FHA Lawsuit Of Wells Fargo Upheld

FHA’s ability to sue Wells Fargo for “reckless origination and underwriting practices, that caused FHA to experience hundreds of millions of dollars in federal insurance payouts” has been upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Wells Fargo had earlier entered into a 5 bank “limited settlement” of approximately $5b with FHA on another FHA suit and maintained that the settlement agreement in that case barred FHA from bringing additional lawsuits against the San Francisco based mega bank. 3 of the other 4 banks settled similar claims for about $2b.

So, while a multi-billion dollar settlement to FHA is eminent, it is not going to be anywhere near the hundreds of billions of dollars that FHA maintains it lost. It will be interesting, however, to see how much more settlement dollars it will cost Wells to put up this fight.

Who Benefits From Lawsuits Against The Big Banks?

Bank of America agreed to pay $17b in fines to the Justice Department over mortgage misdeeds at Merrill Lynch and Countrywide, most of which took place prior to B of A’s purchase. They bought the 2 dogs and got the fleas. This adds to the $60b they have already paid and should about wrap up their “mortgage crises” penalty liability.  Here’s my question: Who is the beneficiary of all this money?  Are the consumers, who were sold these toxic mortgages, getting reductions in their mortgage balances or lower interest rates or monthly payments?  Hell no, these settlements, that are touted to show that your government is protecting you, are fines and penalties imposed by federal regulatory agencies via law suits brought on behalf of the national and international investment companies who purchased these toxic mortgage products from Merrill and Countrywide.  The federal agencies aren’t looking out for Mr. and Mrs. Homebuyer…I suggest that they’re collecting fines and penalties to fund their federal agency first, and possibly to recompense investment banks and/or hedge funds for their losses.  The consumer is way down the food chain on all of this and those, who by some miracle, have managed to hold on to their homes, as their monthly payments skyrocketed, will get little or no relief.  Wonderful, just wonderful.