Recent Articles

Watch out for the snakes and rats. They're multiplying! (Or, how to do a little research into your "mortgage modification" professional and make sure you're not being played for a fool.)

David Winton
January 05, 2009 00:47

WARNING AND DISCLAIMER:  This blog post contains personal opinion.  The contents reflect my own opinions and research into the entity in question, and my professional opinion based on 20 years of dealing with unscrupulous business entities.    Beware of rabid rodents bearing...

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts: (Or, how to do a little research into your "mortgage modification" professional and make sure you're not being played for a fool.)

David Winton
January 05, 2009 00:47

There's an old saying: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.  It refers to the Trojan horse that the Greek army used to trick its way into Troy during the Trojan War.  It has come to refer to situations and people that hide fraud and trickery behind a friendly and perhaps even generous...

Massachusetts Supreme Court decides (potentially) landmark case determining criteria for loans that are "presumptively unfair"

David Winton
December 13, 2008 17:50

So what's a "predatory loan?"  Well, people who live in Massachusetts now know because on Tuesday of this past week the Massachusetts Supreme Court weighed in on the issue.  (Here's the Massachusetts Attorney General's press release.) I'm pretty sure that for all the non-lawyer...

Commonwealth v. Fremont Investment and Loan (Original Full Text)

David Winton
December 13, 2008 16:00

I am posting the full test of the December 9, 2008 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case Commonwealth v. Fremont Savings here as a temporary source until the full opinion is published by the Court.)   Formatting peculiarities and typographical errors are in the original....

I don't know...Maybe YOU think it's funny

David Winton
December 12, 2008 19:54

Okay, in the Department of the Totally Gratuitous, Irrelevant, and Not Particularly Funny, there's now a comic strip called Bankruptcy Bill.  Can anyone explain this to me because I don't get it.  It's like Where's Waldo only the line would be Where's the Funny Part?  They're...

Have questions?

David Winton
December 12, 2008 19:52

Most of the time I choose subjects for blog posts either from actual questions from people I meet, or from developing news stories.  But I'm curious to hear any ideas for topics that may be causing fits or worry or curiosity. If you have a question that you'd like to see addressed in this...

Bankruptcy: The Ultimate Mortgage Modification Tool

David Winton
December 10, 2008 19:30

Now, I don't mean to be overly flippant or anything, nor to be accused of promoting "irresponsible behavior" by advocating that people walk away from valid and legitimate debts, but I have to say that the single most effective "mortgage modification" tool for most borrowers...

Countrywide Releases Mortgage Modification Details

David Winton
December 09, 2008 06:34

Countrywide, by way of its new owner Bank of America, has released general details of its mortgage modification arrangement with the various states' attorneys general (including California) that sued it last summer alleging predatory lending violations.  The details are as of December 1, 2008,...

Countrywide Releases Mortgage Modification Details

David Winton
December 09, 2008 06:34

Countrywide, by way of its new owner Bank of America, has released general details of its mortgage modification arrangement with the various states' attorneys general (including California) that sued it last summer alleging predatory lending violations.  The details are as of December 1, 2008,...

California Mortgage Deficiencies (Part 2): The Purchase Money Security Interest

David Winton
December 03, 2008 01:52

 California property owners are lucky in that there is a fairly strict set of so-called "anti deficiency statutes" which control if, when, and how a lender may pursue a deficiency as part of, or after foreclosure.   The most important restriction is the anti-deficiency...