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Zuccotti Park in New York continues to be the focus of anti-foreclosure activists OWS. They are streaming in and out but not permitted to stay overnight. They have shifted to indoor spaces and even camping in churches to continue with their movement.

Twenty five year old Daniel Abel is an activist who spends his nights at West Park Church. He said that role of Zuccotti Park was changing – it has become a meeting point. He explained, “If we slept here and fought the cops every night, it wouldn’t be effective”.

Recently one night all the lights were off at United Methodist in Brooklyn before the clock struck ten. The floor provided space for many to curl up while others chose the pews. Those who were awake kept far back and carried on their conversations in whispers.

Another activist, Andrew Dittner aged thirty six, said that the church environment makes the people respectful. He is a graduate from Boston.

Committees have been set up by the activists to see to multiple tasks like cleaning, housing, safety etc. The pastors of the churches expect the activists to oversee security, medical assistance and cleaning up operations. The church authorities have stipulated they must go to sleep early and exit in the mornings.

At the West Park Church and Park Slope United Methodist Church the activists of OWS pay for costs of utilities. From the donations they collected last autumn they have as balance $300,000.

Life in the church is not without challenges. There have been scuffles about who should stay and who should not. The committee on housing has fixed up for the protestors a hot line for registering their names for residing in the churches. About 150 are allowed. Each evening when they roll in their names are checked on a list.

Despite this, vagabonds and criminals have sneaked in together with the homeless.

One of the activists, Tonya Iketubosin was arrested for rape. He was released on bail last November. He posed a problem for the activists when he signed up for staying at St. Paul and St. Andrew churches. When the others recognized him, a meeting was held to decide whether he would be allowed in or not. The housing issues were being handled by Jeffrey Brewer. Ultimately they allowed him to stay on that night but the security kept an eye on him.

The churches that have opened their doors to the activists said that shelter would be provided all through winter. The pastor of West Park, Brashear said the movement had helped many individuals to battle foreclosure.

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The credit success of RMBS (Residential Mortgage Backed Securities) in America is facing multiple challenges in the current year. The biggest danger is from strategic defaults as per the findings of Moody’s Investors Service.

The general view is that in 2012 the waters will not be turbulent but calm. Moody’s study shows that stability signs are showing in the performances of outstanding loan pools of the residential housing sector. This means that the loss calculations from RMBS will remain unchanged.

Debash Chatterjee the managing director of an associate of Moody’s said, “Although Delays in loan liquidation timelines and an increase in distressed sales will continue to dampen housing prices and limit recovering on delinquent loans, they will not have a material impact on RMBS pools”.

Due to modification of loans, the delinquency among the loan pools has not only remained flat but in some instances these are also dropping. The rates of re-default on loans that have been modified have also dropped thanks to reduction of payments in the modifications being made bigger.

But strategic defaults where the borrower intentionally walks away from the house and foreclosure are posing risk causing the possibility of property prices to tumble again in 2012.

The agency predicts that the risk is coming from the big sector of mortgages where over half the house owners have gone underwater – the value of the house being less than the loan due amount. Till now they have been regular in making payments on their housing mortgages but since the latter part of 2010 the negative equity among the big borrowers have “risen significantly”.

The sub-prime sector however is facing the least risk of deterioration in this current year because the weaker borrowers have already been weeded out. The risk clouds hover over Alt-A and option-ARM loans but not as much as in the jumbo segment; of the two option-ARM is posing greater risk.

William Fricke of Moody’s (vice president cum senior credit officer)  explained that modifications and forgiveness of principal are the two key factors that can stop strategic defaults. But he apprehends that servicers will be reluctant to take recourse to this because GSE does not allow and that many RMBS too carry clauses putting brakes on this practice.

The methods of servicers are changing – they are becoming more easily accessible to the borrowers through single point of contact. The issuance of RMBS will be small because of GSE dominance and uncertainty about what moves the regulators will take.

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Foreclosure numbers in Hawaii have tumbled by 53% since the time the Legislature initiated sweeping changes in mortgage laws in 2011.

Hawaii ranked 11th as regards foreclosure rate and this prompted legislators to set up Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force to review all the facets pertaining to both judicial as well as non-judicial foreclosure processing in Hawaii State.

In 2011 the task force helped in the drafting of the laws that gives wide protection to the troubled house owners threatened with foreclosures because of dubitable operations that were unfair.

Jeff Gilbreath, one of the members of the task force said that already an impact is visible – thanks to the passage of the law. Gilbreath speaking before House as well as Senate committees committed to consumer protection recently referring to the report said that it “showed a 53% decrease in foreclosures in the state of Hawaii that I think we can attribute to Act 48”.

In 2012 the task force is scheduled to see to further analysis of rules and regulations pertaining to foreclosure so as to suggest betterment. The aim is to make the law understandable and equally applicable to all the stakeholders involved in the process of foreclosure.

Everett Kaneshige the chairperson of the panel and the deputy director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said that the members of the task force had divided into groups for working purposes to comb through the new Act “line by line” focusing on the issues related to particular groups and finding solutions to issues relating to foreclosures that are specific to condo and the homeowner associations.

The legislators will mull over the recommendations of the task force when they take up legislation this session relating to foreclosure. The concerns continue about increasing the protective umbrella to shield the house owners from the bite of foreclosures.

Senator Rosalyn Baker said related legislation would be introduced in the next session. She wanted to know what else could be undertaken to put brakes on highly focused fraudulent advertising that target those house owners who are desperately trying not to lose their houses.

They are so anguished that they fall for these advertisements and court risk. She is keen on introducing more measures to stop these dishonest practices and “really shine a light on these folks”.

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A drama is being played out in one of the foreclosed capitals of the country – Stockton City. The police union has taken up cudgels against the management. The city, starved of funds has targeted the police force with spending cuts. This has riled the group in an unprecedented way.

The first salvo against the administration has been protests through provocative banners. The second step was the purchasing of a house (the first property the union bought) right next to that of the city manager, Bob Deis. This targeting of the police by the city is happening at a time when crime has gone up in this inland port city. Stockton recorded the highest crime rate pertaining to violence in California in 2010.

The response of the city has been to sue the union regarding the purchase of the house and wants it to be sold. In documents submitted at court Deis stated, “I believe the SPOA purchased the property … for the sole purpose of coercing me in the exercises of my duties as city manager”. He said that one of the union members clipped trees during a party held in his house.

The police force that originally numbered 315 in 2008 has gone down by over 25%. The city compelled the force to accept reductions in wages and benefits while endeavouring to narrow a deficit of over $20 million.

The police union has brought legal charges against the city alleging that it has no right to use the fiscal emergency situation to break contracts. If the ruling goes in favour of the union then the city would have to pay arrear wages touching $10 million. The city is on the verge of bankruptcy and this verdict could well push it over the edge.

The city administrators did not make any comments on a pending legal suit. Meantime the union has rented out the house after indulging in loud noisy repairs to a retired person owning two dogs.

The angst is directed against the city spending on a sports arena, a hotel on the waterfront and other developments during sunny days. At night lights sparkle on a shopping plaza and movie complex. The theatre had sixteen screens but less number of customers hung around the neighbouring eateries.

Cops were often seen handcuffing offenders and for this the shop owner and residents were thankful. But with less numbers to patrol the streets they are apprehensive. Some want to move away.

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When Emiliano Pasillas bought his brand new house in 2006 he did not know that it would lead to the making of history in foreclosure happenings. Five years afterwards the Supreme Court of Nevada gave a ruling in his favour saying that the plaintiff HSBC Bank could not foreclose as it had not acted in good faith in two sessions of foreclosure mediation with Pasillas.

The programme involving mediation started in 2009 after passage of necessary bill by the Legislature in Nevada. The programme mandated that if the bank failed to act in good faith then sanctions would be imposed on it. Prior to the case going up to Supreme Court, the case had been refused a review by Judge Patrick Flanagan of District Court. Foreclosure was ordered. It was stalled by the appeal made to the Supreme Court.

The case returned to Washoe County District Court after the Supreme Court ruling. This time Flanagan ruled that HSBC would bear all mediation expenses and other costs but the amount would be paid, not to Pasillas, but to Washoe Legal Services.

Lawyer Keith Tierney refers to Flanagan’s interpretation of the Supreme Court view to be extremely lenient; the normal way would be for the money to be given to the house owner. He said, “At least that’s what you see in the East Coast, where courts have been coming down strongly on the side of the homeowners in cases like this”.

Lawyer Terry Thomas, representing Pasillas was highly critical of the order issued by Flanagan. He said such light sanctions would not deter the banks – they would continue to act sans any good faith. He added that the third round of mediation suggested by Flanangan was not much of a sanction.

Thomas quipped, “This sanction is a perpetual do-over, plus few bucks to charity, which (the lender) can deduct as a contribution to a 501c3.” He did not think that paying this amount of $2,500 was merely a “slap on the wrist” for the bank. The net result was that the banks could do anything without a hint of good faith during mediation sessions – reducing the latter to a farce.

Flanagan refused to meet the media asking for a story on this issue. He explained that no comments could be made on an ongoing case.

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One section of the Justice Department that monitors bankruptcy cases in courts is known as U.S. Trustees Program. In its annual report of 2010 noted that the mortgage servicing problems were all pervasive and long standing. These were not just technical but result in causing “real harm to homeowners in bankruptcy”.

The Trustee Program has accused the banks of falsifying affidavits by stating that the house owners owe them fees for some services that they never provided; the amount that the borrowers owed to the banks was inflated.

Professor Daniel Richman dealing with criminal law, of Columbia University Law School was formerly a federal prosecutor. He said the pivotal issue was who would be the targets of criminal investigation by the prosecutors.

Richman explained that a good number of workers who under the orders from supervisors churned out large number of affidavits could be sitting ducks. But that would not be worth the effort. Perhaps criminal investigations are necessary but it would be difficult to bring them against particular individuals who actually did the string pulling.

In 2010 October the Congress put pressure on the Justice Department to go ahead with investigations about foreclosure fraud. Eric Holder, the Attorney General said that it would be best to leave the matter to states with Justice Department’s help.

The OCC hastily came to a settlement with fourteen mega servicers to bring about operational changes and suggest compensation for those house owners who had been harmed.

The settlement leaves the banks to select their own agencies to determine who has been harmed and by how much. The arrangement has come in for harsh criticism from legislators and housing advocates for obvious reasons; the reviewing agencies would get their payments from the banks.

Since the eruption of the robo-signing scandal the Justice Department’s civil section has been working with a wobbly coalition comprising of all the fifty states seeking a settlement with the five mega banks that are also the biggest loan servicers. The settlement is leading towards a $20 billion (or maybe more) payment as penalties – a fraction of which would go towards paying the wronged house owners.

Law enforcement by the federal government has been practically non-existent even in those regions that have been decimated by the foreclosure crisis like Las Vegas.

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The anti-foreclosure campaign of Occupy Wall Street has become history not because the movement has stopped (it is spreading across the country with renewed vigour) but because of its leftover items have become collectibles for the archives.

Some well known institutions have already come to the decision that artifacts of the movement are worth preserving for history. Over six important organizations and museums (Smithsonian Institution and New York Historical Society among others) have been keenly collecting items that the OWS movement produced.

The personnel of these institutions have been sent to comb through the places the activists had occupied like Zucotti Park to hunt for posters, documents, buttons etc. The websites and the tweets have been digitally archived. Museums have started to approach individual members of the movement directly so as to get the posters and other like items.

An exhibition is being planned by the Museum of the City of New York to showcase items connected with Occupy next January. Ben Alexander of Queens College,New York (head of archives and special collections) said “Occupy is sexy. It sounds hip. A lot of people want to be associated with it”.

The members of the movement have also started to activate an archive group of its own. Hundreds of signs, fliers, posters, periodicals, buttons, banners and documents have been kept temporarily in a storage while they are hunting around for a place where they can keep these permanently.

Amy Roberts of Queens College, a graduate student studying library and information said, “We want to make sure we collect it from our perspective so that it can be represented as best as possible”. She played a lead role in setting up the archive group.

Institutions have approached Occupy either to borrow or to acquire materials related to their movement. Roberts said they are thinking of donating the full lot to Tamiment Library and to Robert F. Wagner Labour Archives of New York University. Tamiment did not make any comments. Tamiment is the oldest institution in the country for its collections relating to socialism, social protests and communism.

Most of the feverish collections were made during the early stages of the protests – it being a safeguard against history getting lost. The online history of the movement is also being stored – this being a distinctive feature.

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The Federal law enforcers seem strangely silent on criminal foreclosure fraud. Is Washington afraid? Reuters have reviewed the records of bankruptcy court of New York (Southern District) to find that a minimum of twelve totally different documents claiming to be the genuine promissory note have popped up in foreclosure related cases; involved are six properties.

In one of the cases Wells Fargo was fighting to take over the house of a single mother, Tindala Mims in Bronx. She is employed as the driver of an ambulance.

In 2010 September Wells Fargo submitted one promissory note, signed and stamped showing the owner of the note was Washington Mutual Bank that has become defunct. Upon scrutiny physical alterations were noticed. Many marks were missing on original or appeared to have been clearly altered in the second.

The second one contained an endorsement that was stamped – something that was not there on first; the impression given was that Wells Fargo had foreclosing rights. The judge turned down the second attempt also but not to be deterred, Wells Fargo is trying for the third time. The bank refused to make any comments.

The lawyer of Mims, Linda Tirelli has brought a legal suit against Wells Fargo for “fabrication of documents”. Tirelli said, “It seems to me that Washington is deathly afraid of the banking industry. If you’re talking about filing false documents and filing false notarizations, do you really think that the U.S. Attorney would find it too difficult to prosecute”?

Preet Bharara U.S. Attorney has a matter of routine pressed charges relating to forgery and submission of false documents against the small fry. Last April, seven employees of USA Beauty School located in Manhattan were arrested by FBI. The allegation is that they forged various documents – diplomas of high school, records of attendance and applications relating to financial aid for those students attending classes in cosmetology.

Last August the office of Bharara brought against the CEO of a company dealing with sports memorabilia felony charges. He was accused of selling in auction, jerseys that have been wrongly advertised to have been used in game by renowned players of Major League Baseball.

Considering these and other activities of the office aggressively chasing maxi and mini violations of the law, of U.S. Attorney across America, it seems strange that cases relating to foreclosure fiasco are noticeably absent. Why?

Visiting Professor Raymond Brescia (Yale University) said, “Why there hasn’t been more robust prosecution is a mystery”.

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A couple from Robeson Townshipin Pennsylvania unable to contact their lender, facing foreclosure somehow saved their home by filing for bankruptcy (Chapter 13). Naomi and Joseph Nepple aged fifty two and fifty nine respectively were saddled with a debt of $14,000 on their mortgage dues.

They missed out on taking part in Berks County Mortgage Foreclosure programme scheduled to kick off from 1st January. Judge Jeffrey Schmehl sympathized with the position of the Nepples. As per the programme the representatives of the lender would have to be present at settlement meetings.

Lawyer Brenna H. Mendelsohn, representing the couple deals with personal bankruptcy. Mendelsohn opined that the new programme would help those troubled house owners who were being ignored by their lenders. She said, “If there are cases where the new programme works that would be great. It’s too late for Naomi and her husband because they have already filed for bankruptcy”.

The bankruptcy case will enable the Nepples to continue to stay in the house, pay off the accrued debt and make fresh payments. The bankruptcy process would clear their dues on credit card dues also. Mendelsohn remarked that the bankruptcy is another alternative for stopping foreclosure. Those that apply for it pay their dues to the court and continue with their mortgages.

Nepple expressed her gratitude to the lawyer for help in straightening out their finances.

Naomi Nepple was a computer operator with a sportswear firm of Reading. She was retrenched in 2007. She took training covering two years in a programme dealing with criminal justice but even after graduating she could not find a job in this stream. From 2009 her financial troubles started.

Price of fuel was shooting up and her husband badly needed money to operate his business. He began to use his credit cards to fill the tanks of his dump trucks. He hauled in his trucks stone as well as sand. Together the couple ran into debt amounting to over $30,000 on their credit cards.

Soon a time came when they began to default on their house mortgage amounting to $1,500 per month. Nepple tried but failed to meet any representative of the lender. All she could do was to make phone calls; the whole thing was frustrating.

Mendelsohn referring to the filing of bankruptcy said, “She’s on the right track. The new programme may have helped her too. It does make the bank talk to you. Bankruptcy is a great opportunity to save your home”. Meanwhile Nepple has got a job and is now earning per month 41,200 to $1,500.

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The anti-foreclosure Occupy moment has taken a new turn – it has started to occupy foreclosed units. In Seattle the activists occupied a warehouse that had been boarded up and was scheduled to be demolished soon. The protestors announced their plans of setting up a community centre. A party was held to celebrate the opening of the building. The police stepped in and arrested sixteen persons to clear out the occupation.

Sergeant Sean Whit comb speaking on behalf of the police said trespassing on private property is the same as trespassing on the downtown park for which they were evicted. Whit comb said, “It’s no different than when people were trespassing (in the park). We went nights and days, letting people camp in the park. We relied on education and outreach, rather than enforcing the law to the letter”.

In Atlanta the Occupy activists were greatly aggressive in trying to break up auction of foreclosed houses. During the auction proceedings they blew sirens and whistles making communication difficult for those participating in the auction said Tim Franzen, a spokesperson of Occupy Atlanta. He said, “We don’t know how many homes we saved for one more month during the holiday season. It was kind of a Christmas gift to the people”.

At River sidein California, Art de los Santo together with Occupy supporters numbering thirty six, returned with his furniture to his previous house. He broke the lock and re-entered to start living in the housing having three bedrooms and three bathrooms. This was his last step to get JPMorgan Chase given due attention to his repeated applications for loan modification. He is hoping that by protesting the bank will sit up.

After foreclosure the house had remained vacant while Art de los Santo together with his large family comprising of his spouse and four children squeezed into a rented apartment in Orange County. He has also had to rent a storage space. Forty six year old Santo said the house is full of memories. The children used to cycle around the place. The neighbourhood was pleasant.

The spokesperson of JPMorgan Chase Tom Kelly, said he has not yet heard about the particular case of Santo sand therefore could not comment; however he did not fail to mention that it was a case of trespassing.

In New York the Occupy protestors announced plans of allowing a homeless family to set up home in a vacant foreclosed house. In Portlanda woman facing foreclosure, with the help of the protestors, pledged she would never leave her house until forced by the authorities.

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