As for the guilt mentioned in the title, let's take Goldman Sachs. Goldman buys a loan servicing company in order to have access to sub-prime mortgages. These mortgages were not properly serviced, not well documented or not thoroughly underwritten so that the people who bought the mortgages could not be sure that by paying their mortgages they would eventually own a home in which to live comfortably. Goldman is not one whit interested in whether the homeowner is being properly served by Litton or whether he will be foreclosed on; all they wanted was easy access to many, many sub-prime mortgages to securitize and make money from.
Goldman does not look at the mortgages to see if they are viable because they do not want viable ones: they want to be able to bet against those mortgages and against the mortgage market in order to make the really big money. The mortgages have to fail in order for Goldman to succeed. The homeowner is not on the radar; Goldman does not care about the homeowner. If the homeowner loses his house because he was improperly sold a home, Goldman does not care. Goldman is willfully ignorant because money is their goal and once the homeowner has provided the means for GS to make big bets, the homeowner can go to hell!
So Goldman Sachs thinks it can sell Litton (see customer complaints here) to Ocwen (see customer complaints here) and just wash its hands of the whole foreclosure thing. Ocwen cannot be accreditated by BBB because of the 888 complaints filed against it. Ocwen should not even be allowed to buy another company when it has a reputation equally as bad as Litton's! Do you think Goldman even considered to whom it was selling Litton?
Well, Goldman Sachs, you are not absolved of your responsibility for making sub-prime mortgages so attractive that many people have suffered because of your actions. You should be ashamed of yourselves, making money more important than people!
In order to bring to the attention of Goldman Sachs the horror they have helped to visit on ordinary people because they did not want properly underwritten mortgages that would succeed, we bring you the following story of pain and grief. Ocwen didn't remediate; Mandelman did and much to his credit.
I wonder if Goldman Sachs even knows about the grief they have caused because of the foreclosures that resulted from all those sub-prime mortgages that it was so fixated with in order to make bags of money. Here's a story they should take to heart:
I Failed...and I'm So Very Sorry
By Mandelman - Mandelman MattersToday, another victim of the foreclosure crisis took her own life. She was a disabled American veteran and her family was counting on me to help. And I let them down.
You see, when I returned from a trip to Hawaii earlier this summer to meet with members of the state’s legislature on how the state might better deal with the foreclosure crisis, I received a call and a letter from a couple who’s home was about to be sold by Ocwen. The husband, afflicted by multiple sclerosis, could not be moved from their handicapped home and I couldn’t stand what watching what was about to happen… so I wrote about it… attacking Ocwen for allowing such an injustice to take place.
And Ocwen responded. Within days the trustee sale was cancelled and Ocwen agreed to modify the loan so the family could remain in their home of so many years. It should go without saying that the couple was joyous and thankful, although I couldn’t help but wonder about all the families about whom I would never be able to write about… and perhaps save from the pain of foreclosure.
Soon after that I received another letter and call from a couple’s daughter who lived in Hawaii… her parents were facing foreclosure in California and their lawyer who had been hired to help them had dropped the ball… they were on their way to being evicted. They’re older… in their 70s, and they were caring for a disabled American veteran… a member of the family.
I tried to help… called an attorney friend of mine who stepped in and filed what could be filed, but acknowledged openly that it was a long shot. Maybe some media attention would help, as it had previously, and I said that I would write about their situation.
But, the truth is that I never got around to it. I had other pressing concerns. And I’m only one person fighting a much larger fight. I spent several weeks in Arizona, meeting with lawyers and homeowners… and filming a documentary that I’d come to believe is the most important contribution I can make to the war against the bankers and the foreclosure crisis that is quietly tearing about our country and destroying our middle class and our economy.
I found out today that a few days ago she took her own life. Wells Fargo Bank had allowed the eviction to proceed; they refused to do anything else. Maybe they wouldn’t have changed their mind had I found the time to publicize the couple’s plight… maybe not. But, we’ll never know… I’ll never know.
The couple called me, their daughter called me… many times during the month of August, but I was away in Arizona, I needed the rest… my own health was in question and I felt I needed to rest and recuperate before I‘d be able to continue the fight effectively. I spoke with the husband… and the wife… they sent me their story written out on many pages. It all started when Wells Fargo said they had made a trial payment a couple of days late. The couple said they had made it on time. How petty a thing that could lead to such a tragic end…
I tried to calm them down… told them I would try to help them. But, I never got back to them… never wrote their story. And now it’s too late.
The last phone message I received was from their daughter. I played it today when I got the news. She was literally begging for my help. But I didn’t hear it in time. And now a disabled American veteran is gone.
I don’t know what to say except that I am so very sorry that I let them down. So deeply sorry… and I’ll never forget them… I’ll try never to let something like that happen again.
But the other truth is that I’m angry. I’m angry that I even have such responsibility… such power that my writing about someone’s situation has the potential to save their home from foreclosure. It shouldn’t be the case. The banks should not be allowed to lie to people, the process should be transparent… none of it should be done in secret.
God damn the bankers that continue to treat American homeowners struggling financially as a result of the global financial crisis and our country’s deepening recession that they caused as if they are meaningless souls… as if they are to be disposed of like diseased cattle.
And God damn those who have no compassion for the millions of Americans who continue to receive foreclosure notices every day… their lack of compassion comes from their ignorance of the facts involved, and at this point there is no excuse for that ignorance.
And God damn the Obama Administration for ignoring and abandoning the American middle class in favor of the banking billionaires to whom he has given a blank check as reward for their crimes. None of this should be happening in my country.
Read the full document here
6 COMMENTS:
Help Elizabeth Warren win her Senate race!
This first attack comes just as Elizabeth Warren released her official U.S. Senate candidacy announcement video yesterday.
In it, she says, "Middle class families have been chipped at, hacked at, squeezed, and hammered for a generation now." She says Washington is "rigged for big corporations" and takes on GE for paying no taxes. How many Democratic politicians challenge corporate power like that!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx2H31ZgkIQ&feature=player_embedded
Great advice for Obama. While I’m not sure we’re quite at Stalingrad
depths, I can’t disagree with anything the man is saying – especially
his call for Holder to finally begin indicting the fraudsters:
2. Indict people. There are certain
people in American finance who haven't been held responsible for
utterly ruining the economic fabric of our country. Demand from the
attorney general a clear status of the state of investigation concerning
these extraordinary injustices imposed upon the American people. I know
Attorney General Eric Holder is a close friend of yours, but if his
explanations aren't good, fire him too. Demand answers to why no one has
been indicted.
Mr. President, people are livid. Tell people that you, too, are angry
and sickened by the irresponsible actions on Wall Street that caused so
much suffering. Do not accept excuses. Demand action now.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/14/opinion/carville-white-house-advice/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Snakes In Suits
http://www.fisheadmovie.com/watch1
"Mr. President, people are livid. Tell people that you, too, are angry
and sickened by the irresponsible actions on Wall Street that caused so much suffering. Do not accept excuses. Demand action now."
I agree with "Guest's" comment.
Mr. President, the people ARE livid - and broke and hungry and becoming homeless everyday.
You said it in your semi political speech in front of both houses of Congress - the people don't have time to wait. You also said that you and Congress should do the job the people HIRED you to do.
Yes, it is time for you AND Congress to do so. As President, you are now President of all the people - Democrat, Republican, Independant, Libertarian, Tea Partiers et al. You now must do what is RIGHT - FOR the people! No time for politics. The people tell you what "we" want and in a democracy - if this is still one - you act on the will of the people not your efforts to get re elected. This holds true especially for Congresspeople and Senators.
The people of this country are speaking out loudly but all of you don't seem to pay any attention. Clearly, you hear us and for no other reason then your ratings show. WE DON'T LIKE MOST OF YOU!
That is why we need to form an effort to NOT re elect any encumbant - not the President, not anyone in Congress who has been there more then two terms, not any Senator who has been there more then one term.
Our votes can establish term limits. We don't need a Constitutional Amendment or Act of a do nothing Congress.
We, The People, still have the power - the power of our vote.
Larry
He's too busy and off to dinner...
Barack Obama For Sale: 50% Off
Hi there - fundraising this quarter
has been a struggle (as you can imagine give all the negative stuff
around the President) - they are offering a one off opportunity to
attend this small dinner on Monday for $25k instead of the full max out
of $38.5k, or a couple at $38.5k instead of $77k. Just wanted to offer
that in case you're interested!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/president-barack-obama-sale-50?
I don't get one thing - if Goldman Sachs sold mortgages to Ocwen, does Ocwen now own title and is not just a servicer with Goldman still owning the mortgage?
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