Chain of Title (58 page)

    
Lynn Szymoniak research,
200
,
243–244

    
role of MERS,
45
,
47

    
rules (pooling and servicing agreements),
37
,
56–57
,
110
,
114
,
168
,
197
,
223–224
,
231–232
,
241–242
,
307

    
securitization audits,
26
,
95

    
securitization FAIL (notes and mortgages never made it to trusts),
33–34
,
39
,
42
,
50
,
69
,
85
,
115–116
,
137
,
160
,
199
,
207
,
209
,
236
,
238
,
266
,
269–270
,
295
,
301

Select Portfolio Servicing,
68
,
89
,
171

Senate Banking Committee,
239

September 11 attacks,
112
,
188–189

Service Employees International Union (SEIU),
224
,
268

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA),
255
,
262

Seterus,
307

Shapiro & Fishman (foreclosure mill),
73
,
197–198
,
203
,
247
,
261
,
306

share loans,
6–7

Sheppard, Gerri,
270–272
,
284

short sales,
219
,
279
,
299
,
304
,
311

Siegel, Marc Alan,
286–290
,
293

Silvers, Damon,
233–234

Sink, Alex,
205

60 Minutes
,
245–248
,
250–251
,
253
,
262
,
291
,
296

Smith, Shannon,
202

Smith, Yves,
218
,
262
,
300

Snow, Brittany,
193

Soto, Darren,
184
,
187
,
203

Soud, Judge A.C.,
207

Spark, Andrew,
261

spina bifida,
3
,
11–12
,
41
,
196
,
205

State of the Union address (2012),
276–277

Statute of Frauds,
46
,
122

strategic defaults (moral hazard),
194
,
260

Stephan, Jeffrey,
208–215
,
217–218
,
221
,
241
,
253

Stern, David J. (foreclosure mill),
109
,
145
,
151
,
153
,
162
,
165–167
,
200–203
,
208
,
228–229
,
237
,
243
,
256
,
263
,
291
,
298
,
306
,
311

Stewart, Jon,
170
,
224

Stoller, Matt,
234–235

Stopa, Mark,
157
,
185
,
207
,
257

Stop Foreclosure Fraud
,
157
,
298

subprime mortgages,
1
,
9
,
11
,
28–33
,
43
,
114
,
124
,
170
,
174
,
218
,
239

Suggs, Ken,
147
,
160–161
,
163
,
169

Summers, Larry,
230

SunTrust,
294

surrogate signing,
227
,
275
,
302

Swanson, Lori,
266

Szymoniak, Lynn:

    
activism,
152–154
,
186
,
215
,
230
,
234–235
,
250–253
,
265
,
268
,
285
,
309–312

    
“BOGUS” document,
148–154

    
creation and maintenance of
Fraud Digest
,
141–142
,
144
,
157
,
191
,
237

    
early life and career,
132–135

    
foreclosure,
135–143
,
192
,
218
,
256
,
262
,
281–282
,
291–292
,
293

    
Housing Justice Foundation,
294–298
,
304

    
interaction with Damian Figueroa,
151–154
,
162–163
,
169–170
,
201–202
,
298–299

    
interaction with Lisa Epstein,
144–145
,
149–154
,
163–164
,
196

    
meetings with President Obama and Vice President Biden,
296

    
qui tam
lawsuit,
162–163
,
169–170
,
199–200
,
297–298

    
research on foreclosure fraud,
138–143
,
171–172
,
197
,
200–201
,
205
,
214

    
role in Lisa Epstein's political campaign,
285–289

    
role in private litigation,
146–148
,
160–162

    
role in state and federal investigations,
143–146
,
161
,
168–169
,
171–172
,
178–179
,
199
,
227
,
229
,
241–244
,
262–263
,
269–270
,
272–275
,
302–303

    
60 Minutes
,
245–248
,
250
,
255

    
whistleblower award,
280–283
,
290–291

“ta-da” endorsements,
197

Taibbi, Matt,
207
,
215
,
237

Take Back the Land,
267

Thievin, Shelley,
85–86
,
89

Thigpen, Jeff,
252–253
,
285
,
302

Thomas, Tywanna,
142
,
193

Thompson, Diane,
233

Thompson, Judge James,
257

Thorpe, Kim (“KT”),
158
,
308

threshold error rates,
283–284

Ticktin, Jessica,
312

Ticktin, Peter,
227

Tobin, Judge Victor,
257

Tompkins, Anne,
172

Torch the Fraud,
246

Trafford, Gary,
270–272
,
284

Trawick, Henry,
312

Traynor, Judge Michael,
204–205

Treasury Department,
35
,
67
,
230
,
233
,
238
,
240–241
,
262
,
279

Trent, Kenneth Eric,
202

Tribe, Laurence,
208
,
273

Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP),
97
,
199
,
239
,
283

Trowbridge, Christina,
43
,
49
,
65
,
89
,
216

trustees:

    
bankruptcy trustees,
56
,
245
,
256

    
fabrication of documents,
170

    
failure to receive mortgages and notes,
37–39

    
inability to foreclose,
55
,
115–116
,
118
,
125
,
201
,
218
,
236
,
255

    
interaction with MERS,
48–50

    
involvement in mortgage-backed securities,
15
,
17–18
,
24–25
,
36
,
66
,
109
,
136
,
163
,
293

    
private litigation,
160–161
,
207
,
297–298
,
307

    
state and federal investigations,
144
,
199
,
266

Truth in Lending Act,
34

2010 midterm elections,
229
,
232

underwater mortgages,
2
,
11
,
65
,
84
,
122
,
260
,
269
,
279

“Unfair, Deceptive and Unconscionable Acts in Foreclosure Cases,”
243–244
,
260

U.S. Attorney's office:

    
in Iowa,
240

    
in the Middle District of Florida (Jacksonville),
134
,
135
,
143–145
,
148
,
161
,
168–169
,
171
,
199
,
227
,
234
,
237
,
242
,
245
,
262–263
,
273
,
302–303

    
in Ohio (Clevaland),
217

    
in South Carolina,
171
,
262

    
in the Western District of North Carolina (Charlotte),
172

U.S. Bank,
15
,
17–18
,
24–25
,
37
,
39–43
,
45
,
65
,
96–97
,
109
,
111
,
125
,
145
,
154
,
160
,
238
,
256
,
307

verification standard:

    
by Florida Supreme Court,
98
,
153
,
197–198
,
200
,
257
,
306–307

    
by New York and New Jersey courts,
231

Veterans Administration,
20
,
113–114

veto (presidential),
225–227

Virani, Alina,
26–27
,
71
,
75
,
158

Virtual Bank,
246

Volcker, Paul,
22

Wachovia Bank,
86
,
295

Wall Street Journal
,
154
,
224
,
253

Warren, Elizabeth,
226–227
,
230
,
310

Washington Mutual,
27
,
52–53
,
59–61
,
69–70
,
83–86
,
271

Washington Post
,
6
,
214
,
218
,
222
,
239

Watson, John,
192

Watson, Marshall C. (foreclosure mill),
163
,
192
,
203
,
257
,
260–261
,
306

Webster, Daniel,
188

Webster, Tony,
202–203

Weidner, Matt,
119–122
,
127–128
,
131
,
151
,
155
,
157
,
167
,
175–176
,
178
,
184–187
,
205
,
209
,
213
,
218–219
,
237
,
241
,
247
,
257
,
281
,
311

Wells Fargo Bank,
13
,
15
,
17–18
,
25
,
45
,
86
,
130–131
,
171
,
181–182
,
221
,
238
,
247
,
253
,
274
,
278
,
295

West, Tony,
266

Wexler, Robert,
99

Where Is the Note?,
224
,
268

White, Alan,
48

Wilson, Christine,
218

Winston, Michael,
27

Wizmur, Judge Judith,
236

Working Families Party,
277

Wright, Jack,
59
,
68
,
157

Wylde, Kathryn,
266

yield spread premiums,
28

Zacks, Dustin,
195
,
216

Zero Hedge
,
157
,
223
,
231

Zloch, Judge William
160–161

Zombeck, Richard,
194–195

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Dayen
is a contributor to
Salon
and
The Intercept
, and a weekly columnist for the
Fiscal Times
and the
New Republic
. He also writes for publications including the
American Prospect, The Guardian, Vice
, and the
Huffington Post
. He lives in Los Angeles. This is his first book.

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