Notwithstanding the upturn in the economy, the number of foreclosures in Massachusetts is up this year. In 2009, the number was 9,269, while this year the number is close to 10,000, through August. With the mortgage companies throughout the US stopping or slowing foreclosure cases because of improper documentation the rate of increase may slow. We will see.
Read MoreOur Massachusetts bankruptcy blog recently reported that GMAC Mortgage had stopped all foreclosure proceedings because of improper documentation. Yesterday, JP Morgan Chase announced they too would halt over 50,000 foreclosure actions as a result of in adequate documentation.
Read MoreOur personal bankruptcy clients often note that before their job loss or before their credit score reduction, they were quite satisfied. In a now famous study by Princeton University professors, the research shows that while happiness “rose steadily with annual income, the quality of the respondents’ everyday experiences did not improve beyond approximately $75,000 per year.”
Read MoreGMAC Mortgage, the holding company formally an arm of General Motors, has announced that it will stop all foreclosures, evictions and purchase and sale agreements, and suspend sales of foreclosed properties in 23 states. The reason appears to be that many of the foreclosures they were undertaking were not properly documented – the lawyers for GMAC failed to secure the original promissory notes and other necessary documentation for court proceedings. Massachusetts homeowners should look carefully at any foreclosure actions, using a consumer or Boston bankruptcy lawyer to be sure the documentation is valid.
Read MoreThis Boston bankruptcy attorney‘s blog has been pointing out Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren’s effective work in getting Congress to establish the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The new agency, however, is a law yet to be implemented; there is no building, no employees, no new regulations. Today President Obama appointed Professor Warren to get the Agency started. True, it is not a “nomination” for the Senate to approve. But, in Washington these days, there does not seem to be a lot of cooperation, and with elections coming up, there is even less. Thus, it appears like an end run around politics to get something done: start up the agency to protect consumers.
Read MoreThis Massachusetts Consumer Blog predicts that Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren will be appointed the first commissioner to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after her work and energy in lobbying Congress to create the consumer focused agency following the financial crisis. Professor Warren was instrumental in guiding Congress to pass the provisions of the financial overhaul bill regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “They created a strong, independent consumer agency that will have the tools to rein in the industry tricks and traps and to cut out the fine print,” Ms. Warren said back in June.
Read MoreThe Massachusetts Consumer Protection law, Chapter 93A gives several powerful weapons to consumers against companies or individuals in trade or commerce.
Read MoreThis note is not intended as a primer on Social Security, but a brief essay, by a Boston bankruptcy attorney who regularly receives a host of questions from clients on where its going, where it came from, and what is does now. From its inception during the Great Depression in 1935, the Social Security Act was expected to “To provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of federal old-age benefits and by enabling the several states to make more adequate provision…” Essentially, the federal Act was intended to provide economic security for all; a matter too critical to be left to the several states and their various laws.
Read MoreNow that Congress has passed the 2010 Consumer Financial Protection Act, our consumer clients ask how it will affect them, who will lead the agency, and when. Daily media reports indicate that while Harvard’s Elizabeth Warren, the consumer champion, is still in the running, no decision has been by the Obama administration. While we agree that Warren’s relentless push for consumers entitles her to full consideration, our desire is that the ultimate results of “reform” are consumer focused, and not, as in the prior 2005 Act, bank focused.
Read MoreElizabeth Warren, Harvard Law School Professor and the champion of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau law, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, may be on the short list to lead the new agency. Warren was the Chairperson of the Federal Oversight Committee making recommendations to Congress Regardless of the president’s final choice; Warren has been a champion for consumers like our clients who are filing bankruptcy in record numbers. The new law will have multiple consequences for consumers. We intend to write several articles to review the law.
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