Countrywide Home Loans Predatory Lending practices and Truth in Lending RESPA voliations Van Nuys, Dallas, Texas, Simi Valley, CA, Plano, Texas Van Nuys, CA: Dallas, Texas: Plano, Texas: Simi Valley

Hi All, It has been a while since I sent the first Rip off report and now I will keep you informed of what is going on. So far to date they have yet to let me know who holds the note to my mortgage. My only guess is Greenpoint which said it sold or transferred or changed my account to Countrywide for Servicing. None of which is stated at the court house in the record of deeds so it has to be Greenpoint. Now if they are not suing me for forclosure and the Respa laws, TILA, FDCPA didn't get a response from Countrywide or MERS or Fannie Mae and the court case is still pending, What is one to think? They are breaking all of these laws and I have brought it to there attention with the fact that I intend to follow the law to the fullest extent possible. They of course are waiting for me to fall over and play dead but I'M NOT. Good Luck to all who are in this fight to save there homes. These days there are way to many foreclosures going on and way to many people getting ripped off by these mortgage lenders with the way they hide the notes. It is all about notes remember that the Promissory note is all that is ever paid for and not the mortgage. Mortgages have never ever in the history of the US been paid off it is always the promissory note.

If Countrywide home loans has ripped you off You should contact the Federal Trades commission,Your Attorney General, and Senator's,or congressmen.The more complaints they get from people about Countrywide maybe they will do something about that company that rips off people.That's what I did because they are going to foreclose on the only house that I have ever had.They have got to be stopped,and I am trying to do just that. Cathi

HI Cathi,

I agree with you ! If you feel that you have been treated unfairly by Countrywide, such I have, everyone on this web site needs to report them to a Federal Agency. Maybe then, someone will do something about them. I contacted the Attorney General in my state, and they are in the process of investigating my claim. Lets all gang up on them! They deserve to be brought to justice!

Dig further. I found on the internet that the FTC has been investigating Countrywide Home Loans for "predatory lending practices". The specific investigation is focused on Countrywide moving loans of those with good credit into "high risk" loans where there has been clear evidence the applicants are not "high risk".

This allows Countrywide to move faster and be more vigilant about applying late fees and "other" escrow fees, including foreclosure to lenders that have no reason to incur such fees.

Currently, the FTC shows a 100+ page filing by Countrywide on their lending practices. You may find you have been stuffed into a high risk lender catagory when you are not, which may allow you to move your loan to another company even though Countrywide may have put negative information on your credit report. Your *initial* loan filing information will reflect your credit status to a new lender.

It would be wise to find out what your credit score was and file a complaint with the FTC about the actions of Countrywide Home Loans and all its affilliates. I've been following this investigation for 3 years now - Countrywide generated loan after loan while under the scrutiny of the FTC.

Everything you are saying about Countrywide is completly untrue. First of all your problems should be with Greenpoint Mortgage not Countrywide they were the ones that were supposed to be servicing your loan. Countrywide is so against predetory lending they have 4 systems that every loan has to go through just to make sure that the customer is getting the best program for their situation. I think your maybe getting them confused with Ameriquest. Countrywide doesn't put up with Predatory lending at all!!

I have much to say about Countrywide, not much being positive. I will however let this 50 million dollar lawsuit speak for itselt. This suit was also reported in the Washingon Post. The suit was filed May 28,2004 and has not been resolved as of April 28,2005. It appears that the poorest of American homebuyers were taken advantage of if these allegations are true. I would like to know if any criminal charges have been levied.

Lawsuit Alleges Predatory Lending and Conspiracy With Local Developer

WASHINGTON, May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrew Grosso & Associates, a District
of Columbia law firm, tomorrow will file a lawsuit on behalf of a condominium
association and about thirty (30) minority and low-income individuals against fifteen (15) defendants, including Countrywide Home Loans, alleging Countrywide and the other defendants conspired with a local developer to sell
defective condominiums to first-time homebuyers through fraud and predatory lending. The lawsuit states that the developer, Eric Fedewa, performed substandard work on the condominiums with an unlicensed contractor and without
construction permits. Cost for repairs is estimated to be $7.3 million.

The owners, most of whom earn less than $40,000 annually (less than half the Washington-area median income), cannot afford the extensive repairs, nor can they sell their uninhabitable condominiums.

"In previous decades, persons with lower incomes and minorities were victimized by slumlords; today they are exploited by unscrupulous developers," said Frances Raskin, the Washington, D.C., attorney and former federal
prosecutor who represents the Plaintiffs.

"Greedy developers pervert the American Dream. They target minorities in some of the most vulnerable neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. and Prince George's County with predatory
sales tactics. They fraudulently disguise ramshackle apartments with new paint and carpet, concealing the defects that render these places
uninhabitable, and market them to people with no homebuying experience and limited resources."

In addition to Countrywide and Fedewa, the King's Crossing II condominium owners are suing Fedewa's companies, Regent Crossing and Ascend Communities, and Washington Technology Group, a company owned by Fedewa's father, Lawrence
Fedewa, a prominent broker of federal technology contracts.

Other defendants include Legacy Financial Group of Bethesda, Maryland; attorney Charles Tobias
and his settlement company Express Title Company of Rockville, Maryland; and Chesapeake Appraisal Services of Bowie, Maryland. Also named are Fedewa associates: developer Roger Black, a developer and the selling agent on various Fedewa projects, and Countrywide representative James Preuss, a Countrywide representative who, the complaint alleges, arranged most of the
mortgages at King's Crossing II.

The King's Crossing II condominium complex is a 43-unit development built in the 1960s and located 3070, 3072, 3074 30th Street, SE in Washington, D.C.

The roofs on two of buildings are deteriorated near the point of collapse.

Faulty and potentially hazardous electrical and plumbing systems further deteriorate the property, and the condominiums are plagued by mold and fungus.

Many residents have inadequate hot water, and lack heating and air conditioning.

The complaint alleges that, to convince the Plaintiffs that ownership at King's Crossing II would be less costly than their current rents, and to ensure they qualified for mortgages, the developers concealed the true costs of operating the complex.

It claims they lured the Plaintiffs with promises
of low down payments and assurances that they would never have to pay property taxes and would benefit from unrealistically high income-tax savings. It alleges that the developers intentionally projected artificially low
condominium fees that could not possibly cover the costs of maintaining the property and paying utilities, and that they intentionally concealed that major components such as boilers, hot water heaters, air conditioning equipment, and roofs were near or past their useful lives.

According to the complaint, Countrywide loan officers, James Preuss and his wife, Mitzie Preuss, conspired with the developers and with a Maryland settlement attorney to provide the Plaintiffs with fictitious down payments to
facilitate sales of the condominiums to the Plaintiffs.

This ensured that the buyers would obtain mortgages for which they were not otherwise qualified and that many could barely afford. The complaint alleges that the scheme involved
a non-existent down payment, which was recorded as a "gift fund" or "Acorn gift" of about $2000 on each purchaser's settlement statement.

A settlement statement, commonly called a HUD-1, is an accounting of the borrower's and seller's contributions to a real-estate purchase, as well as all purchase-related fees. The entry of such a "gift fund" on a HUD-1 gave the appearance
that the borrowers had contributed the required minimum down payment, as opposed to the $0 to $500 that the purchasers actually contributed, which was less than the required security deposit on most apartments, the complaint
states.

The complaint alleges that, shortly after moving in, the unsuspecting buyers discovered that their homes lacked heating and air conditioning. The equipment was rotted, rusted, and leaked continuously when switched to air
conditioning. These leaking convectors and numerous pinhole leaks in the copper piping throughout the complex spawned the growth of mold and mildew that covered walls, ceilings and floors in many of the condominiums. The
carpets in some of the units are riddled with large patches of mold, and fungus that resembles mushrooms.

Several of the owners have experienced
health problems consistent with prolonged exposure to mold, which include rashes, dizziness, headaches, and asthma attacks. Some were forced to move out and lost their homes in bankruptcies and foreclosures although the units
were still under the developer's "warranty."

Two years ago, D.C. government inspectors cited the developers for numerous building-code and fire-safety violations. For example, the washers
and dryers promised as part of the "renovated" condominiums were installed illegally. Building codes require that each dryer be vented to the outside; instead, the developers and their contractors vented them into kitchen cabinets. The washers drain into inadequate waste lines that cannot handle such high volumes of water, causing frequent, severe backups in lower-level
units. Because the original plumbing has eroded and causes leaks throughout the complex, the lower halls often are flooded with several inches of standing water. The complaint alleges that the developer has refused to address any of
the violations and the other construction deficiencies at the complex.

Unfortunately, the Plaintiffs allege, the government inspectors, from the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, to date have failed to take further action against the developer or to follow up on the code violations.

The lawsuit will be filed on May 29, 2004, in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. Frances M. Raskin, Esq., of the law firm of Andrew Grosso & Associates, is lead attorney representing the Kings Crossing II
Condominium Association and the condominium owners.

Mr. Grosso and Ms. Raskin both formerly served as Assistant United States Attorneys.

SOURCE Andrew Grosso & Associates
Web Site: http://www.grossolaw.com

Pay your payments, then you wouldn't be in this predicament. What you are saying, where you are trying to "force" them to validate your note and if they don't, you don't have to pay is completely false. They don't have to validate anything. You have a debt, you signed a mortgage with Greenpoint that allows transfer of servicing (read it, you might learn something).

You are trying to get out of this debt somehow, but by doing so, you are in violation of federal law and can indeed be imprisoned for it. Wonder why the courts are telling you this is frivilous? Because it is....

Countrywide Home Loans services mortgage loans. MERS acts as a legal agent for Countrywide Home Loans. Fannie Mae is the investor (the one that actually fronted the money for your loan).

It cracks me up that you think they treated you unfairly. Pay your mortgage. It is that simple. They don't have to "validate" a thing.

Well, I have heard it all now Gerthie from Ok. Let me share something with you dear. First of all they do by law have to validate the debt, they have to follow truth in lending laws, they have to follow all FDCPA laws. I have studied this for more than 4 years now. If you haven't read the banker association books then you should read before spouting off at and wipe the drool. Country wide is the worse of worse and cannot answer and has not answered one question I have asked them it is just give me the money. If you were smart you would know that your signature created that money and nothing was lent by the bank. The signer and only the signer is the one who pays anything. Read the Federal Reserve and all banking and how it runs then come back and tell me to just pay my house payment specially when if I pay it to Countrywide they others can come back and still charge me saying they are the note holder. I personally would not due business like that and I guess you are one of the reasons they get away with there crap. You go ahead wearing your blinders and see where you get. I promise it won't be very far or for long.
I have a great FDCPA law suit ready to file when I am ready and I know I will win. I even have an attorney whom will be working on the case for me and agrees they really screw people. A lot of attorneys are starting to see what is going on in this country and if not for fear of retrubution they too would be fighting it and some are. But, truth be known it is all banks not just them it is the banks and the government that are allowing them to do it. Why do you think they hate HJR 192 if you read it you would know and now the bankruptcy laws have and still are changing for who the BANKS. I am so sorry you must work for one of the banks if you think this is all okay. I would study before commenting next time you have no right to speak of something you know nothing about.

As far as the lady who says Countrywide is fair well honey I say the same to you study and read and you will learn they are ripping you off and us in a big way.
Take a look at all the foreclosures going on in this country right now and tell me something isn't up. GIVE ME A BREAK
Old people being forclosed on for $50 payments and one I went to personally and we got TV cameras there she was being forclosed on just because they sent the tax bill to her late husband and not to her and he had been gone for years. So, she took the check in for $500.00 and said she just didn't know and they still took her home worth 650,000.00 Once the media got ahold of it the Sheriff and Attorney gave it back to her.

NOTE: DO NOT CONSTRUE THIS AS LEGAL ADVISE---CONTACT AN ATTORNEY IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE BEEN WRONGED. THIS IS A BRIEF OVERVIEW.

Be careful that you understand all the designations in a secured transaction of this nature before you contemplate alleging violations of specific laws. The laws you refer to are very complicated federal acts and must be read in light of their most recent amendments in the HOEPA. They should also be read in conjunction with regulation Z. Many of the federal acts designed to protect consumers from predatory lending impose a very short statute of limitations (most TILA claims must be brought within one year of the alleged violation). Moreover, the HOEPA trigger is fairly high and as such the protections in the HOEPA, for example the protections against negative amortization, balloon payments and equity stripping, only apply in limited situations. That is, HOEPA applies to mortgages as defined by 15 USC 1602(aa), which requires that the mortgage be secured by the primary dwelling and that either: 1.the APR will exceed by more than 10 percentage points the yield on Treasury securities having comparable periods of maturity on the fifteenth day of the month immediately preceding the month in which the application for the extension of credit is received by the creditor; OR 2.the total points and fees payable by the consumer at or before closing will exceed the greater of--
(i) 8 percent of the total loan amount; or
(ii) $400.
Also, be weary if your transaction involves "open end credit plan." This is a complicated term of art, but if you have been studying these laws for over four years, you should be aware of the meaning and whether or not your lone is open end or closed end.