Uncategorized

Independent Foreclosure Review Was “Doomed from the Beginning”

Published

13 years ago

April 18, 2013

Oakland Post

Senator Elizabeth Warren

Rep. Elijah Cummings

Rep. Maxine Waters

By Tanya
Dennis

Lawyers, paralegals, mortgage industry veterans and thousands of other contractors working at banks and auditing firms were hired in January 2012 to review the mortgages of people whose homes were in foreclosure between 2009 and 2010.
The purpose of their “independent” review was to find evidence of errors and misconduct alleged by foreclosed borrowers.
The Independent Foreclosure Review conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve hired Promontory Financial, a consulting firm hired by Bank of America to audit the mortgage loan files.
Review insiders state that the review was flawed from the start because reviewers were regulated by Bank of America and were told by bank managers not to believe what they were seeing.
“We knew what we were looking at but we were told under threat of losing our jobs to not report what we saw,” said one employee who asked that their name not be used for fear of not getting future work.
Based on the Foreclosure Review, four million homeowners who received a foreclosure notice would share $3.5 billion dollars. On January 7 the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve Board announced that the program was seriously flawed after paying over $2 billion to consultants and elected to pay homeowners between $500 to $125,000 for their lost homes depending on classification.
The average pay out will be $1,000.
“It was doomed from the beginning,” said Sheila Bair, the former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. “It was designed to generate fees for consultants, not to help homeowners.”
Now Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Ca) are demanding that bank regulators explain what went wrong with the foreclosure review.
Questioning bank consultants at an April 11 Senate hearing on foreclosure reviews, Warren determined that the banks, not independent consultants determined the number of victims of their own foreclosure fraud.
Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, has asked Congress to immediately hold hearings to investigate why the case-by-case review of foreclosed homes has ended “abruptly” and why a cash settlement with the mortgage industry was reached instead.
Warren, Cummings and Waters have urged the OCC and the Federal Reserve to turn over performance reviews by the independent contractors hired to examine loan files, including details of their preliminary results.
In 1998 the four largest United States tobacco companies, reached a 206 billion dollar settlement with the attorney generals of 46 states to settle tobacco-related health care costs. In 2012 attorney generals reached a 26.5 billion dollar settlement against banks for foreclosure abuses against homeowners of which amount 3.3 billion will go towards compensating homeowners for losing their homes. The comparison between the two settlements is startling when the damage done to homeowners is considered to be 565 billion, 945 billion if commercial property is included.

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.