Posts by Michelle Labayen

Most people who have encountered economic hardships look for solutions to get a little bit of money to hold them over until pay day. For some, a solution is to get a “payday loan”. A pay day loan is a relatively small amount of money lent at a high rate of interest on the agreement…

The attorney generals sued the five largest national banks and reached a 25 billion dollar settlement in regards to mortgage fraud. For all of the outrage and obvious wrong doing, where are we today? 10 billion was to “quickly” be delivered to hundreds of thousands of people. 732,000 settlement checks have not been delivered 600…

Eminent Domain is back in the media and being used by Governor Christie.  In a nutshell, eminent domain is a rarely used legal premise which allows the government to take private land for the public good.  A typical scenario is if a city takes a deserted, dilapidated area and transforms the area into a park.…

Trillions of dollars in student debt is held by Sallie Mae. Student loan debt is preventing the 20-30’s year olds from entering the so called “middle class”. Today, politicians are discussing a remedy by allowing student loans to be discharged through the bankruptcy court without the strict adherence to In Re Brenner (undue hardship).  The…

Déjà vous?  Fast track modifications are back with  multiple banks and service providers.  Before the melt down in 2008, loan modifications were provided over the phone with little or no documentation.  The homeowner would call the bank, answer a few questions and would be provided a modification over the phone.  The theory behind this ease…

Detroit filed bankruptcy, what does this mean?   Detroit has chosen to file a Chapter 9 bankruptcy in order to eliminate, reduce and/or renegotiate its debt with creditors.  Although many still hear bankruptcy and become frightened, it is better for Detroit to consolidate the lawsuits, creditors and attorneys all in one room, courthouse, then multiple courthouses,…

A lot of people are familiar with a Chapter 7 and usually go to an attorney requesting their Chapter of preference.  Many people prefer a Chapter 7 because it is quick and relatively simple.  All of the unsecured debt is discharged in approximately 90 days.  You can also surrender your interest in secured property like…

Back in July I blogged about the idea that the State of California considered….Eminent Domain. The idea of Eminent Domain is that the government can take land that is not being used to its potential and reuse it for the good of the state.  California argued that if they could take the massive load of…

A lot of people may be familiar with” Robo signing”( someone without authority rubber stamping assignments) which created a moratorium on foreclosures throughout the country, but particularly in New York and New Jersey.  New York judges created new rules for attorney certifying the documents that they provided to the court to be true and exact…

First of all let me start by saying that REMIC Laws and Trusts, which are the bases of securitized investment property, is very complicated and convoluted. Experts in securitization and REMIC laws have difficulty sorting through the maze that the banks have created. However, I am going to attempt to reduce it to very basic…

A year or so ago, a lot of us consumer/bankruptcy attorneys were ecstatic about Judge Grossman’s decision about MERS and its assignment of mortgages.  Judge Grossman could not rule on the case before him if MERS had the authority to assign the mortgage based  Res Judicata and Rooker-Feldman doctrine, (Decided cases in state law cannot…

As many know, Fannie Mae is a complete and utter failure.  The creators of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, may have had the best intentions, but we all know the saying about having the best intentions. Simply put Fannie Mae was set up to help income based families receive loans to by homes.…