Jerry Brown has, once again, used his position in government to make himself look like a champion of the people, and once he accomplished that goal, he turned his back on them.
In June, 2008, in his position as Attorney General of California, Jerry Brown filed suit against Countrywide Home Loans and its officers alleging various acts of fraud, predatory lending and deceptive lending practices. The suit alleged (and I know it to be true) that Countrywide would pay incentives to mortgage brokers when they put borrowers into risky adjustable rate mortgages with pre-payment penalties.
Eventually, Countrywide and Bank of America (BofA acquired Countrywide) entered into a Stipulated Judgment whereby Bank of America and Countrywide would voluntarily modify mortgages on specific types of loans without all of the normal mounds of documentation that the lenders required for loan modifications.
The problem with the Judgment was that it did explicitly stated that the judgment did not provide a private right of action by the homeowner if Countrywide and Bank of America did not abide by the judgment. In essence, the only right of enforcement was left to Jerry Brown and the Attorney General's office.
I tried helping many of the people to save their homes through modifications, but Bank of America never followed the terms of the Stipulated Judgment. They demanded tons of documentation, would never provide an answer, and failed to modify the very loans that were the subject of the judgment. When I mentioned the terms of the Judgment to employees of of Bank of America, they had no idea that it even existed. They had the script that they worked from, and that was the end of it. They continued to foreclose on homes, and then resold them at below market value prices, continuing to drive prices down.
Jerry Brown never took any further action to enforce the terms of the Judgment.
Jerry Brown got the publicity he needed to start his new run for Governor of California, and now he needed to appease those who could provide campaign contributions ... the banks who had fresh TARP money.
Jerry Brown states that he is a "seasoned servant of the people of California." The truth is that he is a professional politician who loves nothing better than to spend the taxpayer's money on his pet projects and supporters. California does not need another 4 years of Jerry Brown.
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2 comments:
Duh! Of course he's a politician. Newsflash!
The record suggests that if Meg Whitman had been in the same position, she would have taken a pay-out from Countrywide and held onto it until the courts told her otherwise.
Politics is about compromise, if you think you could do better then run for AG.
Hi Chris,
While I appreciate you comments, my remarks are based on what Mr. Brown DID, not what a record suggests. If you would liket to read the complaint that was filed and the judgment that was agreed to, I would be happy to send them to you. As a real estate professional, you will see that the terms were not adhered to by BofA, and that the AG's office was the only one who could enforce it.
They didn't, and that is a fact.
I am not saying that Meg Whitman is right for California, either, as it is clear that money buys elected offices on both sides. What we really need is a fundamental change in how elections are handled and financed.
I guess I have gone past the days of "The devil I know is better than the devil I don't know." We will see.
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