Mortgage Servicers' "Maze Of Fees, Firms & Flim-Flams" No Longer Fool Bankruptcy Judges

The New York Times reports:

• SLOWLY but surely, a handful of public-minded bankruptcy court judges are drawing back the curtain on the mortgage servicing business, exposing, among other questionable practices, the sundry and onerous fees that big banks and financial companies levy on troubled borrowers. It isn’t a pretty sight, if you are a borrower. But shining a light on this dark corner certainly qualifies as progress. The cases come out of bankruptcy courts in Delaware, Louisiana and New York, and each one shows how improper, undisclosed or questionable fees unfairly penalize borrowers already struggling with mortgage debt or bankruptcy.

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• “These cases clearly indicate that bankruptcy courts are no longer being fooled by the maze of fees, firms and flim-flams of the mortgage servicing industry,” said O. Max Gardner III, a lawyer who represents borrowers in Shelby, N.C. “The servicers and their lawyers should recognize the clear and present danger of these decisions while they still have time to turn their ships around and do the right thing.”

For more, including the details of the aforementioned Delaware, Louisiana and New York cases, see Piling On: Borrowers Buried by Fees.

Go here , Go here , and Go here for posts on questionable mortgage servicing practices.

Editorial Note:

The next question that arises is how long will it take for the state courts, where the vast majority of foreclosure actions are litigated and decided, to stop "rubber-stamping" foreclosure judgments against unrepresented homeowners and catch on to what the Federal bankruptcy judges are now discovering.