The Bankers’ Insurance Scam

[This post revisits the cynicism of a previous post. As I told some friends this morning, some people may say I’m cynical, but I’m just a realist.] Closely related to a previous post, I noticed an article on Bloomberg  about  →

The Banks Have Gone Too Far!

I don’t trust bankers these days.  In fact, if you list all the professions and how much people trust them, you come up with some pretty interesting statistics. Looking back at the 2011 “Honesty and Ethics” Gallup Poll for different  →

Surprise! States aren’t spending the money on foreclosure victims!

Are we really that surprised?  I’m not. By now, I hope we all know about the bankster settlement – $25 billion from five huge banks over mortgage and foreclosure abuse.  Of that money, several $2.5 billion is supposed to go  →

The danger of overly broad laws

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” –Ronald Reagan So why on earth would the President of the United States speak against government help? I don’t know his  →

If you hate your neighbor’s calf, don’t set it free; kill it.

There are some interesting criminal statutes on the books.  Today I’m thinking about two Utah criminal statutes in particular: Utah Code 76-6-111 Wanton destruction of livestock – Penalties – Seizure and disposition of property and Utah Code 76-6-413 Release of  →

Does having a lawyer really make my situation better?

This is an easy one. No!  It doesn’t help.  Whatever your situation or circumstance, having a lawyer will actually hurt your situation, with only one exception: When your lawyer actually knows how to deal with your situation. Most lawyers don’t  →

Why won’t the bank let me modify my loan?

(This post is written in a particularly cynical tone.  If you don’t like it, be glad that I’m not giving you something much, much worse.) In today’s loan market, legitimate borrowers who deserve a loan modification are finding it harder and harder  →

Foreclosure Stress

As a paralegal, it is really hard to work with people that are way too emotionally involved. It is hard to explain things to them, to keep them calm, and to not raise their stress levels and have them freak  →

How should I present myself to the judge?

In any courtroom situation you should present yourself in the best light.  This means appearing in front of a judge and jury so that they will be most favorable to you. There are no guarantees in the law (except death  →

HAMP 2.0 – What’s that about?

HAMP (HAMP 2.0), the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (not to be confused with HEMP), is a program designed to encourage refinancing and help borrowers reduce mortgage payments and move into more affordable mortgages. HAMP originally included the following requirements  →