attempt was unsuccessful and Tent City 4 has since been relocated to eastern King County where it is church sponsored. Tent City rules do not allow drug or alcohol use, and evicts anyone caught stealing or committing other crimes within the camp. Stays for Tent City 3 have been around 3 weeks on average while Tent City 4 has had stays as long as 100 days. Cities have been adopting code amendments that limit stays to 60-90 days.
[edit] King County, Washington, USA
Main article: Tent City 4 (King County, Washington)
Tent City 4 (TC4) is a homeless encampment of up to 100 people created in May 2004 in eastern King County outside of Seattle. Residents are adult men and women, although there is a provision for quartering minor dependents in emergency situations. Residents may have their own tents or single men or women may stay in gender specific community tents. Dumpsters and portable toilets are provided by SHARE and there is a portable shower. The community currently relocates every three to four months on the property of Eastern King County churches upon invitation. Proponents state that the average length of residency per inhabitant is six weeks, with fewer long-term than short-term members.[6]
Opponents challenge this claim citing SHARE'S testimony to King County and City of Seattle elected officials that they do not keep any data on residents in order to protect their privacy. While the percentage varies based on the occupants, many of the residents work part or full time for area businesses as day laborers or permanent employees.[6] Tent City 4 governance consists of an Advisor similar to an executive, and a rotating Executive Committee elected by the community in a one person, one vote structure.
Tent City 4 has differentiated itself from other temporary encampments since 2004 due to its standard of requiring a signed "Code of Conduct" and performing warrant checks and sex offender checks on all potential residents.[6] By signing the "Code of Conduct" the residents agree to abstain from drugs and alcohol while at the camp and share responsibility for site security and maintenance.
Tent City 4 advocates cite statements from local police and newspapers that there have been no increases in crime in the areas that Tent City 4 has been located in[7] and that calls to police for a similar tent city in Seattle are about the same as an apartment complex with 100 residents.[8] Opponents of Tent City 4 note that increases in law enforcement costs associated with TC4 are an impact to public safety that the rural areas TC4 visits are unprepared to handle.[9] They also express concerns that analysis of actual police reports and raw data associated with occupancies actually show increases in crime rates[10] conflicts with the official statements that are being made.[7][9]
TC4 left Northshore United Church of Christ (NUCC) in Woodinville on August 12, 2006 ending their unpermitted 90 day stay at the church. In July 2007 the Washington Court of Appeals upheld the King County Superior Court ruling against SHARE and NUCC allowing the city to collect the fines levied. Tent City 4 had hoped to relocate to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bothell and received permits to do so on August 11[11], but rejected the permit due to the number of conditions on the permit and instead moved to a backup site at Woodinville Unitarian Universalist Church (WUUC) after receiving a permit from King County.[12]

Welcome to Bush City, America... Something like a million homes have been foreclosed on already, with another 2 million homes in jeopardy. How many of those people, those families, may end up in a Bush City near you? Who really knows?

Drinking Liberally in New Milford
ePluribus Media

by: Connecticut Man1 @ Thu Aug 07, 2008 at 15:03:04 PM UTC