Kramer Kaslow: Home Mortgage Servicer Sues Lender in Unprecedented Law Suit


Calabasas, CA (PRWEB) May 31, 2011

Consolidated plaintiff litigation attorney Philip A. Kramer announced recently that One West Bank, a servicer of home mortgages, is suing a lender, HSBC, in order to prevent them from foreclosing on homeowner Pamela Jeter. (One West Bank, FSB vs HSBC Bank Association, as trustee of the Deutsche Alt-A Securities Mortgage Loan Trust, Series 2006-AR5; United States District Court, Southern District of New York; Case 1:10-cv-04855-SHS).

News sites such as Propublica.org are weighing in on the suit. The suit is remarkable not only because it seems unique — close observers said they hadn’t seen another example of a servicer going to court against a trustee — but also because it lays bare a relationship that is usually a mystery to homeowners and investors in securitized mortgages, said Propublica.org representatives.

Philip Kramer, an attorney and senior partner at the law firm of Kramer & Kaslow as well as a past president of the Los Angeles West Inns of Court, a national organization dedicated to bringing professionalism and civility back into the legal profession also weighed in on the suit. In all my years of practicing law, I have never seen anything like this, says Philip Kramer. I have seen lenders deny people before. I have seen paperwork get lost. I have seen all kinds of things, but what happened next was a first even for me. For a servicer to sue the noteholder? That is unheard of!

ABOUT PHILIP KRAMER

PHILIP A. KRAMER is the senior partner of the Law Office of Kramer & Kaslow, in Calabasas, California. Kramer & Kaslow is Martindale Hubbell AV rated. Mr. Kramer is a perennial recipient of the prestigious Southern California Super Lawyer award.

Mr. Kramer received his undergraduate degree from Ohio State University and his Juris Doctorate from the Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. His practice emphasizes commercial litigation and trial advocacy, with a concentration on business litigation, and real property matters. He has prosecuted and defended cases for over twenty five years.

Mr. Kramer is a licensed real estate broker and has spent considerable time providing legal services in connection with real estate issues relating to loan modification and loss mitigation, land use and zoning, environmental issues, easements, construction and development, finance, and landlord tenant matters.

Mr. Kramer is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of California, the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Military Appeals. Mr. Kramer has tried in excess of 200 cases. He has appeared on nationally televised programs regarding pre-trial procedure and trial strategy and has appeared as a guest lecturer on topics ranging from constitutional law to trial practice, and Mr. Kramer frequently lectures on a broad spectrum of various legal and business issues.

Mr. Kramer also serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the Los Angeles Superior Court and as a Mediator.

Mr. Kramer is also a past president of the Los Angeles West Inns of Court, a national organization dedicated to bringing professionalism and civility back into the legal profession. He also serves on numerous Boards of Directors and serves as an officer in many companies. For more information call (818) 224-3900 or visit http://kramer-kaslow.com

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More Securitization Press Releases

Veros Real Estate Solutions Hosts Inaugural RiskWire Summit

Santa Ana, CA (PRWEB) May 31, 2011

Veros Real Estate Solutions (Veros), an industry leader in enterprise risk management and property valuation services, is pleased to announced the inaugural 2011 RiskWire Summit. A one-day forum focused on creating high-energy dialogue among mortgage and real estate industry professionals, the Summit provides a unique opportunity for lenders to interact directly with the creators of the industry-changing regulations taking place this year.

Maturity of Commercial Debt a Growing Concern with Large Banks, Says Covendium


Orlando, FL (Vocus/PRWEB) May 31, 2011

With the news last week that the Goldman Sachs-Whitehall Real Estate Fund restructured $ 1.42 billion of debt on one of its largest hotel portfolios; the market was provided more information on a potential commercial loan maturity crisis. The restructuring of the fund is a sign that large banks are making efforts to get ahead of the upcoming wave of commercial debt maturities that are coming due in the next few years, says leading commercial debt restructuring firm Covendium LLC.

As a result of the refinancing, Goldman was able to avert over $ 650M of debt maturity in early 2012 and restructure the debt to match the underlying collateral of the hotel properties in a portfolio assembled over 2006 and 2007. The big banks are getting an early start on restructurings ahead of the maturity witching hour, says Gregg Grauer, Chief Executive Officer of Covendium LLC, the nations largest debtor-side commercial debt restructuring and advocacy firm. While all of the media is focused on the consumer mortgage crisis, banks are very conscious of the $ 1.4 trillion of commercial debt that is coming to maturity over the next few years, adds Grauer.

During the commercial real estate boom in the first half of the last decade, investors and lenders made big bets on new projects at values significantly higher than the current market, with maturities that are quickly coming due.

Lenders can no longer delay the inevitable, says John Hyltin, Managing Director of Resolutions for Covendium. Every lender that I speak to is acutely aware of the size and maturity of their portfolio, and overwhelmed with the number of distressed loans they need to manage. If the debtor is reasonable and advised by an experienced firm like Covendium, there has never been a better time to realign debt with the underlying collateral, advises Hyltin.

We are seeing signs that cheaper capital from banks, insurance companies and even securitizations are slowly coming back to the marketbut the quality of the collateral and the economic terms of each deal matters now more than ever, says Grauer. If Goldman Sachs gets a jump on debt restructuring for their own portfolio, its a pretty strong sign that other debtors who do not have access to the information and resources of a Goldman-Sachs should get a move on.

For more information about how Covendium can help commercial debtors negotiate with their lenders, or any of Covendiums products or services, call them at (407) 284-4000, or view them on the web at http://www.covendium.com.

About Covendium

Covendium specializes in comprehensive commercial debt resolution and restructuring for clients whose financial model has been destroyed by debt service payments that have become unsustainable.

For some clients, all they need is an experienced negotiator to provide their lender with the reality of the financial situation and the tool-set to restructure their obligations. For other clients, Covendium may assist in the replacement of the debt from a bank to a private funding source.

Their team of professional advisors has successfully restructured billions in transactions, with dozens of banking institutions (including major national, regional and community banks) and over 30 separate non-bank financial counterparties.

Bad things happen to good people. Covendium is a premier national debt resolution firm that helps their clients with everything from commercial foreclosure in Charlotte to recapitalization in Miami to unpaid principal balance in Phoenix to discounted pay off in Chicago.

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U.S. Housing Market: Money Mornings 3-Step Plan Revives Dead Housing


Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) June 08, 2011

Its been more than 4 years since the 2007 housing collapse, and the U.S. housing market is still a disaster.

Nearly 2 million homes are empty. Foreclosures are rampant. Lenders are trying to shift their surplus onto any stray homebuyers they can find.

And if the U.S. housing market isn’t fixed soon, it’s going to drag the rest of the economy down into a hellish bottom that will take years, if not decades, to crawl out of.

Its a good thing someone is finally stepping up to the plate: Legendary investor Shah Gilani.

You may be familiar with Gilani from his many appearances on Fox Business and CNBC but if youre not hes a rare commodity.

As a retired hedge fund manager who’s willing to share the secrets of what goes on behind Wall Street’s “velvet rope,” Gilani is able to spot the stock market’s hottest profit opportunities.

And since he’s no longer part of the Wall Street power structure, Gilani is also willing to show investors how to capitalize as a top editor for Money Morning, one of the nations leading free investment newsletters.

In this new report, Gilani proposes a 3-step plan to end the crisis in the housing market in the U.S.

He calls this a modest proposal but truth be told its pretty bold. After all, hes making some very tough demands of Wall Street, Fannie, Freddie and the federal government

And they all begin with the thing that matter most – money.

As Gilani says, Without the ability to finance home purchases, we’re only going to sink deeper and deeper into the black hole.

You see, Gilani continues, theres no arguing the fact that bad financing – securitization – got us into this mess. Forget all the arguments about how loan factories spun out no-doc liar loans, or how buyers were equally complicit in perpetrating mass fraud. At the end of the day, the truth that matters is that securitization financed the whole scheme.

While housing market predictions may look dire, Gilani can bring those forecasts back into the black in just three steps.

One thing is for sure: Contrary to the naysayers despite the political pandering in the face of rampant procrastination – hes going to go down trying.

You can learn all of Shah Gilanis bold ideasincluding the three steps to save the U.S. housing market in his latest article: The Dying U.S. Housing Market: Three Easy Steps Revive Housing.

(**) Please feel free to repost this story on your website, including a link to the original article on Money Morning only the investment news you can profit from.

Money Morning.com provides valuable investment research and analysis by top industry and market experts to its more than 650,000 readers everyday – offering unique insights on new market trends and little-known companies and industries, while showing readers the truth behind todays largest business stories.

Respectfully,

William Patalon III

Executive Editor

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