I received a letter today from my bank, Wells Fargo, with some rather good news (for a change)! My SBA loan, with a current $27K  balance, is set to mature summer next year. I have been scrambling with what to do with the remaining balance. I had expected that it would be closed and that I would need to either pay it off completely (not going to happen, I don’t have a spare $25 grand lying around, more’s the pity), OR, I would have to shuffle everything around to higher-interest credit cards. I do have two 0% interest rate cards, Discover and US Bank, but the Discover card just expired and the US bank card will expire in summer 2010.

So on to my good news. Because I’ve been “such a good customer”, at the maturation of my loand, WF is going to transfer my SBA loan into a business line of credit with the same credit limit and the same interest rate. WHOOO HOOOO! That’s 5% ya’all! That’s way better than any bank loan or any credit card rate that doesn’t have an intro offer with a 3% balance transfer on it (and a low rate). So all of my planning, prepping and option weighing is for naught! Back to the status quo!

I’m still going to keep an eye (or two) open for 0% credit offers, but I am not racking up new debt and I now have a continuation of a great, low-interest loan to keep myself in good shape during the next 4 years while I pay everything off. And even better, I won’t have to resort to moving $24K (what I expect I’ll have left on it at the maturation point) onto high-interest credit cards with a 12.99% rate (or higher)!!!!

Merry Christmas, WF, and thanks for the present!

Last week Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Citigroup reported that they were all suspending foreclosure actions during the holidays.

And as expected, other major lenders have followed suit, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

Bank of America is halting all foreclosure sales and evictions from December 21, 2009 to January 3, 2010. The company explained that the suspension will apply to mortgages in Bank of America’s held for investment portfolio, as well as for investors that concede to allow BofA to proceed with the moratorium. The institution said it will also comply with other moratoriums from investors who have requested foreclosure holds for a different period of time.

JPMorgan Chase is also placing a freeze on foreclosures through January 3, 2010. When contacted by DSNews.com, though, a company representative said the bank was “not publicizing” the holiday season suspension.

Wells Fargo confirmed that it too will not evict customers or move forward with any foreclosure sales for customers who occupy their homes on loans owned by the bank, effective December 19, 2009 through January 3, 2010. The company said it also will follow investor guidelines regarding foreclosure suspensions for the rest of the mortgages it services.

“Foreclosure is always the last resort we use only after exhausting all other available options.” a Wells Fargo spokesperson added. “This includes regularly instituting individual moratoriums throughout the year where we think another option is reachable.”

Source:  DSNews.com


Share the wealth:

Interesting inflation figures. November data shows a 1.8% year-over-year gain in the Consumer Price Index. That’s the first positive 12-month change since February 2009. Core CPI was flat last month; it had risen for 10 straight months. The overall CPI rose 0.4% in November. Wholesale inflation (PPI) jumped by 1.8% last month, with core PPI rising 0.5%.¹

Housing starts rebound. They hit a 6-month low in October, so November’s 8.9% increase was especially welcome. Building permits also increased by 6.0% from October levels.²

Fed sees no reason to raise rates. Last week, TIME’s Person of the Year and his colleagues voted 10-0 to leave the benchmark interest rate alone at between 0% and 0.25%. The Federal Open Market Committee said that the key rate would remain at record lows for “an extended period” as “economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time.”³

Citi, Wells Fargo will pay back Uncle Sam. The two banks will respectively repay $20 million and $25 million to the Treasury. With the Wells Fargo notice, America’s largest banks have all now pledged to exit TARP. The Obama administration claims the final TARP price tag will be under $140 billion.⁴

Leading indicators up 0.9%. For the eighth month in a row, the Conference Board’s index of leading indicators chalked up an advance. Economists polled by Bloomberg News had predicted a 0.7% rise.⁵

Tech stocks do well in mixed week. The NASDAQ rose 0.98% last week, pushing its YTD gain over 40%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.35% last week, while the DJIA fell 1.33%.⁶

(Source: CNNMoney.com, ustreas.gov, bls.gov, 12/18/09)^7,8,9

Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be

invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends.

___________________________________________________________________

These views are those of Peter Montoya Inc., and not Statler Financial Services, and should not be construed as investment advice. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx^®, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals, with trading conducted through two divisions – the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. The market indices discussed are unmanaged. Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If other expert assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. Please consult your Financial Advisor for further information. Additional risks are associated with international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and economic instability and differences in accounting standards.

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Citations.
1 marketwatch.com/story/us-consumer-prices-rise-04-in-november-2009-12-16-83900 [12/16/09]
2 money.cnn.com/2009/12/16/real_estate/housing_starts_November/ [12/16/09]
3 chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tc-biz-fed-1216-1217-dec17,0,3451436.story [12/17/09]
4 bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aPQBGLJzpoMw [12/15/09]
5 bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akvvvBaeSYYs&pos=1 [12/17/09]
6 cnbc.com/id/34382988 [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow/ [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/data/markets/nasdaq/ [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/data/markets/sandp/? [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F18%2F08&mode=add&symb=DJIA [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F17%2F04&mode=add&symb=DJIA [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F17%2F99&mode=add&symb=DJIA [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F18%2F08&mode=add&symb=COMP [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F17%2F04&mode=add&symb=COMP [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F17%2F99&mode=add&symb=COMP [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F18%2F08&mode=add&symb=SPX [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F17%2F04&mode=add&symb=SPX [12/18/09]
7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=12%2F17%2F99&mode=add&symb=SPX [12/18/09]
8 ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/debt-management/interest-rate/real_yield.shtml [12/18/09]
8 ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/debt-management/interest-rate/real_yield_historical.shtml [12/18/09]
9 treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/1999/ofn100699.pdf [10/6/99]

15-Year Loans Gain Fans

Home buyers and home owners who are refinancing are increasingly enthusiastic about 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages.

Originations of 15-year mortgages at Wells Fargo & Co. are up 55 percent through November compared to a year ago. At J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., 20 percent of refinances are 15-year loans, up 10 percent in 2008.

One reason is that rates on 15-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages averaged 4.46 percent in early December, according to HSH Associates in Pompton Plains, N.J….

Check out the REALTOR® Magazine website for the article HERE!

by Jim Naughton, for The Harvard Law School Forum at Harvard Law School, December 16, 2009.

A central difficulty during banking crises is one of finding ready buyers of distressed assets. If a bank needs to restructure its balance sheet during a crisis or be sold as a going concern, the potential buyers are generally other banks, but they may have also been severely affected and thus be financially constrained and unable to purchase the bank or its assets. This leads to especially severe problems in a banking crisis given the relative opacity of bank balance sheets and the high sensitivity of banking assets to macroeconomic shocks. Surviving banks with enough liquidity during adverse states of the world stand to make windfall profits from purchasing assets at fire-sale prices. Even if crises arrive infrequently, the potential gains from acquisitions at fire sales could be large. This gives banks incentives to hold liquid assets so that in the event that they survive a crisis, they will have resources to take advantage of fire sales. In our recent working paper Crisis Resolution and Bank Liquidity, we present a model of banks’ choice of ex-ante liquidity that is driven by these strategic considerations…(continue reading)

6. Goldman Sachs

CEO: Lloyd Blankfein
2007 compensation: $70 million
2008 compensation: $1.1 million

9-month compensation pool: $16.7 billion
Workers: 31,700
Average compensation: $526,813

Loans, 2009 vs. 2008*: $41.6 billion vs. 41 billion (1.5%)

5. Morgan Stanley

CEO: John Mack (who is stepping down Jan. 1)
2007 compensation: $42 million
2008 compensation: $12.4 million

9-month compensation pool: $10.9 billion
Workers: 62,004
Average compensation: $175,795

Loans, 2009 vs. 2008*: $62.1 billion vs. $65.7 billion (-5%)

4. CitiGroup

CEO: Vikram Pandit
2007 compensation: $573,813*
2008 compensation: $10.8 million

9-month compensation pool: $18.7 billion
Direct staff: 276,000
Average compensation: $67,754

Loans, 2009 vs. 2008: $586 billion vs. $693 billion (-15%)

3. Bank of America

CEO: Ken Lewis
2007 compensation: $24.8 million
2008 compensation: $10 million

9-month compensation pool: $24.2 billion
Employees: 243,000
Average compensation: $100,000

Loans and leases, 2009 vs. 2008: $914 billion vs. $943 billion (-4%)

2. Jp Morgan & Chase

CEO: Jamie Dimon
2007 compensation: $34.3 million
2008 compensation: $19.7 million

9-month compensation pool: $21.8 billion
Workers: 220,861
Average: $98,704

Total loans, 2009 vs. 2008: $653 billion vs. $761 billion (-14%)

1. Wells Fargo

CEO: John Stumpf
2007 compensation: $12.6 million
2008 compensation: $13.8 million

9-month compensation pool: $19.7 billion
Workers: 281,000
Average compensation: $70,107

Total loans, 2009 vs. 2008: $800 billion vs. $864 billion (-7%)

In January 2009, Sherrie Littlejohn was appointed to head the Enterprise Technology Architecture and Planning (ETAP) group with responsibility for

Sherrie Littlejohn, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Technology Architecture and Planning

architecture governance, enterprise architecture, technology strategy, systems review and the information technology operating model program.  Her priorities are to ensure ETAP focuses on supporting and nurturing Wells Fargo’s strategies, processes, programs and services by enabling change and solving architectural problems with practical solutions. ETAP is the process of translating business vision and strategy into effective enterprise change by creating, communicating and improving the key principles and models that describe Wells Fargo’s future state and enable its evolution. The scope of ETAP includes the people, processes, information and technology of the enterprise and their relationships to one another and to the external environment. Enterprise architects compose holistic solutions–that address Wells Fargo’s business challenges–and support the governance needed to implement them. ETAP also defines and evolves via a federated model for technology enterprise architecture, which serves as the basis for all technology decisions for Wells Fargo.
Prior to her current role, Littlejohn was head of Network Services and Operations for six years — a grouo pf 400 team members providing voice, video, wireless, data network and firewall architecture, planning, engineering, telecom expense management and operational support for network components with Wells Fargo.  Additionally, it was her duty to support the business needs of Wells Fargo, reduce network operating costs, reduce network/telecom spend via financial clarity to the lines of business while providing “just in time” bandwidth, improving network performance and availability, and ensuring network policy and regulatory compliance.
She joined Wells Fargo in July 2002 leading the IT group’s Customer First Initiative where she helped define a best practices “to be” model that aligned with Wells Fargo’s business needs addressing network and security technology, procedures and organizational areas.
With nearly 30 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Littlejohn has led efforts in voice, data, applications, systems, instrumentation, network and overall IT technology development.  She was Vice President of Information Technology at Yipes Communications, a startup delivering Ethernet Capacity on Demand services. She was also Vice President of Network Engineering and Operations for SBC Long Distance, as well as CIO of the Pacific Bell Information Services, which provided messaging services to businesses and consumers.
Littlejohn is a native of New Orleans who received a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Xavier University of Louisiana. She then received her M.S. in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology and completed the Executive Business Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Martin B. Davis is Head of the Technology Integration Office and Executive Vice President of the Technology and Operations Group with Wachovia, a Wells

Martin B. Davis, Head of Technology Intergration, Wells Fargo

Fargo company.  Based in Charlotte, N.C.. he is accountable for overseeing IT integration efforts of both companies, ensuring the highest level of security for customer data, continuing the availability of systems and minimizing transition risk for the enterprise. Davis is committed to a flawless integration and will work diligently to help minimize potential customer and team member disruptions throughout the integration.

At Wachovia before its merger with Wells Fargo in 2009, Davis was Corporate Chief Information Officer; Chief Information Officer, Commercial Technology
Chief Technology Officer, Wealth Management; Senior Vice President and Group Executive, Information Services Architecture & Administration
Senior Vice President and Group Manager, Capital Markets Technology
Senior Vice President and Group Manager, Bankcard Technologies
Vice President, Application Development & Management.

Prior to joining Wachovia in 1985, he received a bachelors degree from Winston-Salem State University, where he now serves as secretary of the Board of Trustees.   He’s also co-chair of the CIO Executive Summit and a board member of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.

Wells Fargo said Monday it has reached an agreement with the government to return $25 billion in bailout money it received during last year’s financial crisis.

The San Francisco-based bank said repayment of the funds is contingent on a $10.4 billion common stock offering.

The move comes on the same day that Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) announced plans to repay the $20 billion it received under the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, while Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) returned $45 billion in TARP money last week.

Wells Fargo also said it would raise $1.35 billion by issuing common stock to certain employees instead of cash as part of their 2009 compensation. It also plans to boost equity by selling $1.5 billion worth of assets, pending approval by the Federal Reserve.

The bank expects to have a Tier 1 common equity ratio of 6.2% once the bailout funds are repaid.

Under the TARP program, Wells Fargo said it had paid $1.4 billion in dividends to the U.S. Treasury.

“TARP stabilized our country’s financial system when confidence in financial markets around the world was being tested unlike any other period in our history,” said John Stumpf, Wells Fargo’s president and chief executive, in a statement.

Stumpf was one of 12 bank CEOs present at the White House Monday where president Obama urged them to make more loans to small businesses and modify mortgages to aid struggling homeowners.

In a statement released late Monday, Stumpf said Wells Fargo is committed to serving the financial needs of consumers and businesses as the economy continues its recovery.

“We remain committed to keeping credit flowing, and working closely with financially distressed home owners, as we have throughout this downturn and credit crisis,” Stumpf said.

Meanwhile earlier in the day, Citigroup said it would raise money to repay the government through a combination of stock and debt, the bulk of which would come from a $17 billion common stock offering.

The New York-based bank also said the government plans to gradually sell the $25 billion worth preferred-stock it owns in Citi over the next 6 to 12 months.

At Citibank, the rush to repay TARP money stems partly from concerns about ongoing government restrictions, including caps on pay packages for executives at the nation’s largest bailout firms.

On Friday, White House “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg capped base salaries for 75 Citigroup executives at $500,000 for the remaining three weeks of 2009.

Those changes were expected to serve as the model for their pay next year as well. But, by paying back the bailout, Citigroup will no longer be required to submit pay packages for its executives to the government for approval.

Wells Fargo was not under the authority of Feineberg’s pay restrictions

The banks are done with all the help planned for them since 08..here’s just the last 3 days. Reforms will establish a new normal for us bankers..Wells Fargo, Citi, BofA all return the stash , saving on interest, The J P Morgan auction and ING

INVESTMENT BANKING

Wells Fargo to Repay $25 Billion in TARP Money

December 14, 2009, 6:33 PMWells Fargo said Monday evening that it would repay the entire $25 billion that it received in the government’s bailout last year. It said some of the money would come from a $10.4 billion stock sale.

Bank of America, Citigroup, TARP, Treasury Department, Wells Fargo

INVESTMENT BANKING

Another View: Redefining How to Repay TARP

December 14, 2009, 11:42 AMThe government must reexamine the standards by which banks can repay the billions of dollars they received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, an architect of the financial bailout writes in Another View.

Bank of America, Citigroup, David Nason, Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson, J.P. Morgan Chase, State Street, TARP, Timothy F. Geithner, Troubled Asset Relief Program (2008), Wells Fargo

INVESTMENT BANKING

In JPMorgan Auction, U.S. Made the Right Choice

December 14, 2009, 10:00 AMDid the federal government get a better deal by auctioning off its warrants in JPMorgan Chase to private investors instead of letting the bank buy them back?

Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Old National Bancorp, TARP, Treasury Department

INVESTMENT BANKING

Citi’s Internal Memo on Repaying Bailout Money

December 14, 2009, 7:28 AMDealBook has obtained Citigroup’s internal memo to employees about its deal to repay $20 billion of bailout money.

Citigroup, TARP, Treasury Department

INVESTMENT BANKING

Citi Strikes Deal on Bailout

December 14, 2009, 7:00 AMCitigroup was close to a deal on Sunday night to be the last of the big Wall Street banks to exit the government’s bailout program, after trying to persuade regulators that it was sound enough to stand on its own.

Citigroup, F.D.I.C., PNC Financial Services Group, TARP, Treasury Department, Wells Fargo

INVESTMENT BANKING

N.Y. Mellon Chief Said to Be in Lead for BofA Post

December 14, 2009, 5:45 AMBank of New York Mellon’s chief executive, Robert Kelly, is the front-runner to succeed retiring Bank of America chief Kenneth Lewis, but compensation issues could get in the way of a deal, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Robert Kelly

PRIVATE EQUITY

Terra Firma Said to Seek Investors in EMI

December 14, 2009, 4:54 AMBritish private equity group Terra Firma wants to bring in outside investors to help prop up music company EMI Group, which is struggling with $4.2 billion of debt, The Observer reported.

Citigroup, EMI Group, Terra Firma

PRIVATE EQUITY

Abu Dhabi Gives Dubai $10 Billion

December 14, 2009, 4:35 AMAbu Dhabi, the oil-rich governing emirate of the United Arab Emirates, surprised investors on Monday by pledging to provide $10 billion to Dubai, easing fears about an outright debt default by the smaller, struggling emirate.

INVESTMENT BANKING

ING Will Repay $8.3 Billion in Aid Early

December 11, 2009, 6:21 AMThe Dutch financial services group ING, which came close to collapse last year, said Friday that this month it would repay half of the 10 billion euros provided by the government during the height of the financial crisis.

LEGAL

Geithner Sees ‘Headwinds’ on Road to Recovery

December 10, 2009, 1:15 PMThe United States economy is struggling against “headwinds” that mean the government must retain the ability to respond to unexpected crises, even as it starts to wind down emergency programs, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Thursday.

American International Group, Bank of America, Chrysler, Citigroup, General Motors, TARP, Timothy F. Geithner

INVESTMENT BANKING

Bank of America Finishes TARP Repayment

December 10, 2009, 5:11 AMBank of America fully repaid the U.S. government the $45 billion in aid it took during the height of the financial crisis, the company said on Wednesday.

Bank of America

INVESTMENT BANKING

Citi Is Eager to Pay Back Bailout Aid

December 10, 2009, 2:17 AMA year after accepting two taxpayer bailouts, Citigroup is racing to raise billions of dollars in the stock market to repay the aid, a crucial step in freeing itself from Washington’s grip.

via Andrew’s Dealbook Remember Andrew Sorkin is also writing the facebook movie!

By BEN NUCKOLS (AP)

BALTIMORE — A federal judge suggested Monday that he might restrict the scope of a first-of-its kind lawsuit filed by the city of Baltimore against mortgage giant Wells Fargo Bank N.A.

The city accuses Wells Fargo of engaging in illegal “reverse redlining” — targeting black neighborhoods for bad loans that resulted in mass foreclosures. The resulting drain on city services cost tens of millions of dollars, the lawsuit alleges.

Lawyers for Wells Fargo filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in September, arguing that the city lacked standing to file the complaint. Baltimore was the first municipality to sue a lender in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis. Similar lawsuits were later filed in Cleveland and Birmingham, Ala., but those complaints have been dismissed by federal judges.

During a hearing Monday on the motion to dismiss, U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz described the condition of Baltimore’s impoverished, predominantly black neighborhoods as “shocking, disturbing, despicable.” But he suggested it was implausible to hold Wells Fargo responsible for “the deterioration of the inner city.”

Baltimore has an estimated 30,000 vacant properties, but attorneys for the city have found about 150 homes that were vacant as a result of foreclosures by Wells Fargo. Motz said he would consider limiting the damages sought by the city to the costs of dealing with those properties.

continue reading here…

4closureFraud
http://4closurefraud.wordpress.com/

Like so many other big banks, profits are booming. Now Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have finally repaid their gov’t bailout TARP funds-

Source: read more Wells Fargo and Citigroup pay their Debts…

Picture: SheepGuardingLlama's

 Financial services company Wells Fargo has said it will repay the $25bn it borrowed last year. 

Wells Fargo will use some of a $10.4bn stock sale to fund the repayments. 

The announcement was made after the citigroup reach an agreement with banking regulators. 

It marked the last of the big Wall Street banks to pay bank money that it owed. 

In addition to the stock sale Wells Fargo said it would raise $1.35 billion through the issuance of common stock and increase equity by $1.5 billion through asset sales.

It is really no surprise that the Obama administration’s loan modification program for at-risk homeowners has been a failure. Many would probably argue that it is a failure because of the government’s handling of it. I argue differently. I believe it’s the banks faults, and I have a really good reason to believe such. My own bank is screwing up my own refinance, and it’s getting to the point where I am ready to jump ship and go elsewhere.

With the Obama plan, the government gives private banks incentives to refinance loans and make interest rate modifications so that current homeowners, many of which owe more on their homes than they are worth, can take advantage of today’s lower interest rates. Truly, today’s rates are historically low, and refinancing from a variable rate as high as 10-12 percent into a fixed 5 percent loan can lower monthly payments by hundreds of dollars. The program, known as the Home Affordable program, is especially great because it doesn’t require a homeowner to have any equity in the house, and it does not require private mortgage insurance if home equity is less than 20 percent, as is typical with conventional financing.

So far, only a paltry sum of struggling homeowners have been able to permanently modify their loans…something like 31,000 or so, out of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of homeowners that could save money and potentially avoid foreclosure under the program. My own refinancing experience suggests that banks themselves are to blame. First, let’s explain my circumstances.

1. We have excellent credit. My wife’s FICO is around 800, mine is 820.

2. We have equity in our home. We originally bought in summer 2007, and put 20 percent down. That has been eaten away a bit, to be sure. Market price of our home is now probably $30 more than we owe, which means we have a little less than ten percent equity. The point here is that we are not underwater on our mortgage.

3. We have full documentation. My wife’s employment is proven by paystubs, tax returns, W-2s. My income is proven by tax returns, pay stubs, 1099s.

I have provided all supporting material to my loan officer. Full tax forms, etc. They’ve had it for awhile now. We first applied for the refi about a month ago and were told it would take 2 to 3 weeks. It is an in-house program at Wells Fargo, our current loan servicer. It is specifically designed for their current clients. It has no closing costs. It is supposed to be simple, because they already have all the info about the house, the previous appraisals, the previous home inspection, the previous title search, the title insurance, our financial records from our original loan application, our employment histories, everything.

Yet it still takes forever. Our loan officer has gone AWOL. Can’t get him on the phone. We faxed a Power of Attorney document to him (in case my wife is out of town when we get the loan docs) and he didn’t get it. We faxed it again. Haven’t heard back on whether he’s gotten it, so I called and couldn’t get him on the line. The other person I spoke to instead says, “well gee, it doesn’t say anything in your file about it…”

In theory, we have a deadline of the 16th to get underwriters approval and docs printed and mailed…that’s two days away. Still, no sign from my loan officer, and no one else in the office seems to know anything. And it’s been like this from day one with these people. If I hadn’t been on top of it, calling them and e-mailing them and generally forcing them to move the ball forward, we would probably still be in the “Verification of employment” stage. That stage was a hoot. They had the number for my wife’s HR office. It took them two weeks to make a phone call to verify verbally that she is still employed, even though her paystubs show she was employed as of, I dunno, YESTERDAY. Only after hounding them for those two weeks did they get around to actually making the call.

And then, guess what! They need our tax returns. Fine. I send them. Two weeks later, they apparently are still going over them. I don’t know what is so puzzling about our tax returns, but I bet that a sixth grader could look at them and figure out that we are upstanding citizens making a decent income and paying our taxes like every patriotic American couple should.

Now, consider that we have nearly perfect credit. Equity in our home. Fully documented employment and income. Fully vetted property. Fully title-searched and title-insured and hazard-insured and home-inspected and owner-occupied and everything else. And even we are having these kinds of problems.

Just think about how difficult it must be for someone with negative equity, with marginal credit scores, with spotty employment status, who is applying for a loan modification at a bank different than the one who originated their mortgage, who knows nothing about the property, the market, the neighboring property values, the title history, the condition of the house, etc. Yeah, it’s probably gonna take some time.

Like forever.

Of the 1 million homeowners who have been offered three-month trial modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), 31,382 have received a permanent modification, according to a report from the US Treasury Department.

Under HAMP, the Treasury allocates capped incentives to participating servicers for the modification of loans on the verge of foreclosure. Currently, 76 servicers participate in the program and could collect a potential of $27bn in capped incentives.

Servicers have started 759,058 trials since the program launched in March 2009, and 697,026 trials are currently active.

How many trials have converted to a permanent modification has been the subject many debates. The Treasury has recently pressed servicers to convert more trials and expects 375,000 permanent modifications by the end of the year.

GMAC Mortgage converted 7,111 trial modifications into permanency, the most of any servicer on a gross-volume basis. Active trials and permanent modifications accounted for 39% of GMAC’s eligible portfolio of 67,539 loans – the third highest percentage of all servicers.

JPMorgan Chase had the second highest amount with 4,302 permanent modifications. Active trials and permanent modifications made up 31% of the 448,815 eligible loans in its portfolio – sixth among servicers.

In third, on a gross volume basis, was Ocwen Financial Corp.’s 4,252 permanent modifications. Active and converted trials made up 15% of the 66,351 loans in its portfolio. According to the Treasury report, permanent modifications made up 77% of its active trials and 43% of the total amount of trials Ocwen started through November.

Saxon Mortgage Services led all servicers on a percentage basis by holding active trials and permanent modifications on 44% of the 80,309 eligible loans in its portfolio. However, Saxon has converted 42 trial modifications into permanency.

For the 233,924 eligible loans in CitiMortgage’s portfolio, 43% are either active trials or permanent modifications, the second highest by percentage. Of those, 271 are permanent modifications.

Bank of America has 98 permanent modifications. BofA holds more than 1m loans in its eligible portfolio, the most of any other participating servicer, and 15% of them are active trials or permanent modifications.

Wells Fargo converted 3,537 trials into a permanent status. It holds 334,949 loans in its eligible portfolio. Of those, 30% are in active trials or are permanent modifications.

Wednesday, Congress heard testimony on the health of the program the possibilities of its success. Key among the reasons for HAMP’s small amount of permanent modifications is a lack of documentation.

In a strange turn of events, Wells Fargo has decided to donate $25 thousand to the care of the animals from the Bonniedale Farm after foreclosing on the property last Monday and evicting the owner out in to the street.

The check is supposedly in the mail and should arrive next week.  It will be payable to the RI SPCA in charge of overseeing the care of the animals who have been farmed out (no pun intended) to various people and organizations throughout the state.   I just have to wonder what precipitated this action on the part of Wells Fargo?  I can only assume that is the result of all the negative press they have been receiving, especially on TWITTER. 

Good news for the animals, not so much for the owner who is now living in a shabby motel room.

For at least a year now I’ve been telling my more Right of center friends to beware the revolution. I said this because the financial Meltdown is attacking some mainstays of American Life, our homes, our jobs, our families — now even whole communities. Mazlow warned us, after all. Something happens to people when these basic securities are threatened. In the end it was the shattering quiet out there.

In retrospect I bet it was the silence of a people thinking, sorting,  trying to unwind the ball of wax that’s been rolling out of those congressional hearings. Derivatives and debt obligations, counterparties and pools of mortgages who’ve left no following addresses. What does it all mean to the average guy or gal? They must’ve been wondering. Now reality is setting in.

Still, I recall one friend in particular laughing at my prediction of revolt simmering somewhere out there. Why would these rich chiefs of finance care? But what about the consumers out there who can’t buy the equities and bonds, or the merchandise that makes our economy tick, I argued. But someone answered that, saying a very small percentage of people consume the greatest amount of goods. In other words they don’t need our piddling purchases. 

Maybe revolution was a bit too hard — or not. The recent marchers in Chicago to protest the banks — people of all ages and colors chanting, “Goldman Sucks”, and camping outside Wells Fargo’s offices are apparently part of a growing movement. Organizations such as Americans for Financial Reform, National Peoples Action, Our Financial Security.org and Showdown in America.org may be the keys to harnassing the anger that seems suddenly everywhere, like static electricity.

Check out PBS; tonight’s Bill Moyers Journal. His guests talked about making  political contributions from financial firms and banks too toxic for our elected leaders to keep consuming.  Wish I could be that optimistic. Guess it could happen with next year’s elections hovering over them. 

But the real joke may be that by soaking the public for every dime, the greedy banks created a reality of nothing left to lose. Even filthy rich banks can’t survive long amid anarchy. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

Yesterday, Wells Fargo Bank, in its’ infinite wisdom, evicted the caretaker of and foreclosed on Bonniedale Farms, a non profit animal farm shelter here in Rhode Island.  Bonniedale Farm is a refuge for abused, abandoned and neglected animals.  There are cats, dogs, also horses and goats and there may even be a llama or two.  The farm cares for the creatures that no one else wants or in some cases, are able to care for any more.  Some are simply left at the door.  No one is ever turned away.  The caretaker also runs a community pet food pantry, if you are unable to feed your pet, you can go there and get food for them, no questions asked.

As I said Wells Fargo evicted the owner, but there is a serious, more immediate threat – there are over 130 animals at risk, they are still there.  Today, it is snowing and freezing rain here in Rhode Island and the owner is in court hoping for some kind of  ruling that will allow him to care for these animals.

You know I find it ironic that also yesterday Wells Fargo was the subject of an article in the Charlotte Business Journal and how they gave out $6M in grants to non profits in North Carolina yet they can’t seem to do anything for this poor man, his selfless mission and these poor creatures cold and alone here in the smallest state of the union.  

If you want more information on the Bonniedale Farm, go to the website www.bonnidalefarm.org or for information on the local story go to www.turnto10.com.

This is truly a travesty!  Wells Fargo you should be ashamed!

By now many of y’all may have seen this video of a former Bank of America employee who decided to blow the whistle and alert the world about what really goes on behind closed doors at the height of this country’s recession. It’s interesting that this young woman came forth, because it was just two weeks ago I had my own horror stories as a customer of Wells Fargo.  You name it, they were doing it. It ranged from them silently changing due dates, trying to charge me extra fees to pay my bills, charging late fees  when the due date landed on a weekend and I attempted to pay the next business day to of course cutting credit lines with no warning, thus messing up my credit rating which made it next to impossible to get it restored. Oh yeah we shouldn’t forget the raised interest rates from fixed to variable..

I thought I was alone till I started speaking with people and realized folks with A-1 credit on down to regular average Janes and Joes were getting taxed by these banks, many of them who received bail outs.. Many of us have been feeling frustrated and helpless. Perhaps if people take a look at this courageous woman and start laying out their own, we will have a large list of grievances that we can we hold up as we demand change..Question of the day.. How has your bank been treating you?

The Daily Beast has an excellent report on our banking sector’s new financial practices, which – surprise! – are inscrutable to the inquiring journalist. That the late financial crisis bears remarkable resemblance to the Enron scandal 9 years ago has apparently occurred to few, though it should be obvious. Nomi Prins traces the same shadow accounting in three major banks that brought Enron down.

As she says:

While Washington ponders what to do, or not do, about reforming Wall Street, the nation’s biggest banks, plumped up on government capital and risk-infused trading profits, have been moving stuff around their balance sheets like a multi-billion dollar musical chairs game.I was trying to answer the simple question that you’d think regulators should want to know: how much of each bank’s revenue is derived from trading (taking risk) vs. other businesses? And how can you compare it across the industry—so you can contain all that systemic risk? Only, there’s no uniformity across books. And, given the complexity of these mega-merged firms, those questions aren’t easy to answer.

While we continue to argue over whether or not our banks deserve regulation, their accounting practices are transforming beyond all recognition. Whoever we hire to audit our banks – if, indeed, we ever do so – will face an impenetrable morass.