Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Proud Bank Of America Founder: Is He Turning Over In His Grave?
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Amadeo "A.P."' Giannini, the story goes, learned early about how money can make or break people's lives. When he was a child, a man shot his Italian immigrant father to death because the elder Giannini owed the assailant a dollar.
The younger Giannini, of course, went on to have a much different relationship with money. In 1904, he started the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. At the end of the 1920s, he changed the name to Bank of America.
Mr. Giannini's bank was a place where working immigrants could save and get a loan. Bigger, more established banks shunned the community Mr. Giannini served. He made loans on the streets after the 1906 earthquake. San Francisco was still smoldering, and the banking industry learned a lesson about how opportunity and responsibility could go hand in hand.
When California was desperate for funds to finish the Golden Gate Bridge in the Great Depression, Mr. Giannini's Bank of America bought the bonds that funded the bridge's completion. The Bay Area is celebrating the bridge's 75th birthday this year.
There's more to the legacy, but when Mr. Giannini died in 1949, he had built the West Coast's biggest bank and a different breed of bank, at least in reputation. Bank of America was admired and seemed to know instinctively how to make popular and profitable investments.
These days, you have to wonder if Mr. Giannini would recognize the bank he nurtured to life.
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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