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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNelson emailMoghannam, Kathleen Subject: FW: Butte County Foreclosures Attachments. Letter to Supervisors Butte Co..doc From: Chris Nelson mailto:chris4 ax mail.com Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 12:47 PM To: Connelly, Bill; Wahl, Larry; Kirk, Maureen; BOS District 4; Yamaguchi, Kim Cc: Ramsey, Mike Subject: Butte County Foreclosures June 28, 2012 Dear Butte County Supervisors, eawrooF~ JUL 0 2 20f2 We are writing on behalf of the Foreclosure Prevention Zone effort of Occupy Chico. We have learned how to search county records for fraudulent assignments, met with D.A. Ramsey, and witnessed foreclosure auctions held on the steps of the Butte County Courthouse and at Gold Country Casino. We have demonstrated at the County Offices and at the Courthouse Auctions against the seizure of homes by the very banks that caused the foreclosure crisis in the first place. According to Realty Trac, 8,080 homes in Butte County have been foreclosed since 2008. In addition to the tragedy of personal loss, the foreclosure crisis is impacting our county f scat health. Foreclosures provoke decline in home prices, resulting in decreases in property tax revenue and cuts to city jobs and services. Foreclosed homes cause neighborhood blight, crime, and public safety issues. Estimated costs of the foreclosure crisis to Butte County, including loss in home values, property tax loss, costs to local government, along with the methods of calculating these casts, can be found in the "Home Wreckers Report." htt aldi .abclocal. o.com/k o1PDF/Home-Wreckers-Re ort. df) Over the last two years incontrovertible evidence has emerged around the country that the loan servicers of the five largest banks have filed and recorded millions of fraudulent documents to illegally foreclose on homeowners. In February, 2012, San Francisco County Recorder Phil Ting announced that an audit of foreclosure documents in his office revealed that 84% had "at least one clear violation of the law." Mast of these foreclosures contained more than one class of violation and some had up to six. Most of these violations were related to chain of assignment issues, largely resulting from mortgage securitization, and the inability of foreclosure servicing agencies to demonstrate legal standing to foreclose. In Butte County the percentage of foreclosures has been much higher than in San Francisco County. A thorough audit by the Butte County Clerk-Recorder's office would almost certainly reveal a similar proportion of suspicious activities and violations of law. One problem for California counties, including Butte County, is that banks are using the MERS {Mortgage Electronic Registry System) to transfer and assign mortgages. MERS is like an opaque "black box" that allows banks to obscure the chain of title on individual properties and avoid County recording fees. This has deprived the Butte County Clerk Recorder's Office of needed funds. The system makes it very difficult for homeowners {and others) to track the various assignments and to uncover who is the legitimate owner of the loan (to whom they should be making payments). Audits of the MERS system have revealed widespread fraud. While banks require home buyers to be transparent, fill out mounds of paperwork, and pay recording fees, MERS enables the banks themselves to avoid doing so. In short, there is little or no oversight of the foreclosure process, particularly in non judicial foreclosure states like California. Our counties and homeowners are suffering the consequences. Certainly there needs to be a state-wide and nation-wide solution to this problem. California Attorney General Kamala Harris is calling fora "Homeowner Bill of Rights," comprised of a series of bills designed to protect homeowners from abusive mortgage practices and to help devastated communities recover from the foreclosure crisis. Among the other provisions in Harris' bills are requirements that lenders prove to homeowners that they have a right to foreclose on a property before doing so.- The legislation she supports is currently stalled in committee due to heavy lobbying by banking interests.'-' There are several actions that the Butte County Board of Supervisors could take to help remedy this situation. We suggest one or more of the following actions: • Form a Foreclosure Task Force to explore the extent of fraudulent foreclosure actions and illegal treatment of tenants in foreclosed properties in Butte County. This could include an audit of the Clerk Recorder's records. • Explore the legality of the foreclosure auctions held on the steps of the County Courthouse. This courthouse location implies that they are lawful and sanctioned by the County. These auctioneers will not even give their names. According to the California Secretary of State, same of the foreclosing companies they represent are not licensed to da business in the State of California. Pass a resolution supporting the California Homeowners Bill of Rights and calling on California legislators to support it, since this is an issue with such profound ramifications for our local community. • Institute a moratorium on foreclosures and foreclosure-related evictions until a system is in place to verify their legality. On April 10, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pass a resolution calling for a moratorium on all foreclosures in the city."` Of course, a binding ordinance would be much better. • Pass a resolution or ordinance that requires any person ar entity initiating foreclosure to sign an Affidavit of Authority verifying that they have a clear and unambiguous right to foreclose on a property and to record it in the Clerk-Recorder's office. When the State of Nevada passed a law with a similar provision, foreclosures fell dramatically.'" • Pass a resolution or ordinance requiring all assignments and other documents related to a particular Butte County property be filed with the County Clerk-Recorder, thereby establishing a full, transparent property record for all to see. This requirement would hold banks to the same standards of required document filing that homeowners are being held to and prevent confusion related to "chain of title" issues. We hope you will work with us to understand these complex issues, to support struggling homeowners and tenants, to stop unjust and unlawful foreclosures and evictions, and to ensure a legal and just process to resolve issues of home ownership and foreclosure. Solving these problems will help stop the decline in property values and increase country revenue and jobs. Sincerely, On behalf of the Foreclosure Prevention Zone of Butte County, Occupy Chico Consensus, June 28, 2012 i http://www.srndailyjournal.com/artcle,_preview.php?id~232815 ii http://www.huffin~tonpost.com120121041171kamala-harris-homeowners-bill-of-rights- setback n 1433159.html iii httnalwww.huffin tgtonpost.com/20 1 2104/1 11san-francisco-foreclosure-mor_atorium_n_ 1419317.htm1 iv htt ://www.r '.com/artic1e120120411B1Z021304120048/No-lon er-worst-Nevada-ends-5- ear-run-nation-s- foreclosure-leader?nclick check=l