February 23, 2010
A spate of recently filed lawsuits allege OneWest Bank is systematically hiking loan payments for struggling home loan borrowers and pushing them into foreclosure.
Sacramento attorney Peter Macaluso said the Pasadena-based bank is doing it because it can make more money that way than by keeping borrowers in their homes.
He has filed eight lawsuits in the Eastern District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court against OneWest on behalf of borrowers and said a ninth action will be filed later this week.
"I see this as a business practice," he said of OneWest's actions. "I think this is a command decision by very smart people who used to run IndyMac and are maximizing shareholder wealth."
OneWest officials through a public relations agency declined to comment. A call to Chief Executive Officer Terry Laughlin's cell phone was not returned.
OneWest's investors acquired failed Pasadena-based mortgage lender IndyMac from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in March 2009 and rechristened the bank OneWest.
As part of the transaction, OneWest entered into a shared-loss agreement with the FDIC. The federal agency agreed to absorb some of the losses from OneWest's loan portfolio, but only after the bank shoulders the first $2.5 billion in losses.
Macaluso said OneWest typically performs an escrow analysis after a struggling borrower files for bankruptcy protection.
"They increase the mortgage payment after the
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bankruptcy has been filed," he said. "They changed the mortgage payment for one of my clients eight times in eight months."
In one instance, he said, a borrower's monthly mortgage payment jumped from $1,578 to $2,996.26 - and eventually to $3,286.93.
In a lawsuit involving borrower Gennadiy Arushanov, Macaluso said OneWest's escrow analysis and resulting payment hike were "defeating feasibility of each and every previously proposed Chapter 13 plan."
Under the terms of the shared-loss agreement, OneWest has the potential to make a profit when it forecloses on a home, Macaluso said.
The FDIC, he said, will eventually repay the bank for 80 percent or more of its losses, and OneWest can also keep the proceeds from the foreclosure sales.
FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray said recently that OneWest has not been paid a penny by the FDIC in shared-loss claims.
Gray has also challenged claims made in a recent YouTube video that says OneWest's private investors got a sweetheart deal when they purchased the assets of IndyMac and that taxpayers ultimately could end up paying for future losses at OneWest.
The video is "full of inaccuracies and falsehoods," Gray said, adding that OneWest was not given preferential treatment.
"It's a competitive bidding process," he said. "We don't have a choice in who we select. It's dictated by whatever is the best deal for the FDIC, and that we recoup as much money as possible."
Gray did not return a call Tuesday.
Elk Grove bankruptcy attorney Mark Wolff has filed two additional lawsuits against OneWest on behalf of home loan borrowers.
"I have a number of clients who are in Chapter 13 reorganization plans to resume making mortgage payments and make up on their past-due payments," he said. "But we've noticed a trend that shortly after the filing of the bankruptcy there will be a notice from OneWest saying the mortgage payment is increasing."
The increases have been applied to both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans, according to Wolff.
"It seems that this is happening with anyone who files for bankruptcy and meets certain criteria - that they had their taxes or insurance paid through an escrow or impound account and were behind in payments before filing for bankruptcy," he said.
OneWest's motives, Wolff said, are two-fold.
"Their methodology is getting them more cash sooner, and in cases where people can't afford (the increased payments) it gets the the property back," he said.
Source:
Whittier Daily News
______________________
More fun with One West/Indy Mac: says they're jacking up mortgage payments in chapter 13 plans to render them infeasible.
Read more: Lawsuits allege OneWest bank can profit from foreclosures - Whittier Daily News http://www.whittierdailynews.com/new...#ixzz0gYglNXqm
A spate of recently filed lawsuits allege OneWest Bank is systematically hiking loan payments for struggling home loan borrowers and pushing them into foreclosure.
Sacramento attorney Peter Macaluso said the Pasadena-based bank is doing it because it can make more money that way than by keeping borrowers in their homes.
He has filed eight lawsuits in the Eastern District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court against OneWest on behalf of borrowers and said a ninth action will be filed later this week.
"I see this as a business practice," he said of OneWest's actions. "I think this is a command decision by very smart people who used to run IndyMac and are maximizing shareholder wealth."
OneWest officials through a public relations agency declined to comment. A call to Chief Executive Officer Terry Laughlin's cell phone was not returned.
OneWest's investors acquired failed Pasadena-based mortgage lender IndyMac from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in March 2009 and rechristened the bank OneWest.
As part of the transaction, OneWest entered into a shared-loss agreement with the FDIC. The federal agency agreed to absorb some of the losses from OneWest's loan portfolio, but only after the bank shoulders the first $2.5 billion in losses.
Macaluso said OneWest typically performs an escrow analysis after a struggling borrower files for bankruptcy protection.
"They increase the mortgage payment after the
Advertisement
bankruptcy has been filed," he said. "They changed the mortgage payment for one of my clients eight times in eight months."
In one instance, he said, a borrower's monthly mortgage payment jumped from $1,578 to $2,996.26 - and eventually to $3,286.93.
In a lawsuit involving borrower Gennadiy Arushanov, Macaluso said OneWest's escrow analysis and resulting payment hike were "defeating feasibility of each and every previously proposed Chapter 13 plan."
Under the terms of the shared-loss agreement, OneWest has the potential to make a profit when it forecloses on a home, Macaluso said.
The FDIC, he said, will eventually repay the bank for 80 percent or more of its losses, and OneWest can also keep the proceeds from the foreclosure sales.
FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray said recently that OneWest has not been paid a penny by the FDIC in shared-loss claims.
Gray has also challenged claims made in a recent YouTube video that says OneWest's private investors got a sweetheart deal when they purchased the assets of IndyMac and that taxpayers ultimately could end up paying for future losses at OneWest.
The video is "full of inaccuracies and falsehoods," Gray said, adding that OneWest was not given preferential treatment.
"It's a competitive bidding process," he said. "We don't have a choice in who we select. It's dictated by whatever is the best deal for the FDIC, and that we recoup as much money as possible."
Gray did not return a call Tuesday.
Elk Grove bankruptcy attorney Mark Wolff has filed two additional lawsuits against OneWest on behalf of home loan borrowers.
"I have a number of clients who are in Chapter 13 reorganization plans to resume making mortgage payments and make up on their past-due payments," he said. "But we've noticed a trend that shortly after the filing of the bankruptcy there will be a notice from OneWest saying the mortgage payment is increasing."
The increases have been applied to both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans, according to Wolff.
"It seems that this is happening with anyone who files for bankruptcy and meets certain criteria - that they had their taxes or insurance paid through an escrow or impound account and were behind in payments before filing for bankruptcy," he said.
OneWest's motives, Wolff said, are two-fold.
"Their methodology is getting them more cash sooner, and in cases where people can't afford (the increased payments) it gets the the property back," he said.
Source:
Whittier Daily News
______________________
More fun with One West/Indy Mac: says they're jacking up mortgage payments in chapter 13 plans to render them infeasible.
Read more: Lawsuits allege OneWest bank can profit from foreclosures - Whittier Daily News http://www.whittierdailynews.com/new...#ixzz0gYglNXqm
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